CCJS105 1 Monday January 31 2011 Introduction o Easy questions Official data filters out some crimes that are never recorded by police Who is it committing crimes o Funnel effect of crime o Goal Get a source close to the top of the funnel o How much crime is there Uniform Crime Report UCR Standardized Voluntary reporting by local PDs Includes 97 of PDs 3 pieces o Crime known to law enforcement o Clearance rate o Police employee data Part I Offenses index offenses theft arson Part II Offenses Not used in crime rate Many crimes not included in crime rate of index crimes Population 100 000 Crime rate Limitation of UCR o Murder rape agg Assault burglary larceny theft motor vehicle Only crimes reported to police Hierarchy rule Only filled out for most serious event Aggregate level data Emphasis on street crime Classification Putting details of an event into boxes on report can be tricky Changes in reporting and recording will affect statistics National Incident Based Reporting System NIBRS Incident level stuff more details on victims and offender Why is NIBRS stuck o Technology in PDs o Huge codebook o Increasing police paperwork The Dark Figure of Crime All of the offenses not captured in official data How do we know about it o Surveys and self reports National Crime Victimization Survey NCVS o National sample of 50 000 houses o Data represented by rate o Unfiltered by official reporting o Weaknesses Self Report Measures Only personal and household crimes False or mistaken reports Memory decay telescoping Selection bias o National Youth Survey NYS o Victimless crimes captured o More crimes reported than victim surveys o Limitations Mainly youth samples Dishonesty memory issues A lot more people look like criminals School drop outs Alt data gathering strats o Participant observation o Case studies o Life histories o Multi method studies Important measurement issues o Validity Actually testing what we claim o Reliability Same answer every time o Triangulation Using different method do we get same results Classic experimental design o Initial sample Get outcome data 1 Half go to control group 2 Half go to experiment group o Spurious relationship o Non experimental designs Try to control for external factors in mathematical models o Observational data v Experimental data Mimic data through observation Helps draw inferences about relationships programs etc Wednesday February 02 2011 Trends and Correlates of Crime o How has the Recession impacted crime Crime has dropped nationally But o Correlates Age Murders increased in some places Property crimes increase in rural places Crime is cyclical When interpreting crime trend data consider changes in Sources of information Population shifts Changing types of crime Changes in recording practices Aprox Half of all arrested are 25 or younger Juveniles o 8 of pop o But 15 of all index crimes o 25 of larceny theft Gender Gender is the best predictor Males make up 83 of those arrested Conception of gender matters Is female crime rising o Frita Adler s Sisters in Crime Women are acting more like men will commit crimes like men Since early 1990 s female shit is up 83 but they still don t do much crimes Socioeconomic status Debated about correlate Relationship o Inverse Richer Less crimes o Bimodal Lower class commit crimes Upper class commit crimes Measurement issues What is social class Less debate about social class and prison o Typical prisoner Less than HS education Income below poverty line Blue collar occupations unemployed Only 18 of white collar offenders go to prison for 1 yr Race Disproportionality Racial minority status correlated to crime o 1 in 9 black males ages 20 34 are currently behind bars Why does it work out this way o It s not a cause but a correlate Latino crime Immigration and crime o Historically Latino offenders have been Dropped from sample groups Combined with white or blacks o Immigrant enclaves No crime increase 1st gen immigrants Lower rates of crimes 2nd gen immigrants Higher Additional Family o Poor parental supervision o Parental rejections and neglect o Lack of parent child involvement Education Location o More formal schooling lower arrest rate o South has highest crime rates o But varies by region o Higher in cities But rural crime is rising o Victims correlates o Mass Media and Crime Males minority pop 12 19 lower income Catharsis Hypothesis Boxing reduces crime Precipitation Hypothesis Violent shit makes people more criminal Monday February 07 2011 Criminological Theory o How do we decide what makes a good theory Accuracy Testability Simplicity Broad in scope Policy relevant Solve puzzles Generates interest and feedback Relevant to current sentiment o As you learn about theories consider which one of these is important o Metaphysical Era of Criminology 18th c Scholars philosophers thinking and writing about crime and punishment Classical School of Crim Theory Free will rationality Punishment swift certain severe Goal Deter future crime costs outweigh benefits Key Theorists o Cesare Beccaria o Jeremy Bentham Punishments should be swift certain severe Control crime by making the fear of punishment greater than any benefits from committing the crime People are hedonistic act to maximize pleasure Utilitarian Punishment o Punishment Deter that person and everyone Emergence of Neoclassicism Classicism was embraced for almost 100 yrs o Influential in U S Bill of Rights Beginning in 1870s positivism emerged o Interest in the actor not the actions Mid 20th c classicism reappeared Early Deterrence Theory o Assumptions Humans are rational self interested Guided by utility People make choice to commit crime o Scientifically studying decision making process to commit crime o Sellin 1930 Deterrence and the Death Penalty Deterrence predicts Swift certain severe punishments resulting in less crime Early Deterrence Research 1968 1975 o Macro state level studies official data o Certainty somewhat matters o Severity has weak or no effect o Swiftness not measured Criticisms o Only 1 of 3 components shown any support o Measuring at aggregate level for theory about personal level actions o Non deterrence mechanisms not measured Survey in Calif 1968 o Most people didn t know about State s crime rate Certainty of punishment Severity of punishment for crimes Geerken Gove 1975 o Deterrence theory formally re stated as a perceptual theory o Individual based o As perceived certainty of getting caught increases offending decreases o
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