Chapter 2
Content
Crime picture
Chapter 2
Demographics: pattern distribution in a population Preconception: an understanding or a view formed prior to thoroughly reviewing evidence. Sources: TV news, talk shows, newspapers, magazines and internet.(mass media) form of communication aimed at very large markets. Tend to transmit a distorted image of crime Violent Street crimes are widely covered non violent corporate and white collar crime are underreported
Canadian Mass media sources view crime situation through US lenses giving illusion that Canadian society suffer same degree of social problems that exist south of the border Dowler (2004) Find that there are very differences in the content and presentation of crime stories between Us and Canadian newscasts. Us stories presented in more sensational way Internet contains much accurate and valuable information it contains unreliable and inaccurate material. Population rather than number of incidents an individual has experienced Two tools use to get a picture of crime Victimization and self report surveys Plus official and unofficial statics form the basis of a rendering of crime picture sociologically sound or valid and reliable according to social science standards. Purpose: crime depends on some kind of mapping of frequency and distribution of crime. Theories of crime causation are important if government wish to create policies aimed at reducing or redistributing criminality in society. Before problem requiring action government want to study evidence of the prevalene and frequency of this behaviour argument that money changed laws or redistributed governmental resources MADD(mothers against drunk driving) 5000 in 2005 and 10000 in 2006 Prevalence of crime: number of people participating in crime at a given time. Measured by dividing numbers of offenders by size of population. 50 people in class 5 offender Population of offender divided by population of class 1/10 ratio.
Incidence of Crime: frequency of crime with which offender¶s commit crime or average number of offences per offenders by number of offenders. 5 offenders in class 1 committed 1 offence 3 committed 2 offences 1 committed 17 offences Calculate incidence by adding up the offences dividing that number (20) by number of offenders (5) Rate of 4 offences per offender 4/1 Crime rate: number of offences that occumer per population (cohort a group of people with common demographics. Calculated by totalling all the offences occurring in a given population and dividing that number by population population is denominator-figure underneath the line. Frequency is the numerator figure above the line. A crime rate uses a given denominator 100 000 usually measured as a frequency of offences per 100 000 oeioke 5 offender commited a total of 20 offences in a population of 50 students 20/50 = 2/5 Number of Offences divided by population or can calculate it my prevalence 1/10 By incidence 4/1 Always calculated per year The rate is high because failed to properly account for time. Incidence and frequency of offence per a given population Multiply by 1 000 000
Problem with crime rates Belongs in denominator Car theft or property thefts in generals --- property available to be stolen. Numbers 2nd numbers should be used for numerator for police to record an offence a number of things need to happen a ctizen has to call the police and police have to correctly identify and record event as an offence. 3rd relationship between official records and extent of real crime. (dark figure of crime) Dark figure of crime or dark figure: comprises the amount of actual crime in society which official crime statics do not show because not all crimes are reported to or record by the police. Report is based on police statistics or on official crime statistics
Figure that is unknown. Unreported and unrecorded 1960 first victimization survey many people who commit crimes are not caught and brought to justice and many crimes remain unreported and unrecorded because many victims choose not to pursue the case.
