Which of the following terms is used to describe the number of crimes that are committed but are undiscovered or unreported?

In this exercise, we will explore general trends about crime victimization, how different demographic groups are affected by crime victimization, relationships between victims and offenders, and why victims choose to report or not to report crimes to the police.

Victimization: types and trends

The NCVS classifies crimes in 3 broad categories: violent crimes, purse snatching/pocket picking, and property crimes. We used this categorization to recode the variable V4529 by collapsing the long list of crime codes into the categories: "Violent crimes" ("1"), "Purse snatching/pocket picking" ("2"), and "Property crimes" ("3"). The new variable is called CRIMETYPE.

Consider the frequency distribution of CRIMETYPE. What percentage of crimes falls under the category "Property crimes"? What percentage of crimes are "Violent crimes"?

The comparison of means with V2073 (Number of incident reports) and V3027 (Year) shows trends in victimization over time. In what year was the mean number of incident reports the highest? In what year was it the lowest? Overall, does victimization appear to have increased or decreased over time?

Most people assume that the likelihood of victimization increases at night. Is that really the case? Take a look at the frequency distribution of TIMEINC, a variable that provides information about the time of the incident. What time of day (or night) is victimization the highest? If we consider that daytime is between 6am and 6pm, what percentage of incidents happens in the daytime? What percentage happens at nighttime?

Victim demographics

In this section we will be looking at the relationship between victimization (measured by the variables CRIMETYPE and Number of incident reports) and gender, age, and household income.

We used a crosstab of CRIMETYPE and gender (V2045) to see whether there is a relationship between gender and victimization. According to the results of the analysis, what percentage of males has been the victim of a violent crime? How does this compare to females in the sample? Do the results surprise you?

Now consider the results of the comparison of means with Number of incident reports (V2073) and gender (V2045). What is the mean number of incident reports for females? Is it higher or lower for males?

Does age affect victimization? Before running the analysis, we recoded the age variable (V2042), which is a continuous variable, into a categorical variable. The new variable is called AGECAT and has 7 age categories (12-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-79, and 80+).

Take a look at the results of the crosstab of AGECAT and CRIMETYPE. Which age group appears to have the highest violent crime victimization rate? Which age group reported the highest property crime victimization rate?

In the comparison of means with Number of incident reports and AGECAT, which age group has the highest number of incident reports? Which group has the lowest?

The variable household income (V2026) contains 14 categories - too many for a useful analysis. We collapsed the categories from 14 to 5 and named the new variable HHINC. According to the results of the crosstab of HHINC and CRIMETYPE, which income group reported the highest property crime victimization rate? Which income group reported the highest violent crime victimization rate?

Finally, in the comparison of means with HHINC, what is the average number of incident reports for respondents in the $0-19,000 income bracket? What is that number for respondents who reported earning over $75,000?

Victim-offender relationship

NCVS ascertains victim-offender relationships through a series of yes-no questions: for example, "What was the offender relationship to you: spouse?" (V4513). For ease of analysis, we combined 6 of these questions (V4513: spouse; V4515: parent; V4516: other relative; V4518: neighbor; V4519: schoolmate; V4521: stranger) into a single variable, called OFFREL, where "Spouse" is coded "1," "Parent" "2," "Other relative" "3," "Neighbor" "4," "Schoolmate" "5," and "Stranger" "6."

We then ran a crosstab with (V2045) OFFREL and sex (V2045). Who are males most likely to be victimized by? What percentage of females is victimized by a spouse? Look at the "Row Total" column in the results table. On average, who are people more likely to be victimized by: someone they know (categories 1-5), or a stranger (category 6)?

To break down the relationship between victim and offender along a different dimension, we ran a crosstab with OFFREL and AGECAT. In which age group are people the most likely to be victimized by someone they don't know (a stranger)? Who are those most likely to be victimized by a neighbor?

Reporting

One of the major difficulties in studying crime is that crimes are not always reported to police. As evidence, please take a look at the frequency distribution of V4399 (Reported to police). What percentage of respondents brought their victimization to the attention of police? Does this surprise you?

To investigate this further, examine the crosstabs of V4422 (Most important reason not reported) and CRIMETYPE, and V4437 (Most important reason for reporting) and CRIMETYPE. Since V4422 and V4437 each list a large number of reasons, it may be helpful to look at the bar charts. What are the top 5 reasons respondents cited for not reporting a violent crime to the police? How are those different from the top reasons for not reporting a property crime? What are the top reasons mentioned for reporting a violent crime? What are the top reasons mentioned for reporting a property crime?

Which of the following refers to the way in which the number of cases processed through the system decrease at each successive step?

What is the most commonly used measure of crime statistics quizlet?

Which of the following is considered the dark figure of crime?

What is a status offender quizlet?