The Nature and Extent of Crime Official statistics o Data originated from police UCR Uniform Crime Report largest source of data FBI controls it Hoover created it Record of crimes reported to law enforcement Voluntary participation 95 of population is covered by UCR Collects data on Part I and Part II offenses Part I o Rape Changed definition of forcible rape Old definition only recognized females Now recognizes males o Robbery o Larceny o Arson Part II o Forgery o Fraud o Vandalism o Drugs Advantages o Representativeness o Fairly accurate measure of serious crime Disadvantages o The way it s structured o Underestimates crime o 30 60 of crimes are unreported o Not good w minor crimes o Lack of detail Self Report data How do we know it s accurate Take samples Victimization Data Victims report their own crime Doesn t tap into deeply Can t do anything about murders MCVS Survey o Survey 50 000 households o Problems include Doesn t tap into the population that s most likely to be victimized The Nature and Extent of Crime Can t survey homeless no access to mail No one under 12 Who are the victims o 21 million victimization reported o 12 24 age range most likely of being a victim of crime o 20 58 goes unreported o 76 of all offenses were property crime related Theories o Victim Precipitation o 3 Facets Victim proneness Victim Contribution Car doors unlocked Victim Provocation Provokes the defender o Routine Activity Motivated defender Suitable Target Absence of a capable guardian Citizen Fear of Crime Zimrig and Hawkins o Amount and Seriousness of violent crime o Level of fear arousing social conditions o Amount and seriousness of fear arousing cues in media and personal social universe Reality of Crime By people we know Do not involve a weapon Don t result of injury to the victim Corporate crime has more impact than street crime o Not frequent The Blame Game Media Politics o Courts o Corrections Agencies
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