The 'dark figures' of crime are suggested in self-reported crimes and victimization studies, and they cover all law violations, including tax evasion, prostitution, illegal drug use, illegal gambling, child abuse, domestic assault, and traffic violations. The multitude of laws proscribing all sorts of behavior means that most Americans have helped produce the 'dark figures' of crime. This fact undermines the view that most Americans are law abiding and that criminals constitute a small percentage of citizens with deviant personalities. Americans who are victimized by crime are also perpetrators of crime, such that almost all citizens commit some type of law violation at some time. Laws and threatened sanctions do not deter law violations, because criminal justice resources are insufficient to ensure the certainty of apprehension and punishment. Research on the criminal behavior of Americans analogous to Kinsey's study on sexual behavior in the human male must be conducted to determine the true state of crime in America. Such research is required before social control policy can be based on the reality rather than the myths of human behavior and how it is impacted by laws. 24 notes.