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United Nations Surveys of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems Series, Waves 1-10, 1970-2006 (ICPSR 26462)

Principal Investigator(s): United Nations Office at Vienna. Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch

Summary:

The major goal of the United Nations Surveys on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems was to collect data on the incidence of reported crime and the operations of criminal justice systems with a view to improving the analysis and dissemination of that information globally. Surveys were distributed to officials in every member country of the United Nations. Designated officials completed the surveys to the best of their abilities given the country's available data. The survey questionnaire consisted of a series of questions which asked for data, primarily statistical, on the main components of the country's criminal justice system, for the given time period of the wave of data collection. To date, there have been ten waves of data collection. Crime variables include counts of recorded crime for homicide, assault, rape, robbery, theft, burglary, fraud, embezzlement, drug trafficking, drug possession, bribery, and corruption. There are also counts of suspects, persons prosecuted, persons convicted, and prison admissions by crime, gender, and adult or juvenile status. Other variables include the population of the country and largest city, budgets and salaries for police, courts, and prisons, and types of sanctions, including imprisonment, corporal punishment, deprivation of liberty, control of freedom, warning, fine, and community sentence. The countries participating in the survey and the variables available vary across the ten waves. There are two versions of the Wave 2 data (Part 2: Wave 2a , 1975-1980; Part 3: Wave 2b, 1975-1980) because, for various reasons, the variables from Wave 1 and some variables from Wave 2 were combined into one dataset. Similarly, some variables from Wave 2 were combined into one dataset with the variables from Wave 3. For this study, the combined Wave 1 and Wave 2 dataset was separated into Parts 1 and 2 (Wave 1, 1970-1975, and Wave 2a, 1976-1980, respectively) and the combined Wave 2 and Wave 3 dataset was separated into Parts 3 and 4 (Wave 2b, 1975-1980, and Wave 3, 1980-1986, respectively).

Series: United Nations Surveys of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems Series

Access Notes

  • These data are freely available.

Dataset(s)

WARNING: Because this study has many datasets, the download all files option has been suppressed, and you will need to download one dataset at a time.

DS0:  Study-Level Files
DS1:  Wave 1, 1970-1975
DS2:  Wave 2a , 1975-1980
DS3:  Wave 2b, 1975-1980
DS4:  Wave 3, 1980-1986
DS5:  Wave 4, 1986-1990
DS6:  Wave 5, 1990-1994
DS7:  Wave 6, 1995-1997
DS8:  Wave 7, 1998-2000
DS9:  Wave 8, 2001-2002
DS10:  Wave 9, 2003-2004
DS11:  Wave 10, 2005-2006

Study Description

Citation

United Nations Office at Vienna. Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch. United Nations Surveys of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems Series, Waves 1-10, 1970-2006. ICPSR26462-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2010-07-22. doi:10.3886/ICPSR26462.v1

Persistent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR26462.v1

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Scope of Study

Subject Terms:   acquittals, assault, burglary, convictions (law), correctional facilities, courts, crime, crime patterns, crime prevention, crime rates, crime reporting, criminal justice policy, criminal justice system, drug related crimes, drug traffic, embezzlement, fraud, international crime statistics, larceny, law enforcement, nations, offenders, offenses, police reports, population characteristics, prosecution, punishment, rape, robbery, sentencing, trends, United Nations

Smallest Geographic Unit:   Country

Geographic Coverage:   Africa, Asia, Europe, Global, Latin America, North America, South America

Time Period:  

  • 1970--2006

Date of Collection:  

  • 1970--2006

Unit of Observation:   countries

Universe:   All member states of the United Nations.

Data Types:   aggregate data, survey data

Methodology

Study Purpose:   The major goal of the United Nations Surveys on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems is to collect data on the incidence of reported crime and the operations of criminal justice systems with a view to improving the analysis and dissemination of that information globally.

Study Design:   Surveys were distributed to officials in every member country of the United Nations. Designated officials completed the surveys to the best of their abilities given the country's available data. The survey questionnaire consisted of a series of questions which asked for data, primarily statistical, on the main components of the country's criminal justice system, for the given time period of the wave of data collection. The surveys were continually updated at each subsequent wave. There are two versions of the Wave 2 data (Part 2: Wave 2a, 1975-1980; Part 3: Wave 2b, 1975-1980) because, for various reasons, the variables from Wave 1 and some variables from Wave 2 were combined into one dataset. Similarly, some variables from Wave 2 were combined into one dataset with the variables from Wave 3. For this study, the combined Wave 1 and Wave 2 dataset was separated into Parts 1 and 2 (Wave 1, 1970-1975, and Wave 2a, 1976-1980, respectively) and the combined Wave 2 and Wave 3 dataset was separated into Parts 3 and 4 (Wave 2b, 1975-1980, and Wave 3,1980-1986, respectively).

Sample:   Surveys were distributed to all member states of the United Nations.

Mode of Data Collection:   mail questionnaire

Data Source:

Questionnaires filled out by representatives of member states of the United Nations

Description of Variables:   Crime variables include counts of recorded crime for homicide, assault, rape, robbery, theft, burglary, fraud, embezzlement, drug trafficking, drug possession, bribery, and corruption. There are also counts of suspects, persons prosecuted, persons convicted, and prison admissions by crime, gender, and adult or juvenile status. Other variables include the population of the country and largest city, budgets and salaries for police, courts, and prisons, and types of sanctions, including imprisonment, corporal punishment, deprivation of liberty, control of freedom, warning, fine, and community sentence. The countries participating in the survey and the variables available vary across the ten waves.

Response Rates:   Not available.

Extent of Processing:  ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

  • Performed consistency checks.
  • Created variable labels and/or value labels.
  • Standardized missing values.
  • Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

Version(s)

Original ICPSR Release:  2010-07-22

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