U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Crime and Nations Households, 1992

CRIMES AFFECTING U.S. HOUSEHOLDS REACH NEW LOW

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 5 P.M. EDT
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1993
 
CRIMES AFFECTING U.S. HOUSEHOLDS REACH NEW LOW
 
     A smaller percentage of U.S. Households were 
victimized by violent crime or thefts last year 
than in any year since the Justice Department's 
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) started counted 
in 1975.

     Burglaries and thefts showed the biggest 
drops for the 1975-1992 period.  Assaults and 
robbery also declined.  Only rape and motor
vehicle did not decrease.

     Altogether, 22 million of the nation's 
almost 100 million households were affected 
by crime last year--roughly 23 percent.  In 1975 
32 percent of American households was hit by 
at least one crime.

     "Nonetheless, that still means almost one 
in four households were victimized by a violent 
or property crime during 1992," noted Acting
BJS Director Lawrence A. Greenfeld.

     "Five percent of American households 
experienced violent crimes during 1992, which 
was unchanged from 1991," Greenfeld said.

     BJS noted that most crime was more likely 
to have minority and poor households as victims.  
While 22 percent of all white households were 
touched by crime last year, 27 percent of black 
households were victimized.  Twenty-two percent 
of the households headed by non-Hispanics were 
victimized by crime at least once last year,
compared to 31 percent of the households headed 
by Hispanics. Households with incomes under 
$15,000 were nore vulnerable to becoming 
victims of a burglary than were households 
with higher incomes.

     Seven percent of all black households had 
a member who was a violent cime victim last year, 
compared to 5 percent of all white households.

     As in previous year, households in the 
Northeast were the least likely to be victimized 
by crime. Those in the West were the most likely.  
Urban households were more vulnerable than were 
rural.

     Some of the 1975-1992 decreases were 
substantial.  For example, burglary fell from 
7.7 percent to 4.2 percent of all households 
during the 17-year period.  Household theft 
dropped from 10.2 to 7.2 percent, and personal 
theft from 16.4 to 9.7 percent.  The decline was
attributed, in part, to gradual shifts in 
population from large households and those in 
urban areas, which are more likely to 
experience crime, to smaller ones or those in 
suburban and rural areas.

     The households indicator is a component 
of the National Crime Victimization Survey, 
conducted for BJS by the Bureau of the Census.
Interviews are conducted at six-month intervals 
with approximately 99,000 occupants age 12 or 
older in about 49,000 housing units.  The 
nationally representative survey counts only 
those crimes for which the victim can be 
questioned and therefore excludes homicides.
However, the inclusion of homicides would 
have made no appreciable difference in the data.

     Single copies of the bulletin "Crime and 
the Nation's Households, 1992" (NCJ 143228) 
may be obtained from the National Criminal 
Justice Reference Service, Box 6000, Rockville, 
Maryland 20850.  The telephone number is 
(800) 732-3277.

     Data from the tables and graphs used 
in many BJS reports can be made available 
to news organizations in spreadsheet files
on 5-1/4" and 3-1/2" diskettes by calling 
(202) 616-3283.
 
After hours contact: Stu Smith (301) 983-9354

END OF FILE
 

Date Published: September 1, 1993