The under reporting of homicide is on the low end of the scale because victims are often missed if they disappear reporting homicides is not shadowed by sizeable dark figure. The exceptions are cases where someone is murdered but death is officially reported as resulting natural causes or an accident. Important deterent effect of punishment holds no sway if the offender is not prosecuted. Picture of crime trends is skewed if real criminality is very different from official criminality insurance programme compensation and even policy obejectives also served most reliable data about crime. A crime is a violation of criminal code that is attended by requisite mens era and actus reus ( a determine by court law) Crime recording: Official statistics: detail recorded criminal activities done by police courts and provisional and federal correction agencies. UCR( uniform crime reporting) Formed in 1962 as a shared project of statistics of Canada and Canadian association of Chiefs of police. Includes all criminal code offences (federal and provisional statues) CCJS(Canadian centre of justice statistics) responsibility for program in 1981 offer an annual compilation of UCR All incidence are reported to police depend on whther is a complainant or victim feels police can be of help or views crime as private matter which can be resolved. First Victims feaer retaliation and sexual assault hesitant about having lives further disrupted by secondary victimization through justice process itself. Victim a sense of shame and many do not wish to subject themselves to further violation. Second: number of separate offences are committed in an incident most serious is scored Silverman (1960) Result that total crime count is underestimated because those other crime are lost in the analysis. Another result is the misleading impression that a larger percentage of crime are serious crime Linden(1996) Third numbers are only good as their faithfulness to event they represent if police begin to clapm down on prostitution through more protective policing and cannabis are no change to legislation number they feed into the UCR will show increases and decreases that police decide to enforce zero tolerance with regard to violence in schools or affirmative arrest practices in case of spousal assault Produce variation in crime rate
Sprott and doob(1998) have found hug variation in incarceration rates among provinces which are partly the result of vast differences in provisional polices and administration of justice. Fourth: change in crime control policies change in legislation can affect crime rates. If criminal code creates new offence categories or broadens existing ones crime rates will reflect these legislative changes in form of increase. Recent change in drug legislation are prime example.
Unofficial statistics: are estimates of criminal activity based on self report and victimization surveys. Self report survey: word implies is one that ask people to report their own delinquency or criminal behaviour were rudimentary o Merely questionare asking for some demographic data in addition to information about respondents criminal history. First self report study of crime conducted by Austin Potterield in 1940 o 90% admitted felony crime. Wallerstien and Wyle (1947) and Nye short (1957) o Did further studies to corroborate potterfield¶s initial finding that criminality was wide spread across adolescent population. o Dark figure of crime suddenly began to appear it loomed large seemed that many crime were neither reported nor recorded Self report studies were important and not only as a criticism of official data o In 1976 US National youth survey 90% of juveniles admitted atleast one act for which they could served custody sentence o Actual rate of delinquency was four to ten times higher then was officially reported in UCR Lower class males and black males are more likely to under report their delinquency(Hidelang, Hirschi and Weis) (1981) method depends on person interpretation of event (the perpetrator) People can easily admit things through confession in a confidential questionaaire this sort of confession may exaggerate criminality.
-
-
-
Victimization survey: another source of unofficial information to augment the crime picture and to cast light into dark figure. Surveys are questuinnaires that ask people to provide information about their experience as object of criminal activity 1982 Canadian Urban victimization survey : personal theft, vandalism, simple assault and sexual assault were more likely to go unreported then be reported Fail to report many frauds as victim unaware of crime. GSS general social survey conducted 10,000 CCJS 1994 a small national sample was taken as part of an international study of crime victimization (van Dijik and Mayhew 1997 : van dijk, Mayhew & Kilias 1991) 2004 survey large proportion of population never reported criminal incidents only 34% (Juristat 2005) were reported. Reveal characterstics of criminal incidents such as time location offender victim relationship Highlights risk factors focusing attention on behaviours location relationship and activities that could increase a person chance of victimization
-
Two nonteworthy shortcoming of victiminzation survey o They depend fir the most part on victims uncorroborated statement (cannot be verified) Responsible may be mistaken as nature of event time of event and nature
How victimization relates crime. Crime must be stressed is a determination of court and many instaces of victimization will not constitute legal crime. (Quinney 1992) relationship of victimization is not as clear cut as might be assumed. Longitudinal Research(cohort research): method involves observing a sample of people or a cohort of people wo share like a characterstices over time. Like the ongoing british documentary series 28up, 35up, 42up, etc (2006 the latest instalment of the up series was 49up) follow a sample of people by interviewing them every seven years to see how their lives are coming along. o Investigated on number of criteria order to gauge the incidence of crime or victimization. 1972 Wolfgang, Figlio and Sellin. o Delinquency in a british cohort followed 9945 boys in Philadelphia their birth in 1945 until they were 18 years. o Find some of boys were called chronic offenders(who offended five times or more until age of 18) o Made up 6.3% of total group o Wolfgang replicate study in 1958 birth cohort found that rate of chronic delinquency had increased to 7.5 percent. o Trace patterns in criminal carres or biographies. o Both official data and biographical(age and sex) data can be cross tabulated. o If sample is properly selected it can be higly reliable indicator of rates of criminal activity in that region.
