Crime and justice in the United States and in England and Wales, 1981-96 / by Patrick A. Langan and David P. Farrington.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

Langan, Patrick A.

Contributor:

Farrington, David P.

United States. Bureau of Justice Statistics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Criminal statistics--United States.

Criminal statistics.

Criminal statistics--England.

Criminal statistics--Wales.

Crime--United States.

Crime.

Crime--England.

Crime--Wales.

Criminal justice, Administration of--United States.

Criminal justice, Administration of.

Criminal justice, Administration of--England.

Criminal justice, Administration of--Wales.

England.

United States.

Wales.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (iv, 105 pages)

Place of Publication:

[Washington, D.C.] : U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1998.

Summary:

This report presents and compares victimization survey and police statistics on crime in the United States and England and Wales for 1981-96, along with selected court statistics for these countries. Findings show that whether measured by surveys of crime victims or by police statistics, serious crime rates are not generally higher in the United States than in England and Wales. According to 1995 victim surveys -- which measure robbery, assault, burglary, and motor vehicle theft -- crime rates are all higher in England than the United States. The major exception to the pattern of higher crime rates in England and Wales is the murder rate. The 1996 U.S. murder rate was nearly six times higher than England and Wales, although the difference among the countries has narrowed over the past 16 years. Firearms are more often involved in violent crimes in the United States than in England and Wales. Since 1981 an offender's risk of being caught, convicted, and sentenced to incarceration has risen in the United States for all six measured crimes (murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft) but has fallen in England and Wales for all but murder. The court data addressed in this report include convictions, sentences of incarceration, racial disparities in incarceration, percent of sentence served, and time served. Also considered are the justice system's impact on crime and justice system changes. Data sources are profiled.

Contents:

Crime rates from victim surveys

Crime rates from police records

Reporting of crime to police

Police recording of crime

Victim surveys versus police records

Convictions per 1,000 population

Convictions per 1,000 offenders

Percent sentenced to incarceration

Incarcerations per 1,000 population

Incarcerations per 1,000 offenders

Incarceration sentence length

Time served

Percent of sentence served

Days at risk of serving

Justice system's impact on crime

Justice system changes

Racial disparities in incarceration

Methodology

Prior research.

Notes:

Title from title screen (viewed November 3, 2006).

"October 1998."

OCLC:

75179877