CC 100- (4) Measuring Crime

Criminal justice System produces huge amounts of raw data such as:

CJS records are not statistics. they are concerned with individual cases (e.g. the offender) and help practitioners make decisions about these cases

Statistics are aggregated- concerned with what is common among many individual cases - they provide info about planning & evaluation, policy & program development & theory building & testing

Quantitative data:

Qualitative Data:

Controversies over counting crime:

Crime Stats: -[blank_start]34%[blank_end] decrease in [blank_start]Crime Rate[blank_end] since 1998 -[blank_start]12.6%[blank_end] increase in [blank_start]drug crimes[blank_end] since 1998 -[blank_start]28.9%[blank_end] decrease in [blank_start]violent crimes[blank_end] since 2000

3 dominant ways to count crime or describe crime patterns:

"crimes known to police" are commonly used crime stats

The Uniform Crime Report (UCR):

2 versions of the UCR: 1. UCR [blank_start]aggregate[blank_end] (UCR 1.0) Survey: collects summary data for [blank_start]100[blank_end] separate criminal offences 2. UCR [blank_start]Incident-Based[blank_end] (UCR 2.0) Survey: collects more [blank_start]detailed information[blank_end] on each incident, victims & accused

[blank_start]Seriousness[blank_end] rule in UCR statistics *important*: - only the most serious crime is scored in an incident involving [blank_start]several[blank_end] crimes Implications: -deflates total crime count -[blank_start]inflates[blank_end] serious crimes as % of total -not enough qualitative data about crimes are recorded -crime categories are too [blank_start]general[blank_end] -does not differentiate between indictable and summary offences (gross counts of crime are [blank_start]misleading[blank_end])

UCR Distortions: Police [blank_start]less[blank_end] likely to write an official report if: 1. situation can be dealt with through [blank_start]warning[blank_end] (e.g. confiscation of illicit goods) 2. close [blank_start]relationship[blank_end] between victim and perp Police [blank_start]more[blank_end] likely to write a report if: 1. victim is of [blank_start]higher[blank_end] social status (differential toward police) 2. police are engaged in ant-crime campaign (maintenance crackdown)

UCR 2 adopted in 1982 to address issues associated with original UCR:

the Crime Severity Index (CSI):

dark figure of crime refers to the amount of crime that is not reported to the police and is therefore not reflected in the UCR

according to the General Social Survey (GSS) ([blank_start]victimization survey[blank_end]) [blank_start]2/3 (two thirds[blank_end]) of crimes are not reported to the police GSS provides information on crimes not reported and why

why victims don't report crime:

which of the following is NOT TRUE of victimization surveys?

Criminal victimization in Canada 2009 highlights: [blank_start]25%[blank_end] of respondents reported being a victim of crime in past 12 months [blank_start]70%[blank_end] of offences were non-violent [blank_start]31%[blank_end] who were victimized reported it to police rates [blank_start]stable[blank_end] between 2004 and 2009 violent crimes & household victimization are [blank_start]higher[blank_end] in Western Canada [blank_start]93%[blank_end] felt somewhat or very satisfied with their personal safety

Limitations of Victimization surveys include: -not all crimes are captured (e.g. murder) -[blank_start]Consensual crimes[blank_end] are generally not captured by either police-reported UCR data or victimization surveys -[blank_start]Telescoping[blank_end]: unintentionally remembering prior victimization incidents outside the survey time framework -[blank_start]Memory Fade[blank_end]: unintentionally forgetting victimization incident inside the survey time framework

Self-Reported studies over come some of the weaknesses of police data and victimization surveys -they contribute to research and theories on the causes of [blank_start]crime & delinquency[blank_end] (social class & crime) -people are willing to report crimes in self-report survey (can produce valid and reliable results) Limitations to this: -some demographic groups are more apt to criminal behaviour -more likely to report [blank_start]minor[blank_end] infractions and downplay serious ones -serious and chronic offenders difficult to survey -

according to general approaches to crime stats, the Positivist Perspective:

Structuralist perspective questions the relevance of crime statistics

Constructionist perspective:

Integrationist Perspective: