4525.0 - The National Criminal Justice Statistical Framework, Jul 2001

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Contents >> Chapter 4: The statistical framework

4.1 INTRODUCTION

The Framework is essentially a person-centred framework with the core data entities being victims and perpetrators of crime. Most other data entities, such as offences/charges and cases, are ultimately linked to a person or organisation entity even though they may be reported without reference to that counting unit. Both persons/organisations and offences (also referred to as crimes or charges) are measured in relation to particular criminal justice incidents, thereby reflecting a process orientation to the framework. At each stage in the process new activities take place, each of which generates new sources of data. This Chapter examines these processes and activities in greater detail and introduces the key counting units found within the CJS.

It is important to note that the Framework does not currently provide counting rules for these key data. This omission is the result of a considered decision. The way in which data are counted depends greatly upon the nature of the data's use. That is, using data for one purpose (for example, agency reporting requirements) may require different counting rules than another use (for example, to answer a research question). Counting rules are more appropriately stipulated at the time that a given collection is developed. To stipulate firm counting rules in a document such as this would represent a substantial restriction upon the flexibility of the data to address all sorts of user requirements.

4.2 KEY COUNTING UNITS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

4.2.1 The INCIDENT

The CRIMINAL INCIDENT is the starting point for the activities of the CJS. As the incident moves through the system, it often changes in nature. For example, the initial charge is not necessarily the charge that comes before the court, and the final conviction may not be for the charge that was first presented to the court. The name given to the incident will also change as different processes are encountered. When an incident first occurs, there may follow a CALL FOR SERVICE to an authority. The authority contacted may record the call as a REPORTED INCIDENT. If an initial investigation reveals that one of more offences have been committed, the reported incident may be labelled a CRIMINAL INCIDENT and enter the system of the investigating authority as a RECORDED CRIME. If a CHARGE is then laid and passed on to the courts system, it becomes a COURT CASE. If guilt is determined, an adjudicated case will then have a PENALTY applied.

This process and the associated changes in name are illustrated in the diagram below.

Figure 4

4.2.2 The PERSON

There can be no crime without a PERSON. There will always be an OFFENDER if there is a crime. That offender will not always be identified, and certainly will not always make his or her way through the CJS, but there is no crime without an offender. There may be only one offender or there may be many, and the offender may be an individual person or an organisation.

The diagram below illustrates this relationship. The dotted line indicates that there may or may not be a VICTIM associated with a given criminal incident, while the solid line indicates that an offender is always present. There may be one victim or many for any give offence, or there may not be any identifiable victim at all. Drug use is probably the clearest example of a "victimless" crime. The victim's presence is implied throughout the CJS, as adjudication and sentencing may be seen as being performed by the State on the victim's behalf.

Figure 5

As the offender moves through the various sectors of the CJS, his or her status will change. A person begins as a SUSPECT in a case and then becomes an ALLEGED OFFENDER. The status of OFFENDER is not conferred until after being a DEFENDANT and being proven guilty. The person may then become a PRISONER or may be subject to a community-based order (CBO). Finally, the offender may commit another crime and may therefore become a RE-OFFENDER.

Figure 6

Despite these changes, certain offender characteristics remain unchanged (such as sex and ethnicity), and thus theoretically can be collected at a single point in the system.

Organisations may also be victimised and may also participate in criminal activities. An example of organisations as victims is certain types of white-collar crime. For instance, bank employees who misappropriate company funds commit an offence against that organisation. An organisation that secretly dumps toxic waste is an offender committing an environmental offence. The existence of organisations as victims and as offenders is incorporated into the Framework. An organisation may enter the CJS following an investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency, for example. It may be subject to adjudication in the courts and may then exit the system with a fine as the outcome of the determination of guilt.

4.2.3 The CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

The criminal justice system represents the official response to the criminal incident. The system is made up of three main parts: investigation agencies, courts agencies and corrective services agencies. A given individual may exit at any number of points and thus not pass through each stage of the CJS, or may remain within the system throughout the entire process.

4.3 THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROCESS MODEL

The matrix below places the overall criminal justice system within a grid that is broken down into the various stages of each of the processes within that system. The matrix represents a flow model of the main processes within the CJS and the specific points at which data can be collected throughout the criminal justice system (stock). The first two columns list the primary sources of data for the various processes in the CJS and present a summary of the criminal justice process at each stage. Reading these two columns vertically represents the flow of processes across the CJS. The remaining four columns depict the chronological relationship among these activities as they progress from Initiation to Processing to Finalisation to Outcome. This part of the matrix should be read horizontally, from one row to the next, in order to understand the flow of activities that occurs within each process.

