Objectives

Measurements of crime: THE RATE

Discussion of "Violence: An American Tradition"

Patterns of violent crime within the U.S.

Measures of Crime:

Raw numbers: Example with number of larcenies. Not a good method as it doesn't take into account population size.

Rates are a much better way to make comparisons.

RATE: Number of events / population at risk of experiencing the event.

To estimate the population at risk of experiencing an event, we take the mid-year or mid-period population. Example: U.S. homicide rate in 1998 = number of homicides in 1998 in U.S. / Total U.S. population on July 1, 1998

Denominator: Be sure to measure population at risk - examples with rape rate and city comparisons

Prevalence: Proportion of population that commits crime in a given time.

Number of offenders / size of population

Incidence: Frequency with which offenders commit crime or average number of offenses per offender.

Number of offenses / number of offenders

Crime rate = Prevalence * Incidence

Spatial Patterns of Crime

Reasons given in documentary for why U.S. is a violent society.

Which regions of U.S. are more violent? What are some possible explanations for this?