Chapter 2: The Crime Picture Study Guide

corporate crime

A violation of a criminal statue by a corporate entity or by its executives, employees, or agents acting on behalf of and for the benefit of the corporation, partnership, or other form of business entity.

date rape

: The unlawful forced sexual intercourse with a person, without his or her consent, that occurs within the context of a dating relationship. Date rape, or acquaintance rape is a subcategory of rape that is of special concern today.

Rape

: Unlawful sexual intercourse achieved through force and without consent. More specifically, penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any other body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim. Statutory rape differs from other types of rape in that it generally involves nonforcible sexual intercourse with a minor. Broadly speaking, the term rape has been applied to a wide variety of sexual attacks and may include same-sex rape, and the rape of a male by a female. Some jurisdictions refer to same-sex, rape as sexual battery.

Spam

: Unsolicited commercial bulk e-mail whose primary purpose is the advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service.

BJS

A U.S. Department of Justice agency responsible for the collection of criminal justice data, including the annual National Crime Victimization Survey.

Part II Offenses

A UCR/NIBRS offense group used to report arrests for less serious offenses. Agencies are limited to reporting only arrest information for Part II offenses, with the exception of simple assault.

Part I offenses (UCR)

A UCR/NIBRS offense group used to report murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson, as defined under the FBI's UCR/FIBRS program.

Property Crime

A UCR/NIBRS summary offense category that includes burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.

Violent Crime

A UCR/NIBRS summary offense category that includes murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.

crime typology

A classification of crimes along a particular dimension, such as legal categories, offender motivation, victim behavior, or the characteristics of individual offenders.

idenity theft

A crime in which imposter obtains key pieces of information, such as Social security and driver's license numbers, to obtain credit, merchandise, and services in the name of the victim. The victim is often left with a ruined credit history and the time-consuming and complicated task of repairing the financial damage.

Computer virus

A destructive program that destroys or harms data on a computer. A computer program designed to secretly invade systems and either modify the way in which they operate or alter the information they store. Viruses are destructive software programs that may effectively vandalize computers of all types and sizes.

Cyberterrorism

A form of terrorism that makes use of high technology, especially computers and the internet, in the planning and carrying out of terrorist attacks.

Clearance rate

A measure of investigate effectiveness that compares the number of crimes reported or discovered to the number of crimes solved throughout arrest or other means (such as the death of the suspect).

Crime Index

A now-defunct but once-inclusive measure of the UCR Program's violent and property crime categories, or what we are called Part I offenses. The Crime Index, long featured in the FBI's publication Crime in the United States, was discontinued in 2004. The index had been intended as a tool for geographic (state-to-state) and historical (year-to-year) comparisons via the use of crime rates (the number of crimes per unit of population). However, criticism that the index was misleading arose after researchers found that the largest of the index's crime categories, larceny-theft, carried undue weight and led to an underappreciation of changes in the rates of more violent and serious crimes.

UCR (Uniform Crime Report)

A statistical reporting program by the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) division. The UCR program publishes crime in the United States, which provides an annual summation of the incidence and rate of reported crimes throughout the United States.

Terrorism

Acts of violence designed to promote a specific ideology or agenda by creating panic among an enemy population

NCVS (National Crime Victimization Survey)

An annual survey of selected American households conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics to determine the extent of criminal victimization-especially unreported victimization-in the United States

NIBRS (National Incident-Based Reporting System)

An incident based reporting system that collects data on every single crime occurrence.

Assault

An unlawful attack by one person upon another. Historically, assault meant only the attempt to inflict injury on another person; a completed act constituted the separate offense of battery. Under modern statistical usage, however attempted and completed acts are grouped together under the generic term assault.

computer crime

Any violation of criminal law that involves knowledge of computer technology for its perpetration, investigation, or prosecution.

Arson

Any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, and so on. Some instances of arson result from malicious mischief, some involve attempts to claim insurance money, and some are committed to disguise other crimes, such as murder, burglary, or larceny.

dark figure of crime

Crime that is not reported to the police and that remains unknown to officials.

