CRJ 155 - Measuring Delinquency 

• This is the subject of chapter 2
• Here we consider some of the sources of data researchers and policy makers use
• We also consider some of the problems inherent in these sources
• A special section is devoted to child abuse and neglect
• Then we examine how much delinquency there is, including racial and gender differences

What is Crime? 

• Popular conceptions of crime are distortions of reality, like a “carnival mirror.”
• Ask most people to describe a typical crime and typical criminal and they will describe things like murder, assault, robbery, etc. and a lower class black male.
• Examine prime-time television to see this.  No Enron-type crimes ever portrayed, yet these are the worst crimes.
• There are many behaviors that exact a great deal of harm to millions of people but are not usually defined as crimes – such as a multitude of human rights violations both here and abroad.
• A topic rarely discussed is that of “state crime” – this involves harmful behavior committed by the US and other nations, causing the deaths of millions and serious property damage.
• Corporate and white collar crime costs Americans at least $1 trillion each year.
• This said, we do need to consider in some detail the more traditional crimes youth commit that end up in the juvenile justice system.
• Note the difficulties measuring “gangs” in chapter 2

FBI Crime Classifications: The Uniform Crime Reports 

• Each year the FBI publishes a report called Crime in the United States, Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) which you can get on the Internet. http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm
• Crimes known to the police and Persons Arrested are the two major sections of this report.
• Two Major Crime Categories:

–        Index Crimes (like the Dow Jones Index)

•         There are 8 of these

–        Part II Crimes

•         There are 21 of these, with the largest category being “All other offenses.”

• It should be noted that many of these offenses are not specific crimes per se, but rather are categories of different kinds of crimes.
• The category of “other assaults” is important, since arrest rates for this offense have increased a great deal in recent years (mostly fights on school grounds and domestic disputes)

 Index Crimes Include

• Violent Crimes

–        Murder and non-negligent manslaughter

–        Robbery

–        Aggravated Assault

–        Forcible Rape

• Property Crime

–        Burglary

–        Larceny/theft

–        Motor Vehicle theft

–        Arson

Status Offenses 

• Acts applying only to those under a certain age, normally 18

• These are:

–        Running away

–        Truancy

–        Curfew law violations

–        Liquor law violations (technically in most states these laws apply to those under 21)

–        Incorrigible, unmanageable, beyond control, etc. which are often lumped together under a general heading, such as CHINS (Children in Need of Supervision) or PINS (Persons in Need of Supervision), etc. 

Sources of Data on Delinquency 

• FBI Uniform Crime Report (already mentioned)
• Juvenile Court Statistics
• Self-reported Crime Data

–        Asks respondents to tell about their criminal activities.

–        Measures the “dark figure of crime”.

–        Reveals that crime is a very common activity.

–        Demonstrates youth crime is spread throughout the social classes.

–        Is probably a reliable measure of trends over a period of time.

• victimization surveys

 The Importance of Alcohol & Drugs 

• When looking at arrest figures, notice how prominent a role drugs and alcohol play, both directly and indirectly, in most crimes
• Those directly related include drug-abuse violations, driving under the influence, drunkenness, and liquor law violations, Add disorderly conduct (which usually involves drinking and/or drug use), the percentage is even greater
• the connection between crime and drugs or alcohol may be even greater, for about one-half of all murders are drug or alcohol related and at least the same proportion of other crimes of violence have a similar relationship with drugs or alcohol
• There is really no way of knowing how many of these offenses are being committed – how many people in Las Vegas leave one of the hundreds of bars who are legally drunk on any given night?
• Likewise, how many people possess some illegal substance on any given night?

Visibility, class and race 

• Arrests for these offenses are more of a measure of police activity, and
• of the visibility of certain groups of people, than a measure of criminal behavior itself.
• The term visibility is important, as one criminologist noted many years ago:

–        the transgressions of lower-class persons are much more visible than are the transgressions of middle-class persons.  Crowded living conditions create an environment in which most behavior, even that which occurs in one’s own home, is susceptible to screening by the neighbors and by law enforcement officials.  Domestic disputes, drinking to excess and other quasi-illegal acts are much more likely to be seen in the lower classes than in the middle classes  

•         The “war on drugs” is particularly relevant here, as the drug enforcers are under constant pressure to make arrests and engage in very visible “drug busts” – they often make the headlines

•         Incidentally, the most recent estimate of the illegal drug market worldwide ranges between $45 and $280 billion.

•         I bring this up only to illustrate the fact that these so-called “drug busts” barely put a dent in this huge market.

 How Much Delinquency and Crime? 

• There is what many refer to as the “Dark Figure” of Crime, meaning crime that never gets reported and does not end up with an arrest

 Why so much hidden crime? 

• There are literally hundreds of acts that are prohibited by law.  Many of these acts lack precise definition, such as "disorderly conduct" and "disturbing the peace.”
• Many illegal acts are committed out of public view, such as possession and/or sale of illegal drugs. 

–        These and other so-called "victimless crimes" often do not involve a complaining victim.  

• In order to know the true extent of crime each individual would have to be monitored 24 hours a day which would be an admittedly horrible and unlikely state of affairs.
• Therefore, the only realistic sources of knowledge are crimes that come to the attention of local police or other authorities  and those admitted by perpetrators and/or victims to sources other than criminal justice practitioners (that is, those administering victimization surveys).

 Given this huge “dark figure” several alternatives have been created 

• Self-reported Crime Data

–        Asks respondents to tell about their criminal activities.

–        Measures the “dark figure of crime”.

–        Reveals that crime is a very common activity.

–        Demonstrates youth crime is spread throughout the social classes.

–        Is probably a reliable measure of trends over a period of time.

• National Crime Victim Survey

–        Data is gathered by the Bureau of Census and compiled by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

–        Sample includes 100,000 people in 50,000 households.

–        Respondents are over the age of 12.

–        Respondents queried every six months about household and personal victimizations.

 What do self report studies tell us? 

• Monitoring the Future

–        This is an annual report from the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research that surveys around 3,000 youths selected randomly.

–        Most youths committed at least one delinquent act during the previous year, but few got caught.

• National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (Bureau of Labor Statistics)

–        Representative sample of 9,000 youth between the ages of 12 and 16

–        Results shown in Table 2.7

–        Few racial differences found.

•         While several criticisms have been made, several methods have been devised to combat these problems, so that such surveys are highly reliable.

•         Perhaps the most important findings of these surveys is that they show few racial differences as far as illegal drug use is concerned

–        Yet the racial differences in arrests rates are huge, with black youth at least 5 times more likely to be arrested