Offenses:

H- homicide
A-Aggravated Assault
R- robbery
M- Motor Vehicle Theft
         

B- Burglary
A-Arson
R- rape
T- theft (larceny)

• Types of information
• raw numbers
• crime rate per 100,000

# of reported crimes    X 100,000 = Rate per 100,000/Total US Population

Limitations

• not all agencies participate

• variation in collection and reporting procedures

• Variation in arrest patterns

• does not reflect the chronic offender

• If multiple crimes are committed by the same offender only the most serious is to be reported                

• does not include unreported crime--Only about 40-50% are reported

• Does not include Federal crimes, organized crime white collar, and computer crime (drug, alcohol are Part II offenses)

• Subject to police bias

Surveys of people to determine the extent to which they commit crimes but may not be arrested.

Advantages:

• Overcomes bias of police statistics

• Measures personal characteristics, attitudes and values of the offender

• provides information about drug use

Limitations

• Questionable accuracy

• excludes serious crimes such as murder and rape

• Participants tend to be less serious offenders.

Example Surveys

• ISR (Institute for Social Research)  Uni. of Michigan

• National Longitudinal Youth Survey

Offenses:

• B- burglary (habitation)

• A-assault

• A-auto theft

• R- robbery

• R- rape

• T- Theft (household and personal)

• H- Hate

Types of Information


• Raw numbers
• Rates per 1,000 households
• Trends



Benefits


• Measures unreported crimes.
• Eliminates police bias
• large samples used
    


Limitations:


•   Does not reflect the chronic offender
• May over report or underreport crime
• Omits murder
     


B.  Official Crime Trends 



1. Overall









2.  Violent crime






      


3.  Property Crime


             






4. Arrest trends:.


       







5.  Solving crime:






C.  Self-Report Trends









D.  Victim Survey Trends



1.  Violent Crime:







2.  Property Crime:












E.  Explaining Crime Trends:




1.   Age:





2.   Economy:

3.  Social Problems (Anomie)

4.  Guns:
  
5.  Gangs:

6.  Drugs

7. Justice Policy






F.  Official Patterns of Crime
         1.  Ecological and Seasonal Differences:


• Ecological




• Seasonal




• Regions




2.  Social class

• Official Reports:

 


• Self Reports: 

            




  3.   Age

• Peak crime age   




• Property crimes

 


• Violent crimes 




• Desistance or aging out process




Why do people age out?







         4.  Gender 
              Overall Male to female crime rate =
               Violent crime rate

       
              Early theories on gender differences:


       a.  Masculinity hypothesis: Cesare Lombroso (1895)





       b.  Chivalry hypothesis:


 
             Modern theories:
              a.  Hormones:
     
              b.  Socialization:
     
              c.  Liberal feminist theory:.

          5.  Race
       
              Official crime statistics:
           
        

        
                 Self report studies
    

  G.  Criminal Careers:

•   chronic offende
  
    

• Early onset










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