-
New methods: National Incident-Based Reporting System(NIBRS) in US records crime by detailing date, time, location, offender characterstics(age, sex, ethnicity, race) victim characterstics(age, sex, ethnicity and characterstics). Promising as incorporates much of the data that other system omit as well the goals and interests of efficiency in judicial institution may affect crime statistics.
Systematic biases and errors: Three sources of errors are systemic racism, sexism and classism. As well as goals and interest of efficiency in judicial institution may affect crime statistics. o Racism: found that professionalism and liberal principles are not driving forces of prosecutorial decision making. David Milgaard and Donal Marshal found even serious cases the police look for best available target to clear cases they look for them within marginalized groups and minorities in these cases aboriginal Canadians. Sexism: play a important role in over or under reporting of crime. In past juvenile system was preoccupied with status offences or offences stemming from moral regulation of girls and young women. Early in mid twenties century to be apprehended and brought to court for status offences (ChesneyLind 1977).
Feminists have contended that girls and women are more harshly treated when their behaviour suggest that they are not following tradiontional roles (Carlen, Chrisitina, Hicks, O¶Dwyer and Tchaikowsky 1985). A competing view of Chivalry hypothesis theory that official in criminal justice system from police officers to judges are more lenient with female criminal whom they consider damsels in distress Classism: Jaffery Reimen(2003) argued that there are two sets of laws in society one for the rich(the haves) and one for the poor (the have not). Political power serves the interest of those in society who have a bigger slice of economic pie. Criminal law is seen as poor person¶s law (for people who have less) Richard Quinney, Robert Elias and Jeffrey Reiman is important to our picture of distribution of wrongdoing in society as it alerts us to the possibility that there is another dark figures of transgressions against society that are not revealed by official crime statistics, self report and victimization survey(Muncie, McLaughlin and Langen 1997).
Institutional practices in police, courts and correction systems: plea bargaining an example 1964 Herbert Packer saw crime control and due process are two competing objectives. But even where law is flexible so that it operates effieceintly to control crime the professionals who work within these subsystem take shortcuts to achieve their goals. Guy Paul Morin: objective can lead police to seek not so much the person who actually committed crime because proving guilty goes beyond epistemology of police work but rather a person can be prosecuted or arrested. Once an arrestable person is found as discovered in Morin inquiry the police may ignore evidence of suspect innocence to the point of failing disclose such key evidence to prosecutors. Crime map : can provide crime prone than towns, women more likely to be victim of crime Its a graphical presentation of official crime statistics published by statistics Canada. How crime is distributed by region, season, time of day, ecology, age, gender, class, ethnicity and citizenship. How crime rate over time has changed in Canada. Historical Trends: crime rate as a barometer of social cohesion and quality of life. Regret historically violent crime rates in US as evidence a lack of social cohesion and of a poorer quality life then in Canada. 1977-2004 decrease 1977-1991 increase 1994 Police reported crime has decline for both total criminal code offences and violent crime offences have remained relatively stable. Main cause may due to demographics fewer young people in populations. 4.5million in 1980 to 4 million in 1991-1996
Comparative trends Data gathering techniques, law enforcement practices, and definition of categories. International victimization survey might provide more reliability in comparing crime rates. Rather sizable difference in crime rates between countries not simply of differences in recording and enfocrcement Murder rate in 2003 south Africa was at 44percent 1 000 000 Lowest found in japan 0.051 per 1 000 000. Crime Vary within countries and shift over time political turmoil, temporary will have a great impact on crime although not always on official crime rates since these depend on the definition of events by political authorities whose interest may compete with international standards of human rights Reason related with urbanization, community cohesiveness, economic disparity and presence of individualistic and libertarian versus socialist or communal social policies and infrastructures( Hartnagel & Lee 1990) Crime rate 5.70 US, 1.95 Canada, 1.62 UK
Property crimes differences between countries are more complicated these crime rates may be influenced by growing internationalization of organized crime affecting major categories such as auto theft. Homicide in Canada 1961-2004 2004 homicide rate jumped from 622 to 549 in 2003 In 2003 rates lowest in more than 30years but increased by almost in 2004 to 1.95 victim per 1 000 000 In terms of regions homicide is highest in Western provinces with Manitoba experiencing highest rate at 4.27 per 1 000 000 Lowest were in Maritimes with PEI(0.00) Newfoundland and Labrador 0.39 and New Brunswick (0.93) leading the way. Crime by Region: BC and Saskatchewan highest violent crime. Crime by Age: 2003 aged 15-24 accounted 45% property crime and 32% of those accused of violent crime. Homicide aged 18-24 had a highest rate and those rate decline as the ages goes up (Juristat 2005) when the distribution of crime is examined according to age relationship between crime and age is quite stricking. High at 16 stabilize by 20 and 30 then decline by 40 Many reasons to account for distribution of crime among youths. Adolescent youth are involved in testing the boundaries of the societies in which they live. Family controls are lossened at the same time that there is an increased desire to express individuality and competence in adults roles whether in socially constructive way or not.
