Intro to Criminal Justice ch. 2

The Dark Figure of Crime

A metaphor that describes offenses that go unreported to police and criminal justice officials and is never quantified

White-collar Crime

A non-violent criminal offense committed during the course of business for financial gain.

Because it was found to poorly indicated the crime rate within the jurisdiction

Why did the FBI discontinued the Crime Index in 2006?

Victimization Surveys

-A method for trying to ascertain the level of unreported crime. -ask victims of crime about their experiences.

Motivations for offenses against the person

-Interpersonal disputes -Instrumental violence -Group violence -Chronic violent offenders -Political violence -Rape and sexual assault -Robbery

Best's 3 popular conceptions that compose the idea of random violence

-Patternlessness -Pointlessness -Deterioration of society

Sources of error in the UCR

-Unintentional -Intentional

Offenses against public order

-Victimless crimes involve consensual interactions or behaviors. Behaviors include: vagrancy, disorderly conduct, and liquor law violations... are examples of what?

Property crimes

-burglary -larceny-theft -motor vehicle theft -arson

Violent crimes

-murder and non-negligent manslaughter -forcible rape -robbery -aggravated assault

1993, 79.8, 23.2

According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, since _______ the rate of violent crime has declined from ____ to _____ victimizations per 1,000 people.

Joel Best, the media

According to_______, perceptions of violence are constructed not by official measures of crime, but by _________, which can distort and sensationalize particular incidents.

Yes.

Does the FBI still calculate crime rates for individual offenses, violent offenses and property offenses?

Offenses against the public order

Drug use, disturbing the peace, drunkenness, and prostitution

Offense against the person

Homicide, sexual assault, robbery, and assault

2013, 1970

In _______ the violent crime rate was the lowest since _____

The Hierarchy Rule

In a multiple-offense situation, the law enforcement agency must determine which offense occurs highest in the violent crime/property crime hierarchy and record that offense.

Self-report studies

Individuals are asked to identify the types of offenses they have committed over the study period.

Corporate Crime

Offenses committed by a corporation's officers who pursue illegal activity in the corporation's name.

direct consumers

Only ______of crime statistics are affected by crime-measuring limitations.

Street Crime

Wide variety of acts in both public and private spaces, including interpersonal violence and property crime

Violent crime, property crime

_______________ has fallen by 51% since 1991 , and ____________ by 43 %

Crime rate

the # of crime index offenses divided by the population of am area, usually given as a rate of crimes per 100,000 people

Offenses against property

Burglary, arson, embezzlement, larceny/theft, and auto theft

National Incident-based Reporting System

Constructed to gather data on each criminal act even if several acts are committed within the same complex of behavior.

1991

The National crime rate today is about half of what is was at its height in ____________?

Problems of definition

The interpretation of behaviors that seem to be criminal offenses can be problematic

Problems of resources

Thousands of criminal justice jurisdictions report official criminal justice statistics

Reasons why a crime may not be reported

What are these? -An offense may be so subtle that it is never known to have happened. -An offense may not be perceived as such. -The offender is a family member, friend, or acquaintance. -The victim believes the offense to be too trivial to report. -The victim fears reprisal. -The victim feels antipathy toward the police.

Reasons why white-collar and corporate crime is difficult to measure

What are these? -The UCR and NIBRS primarily reflect street crime. -White-collar and corporate crime typically fall within federal jurisdiction. -Much of the investigation and regulation of corporate and white-collar crime is done by regulatory agencies and professional associations.

Uniform Crime Report (UCR)

What is this? -The most extensive and useful measure of crime available. -More than 18,000 city, county, and state law enforcement agencies voluntarily report crime data to this program. -The program collects data on about 98% of the US population.

Moter vehicle theft

What kind of theft involves only automobiles and trucks?

-Corporate crime -Organized crime -Drug sales -Prostitution and gambling

What part of the crime picture do reporting methods miss or obscure?

Problems of politics

public officials do not want their communities perceived as high-crime areas