PUBLIC SAFETY - CRIME IS UP, BUT WHAT ABOUT PUNISHMENT? (FROM AMERICA IN THE SEVENTIES - SOME SOCIAL INDICATORS, 1978, BY CONRAD TAEUBER - SEE NCJ-51908)

• NCJ Number: 51909
• Author(s): D SEIDMAN
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 20 pages
• Grant Number(s): SOC74-07148
• Sponsoring Agency: National Science Foundation
• Corporate Author: American Academy of Political and Social Science
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THE STATISTICS REPORTED IN SOCIAL INDICATORS, 1976, A DOCUMENT ISSUED BY THE U.S. OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET, SHOW THAT CRIME AND ARREST RATES HAVE RISEN. DATA IMPLICATIONS AND VALIDITY ARE DISCUSSED.

Abstract

STATISTICS FOR THE YEARS 1960-1976 SHOW THAT TRENDS FOR MURDER, RAPE, ROBBERY, AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, BURGLARY, LARCENY, AND MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT ARE UPWARD, BUT THESE TRENDS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS ARE UNCLEAR SINCE MANY CRIMES GO UNREPORTED, CRIME CLASSIFICATIONS ARE CHANGING, AND THE VARIOUS PROCEDURES UNDERTAKEN BY THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION TO ESTIMATE THE AMOUNT OF CRIME INTERFERE WITH DATA INTEGRITY. THE NATIONAL CRIME SURVEY (NCS), A CONTINUING NATIONAL SAMPLE SURVEY PROGRAM WHICH COUNTS VICTIMIZATIONS, IS DISCUSSED IN RELATION TO THE UNIFORM CRIME REPORTING PROGRAM WHICH COUNTS OFFENSES REPORTED TO POLICE DEPARTMENTS. NCS ALLOWS A MORE DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF VICTIMIZATION IN SOCIETY, BUT THE DATA IN SOCIAL INDICATORS, 1976 REFLECT INSUFFICIENT ANALYSIS. DATA INDICATE THAT YOUTH CRIME HAS RISEN SIGNIFICANTLY, THAT MEN HAVE HIGHER VICTIMIZATION RATES THAN WOMEN, AND THAT BLACKS HAVE HIGHER VICTIMIZATION RATES FOR CRIMES OF VIOLENCE THAN WHITES, BUT INDEPENDENT EFFECTS OF THE DISPROPORTIONATE AMOUNT OF POOR, YOUNG, AND URBAN-DWELLING BLACKS ARE DISREGARDED. RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN VICTIMS AND OFFENDERS, WHICH HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SOCIAL CHARACTER OF VIOLENT CRIME, ARE LEFT UNREPORTED. ARREST STATISTICS DISREGARD THE DEMOGRAPHIC SHIFT OF THE POPULATION DURING THE TIME PERIOD, THE DIFFERENTIAL POLICE TREATMENT OF WHITES AND BLACKS, AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BLACKS AND WHITES IN AGE AND INCOME DISTRIBUTION. THE INDICATORS FAIL TO POINT OUT THAT ARREST RATES GREW LESS RAPIDLY THAN REPORTED OFFENSE RATES AND THAT THE PRISON POPULATION HAS DECREASED. DATA ON INDIVIDUAL RESPONSES AND OPINIONS ABOUT CRIME ARE LIMITED TO FIREARMS DATA AND AN OPINION SURVEY COVERING 1972-1975. DATA CHARTS FROM THE SOCIAL INDICATORS, 1976 ARE PROVIDED. (DAG)