Chapter 2: The Nature and Measurement of Crime

Victimization

3-Group typology 1. Violent Crime: these offenses include the violent personal offenses of homicide, rape, sexual assault, robbery, and assault 2. Property Crime: these offenses include burglary, arson, embezzlement, larceny-theft, and auto-theft 3. Public-Order Crime: these offenses include drug use, disturbing the peace, drunkenness, prostitution, and some forms of gambling

Larceny

A form of theft in which an offender takes possessions that do not belong to him or her with the intent of keeping them

Victime Precipitation

A situation in which a crime victim plays an active role in initiating a crime or escalating it

Dark Figure of Crime

crime that is unknown to authorities

Why is crime decreasing?

-incarceration -immigration -improved automobile security -more police, better policing -legalized abortion -less risky behavior, changes in values, and an aging population

Victimless Crime

Activities such as gambling or prostitution that are deemed undesirable because they offend community standards rather than directly harm people or property; public-order crimes

Corporate Crime

Illegal activity in the corporation's name

Violent Crime

Interpersonal Disputes (e.g. victim precipitation) Instrumental violence Group Violence Serial and Mass Murder Political Violence (e.g. terrorism) Rape and Sexual Assault Robbery

Perception of crime

Patternless Pointless Deterioration of Society Violent Crime: wilding, freeway violence, stalking

Street Crime

Small-scale, person offenses such as single-victim homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, and vandalism

LO1: Define street crime

Small-scale, person offenses such as single-victim homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, and vandalism.

White-Collar Crime

Nonviolent criminal offense committed during the course of business for financial gain

Uniform Crime Reports

Annual publication by the FBI that uses data from all participating law enforcement agencies in the United States to summarize the indigence and rate of reported crime -unintentional sources of error -intentional sources of error

Arson

Any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn a dwelling, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, or personal property of another

LO6: List some behaviors that fit into the category of offenses against the public order

Behaviors that fit into the category of offenses against the public order include drug use and sales, loitering, gambling, prostitution, vagrancy, disorderly conduct, and liquor law violation.

LO9: Compare and contrast the National Crime Victimization Survey and self-report studies

Both the NCVS and self-report studies try to capture the dark figure of crime and measure offenses the UCR and NIBRS missed. In contrast, the NCVS asks victims about their experiences, whereas self-report studies question respondents about what offenses they committed.

Burglary

Breaking into and entering a structure or vehicle with intent to commit a felony or a theft

LO2: Differentiate corporate crime from white-collar crime

Corporate crime involves breaking laws in the otherwise lawful pursuit of profit. White-collar crime is a nonviolent criminal offense committed during the course of business for financial gain. White-collar crime may involve employees harming the corporation.

National Incident-Based Reporting System

Crime-reporting system in which each separate offense in a crime is describes, including data describing the offender(s), victim(s), and property

LO4: Provide some motivations for violent crime

Interpersonal Disputes: violence is sometimes the means of last resort to settle disputes. Instrumental Violence: violence is sometimes used as a means to another criminal end. Group Violence: a source of motivation to commit violence can be found in the dynamics of certain groups. Serial and Mass Murder: sometimes violence is instrumental as a part of a larger pattern of crime, as with serial murder, and sometimes it seems random and indiscriminate, as with mass murder. Political Violence: some offenses are meant to send a message. This is the case with political violence, of which the most well-known type is terrorism. Rape and Sexual Assault: the past 40 years have seen as increased awareness of the definition of what types of behavior constitute sexual assault and greater legal rotecntionf for victims. Robbery: robbery varies by location, whether own the street or within an institutions, such as a bank or convince store.

LO3: Discuss why street crime receives more attention that corporate and white-collar crime

People are more afraid of street crime because it is sometimes violent. It also gets more media attention and id easier for the public to understand. Corporate and white-collar offenses may take years to perpetrate and investigate, whereas most street crime happens relatively quickly. The FBI's Uniform Crime Reports focus on street crime, whereas corporate and white-collar crime have no single official measurement.

Rape

Sexual activity, usually sexual intercourse, that is forced on another person without his or her consent, usually under threat of harm. Also sexual activity conducted with a person who is incapable of valid consent.

Sexual Assault

Sexual contact that is committed without the other party's consent or with a party who is incapable of giving consent

LO7: Explain what the Uniform Crime Reports are

The FBI's Uniform Crime Reports are the most extensive and useful measure of crime available. The annual publication copies the volume and rate of crime offenses for the states and many cities and counties. It also includes arrest, clearance, and law enforcement employee data. The UCR is a cooperative statistical effort of law enforcement agencies that voluntarily report data on the offenses they know about. The program's main objective is to provide reliable information for use in law enforcement administration, operation, and management.

LO8: Use the hierarchy rule to differentiate the Uniform Crime Reports from the National Incident-Based Reporting System

The UCR country only the top-ranked offenses in the offense hierarchy. The NIBRS gathers data on each criminal offense in the hierarchy even if several offenses are committed at once.

Crime Rate

The number of Crime Index offenses divided by the population of an area, usually five as a rate of crimes per 100,000 people

National Crime Victimization Survey

The primary source of information on criminal victimization in the United States and attempts to measure the extent of crime by interviewing crime victims

LO10: Talk about how the perception of crime differs from the incidence of crime

The public often thinks that crime is more pervasive than statistics show. Many people think violent crime is random, when it usually has clear patterns. A single incident may convince the public that all of crime is on the rise, when actually it is isolated to a single incident or type of crime. The media often fuels the perception of crime with "hot crimes," types of crime that are invented by the media to sensationalize what is often a single incident or small set of incidents.

Robbery

The taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear

LO5: Describe the type of property crime the criminal justice system most successfully measures

The types of property crime that are best measured by the criminal justice system are those in which the offender is a stranger to the victim. Burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson are dealt with by the criminal law and measured by the FBI. The civil law addresses differences in opinion while transacting business.

Terrorism

The use or threat of violence against a state or other political entity in order to coerce

Property Crime

Things to understand when considering the measurement of property crime: -burglary is different from larceny-theft -motor vehicle theft involves only automobiles and trucks -arson involves purposefully set fires

Self-Report Studies

What part of the crime picture do these measures miss or obscure: 1. corporate crime 2. organized crime 3. drug sales 4. prostitution and gambling