NCJ Number
70212
Date Published
1979
Length
302 pages
Annotation
This portion of the National Crime Survey (NCS) develops detailed information about the victims and consequences of crime through a survey conducted in 26 U.S. cities between 1972 and 1977, consisting of about 72,000 sample units.
Abstract
The surveys provide measures for the following types of crimes, including attempted crimes; rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny, and auto or motor vehicle theft. Crimes such as murder, kidnapping, shoplifting, and gambling do not lend themselves to this type of survey and therefore are not covered. This survey examines victimization, the consequences of a criminal act as it affects a single victim, in order to gather information on general attitudes toward crime, the public's view of the police, the fear of crime and the effect of this fear on behavioral patterns such as choice of shopping area and places of entertainment. In addition, the NCS data records contain weights that may be used to achieve incident estimates of those specific criminal acts involving one or more victims. Questions designed to obtain data on the characteristics and circumstances of the victimization were asked in each incident report. Items such as time and place of occurrence, injuries suffered, medical expenses incurred, number, age, race and sex of offender(s), relationship of offender(s) to victim, and other detailed data relevant to a complete description of the incident were included in the report. A glossary and survey instruments are appended. (Author abstract modified).