NCJ Number
206896
Journal
Journal of Quantitative Criminology Volume: 20 Issue: 2 Dated: June 2004 Pages: 89-116
Date Published
June 2004
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This study examined inequalities in crime victimization for the period 1974 through 2000.
Abstract
Previous research has established that criminal victimization is distributed unequally across the population, disproportionately affecting minorities and those in lower economic groups. The current study focused on uncovering the casual factors that mediate the relationship between different income groups and victimization inequality. Two main questions framed the study: (1) has the distribution of different kinds of criminal victimization across income groups changed in the United States since the early 1970’s, and (2) have demographic shifts in the population contributed to those changes by concentrating high-risk groups in lower economic classes? Data were drawn from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and its predecessor, the National Crime Survey (NCS). The study focused on violent crime, theft, and burglary for the years 1974 through 2000. Various measures of inequality were computed that compared criminal victimization across income groups. Results revealed that several types of victimization, in particular non-stranger violence, have become increasingly concentrated among the poor over the past 25 years. The growth in equality is not due to greater victimization among the poor, but rather to a large decrease in victimization among the wealthy. Shifts in the demographic make-up of the population explain a “respectable but not overwhelming” share of the trends in inequality for violent victimization. The findings indicate that additional research on this topic should involve descriptive, normative, and explanatory scholarship. Figures, tables, references