week4 db
ismails95
week4-2.pdf
Measuring Crime and Victimization
Measuring Crime and Victimization
Flaws in UCR Data Its origins were from a time when there were no computers/software.
Index cards were used to categorize and file crimes.
1st: It is impossible to count all crime(s)!
2nd: Cards were indexed by the most serious crime; so, for example: if a person was kidnapped, beaten, robbed, and finally murdered— the case would be filed under Murder/Homicide. This is known as the Hierarchy Rule.
Flaws in UCR Data
Definitions of felonious theft? $250+? $1,000+? Varies by State
No repercussions for insufficient; inadequate; or even false reporting!
Video Link
National Incident-Based Reporting System
National Crime Victimization Survey
The NCVS attempts to gather information about crime that is not available from the UCR; e.g., crime not reported to police.
Unreported crime is called the Dark Figure of Crime.
It originated in 1972, and collects information from a representative sample of households who take the survey twice a year for 3.5 years.
*In 2012: 84,000+ rapes reported in the UCR; 345,000+ in the NCVS!
Flaws in the NCVS Data
It relies on self-reporting by victims; may be exaggerated or minimized.
The UCR contains geographical data, where the NCVS does not.
Definitions among crimes vary between the UCR and NCVS.
