Criminology Final

Question 1 : Identify and define the three major ways of measuring crime in the U .S . Note at least two strengths and two limitations of each

Answer 1

There are several ways of measuring crime in the U .S . The most commonly used are

1 . The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR

The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR , which was developed in 1927 , is a national standardized way of measuring crime in the US based on two classifications crimes against persons and crimes against property . It also measures the ability of law enforcement agencies

in dealing with crime in addition to providing important data and information to the local law enforcement agencies to aid in fighting crime . Crimes are classified and scores assigned to them using the standard UCR definition system , CRS (2008

Merits

One of the merits of UCR is the uniformity in classification , scoring accuracy and reliability of its data . This has seen it being adopted as the most common source of crime statistics in the US

The analysis of crime using the UCR can be made at both local and regional levels . As a result of different categories of crime a difference can be established between attempted and accomplished crimes

Limitations

One of the limitations of UCR is that the data provided is limited to a specific number of crimes based on the UCR 'S classification system . This means that a good proportion of crimes committed in the US such as kidnapping is accounted for as they are not measured using the system

UCR do not collect data on unreported crimes , hence , a large proportion of crime go unrecorded as majority of crime victims or witnesses do not report the incidence (s . CRS (2008

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS

The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS ) is a crime measuring system which refers to the gathering of information on criminal victimization and the different types and number of unreported crimes CRS (2008 ) underscores NCVS objectives as : The development of a system of information on victims and consequences of crime , Provision of a measure of different types of crime , Estimation of the number and type of crimes and Comparison between different crimes with respect to different population , time and type

NCVS develop detailed information by asking respondents from different population types about their experience with crime . Some of its strengths include

Merits

The application of Computer-Assisted Telephone interviews for in NCVS data collection , results are consistent and transcription errors are limited

The survey provides an important insight on the number of unreported crime

Limitations

According to CRS 2008 , the correctness of the survey results is limited due to sampling bias . This refers to the inability of a proportion of people to complete the survey leading to inaccurate estimation of the victimization rate

Series victimization : This refers to a situation where a given respondent experiences multiple separate victimizations . This may lead to confusion leading to an untrue account of every incident , Lilly , et Al (2004

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS

National Incident-Based Reporting...