Characteristics of Crime and Victimization
There are several well-established facts about crime and victimization. Ecological patterns of crime are one way to think about crime. For example, crime is higher in urban areas than in rural areas; more crime occurs in the summer months than in the winter months; regional differences exist with more crime occurring in the West and the South than in the Midwest and New England. More males than females commit crime; minorities are over-represented in crime statistics; and crime rates are higher in communities that are socially disorganized, run down, and have insufficient social or civil support services in place for local members. Too, it is a well-established fact that younger people are more likely to commit a crime than are older adults. We also know that males are much more likely than are females to become the victim of a crime; the same is true when it comes to age. Younger individuals are more likely to become there victim of a crime than are their older counterparts. Poor people and minorities are also much more likely to experience crime than are more affluent whites. We also know that about half (50%) of violent crime is committed by someone known to the victim and that women are much more likely to victimized (assaulted or raped) by an acquaintance than are males.
All of this information is known to us because of the various ways we have to measure crime in the U.S. These data are important as they allow us to better understand what crime looks like across communities. By better understanding crime and victimization patterns, policy makers and the criminal justice personnel are better positioned to do something about it.