The FBI reports crime data in the Uniform Crime Report (UCR), including the number of arrests, crimes reported, and officers. This data is reported as a rate per 100,000 people and as a percentage change from previous years. Part I offenses in the UCR include serious crimes like murder, while Part II offenses are less serious crimes. The National Crime Victimization Survey directly surveys people about their experiences as crime victims, which can provide information about unreported crimes. Criminology is the scientific study of crime and criminal behavior. Theories like social disorganization theory and social process theories examine how social forces influence criminal behavior.

1. MEASURING
and EXPLAINING
CRIME

2.  Identify the publication in which the FBI
reports crime data and list the three ways in
which the data are reported.

3. 17,500 policing agencies
send data to the FBI each
year, including:
 Number of arrests.
 Number of crimes
reported.
 Number of officers and
support specialists.
The data is then reported
as:
 A rate per 100,000
persons.
 As a percentage change
from previous years.

4.  Distinguish between Part I and Part II offenses
as defined in the Uniform Crime Report (UCR).

6.  All crimes recorded by the FBI that do not fall
into the category of Part I offenses.
 Include both misdemeanors and felonies.

9.  Provides information about offenses, victims,
offenders, and arrestees, all unavailable
through the UCR.
 Monitors all criminal incidents reported to the
police, not just those that lead to an arrest.
 Can identify hate crimes.

10.  Distinguish between the National Crime
Victimization Survey (NCVS) and self-reported
surveys.

11.  A method of gathering crime data that
directly surveys participants to determine
their experiences as victims of crime.
 Gives a better understanding of the dark
figure of crime, or the actual amount of crime
that occurs in the country but is not reported
to the police.

12.  Advantages over UCR:
◦ Measures both reported and unreported crime.
◦ Unaffected by police bias and distortions in
reporting to the FBI.
◦ Does not rely on victims directly reporting to the
police.

13.  A method of gathering crime data that relies
on participants to reveal and detail their own
criminal or delinquent behavior.

14.  Crime in the 1990s and 2000s
◦ The Great Crime Decline
◦ Leveling Off
◦ The Immediate Future

16.  Crime, Race, and Poverty
◦ Race and Crime
◦ Class and Crime
◦ Ethnicity and Crime

17.  Discuss the prevailing explanation for the
rising number of women incarcerated in the
United States.

18.  In the past decade, the rate of arrests for
women has risen much more rapidly than that
for men.
 Explanations:
◦ The life circumstances and behavior of women
have changed dramatically in the past 40 years.
◦ The criminal justice system’s attitude toward
women has changed over the past 40 years.

19.  Discuss the difference between a hypothesis
and a theory in the context of criminology.

20. Theory:
Hypothesis:
 A possible explanation
for an observed
occurrence that can be
tested by further
investigation.
 An explanation of a
happening or
circumstance that is
based on observation,
experimentation, and
reasoning.
Criminology:
The scientific study of crime and the
causes of criminal behavior.

21.  People have free will to choose their behavior.
 Criminals find crime more attractive than law
abiding behavior.
 Threat of punishment is the only deterrent to
crime.
 “Thrill offenders”
 Choice Theory and Public Policy

22.  Behavior is the result of biological, psychological,
and social forces.
 Criminals are driven to crime by external factors.
 Rehabilitation and treatment is the only deterrent
to crime.
 Biochemical Conditions and Crime
 The Brain and Crime
 Psychology and Crime
 Trait Theory and Public Policy

23.  Social disorganization theory suggests that
deviant behavior is more likely in
communities where social institutions such as
the family, schools, and the criminal justice
system fail to exert control over the
population.

25.  List and briefly explain two important
branches of social process theory.

26. LEARNING THEORY: LABELING THEORY:
 The hypothesis that
delinquents and
criminals must be
taught both the
practical and
emotional skills
necessary to
participate in illegal
activity.
 The hypothesis that
society creates crime
and criminals by
labeling certain
behavior and certain
people as deviant.

27.  A group of theories that view criminal
behavior as the result of class conflict.

28.  Discuss the connection between offenders
and victims of crimes.

29.  The Risks of Victimization
◦ Most criminal acts require:
 A likely offender.
 A suitable target.
 The absence of a capable guardian.
 Repeat Victimization
 The Victim-Offender Connection

30.  The Criminology of Drug Use
 Drug Addiction and Dependency
◦ Drug Use and Drug Abuse
◦ Addiction Basics
 The Drug-Crime Relationship
◦ The Psychoparmacological Model
◦ The Economically Impulsive Model
◦ The Systemic Model

31.  Explain the theory of the chronic offender
and its importance for the criminal justice
system.

32.  A delinquent or criminal who commits
multiple offenses and is considered part of a
small group of wrongdoers who are
responsible for a majority of the antisocial
activity in any given community.
 The notion of a “chronic 6 percent.”

33.  Debate continues as to whether or not
criminology has done enough for the criminal
justice system.
 Research must be accessible to practitioners
and policymakers.