This chapter, the first of four on the criminal justice system, falls into two sections: the first gives a qualitative description of the major groups of crime, from the Index offenses to political crimes, concluding with a brief historical overview; the second is quantitative, setting out the methods used to measure the total volume of crime and the results obtained – which must be treated with caution. The major emphasis throughout is on the USA, but some relevant international comparisons are made. A brief final section introduces the very difficult question of the costs of crime.

Definitions

Crime

There is no single definition of crime acceptable to all. In effect, a crime is anything forbidden or punishable by the criminal justice system. “A crime is an act that is capable of being followed by criminal proceedings, having one of the types of outcome (punishment, etc.) known to follow these proceedings” (Williams 1961, p. 21). This is circular, but it is clear-cut and is the essential starting point, whether we want to make comparisons between groups or to ask if the current criminal law should be expanded or contracted.