NCJ Number
138900
Journal
Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 31 Issue: 3 Dated: (August 1992) Pages: 192-199
Date Published
1992
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Evidence from three British Crime Surveys is used to examine whether the perpetrator's race is a determinant in a victim's decision to report a violent offense to the police.
Abstract
The crime survey data encompass 1982, 1984, and 1988. The offenses included in the analysis were serious and common wounding, assault, attempted assault, rape, indecent assault, wounding with a sexual motive, robbery, and attempted robbery. Overall, the proportion of offenses by whites reported to the police was somewhat higher than the proportion of offenses committed by nonwhites. Ignoring the dimension of degree of injury inflicted, apparently personal crime by nonwhites is slightly less likely to be reported by its victims than crime by whites; however, degree of injury should not be overlooked in this analysis. There are some interesting differences in the amount of harm inflicted and crime reporting according to the offender's race. Consistent with Sevens and Willis (1979), when no injury is inflicted, the crime is more likely to be reported to the police if it was committed by a nonwhite than by a white offender. Conversely, when injury is inflicted, an offense by a nonwhite persons is less likely to be reported than in the case of a white offender. The pattern of results suggests that perceived race is itself involved in the decision to report a crime, over and above the association of race with offense variables. 6 tables and 5 references