Malware

Malicious computer programs such as viruses, worms, and Trojan horses.

white collar crime

Financially motivated nonviolent crime committed by business and government professionals.

Describe how any of the three special categories of crime discussed in this chapter are significant today.

Hate crime, crime against women, and Corporate/White Collar crime is significant today because it reveals what makes it occur, how to defend these crimes, and how to prevent these crimes from happening. Also, these crimes brought on positive changes as well, for example for hate crime LGBT victims are protected by laws punishing perpetrators who attack or harass these victims.

Sexual Battery

Intentional and wrongful physical contact with a person, without his or her consent, that entails a sexual component or purpose.

Compare and Contrast the UCR and NCVS data-collection and reporting programs.

One comparison is crime statistics from the UCR/NIBRS reveal crime patterns that are often the bases for social policies created to deter or reduce crime. These policies in more elaborate interpretations of the statistical information. Unfortunately, researchers too often forget that statistics which are merely descriptive, can be weak in explanatory power. For example, NCVS data show that "household crime rates" are highest for households, headed by blacks, headed by younger people, with six or more members, headed by renters, and located in central cities. Another comparison, the UCR/NIBRS and the NCVS programs are not without problems. In contrast to the UCR/NIBRS dependence on crimes reported by victims who seek out the police, the NCVS relies on door-to-door surveys and personal interviews for its data Survey results, however, may be skewed for several reasons.

Stalking

Repeatedly following, harassing, or threatening an individual

Describe the FBI's UCR/NIBRS program, including its history, and what it tells us about crime in the United States today.

The FBI's UCR program is a statistical reporting program run by the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) division. The UCR program began in 1930 when Congress authorized the U.S. attorney general to survey crime in America, and the FBI was designated to implement the program. Today, approximately 18,000 law enforcement agencies provide crime information for the program with data coming from city, county, university and college, tribal, and state departments. NIBRS is an incident-based reporting system that collects data on every single crime occurrence. NIBRS data are replacing the kinds of summary data that have been traditionally been provided by the FBI's UCR program. The NIBRS program began in 1988, the new UCR/NIBRS gathers many details about each criminal incident. Included among them is information on place of occurrence, weapon used, type and value of property damaged or stolen, etc. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Education reported that 14 murders and 4,453 rapes occurred on U.S. college campuses in 2014. Also reported were 1,259 robberies, 2,235 aggravated assaults, 14, 011 burglaries, and 3,126 motor vehicle thefts. In general, the UCR/NIBRS reported rates are computed as the number of crimes per some unit of population. National reports generally make use of large units of population, such as 100,000 people.

How does the NCVS differ from the UCR/NIBRS? Which program would you regard as more reliable? Why?

The NCVS differs from the UCR/NIBRS by the way they receive data, NCVS relies on door-to-door surveys and personal interviews for its data survey results, however, may be skewed for several reasons. While the UCR/NIBRS depends on crime reported by victims who seek out the police. I think the UCR/NIBRS is more reliable because even though most victims don't show up, but when they do, they give their most accurate information that they can remember to the police. Although the UCR/NIBRS has been around for almost eighty years, they changed their ways with the changing times.

Describe the NCVS program, including its purpose, history, and what it tells us about crime in the United States today.

The NCVS is an annual survey of selected American households conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics to determine the extent of criminal victimization-especially unreported victimization-in the United States. The NCVS was first conducted in 1972, by efforts built in the late 60s by the National Opinion Research Center and the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice to uncover what some had been calling the dark figure of crime. NCVS's early data changed the way criminologists thought about crime in the United States. The NCVS for 2014 data showed that 54% of all violent victimizations, and 63.3% of thefts, were not reported to the police.

Describe the history or the NCVS/ What do data from the NCVS tell us about crime in the US today?