Economic, sociobiological and cultural explanation for distribution of crime among youths they are acutely sensitized to the need to dress fashionably in order to be accepted by their peer groups, wide variety in ability to afford latest fashions Tools to do so may be difficult to attain legimately so; biological imperatives and economic necessity come together in criminal activity. They become aware of the social world outside the family. Violence is attack on social world in order to assert individualism or empowerment Crime by sex: 81% Criminal code violation in 2003 by males. 2004 general social survey on victimization revealed that 87% of violent incidents were committed by males. Research by Hagan (1985) found male exceeded females self reported delinquency in US in 1970 margin of a little more than two to one. In 1970 women worked in factories while men were gone to the war Adler (1975) put forth the liberation and opportunity hypothesis that as women began perform roles reserved for men. 1986 Johnson argued that women are still committing crimes credit card fraud and shoplifting that are associated with their traditional roles as consumers and homemakers. Related to biology between male and female not economic or social Crime by race: racialization involves classifying people into racial groups by referring judgments based on these signs skin color and place of birth.
Chapter 2
Demographics: pattern distribution in a population Preconception: an understanding or a view formed prior to thoroughly reviewing evidence. Sources: TV news, talk shows, newspapers, magazines and internet.(mass media) form of communication aimed at very large markets. Tend to transmit a distorted image of crime Violent Street crimes are widely covered non violent corporate and white collar crime are underreported
Canadian Mass media sources view crime situation through US lenses giving illusion that Canadian society suffer same degree of social problems that exist south of the border Dowler (2004) Find that there are very differences in the content and presentation of crime stories between Us and Canadian newscasts. Us stories presented in more sensational way Internet contains much accurate and valuable information it contains unreliable and inaccurate material. Population rather than number of incidents an individual has experienced Two tools use to get a picture of crime Victimization and self report surveys Plus official and unofficial statics form the basis of a rendering of crime picture sociologically sound or valid and reliable according to social science standards. Purpose: crime depends on some kind of mapping of frequency and distribution of crime. Theories of crime causation are important if government wish to create policies aimed at reducing or redistributing criminality in society. Before problem requiring action government want to study evidence of the prevalene and frequency of this behaviour argument that money changed laws or redistributed governmental resources MADD(mothers against drunk driving) 5000 in 2005 and 10000 in 2006 Prevalence of crime: number of people participating in crime at a given time. Measured by dividing numbers of offenders by size of population. 50 people in class 5 offender Population of offender divided by population of class 1/10 ratio.
