Mainstream and Crosscurrents, Second Edition
Chapter 2
The Nature and
Measurement of Crime
Categories of offenses and offenders
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Offenses against the person: Homicide,
sexual assault, robbery, and assault.
Offenses against property: Burglary,
arson, embezzlement, larceny/theft, and
auto theft.
Offenses against the public order: Drug
use, disturbing the peace, drunkenness,
and prostitution.
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Offenses against the person
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The most serious penalties are reserved for
these offenses. Motivations include:
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Interpersonal disputes
Instrumental violence
Group violence
Chronic violent offenders
Political violence
Rape and sexual assault
Robbery
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Offenses against property
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Burglary is different from larceny/theft.
Motor vehicle theft involves only
automobiles and trucks.
Arson involves fires that are purposely set.
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Offenses against property
Burglary vs. larceny/theft
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Burglary involves the unlawful entry of a
structure to commit a felony or theft.
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Larceny/theft involves the unlawful taking
of another person's property.
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Offenses against public order
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Some offenses involve no discernable
victim.
Victimless crimes involve consensual
interactions or behaviors.
Behaviors include: vagrancy, disorderly
conduct, and liquor law violations.
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Measurement of crime
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Not all offenses are reported.
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Offenses that occur but are not
reported are called the dark
figure of crime.
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Measurement of crime
A crime may not be reported for several
reasons…
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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.
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Measurement of crime
A crime may not be reported for several
reasons…
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The victim believes the offense to be
too trivial to report.
The victim fears reprisal.
The victim feels antipathy toward the
police.
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Measurement of crime
The Dark Figure of Crime
A metaphor that describes offenses
that go unreported to police and
criminal justice officials and is never
quantified.
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Measurement of crime
The Dark Figure of Crime
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Measurement of crime
The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
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The most extensive and useful measure of
crime available.
More than 17,500 city, county, and state
law enforcement agencies voluntarily
report crime data to this program.
The program collects data on over 94% of
the US population.
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The Uniform Crime Reports
FBI Classification of Offenses
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The Uniform Crime Reports
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.
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The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
Sources of error in the UCR…
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Unintentional
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Intentional
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The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
Changes to the UCR
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In 2006, the FBI discontinued the Crime
Index as it was found to poorly indicate the
crime rate within jurisdictions.
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The FBI still calculates crime rates for
individual offenses, violent offenses, and
property offenses.
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,
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The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
Changes to the UCR
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Violent crimes
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Murder and nonnegligent
manslaughter
Forcible rape
Robbery
Aggravated
assault
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Property crimes
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17
Burglary
Larceny-theft
Motor vehicle theft
Arson
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The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
What is meant by crime rate?
The number of Crime Index offenses
divided by the population of an area,
usually given as a rate of crimes per
100,000 people.
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Calculating the crime rate
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CrossCurrents Measurement of crime
The danger zone
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The FBI compiles the UCR so that the
statistics can be used for administrative
purposes, criminal justice research, and
community planning.
Do you agree with criminologists and the
FBI that the UCR statistics should not be
used to compile popular rankings?
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The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
National Incident-Based Reporting System
(NIBRS)
Constructed to to gather data on each
criminal act even if several acts are
committed within the same complex of
behavior.
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The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
NIBRS Group A Offenses
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Arson
Assault offenses
Bribery
Burglary/breaking and
entering
Counterfeiting/forgery
Destruction/damage/
vandalism of property
Drug/narcotic offenses
Embezzlement
Extortion/blackmail
Fraud offenses
Gambling offenses
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Homicide offenses
Kidnapping/abduction
Larceny/theft offenses
Motor vehicle theft
Pornography/obscene
material
Prostitution offenses
Robbery
Sex offenses, forcible
Sex offenses, non-forcible
rape
Stolen-property offenses
Weapon law violations
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The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
NIBRS Group B Offenses
 Bad checks
 Curfew/loitering/vagrancy
violations
 Disorderly conduct
 Driving under the influence
 Drunkenness
 Family offenses, nonviolent
Criminal Justice: Mainstream and Crosscurrents, 2/e
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Liquor law violations
"Peeping tom"
Runaway
Trespass of real property
All other offenses
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Measurement of crime
Victimization surveys
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A method for trying to ascertain the level of
unreported crime.
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Victimization surveys ask victims of crime
about their experiences.
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Measurement of crime
Self-report studies
Individuals are asked to identify the types of
offenses they have committed over the study
period.
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Measurement of crime
What part of the crime picture do reporting
methods
miss or obscure?
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Corporate crime
Organized crime
Drug sales
Prostitution and gambling
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Measurement of Crime
Measuring white-collar and corporate crime is difficult
for several reasons...
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The UCR and NIBRS primarily reflect
street crime.
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White-collar and corporate crime typically
fall within federal jurisdiction.
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Much of the investigation and regulation of
corporate and white-collar crime is done
by regulatory agencies and professional
associations.
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Fear of crime
According to Joel Best, perceptions of
violence are constructed not by official
measures of crime, but by the media, which
can distort and sensationalize particular
incidents.
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Fear of crime
Only the direct consumers of crime statistics are
affected by crime-measuring limitations.
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Government funding agencies, law enforcement
departments, and the media are concerned with
understanding the crime picture.

Where does fear of crime come from? Is it
justified?
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CrossCurrents Fear of crime
The social security check phenomenon
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Although the elderly might fear crime more
than younger people, they actually
experience less crime.

Why would the elderly fear crime more
than younger people?
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Fear of crime
Best’s three popular conceptions that
compose the idea of random
violence...
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Patternlessness
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Pointlessness
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Deterioration of society
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Questions

What are the three major types of
offenses?
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What is the dark figure of crime?

Calculate a crime rate.
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© 2010 Pearson Higher Education,
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