Governmental Responses to Crime in the United States, 1948-1978 (ICPSR 8076)

Principal Investigator(s): Jacob, Herbert

Summary: The Governmental Responses to Crime Project was initiated in October 1978 as a result of the rising crime rate in urban areas of the United States and the wide variety of programs seeking to contain it. The project investigated the way in which urban governments, citizens, newspapers and state governments responded to the growth and increasing complexity of crime during the period from 1948 to 1978. Pertinent variables in this data collection include the number of police officers in cities and p... (more info)

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Jacob, Herbert. Governmental Responses to Crime in the United States, 1948-1978. ICPSR08076-v2. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 1985. doi:10.3886/ICPSR08076.v2

Persistent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR08076.v2

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This survey was funded by:

• United States Department of Justice. Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (78-NI-AX-0096)

Summary:   The Governmental Responses to Crime Project was initiated in October 1978 as a result of the rising crime rate in urban areas of the United States and the wide variety of programs seeking to contain it. The project investigated the way in which urban governments, citizens, newspapers and state governments responded to the growth and increasing complexity of crime during the period from 1948 to 1978. Pertinent variables in this data collection include the number of police officers in cities and police expenditures, changes in laws as crime changes, populations, employment rates, family incomes, percent of non-white population, media tracking of crime, city land area, kinds of crimes, crime rates, actual numbers of offenses, penalties given out for crimes committed (time in jail or prison and fines), focus on crimes within certain geographical areas (from within cities or outside the United States), editorial page content, level of prominence of newspaper articles on individual crimes, and the number of editorials relating to specific crimes.

Subject Terms:   assault, burglary, cities, correctional facilities, courts, crime, criminal justice system, felony offenses, jails, police departments, population characteristics, prosecuting attorneys, rape, sentencing, states (USA), theft, urban communities, victimization

Geographic Coverage:   United States

Time Period:  

• 1948--1978

Date of Collection:  

• 1978-10--1980-12

Universe:   All cities in the United States with a population over 50,000 in 1950, 1960, 1970 and 1975.

Data Types:   event/transaction data, survey data

Sample:   United States cities with both extreme high and low values for several factors relevant to the response to crime, as well as "average" values for same.

Data Source:

police department data, newspapers, ANNOTATED STATUTES, United States Bureau of the Census data, Uniform Crime Reporting data, United States Statistical Abstracts, City County Data Book (years 1950, 1960, 1970, and 1975)

Original ICPSR Release:  1984-03-18

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