NCJ Number
117981
Date Published
1988
Length
9 pages
Annotation
A new dimension to the 1984 British Crime Survey was the measurement of types of crimes in terms of how serious respondents felt them to be; this was done in relation both to offenses which respondents had experienced themselves and to a number of hypothetical offenses.
Abstract
Seriousness ratings were obtained for both, as well as respondents' views of what penalties were appropriate for offenses of differing degrees of seriousness. Findings indicate that most crimes reported were regarded as trivial, although the legal categories into which they fell were poor indicators of how victims viewed their seriousness. Although reporting to the police was heavily influenced by the offense's seriousness, not all offenses regarded as serious were reported, nor were all trivial offenses unreported. An examination of the questions asked of both victims and nonvictims indicates that victimization did not alter people's views about the seriousness of various crime types, except that assault victims rated this offense as more trivial than those who had not been assaulted. Apparently young people considered property crime to be less serious than in the past, although both young and old alike continued to view offenses against the person as the most serious. 13 tables, 52 references.