National Crime Victimization Survey: Analysis and Trends

Posted on Mar 16, 2025 in Psychology and Sociology

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) began in 1972 as an attempt to gather information about crimes not reported to the police, including rape, robbery, assault, burglary, theft, and motor-vehicle theft.

Unlike data derived from police reports, NCVS data comes from survey interviews.

The survey includes questions about both victims and offenders (race, age, educational level), as well as questions about the actual crime: time, place, weapons used, injury, etc.

Individuals from randomly selected households are interviewed every six months for three years.

In 2014, approximately 158,000 individuals (aged 12 years and older) were interviewed from 90,000 households.

NCVS: Advantages

  • It provides a figure of the total amount of annual crimes, as opposed to only those reported to the police (as in the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program).
  • It provides data pertaining to the traits of the victim and the context in which the crime takes place.

NCVS: Disadvantages/Criticisms

  1. Over-reporting
  2. Under-reporting
  3. Exclusion of populations without a stable residence (e.g., migrant workers, homeless individuals, runaways, etc.).
  4. Ignores white-collar crimes

Crime Rates: Seasonality and Climate

Most reported crimes occur during the summer months (July and August).

Crime rates are usually higher on the first day of the month.

There is a link between temperature and crime.

Gender and Crime Patterns

Male crime rates are much higher than those of females.

Why are Female Crime Rates Lower?

  1. Biology: Many early criminologists believed women were not biologically or psychologically equipped to commit crime, with a few exceptions (e.g., Cesare Lombroso’s masculine hypothesis). The small percentage of women who commit crimes tend to be more masculine and aggressive, deviating from traditional feminine nature.
  2. The “Chivalry Hypothesis”: There is reluctance on the part of the police, juries, and judges to see women as “criminals.” Because of traditional understandings of gender, police officers are less likely to arrest women.
  3. Socialization: The process of learning behavioral traits thought to be appropriate for a specific group. Differences in crime rates between males and females are partly a result of gender socialization.
  4. Less Opportunities for Crime

Increases in Female Crime/Arrest Rates

Explanations for increases in female crime/arrest rates since the 1970s include:

  1. The women’s movement of the 1960s.
  2. The increase has often been blown out of proportion (not as dramatic as it has been argued by many).
  3. Since the 1980s and 1990s, increases in female crime/arrest rates might be related to drug war policies, racism, increases in male incarceration, the feminization of poverty, and a greater willingness to arrest females.

More women are working outside the home.

Historically, women were not studied and were primarily focused on cooking and marriage.