Incidence of Crime: frequency of crime with which offender¶s commit crime or average number of offences per offenders by number of offenders. 5 offenders in class 1 committed 1 offence 3 committed 2 offences 1 committed 17 offences Calculate incidence by adding up the offences dividing that number (20) by number of offenders (5) Rate of 4 offences per offender 4/1 Crime rate: number of offences that occumer per population (cohort a group of people with common demographics. Calculated by totalling all the offences occurring in a given population and dividing that number by population population is denominator-figure underneath the line. Frequency is the numerator figure above the line. A crime rate uses a given denominator 100 000 usually measured as a frequency of offences per 100 000 oeioke 5 offender commited a total of 20 offences in a population of 50 students 20/50 = 2/5 Number of Offences divided by population or can calculate it my prevalence 1/10 By incidence 4/1 Always calculated per year The rate is high because failed to properly account for time. Incidence and frequency of offence per a given population Multiply by 1 000 000
Problem with crime rates Belongs in denominator Car theft or property thefts in generals --- property available to be stolen. Numbers 2nd numbers should be used for numerator for police to record an offence a number of things need to happen a ctizen has to call the police and police have to correctly identify and record event as an offence. 3rd relationship between official records and extent of real crime. (dark figure of crime) Dark figure of crime or dark figure: comprises the amount of actual crime in society which official crime statics do not show because not all crimes are reported to or record by the police. Report is based on police statistics or on official crime statistics
Figure that is unknown. Unreported and unrecorded 1960 first victimization survey many people who commit crimes are not caught and brought to justice and many crimes remain unreported and unrecorded because many victims choose not to pursue the case.
The under reporting of homicide is on the low end of the scale because victims are often missed if they disappear reporting homicides is not shadowed by sizeable dark figure. The exceptions are cases where someone is murdered but death is officially reported as resulting natural causes or an accident. Important deterent effect of punishment holds no sway if the offender is not prosecuted. Picture of crime trends is skewed if real criminality is very different from official criminality insurance programme compensation and even policy obejectives also served most reliable data about crime. A crime is a violation of criminal code that is attended by requisite mens era and actus reus ( a determine by court law) Crime recording: Official statistics: detail recorded criminal activities done by police courts and provisional and federal correction agencies. UCR( uniform crime reporting) Formed in 1962 as a shared project of statistics of Canada and Canadian association of Chiefs of police. Includes all criminal code offences (federal and provisional statues) CCJS(Canadian centre of justice statistics) responsibility for program in 1981 offer an annual compilation of UCR All incidence are reported to police depend on whther is a complainant or victim feels police can be of help or views crime as private matter which can be resolved. First Victims feaer retaliation and sexual assault hesitant about having lives further disrupted by secondary victimization through justice process itself. Victim a sense of shame and many do not wish to subject themselves to further violation. Second: number of separate offences are committed in an incident most serious is scored Silverman (1960) Result that total crime count is underestimated because those other crime are lost in the analysis. Another result is the misleading impression that a larger percentage of crime are serious crime Linden(1996) Third numbers are only good as their faithfulness to event they represent if police begin to clapm down on prostitution through more protective policing and cannabis are no change to legislation number they feed into the UCR will show increases and decreases that police decide to enforce zero tolerance with regard to violence in schools or affirmative arrest practices in case of spousal assault Produce variation in crime rate
Sprott and doob(1998) have found hug variation in incarceration rates among provinces which are partly the result of vast differences in provisional polices and administration of justice. Fourth: change in crime control policies change in legislation can affect crime rates. If criminal code creates new offence categories or broadens existing ones crime rates will reflect these legislative changes in form of increase. Recent change in drug legislation are prime example.
Unofficial statistics: are estimates of criminal activity based on self report and victimization surveys. Self report survey: word implies is one that ask people to report their own delinquency or criminal behaviour were rudimentary o Merely questionare asking for some demographic data in addition to information about respondents criminal history. First self report study of crime conducted by Austin Potterield in 1940 o 90% admitted felony crime. Wallerstien and Wyle (1947) and Nye short (1957) o Did further studies to corroborate potterfield¶s initial finding that criminality was wide spread across adolescent population. o Dark figure of crime suddenly began to appear it loomed large seemed that many crime were neither reported nor recorded Self report studies were important and not only as a criticism of official data o In 1976 US National youth survey 90% of juveniles admitted atleast one act for which they could served custody sentence o Actual rate of delinquency was four to ten times higher then was officially reported in UCR Lower class males and black males are more likely to under report their delinquency(Hidelang, Hirschi and Weis) (1981) method depends on person interpretation of event (the perpetrator) People can easily admit things through confession in a confidential questionaaire this sort of confession may exaggerate criminality.
