Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

  • Identify how crime is measured in the United States.
  • Summarize the many ways that make counting crime difficult.
  • Identify and criticize the major sources of national crime data in the United States.
  • Review the advantages and disadvantages of each source of national crime data used to measure crime in the United States.
  • Summarize the nature and extent of violent, property, and white-collar crime in the United States.
  • Identify the difficulties inherent in recognizing and measuring white-collar crime.