Effective Countermeasures Against Crimes Related to Urbanisation and Industrialisation: Urban Crime, Juvenile Delinquency and Environmental Crime (From UNAFEI Report for 1993 and Resource Material Series No. 45, P 152-169 1994, See NCJ-155489)

• NCJ Number: 155495
• Author(s): D Biles
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 18 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: Japan
• Note: US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, International Crime Statistics Program.

Annotation

This paper discusses the measurement and reporting of criminal behavior through the use of crime victim surveys in Australia, along with a proposed crime prevention strategy.

Abstract

A general picture of crime in Australia for 1900-77 shows that between the turn of the century and the end of World War II, the level of crime was reasonably static. From 1945 through 1977, the rate of criminal charges being brought more than doubled. The statistics, however, may reflect less an increase in crime than increased police activity and more accurate reporting of crime. Victim surveys show that slightly less than half of all offenses are reported to the police. This article presents narrative discussion and data that consider why crime victims do not report offenses to the police. Data and information pertinent to victim characteristics and offenses present the estimated incidence rate of car theft by key characteristics of the households in Australia, the estimated incidence rates for sexual incidents by key victim characteristics, and the incidence rates of other violent crimes by key victim characteristics. The proposed general strategy for crime prevention involves a detailed consideration of the law, the reduction of motivational opportunities for crime, and the provision of an efficient criminal justice system.