Chapter 3
Defining and Measuring
Crime
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Learning Objective 1
Discuss the primary goals of civil law and
criminal law and explain how these goals
are realized.
AP Photo/Pocono Record, Keith R. Stevenson
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Classifications of Crime
• Civil Law
• Criminal Law
– Civil court is concerned
with responsibility
– Criminal court is
concerned with guilt
– The burden of proof is
preponderance of the
evidence
– The burden of proof is
beyond a reasonable
doubt
– The remedy for violations
of civil law is
compensation
– The remedy for violations
is some form of
punishment
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Classifications of Crime
• Felonies
– More serious or
atrocious than
misdemeanors
– Punishable by death or
imprisonment in a
penitentiary for a period
of a year or longer
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• Misdemeanors
– Less serious crimes
– Punishable by a fine
and/or incarceration in a
local jail for up to one
year
Discussion Question
Sexting
• Discuss examples of sexting (i.e. words, pictures,
pornography, solicitation).
• Should this be a crime? If so, why, and if not, why
not?
• Felony or misdemeanor?
• What if a child is involved in sexting?
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Classifications of Crime
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Learning Objective 2
Explain the differences between crimes
mala in se and mala prohibita.
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Classifications of Crime
• Mala in Se
• Mala Prohibita
– Acts that are inherently
wrong, regardless of
whether they are
prohibited by law
– Acts that are made illegal
by criminal statute and
are not necessarily wrong
in and of themselves
– Examples include murder,
rape, and theft
– Examples include
speeding and loitering
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Discussion Question
Drugs: to legalize or not?
• Provide reasons why marijuana should be legalized.
• Discuss what other drugs should be legalized and
why.
• Discuss why drugs should not be legalized.
• Discuss your opinion on the federal government
controlling drug use.
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Learning Objective 3
Identify the publication in which the FBI
reports crime data and list the three ways
in which the data are reported.
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Measuring Crime in the US
• The Uniform Crime Report (UCR)
• Produced by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Includes data collected from 17,500 policing
agencies each year, including:
– Number of arrests
– Number of crimes reported
– Number of officers
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Measuring Crime in the US
• Part I Offenses:
– Violent Crimes
– Property Crimes
• Part II Offenses:
– Includes all crimes that do not fall into the category
of Part I offenses
– Measured only by arrest data
– Occur five times more often than Part I offenses
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Measuring Crime in the US
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Measuring Crime in the US
• The National Incident-Based Reporting System
– Expanded the UCR
– Collects data on each single crime within 22 offense
categories of 46 specific crimes
– 4 data sets:
•
•
•
•
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Offense
Victim
Offender
Arrestees
Measuring Crime in the US
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Learning Objective 4
Distinguish between the National Crime
Victimization Survey (NCVS) and selfreported surveys.
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AP Photo/Press of Atlantic City, Danny Drake
Victims of Crime
• Victim Surveys are a method of gathering
information in which citizens are surveyed directly
regarding their criminal victimizations.
– Victim surveys attempt to uncover the dark figure of
crime.
• Self-report surveys ask respondents to tell about
their criminal activities.
– Reliability is an issue.
– Self-report surveys are also an attempt to measure
the dark figure of crime.
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Victims of Crime
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Learning Objective 5
Describe the three ways that victim’s rights
legislation increases the ability of crime
victims to participate in the criminal justice
system.
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Victims of Crime
• Crime Victims’ Rights Act of 2004
– Victim’s right to participate in the system
• Legislative action
– The right to be informed
– The right to be present
– The right to be heard
• Enforceability
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Learning Objective 6
Discuss one major concern regarding victim
participation in the criminal justice process.
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Victims of Crime
•
•
•
•
•
Anger
Guilt
Shame
Grief
Repeat victimization
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•
•
•
•
•
PTSD
Anxiety
Depression
Drug use
Suicidal tendencies
Learning Objective 7
Identify the three factors most often used
by criminologists to explain changes in the
nation’s crime rate.
Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images
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Crime Trends in the US
• The “usual suspects” of crime fluctuation:
– Imprisonment
– Youth populations
– The economy
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Learning Objective 8
Explain why income level appears to be
more important than race or ethnicity
when it comes to crime trends.
Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Newscom
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Crime Trends in the US
• Crime, Race, and Poverty:
– In general, poor people and minorities commit more
crimes and are more often the victims of crimes,
than wealthier people and whites.
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Learning Objective 9
Discuss the prevailing explanation for the
rising number of women incarcerated in the
United States.
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Crime Trends in the US
• Women and Crime:
– Crime is a predominantly male activity, however
female offending rates are steadily increasing.
– Criminal Justice System is now more willing to
incarcerate women.
– Explanations include Adler’s “liberation hypothesis”
and the “get-tough” on crime movement.
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Discussion Question
Crime Woman
• Research “The Antifreeze Killer” Lynn Turner.
• Discuss the reasons for her to commit crime.
• Discuss your opinion as it relates to the criminal
justice system regarding her sentence.
• How would you have changed the case sentencing?
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