The volume of crime that is never reported, detected or recorded, and so never appears in official statistics. The concept goes back to Adolphe Quetelet's nineteenth century statistical work, and modern criminology measures it by comparing official records against victimization surveys such as the National Crime Victimization Survey and against self-report studies. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
DomainSourced to the subject's own account FAQs
Why do crimes go unreported in the first place?
Crimes may go unreported for reasons including a victim being unaware a crime occurred, personal dynamics with the offender, perceived social stigma, distrust of the police, or fear of retaliation.
Connections
Associated With
Victimization surveys are the primary tool used to measure the dark figure of crime.
Source Wikipedia: Dark Figure of Crime
Informed By
Quetelet's statistical work established that recorded crime understates real crime.
Source Wikipedia: Dark Figure of Crime
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Dark Figure of Crime
Lead section
The amount of unreported, undetected, or undiscovered crime.
- Informed By: Adolphe Quetelet
Associated With: Victimology, lead section, victimology sentence
The dark figure of crime is the amount of unreported, undetected, or undiscovered crime, and is a central concept of victimology.
View the Sourcetutor2u: Revising Official Statistics and Crime
iceberg metaphor discussionQuote, iceberg metaphor discussion
As with icebergs, a small proportion of crime is visible, but the bulk remains hidden from our view.
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