Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education Canada Inc Chapter 2 Crime Statistics
Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education Canada Inc A History of Crime Statistics Early 1800s André Michel Guerry and Adolphe Quetelet published the first statistical analysis of crime
Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education Canada Inc Sources of Crime Statistics Uniform Crime Reporting System Statistics Canada Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics Victimization Survey Statistics Canada General Social Survey
Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education Canada Inc Sources of Crime Statistics Uniform Crime Reporting System established in 1961 revised in 1992 based on police reports (Continued)
Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education Canada Inc Sources of Crime Statistics Uniform Crime Reporting System (Continued) categories include crimes of violence, property crimes, other criminal code offences, federal statute violations, provincial statute violations, municipal bylaw violations
Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education Canada Inc Sources of Crime Statistics Shortcomings of the UCR true rates of crime are underestimated (dark figure of crime) inconsistent police reporting methods method used to “count” incidents of crime inconsistent legal definitions
Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education Canada Inc Sources of Crime Statistics Victimization Surveys data collection began in 1981 every 5 years since 1988 information solicited through random telephone surveys of selected households 8 types of victimization recorded Victimization Surveys + UCR provide picture of crime and criminal activity
Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education Canada Inc Sources of Crime Statistics Shortcomings of Victimization Surveys actual crime is over-reported dependent upon memory, honesty of respondents no mechanism to verify information from respondents do not record information on incidents of “victimless” crimes
Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education Canada Inc Sources of Crime Statistics Self-Report Studies conducted by researchers in the field of criminology most studies look at youth information collected through use of surveys, interviews provide a picture of the offender especially with regard to social class shortcomings include inaccuracy of information, lack of standardized collection methods
Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education Canada Inc Social Dimensions of Crime reveal a correlation or association between a measurable variable and crime correlation does not necessarily imply causation correlates of crime are those variables observed to be related to criminal activity
Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education Canada Inc Social Dimensions of Crime Age mostly younger individuals Gender mostly males Ethnicity overrepresentation of Aboriginal Canadians Social Class mostly lower socioeconomic class