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Crisis of Crime

Crisis of Crime aims to educate about criminology and criminal justice reform. Is our Criminal Justice System broken, or working as intended? I suppose it would depend on who you ask. Join me as I explore criminological theory as well as topics such as systemic racism, discrimination, and reforms.

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Crisis of Crime

Crime Reporting Methods and Statistical Manipulation

June 24, 2020 • Rachel Means • Season 1 • Episode 5

In this episode, I discuss the methods of crime reporting in the United States and how using crime statistics out of context can be harmful. I go over the Uniform Crime Report, the National Incident-Based Reporting System, the National Victimization Survey, and Self-Report Surveys. I describe each report in detail and their shortcomings. Afterwards, I discuss how statistics can be misleading and that they can be used to promote harmful narratives specifically in regards to race. Lastly, I talk about the factors that should be considered to provide context to crime statistics, as well as debunking the myth of black on black crime.

Sources for today's episode:

Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2018). Data Collection: National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). Office of Justice Programs. Retrieved from: https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=dcdetail&iid=245

Cullen, F., Agnew, R., Wilcox, P. (2014). Criminological Theory: Past to Present (5th Edition). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Graif, C., Gladfelter, A., Matthews, S. (2014). Urban Poverty and Neighborhoods Effects on Crime: Incorporating Spacial and Network Perspectives. Social Compass, 8(9), 1140-1155.

Hanks, A., Solomon, D., Weller, C. (2018). Systematic Inequality: How America's Structural Racism Helped Create the Black-White Wealth Gap. Center for American Progress. Retrieved from: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2018/02/21/447051/systematic-inequality/

Karmen, A. (2016). Crime Victims: An Introduction to Victimology (9th Edition). Boston, MA. Cengage Learning.

NIBRS. (2018). National Incidient-Based Reporting System.Federal Bureau of Investigations. Retrieved from: https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/ucr/nibrs

Uniform Crime Report. (2017) 2017 Crime in the United States. Federal Bureau of Investigations. Retrieved from: https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2017/crime-in-the-u.s.-2017/tables/table-43

United States Census Bureau. (2018). ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved from: https://data.census.gov/cedsci/all?q=race&hidePreview=false&tid=ACSDP1Y2018.DP05