-
-
-
Victimization survey: another source of unofficial information to augment the crime picture and to cast light into dark figure. Surveys are questuinnaires that ask people to provide information about their experience as object of criminal activity 1982 Canadian Urban victimization survey : personal theft, vandalism, simple assault and sexual assault were more likely to go unreported then be reported Fail to report many frauds as victim unaware of crime. GSS general social survey conducted 10,000 CCJS 1994 a small national sample was taken as part of an international study of crime victimization (van Dijik and Mayhew 1997 : van dijk, Mayhew & Kilias 1991) 2004 survey large proportion of population never reported criminal incidents only 34% (Juristat 2005) were reported. Reveal characterstics of criminal incidents such as time location offender victim relationship Highlights risk factors focusing attention on behaviours location relationship and activities that could increase a person chance of victimization
-
Two nonteworthy shortcoming of victiminzation survey o They depend fir the most part on victims uncorroborated statement (cannot be verified) Responsible may be mistaken as nature of event time of event and nature
How victimization relates crime. Crime must be stressed is a determination of court and many instaces of victimization will not constitute legal crime. (Quinney 1992) relationship of victimization is not as clear cut as might be assumed. Longitudinal Research(cohort research): method involves observing a sample of people or a cohort of people wo share like a characterstices over time. Like the ongoing british documentary series 28up, 35up, 42up, etc (2006 the latest instalment of the up series was 49up) follow a sample of people by interviewing them every seven years to see how their lives are coming along. o Investigated on number of criteria order to gauge the incidence of crime or victimization. 1972 Wolfgang, Figlio and Sellin. o Delinquency in a british cohort followed 9945 boys in Philadelphia their birth in 1945 until they were 18 years. o Find some of boys were called chronic offenders(who offended five times or more until age of 18) o Made up 6.3% of total group o Wolfgang replicate study in 1958 birth cohort found that rate of chronic delinquency had increased to 7.5 percent. o Trace patterns in criminal carres or biographies. o Both official data and biographical(age and sex) data can be cross tabulated. o If sample is properly selected it can be higly reliable indicator of rates of criminal activity in that region.
-
New methods: National Incident-Based Reporting System(NIBRS) in US records crime by detailing date, time, location, offender characterstics(age, sex, ethnicity, race) victim characterstics(age, sex, ethnicity and characterstics). Promising as incorporates much of the data that other system omit as well the goals and interests of efficiency in judicial institution may affect crime statistics.
Systematic biases and errors: Three sources of errors are systemic racism, sexism and classism. As well as goals and interest of efficiency in judicial institution may affect crime statistics. o Racism: found that professionalism and liberal principles are not driving forces of prosecutorial decision making. David Milgaard and Donal Marshal found even serious cases the police look for best available target to clear cases they look for them within marginalized groups and minorities in these cases aboriginal Canadians. Sexism: play a important role in over or under reporting of crime. In past juvenile system was preoccupied with status offences or offences stemming from moral regulation of girls and young women. Early in mid twenties century to be apprehended and brought to court for status offences (ChesneyLind 1977).
Feminists have contended that girls and women are more harshly treated when their behaviour suggest that they are not following tradiontional roles (Carlen, Chrisitina, Hicks, O¶Dwyer and Tchaikowsky 1985). A competing view of Chivalry hypothesis theory that official in criminal justice system from police officers to judges are more lenient with female criminal whom they consider damsels in distress Classism: Jaffery Reimen(2003) argued that there are two sets of laws in society one for the rich(the haves) and one for the poor (the have not). Political power serves the interest of those in society who have a bigger slice of economic pie. Criminal law is seen as poor person¶s law (for people who have less) Richard Quinney, Robert Elias and Jeffrey Reiman is important to our picture of distribution of wrongdoing in society as it alerts us to the possibility that there is another dark figures of transgressions against society that are not revealed by official crime statistics, self report and victimization survey(Muncie, McLaughlin and Langen 1997).