The NCVS is an annual survey of selected American households conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics to determine the extent of criminal victimization-especially unreported victimization-in the United States. The NCVS was first conducted in 1972, by efforts built in the late 60s by the National Opinion Research Center and the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice to uncover what some had been calling the dark figure of crime. NCVS's early data changed the way criminologists thought about crime in the United States. The NCVS for 2014 data showed that 54% of all violent victimizations, and 63.3% of thefts, were not reported to the police. Also, since 1993, the rate of property crime declined from 351.8 to 131.4 victimizations per 1,000 households.

Describe the historical development of the FBI's UCR and list the crimes it reports. How is the ongoing implementation of the NIBRS changing the UCR program? How do data reported under the new UCR/NIBRS differ from the crime statistics reported under the traditional UCR program?

The UCR was developed in 1930 when Congress authorized the U.S. attorney general to survey crime in America, and the FBI was designated to implement the program. The seven offenses it reports are murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. In 1979 by congressional mandate, and eighth offense-arson. The NIBRS is changing the UCR program by enhancing the quantity, quality, and methodology used for compiling, analyzing, auditing, and publishing the collected data. Also, the UCR/NIBRS beyond the sheer increase in the volume of data collected, is the ability that NIBRS provides to break down and combine crime offense data into specific information. Data reported under the new UCR/NIBRS differ by the rates computed as the number of crimes per unit of population. Also, since the FBI's UCR program began, there have been three major shifts in crime rates-and we now seem to be witnessing the beginning of a fourth. The first occurred during the early 40s, the second noteworthy in offense statistics was a dramatic increase in most forms of crime between 1960 and the early 90s. The third shift is a significant decline in the rates of most major crimes being reported between 1991 and 2014. A fourth shift in crime trends may be on the horizon, some think that recent economic uncertainty, an increased jobless rate among unskilled workers, the growing number of ex-convicts who are back on the streets, the recent growth in the teenage population in this country, etc.

What are the special categories of crime discussed in this chapter? Why are they important?

The special categories of crime discussed in this chapter are: crime against women, crime against the elderly, hate crime, Corporate and White-collar crime, Organized crime, Gun crime, Drug crime, Cyber-crime, and Terrorism. These crimes are important because social relevance is a central distinguishing feature of any meaningful typology, and it is with that in mind that these briefly highlighted crimes are special importance today.

motor vehicle theft

The theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle. A motor vehicle is defined as a self-propelled road vehicle that runs on land surface and not on rails. The stealing of trains, planes, boats, construction equipment, and most farm machinery is classified as larceny under the UCR/NIBRS Program, not as motor vehicle theft.

Murder

The unlawful killing of a human being. Murder is a generic term that in a common usage may include first-and second-degree murder, manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, and other similar offenses.

Robbery

The unlawful taking or attempted taking of property that is in the immediate possession of another by force or violence and/or putting the victim in fear. Armed robbery differs from unarmed, or strong-armed, robbery in that it involves a weapon. Contrary to popular conceptions highway robbery does not necessarily occur on a street-and rarely in a vehicle. The term highway robbery applies to any form of robbery that occurs outdoors in a public place.

larceny-theft

The unlawful taking or attempted taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property, from the possession or constructive possession of another.

International Terrorism

The unlawful use of force or violence by a group or an individual who has some connection to a foreign power or whose activities Transcend national boundaries against people or property in order to intimidate or coerce a government.

Domestic Terrorism

The unlawful use of force or violence by a group or an individual who is based and operates entirely within the United States and its territories without foreign direction and whose acts are directed at elements of the U.S. government or population.

Cyberstalking

The use of the Internet, e-mail, and other electronic communication technologies to stalk another person.

organized crime

The work of a group that regulates relations among criminal enterprises involved in illegal activities, including prostitution, gambling, and the smuggling and sale of illegal drugs.

Transnational offenses

Unlawful activity that occurs across international boundaries

transnational organized crime

Unlawful activity undertaken and supported by organized criminal groups operating across national boundaries.

hate crime

a criminal act against a person or a person's property by an offender motivated by racial or other bias