SOCL 3510

• criminal violence


  behavior by persons against persons that intentionally threatens, attempts, or actually inflicts physical harm
• what makes violence criminal violence?

  it violates the law
• consensus model (functionalism)


  there is consensus over what our values and beliefs are
• what are the oldest laws in the US?

  laws against murder
• conflict model


  society has different groups with different values, and the dominant group establishes the law to benefit them
• constructionist model (symbolic interactionism)


  reality is what we agree it is, and it is always changing
• what role does the media play in the constructionist model?

  the media tells us what to think about and what is important
• criminological perspective on criminal violence

  -why the behavior occurs

  -what effect it has on society
• criminal justice perspective on criminal violence

  law enforcement, courts, corrections
• public health perspective on criminal violence

  -risk factors and risk prevention

  -victimization
• two methods of studying criminal violence

  -surveys

  -secondary data analysis
• five obstacles to valid and reliable data on criminal violence

  -rare

  -not easy to observe because of the setting

  -unreported

  -normalized

  -offenders conceal violence
• criminal homicide includes what 2 categories?

  -murder and non-negligent manslaughter

  -manslaughter by negligence
• murder and non-negligent manslaughter


  willful killing, sometimes justified
• manslaughter by negligence


  killing through gross negligence
• forcible rape includes what 2 categories?

  -rape by force

  -attempts to commit forcible rape
• rape by force


  carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will
• how has the definition of rape by force been updated?

  -gender neutral

  -no longer has marital exclusions

  -not just penile penetration
• robbery


  taking/attempting to take something by force/threat of force of violence, and/or putting the victim in fear
• strong arm

  no weapon
• if the victim of a "robbery" has no contact with the offender, what is the crime called?

  burglary
• aggravated assault


  unlawful attack for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury
• what makes an assault aggravated and not simple?

  extent of injury or weapon involvement
• four reasons to count crime

  -estimate frequency

  -discern if certain groups are more likely to be victims/offenders

  -target criminal justice resources

  -ameliorate human suffering
• what is the exception to men being more likely than women to be offenders and victims?

  sexual assault
• two official data sources of criminal violence

  -uniform crime reports (UCR)

  -national incident based reporting system (NIBRS)
• UCR

  -run by FBI

  -started in 1930's

  -measures crimes reported to the police

  -17,000+ agencies nationwide

  -Part I or Index crimes and Part II crimes
• 4 violent offenses of Part I or Index crimes

  -criminal homicide

  -aggravated assault

  -robbery

  -forcible rape
• 4 property offenses of Part I or Index crimes

  -larceny theft

  -auto theft

  -burglary

  -arson
• three forms collected in UCR

  -Return A - crimes known to police, offense data

  -Age, Sex, Race, and Ethnicity of arrestees - arrest data

  -Supplementary Homicide Reports
• why does the UCR select these crimes?

  -seriousness

  -frequency

  -occur in most times and areas

  -victims usually know if a crime has occurred
• six problems of UCR's collection of data

  -people may not know they are a victim

  -people may not call the police

  -agency reporting is voluntary

  -if police are unable to determine if a crime occurred, it is unfounded

  -hierarchy rule

  -administrative issues
• five determinants of victims calling the police

  -extent of injury

  -value and insurance

  -victim/offender relationship

  -confidence in police

  -illegal activities
• NIBRS


  -part of UCR

  -started in 1980's

  -info on individual incidents with detail

  -Group A and Group B offenses

  -crimes against persons, property, and society

  -computer based crimes

  -covered 25% of the US population in 2008

  -used by crime data specialists

  -finds similar rates to UCR
• National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)


  -started in 1970's

  -national survey every 6 months

  -interviews every household member 12+

  -households rotated every 3 years
• advantages of NCVS

  -detailed info on victims

  -detailed info on the incident

  -characteristics of offender

  -if it was reported or not, why or why not
• personal crimes of NCVS

  -rape and sexual attack

  -robbery

  -aggravated/simple assault

  -purse snatching and pickpocketting
• property crimes of NCVS


  -burglary

  -theft

  -motor vehicle theft

  -vandalism
• problems with NCVS

  -interviewer effects

  -social desirability

  -telescoping

  -memory decay

  -limited range of crimes

  -shows higher rates than UCR

  -victim/offender characteristics mirror

  -males, minorities, young people, and poor are more victimized

  -victims repeatedly victimized
• self-report data


  -no specific data source

  -class of data

  -surveys ask how much crime they committed

  -limited geographic coverage

  -not much information on serious crimes

  -useful for testing micro level theories

  -patterns hold