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Perceived Crime Seriousness Consensus and Disparity

NCJ Number
197975
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 30 Issue: 6 Dated: November/December 2002 Pages: 623-632
Author(s)
Ying Keung Kwan; Lai Lin Chiu; Wau Cheong Ip; Patrick Kwan
Editor(s)
Kent B. Joscelyn
Date Published
November 2002
Length
10 pages
Annotation
In order to provide a better basis for discussing some important issues connected with crime seriousness, this article studies the use of correlation in setting up the consensus and concentrates more on the disparity of crime seriousness.
Abstract
Years of substantial literature has been published on the systematic evaluation of perceived crime seriousness. This research has grown to include the normative consensus of crime seriousness. In this article, the statistical technique for setting up the consensus of perceived crime seriousness in previous studies is critically reviewed. The data used in this article came from a telephone survey conducted in Hong Kong in July 1997. Crime seriousness scores were calculated for the whole population. Murder, rape, drug offense, and robbery were found to be the four most serious crimes with theft, snatching, criminal damages, and possession of arms among the least serious ones. The population was broken down by gender, age, and educational level. The findings substantiated the sociologists’ hypothesis that crime seriousness was an evaluation medicated by the social structural context in which it was embedded. The study showed that consensus of crime seriousness was exaggerated in previous studies. The disparity in crime seriousness found in the study did not justify the urgent need to construct different types of crime index; however, it drew attention to the need. References