Institutional practices in police, courts and correction systems: plea bargaining an example 1964 Herbert Packer saw crime control and due process are two competing objectives. But even where law is flexible so that it operates effieceintly to control crime the professionals who work within these subsystem take shortcuts to achieve their goals. Guy Paul Morin: objective can lead police to seek not so much the person who actually committed crime because proving guilty goes beyond epistemology of police work but rather a person can be prosecuted or arrested. Once an arrestable person is found as discovered in Morin inquiry the police may ignore evidence of suspect innocence to the point of failing disclose such key evidence to prosecutors. Crime map : can provide crime prone than towns, women more likely to be victim of crime Its a graphical presentation of official crime statistics published by statistics Canada. How crime is distributed by region, season, time of day, ecology, age, gender, class, ethnicity and citizenship. How crime rate over time has changed in Canada. Historical Trends: crime rate as a barometer of social cohesion and quality of life. Regret historically violent crime rates in US as evidence a lack of social cohesion and of a poorer quality life then in Canada. 1977-2004 decrease 1977-1991 increase 1994 Police reported crime has decline for both total criminal code offences and violent crime offences have remained relatively stable. Main cause may due to demographics fewer young people in populations. 4.5million in 1980 to 4 million in 1991-1996
Comparative trends Data gathering techniques, law enforcement practices, and definition of categories. International victimization survey might provide more reliability in comparing crime rates. Rather sizable difference in crime rates between countries not simply of differences in recording and enfocrcement Murder rate in 2003 south Africa was at 44percent 1 000 000 Lowest found in japan 0.051 per 1 000 000. Crime Vary within countries and shift over time political turmoil, temporary will have a great impact on crime although not always on official crime rates since these depend on the definition of events by political authorities whose interest may compete with international standards of human rights Reason related with urbanization, community cohesiveness, economic disparity and presence of individualistic and libertarian versus socialist or communal social policies and infrastructures( Hartnagel & Lee 1990) Crime rate 5.70 US, 1.95 Canada, 1.62 UK
Property crimes differences between countries are more complicated these crime rates may be influenced by growing internationalization of organized crime affecting major categories such as auto theft. Homicide in Canada 1961-2004 2004 homicide rate jumped from 622 to 549 in 2003 In 2003 rates lowest in more than 30years but increased by almost in 2004 to 1.95 victim per 1 000 000 In terms of regions homicide is highest in Western provinces with Manitoba experiencing highest rate at 4.27 per 1 000 000 Lowest were in Maritimes with PEI(0.00) Newfoundland and Labrador 0.39 and New Brunswick (0.93) leading the way. Crime by Region: BC and Saskatchewan highest violent crime. Crime by Age: 2003 aged 15-24 accounted 45% property crime and 32% of those accused of violent crime. Homicide aged 18-24 had a highest rate and those rate decline as the ages goes up (Juristat 2005) when the distribution of crime is examined according to age relationship between crime and age is quite stricking. High at 16 stabilize by 20 and 30 then decline by 40 Many reasons to account for distribution of crime among youths. Adolescent youth are involved in testing the boundaries of the societies in which they live. Family controls are lossened at the same time that there is an increased desire to express individuality and competence in adults roles whether in socially constructive way or not.
Economic, sociobiological and cultural explanation for distribution of crime among youths they are acutely sensitized to the need to dress fashionably in order to be accepted by their peer groups, wide variety in ability to afford latest fashions Tools to do so may be difficult to attain legimately so; biological imperatives and economic necessity come together in criminal activity. They become aware of the social world outside the family. Violence is attack on social world in order to assert individualism or empowerment Crime by sex: 81% Criminal code violation in 2003 by males. 2004 general social survey on victimization revealed that 87% of violent incidents were committed by males. Research by Hagan (1985) found male exceeded females self reported delinquency in US in 1970 margin of a little more than two to one. In 1970 women worked in factories while men were gone to the war Adler (1975) put forth the liberation and opportunity hypothesis that as women began perform roles reserved for men. 1986 Johnson argued that women are still committing crimes credit card fraud and shoplifting that are associated with their traditional roles as consumers and homemakers. Related to biology between male and female not economic or social Crime by race: racialization involves classifying people into racial groups by referring judgments based on these signs skin color and place of birth.
