NCJ Number
178427
Journal
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 36 Issue: 3 Dated: August 1999 Pages: 235-274
Date Published
1999
Length
40 pages
Annotation
Age standardization methods were applied to the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) to assess the effects of changes in age composition on long-term (1980 to 1996) and short-term (1992 to 1996) trends in index crimes.
Abstract
Results revealed large age composition effects on crime rates during the 1980s, but diminishing effects by the mid-1990s. The UCR and NCVS disagreed somewhat about long-term trends, but they agreed about short-term trends. The UCR revealed that age-adjusted crime rates rose in the 1980s, with index crime at about the same level today as it was in 1980. In contrast, the NCVS revealed steadily declining rates throughout the 1980 to the 1996-98 period. Both sources revealed across-the-board declines in crime rates during the Clinton years. Findings suggested that the crime trends resulted from changes in reporting as well as from basic changes in society. Findings also suggested that age composition will not produce a crime explosion in the early 21st century. Figures, tables, notes, and 39 references (Author abstract modified)