Figure 7

This model does not represent a comprehensive picture of the flows through the system. Instead, it is designed to be a tool to illustrate the key processes that are involved in the movement of people through the system, the main activities occurring at each of these stages and the key data that are available from each of these processes. Each stage of each process (within each cell of the matrix) represents a point at which to collect data variables, from which information about the characteristics and nature of the particular activity can be derived (for example, a count of the number of offences recorded). Information may also be derived about the rate of flow for each process (for example, duration of court case or time served in prison). Not everyone will experience all of the events in the matrix; some will drop out of the system at various stages while others will leapfrog some of the stages altogether. Others will cycle back and will revisit a particular stage more than once (for example, appearing in a lower court before continuing to a higher court, or re-entering corrections after breaching parole). Nonetheless, the model does identify the fundamental, basic parts of the criminal justice system from start to finish.

4.3.1 Unreported crime

Not all crime that occurs in society comes to the attention of the CJS. Some crime is either never detected or never reported to authorities. There are a number of reasons why crime is not reported. For example, some victims do not report a crime because they do not wish to deal with the consequences of making a crime 'public'. This is particularly so where the crime is of a personal and sensitive nature (the classic example of this is sexual assault), or involves an offender who is known to the victim (a key example is domestic violence). Some other reasons why a crime is not reported include victim perceptions that the crime was trivial or not serious enough to warrant reporting it, lack of faith in the ability of the criminal justice system to deal with the crime, belief that it is unlikely that an offender will be caught, or hesitation about letting others know that they have been victimised (for example, in cases of fraud). Some measures of unreported crime may be obtained through surveys of crime victims; however, crime victimisation surveys can only be used to collect data about crimes that have specific victims and they are not suitable for crimes that have an unusually low incidence. In general crimes that do not have direct victims will only be brought to the attention of the CJS if they are detected by authorities (such as police or local councils) or if they are reported by witnesses. To some extent the number of such crimes identified will depend on the resources devoted to detection, including the number of available personnel (such as police, parking inspectors, fisheries officers) and the technology used (for example speed or red light cameras). Self-report surveys of offenders have shown that a large proportion of crimes never comes to the attention of the authorities.

4.3.2 Alternative methods of entry into the CJS

The formal processes of the CJS therefore begin when an incident has come to the attention of some authority. Detection of crimes (usually by police) is extremely difficult. It is important to acknowledge the other methods by which an offender may enter the criminal justice system. There are many administrative and regulatory offences for which an individual (or an organisation) may be brought into the CJS without coming into contact with the police. These include such offences as traffic violations such as speeding offences (for which the offender receives an automatically-generated penalty in the form of a ticket); environmental violations handled by the Environmental Protection Agency; wildlife violations handled by Department of Fisheries and Wildlife; and animal abuse cases handled by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The Framework focuses only on the typical processes of the CJS but also acknowledges, and could be developed to incorporate, these alternatives.

4.3.3 Alternative methods of exit from the CJS

As there are alternative methods by which alleged offenders may enter the criminal justice system, so there are alternative ways in which they may exit the system. These alternatives relate primarily to the charging and adjudication processes.

An alleged offender who has come to the attention of the authorities may not be charged and forwarded into the courts process. Instead, some sort of diversionary process may be applied. This is particularly the case with juveniles, who are often diverted using cautions, family conferences, intervention and treatment programs, and the like. The courts system also makes use of such diversionary tactics, sending offenders to treatment and intervention programs in order to remove them from the formal corrections system. In both instances, individuals may exit the system at an earlier stage, rather than progressing through the system in its entirety.

The figure below illustrates how individuals may exit the system at various stages. An individual will proceed to the next stage in the CJS only if the activity described in the left most box of each row occurs. Otherwise the person will exit the system.

Figure 8

There are also alternatives to the unbroken flow from one stage to the next that is represented in the Framework. The diagrams and models that are found in the following chapters focus on the progression through the process when all steps are encountered. However, it is also possible that some of these events might be skipped. This "leapfrogging" may occur in any sector of the criminal justice system, such as:

Individuals who are caught speeding experience the detection and recording of the incident simultaneously -- the investigation activity is therefore unnecessary.
Individuals who are sent ex officio to the higher courts bypass the lower courts entirely.
Individuals who breach parole can be put back into prison without progressing through the courts system again.

4.4 SUMMARY

The Statistical Framework is based upon the key counting units of the incident and the person. These counting units lie at the heart of the processes of the criminal justice system. The criminal justice model included in the Framework describes the key processes involved in the system and some of the alternative methods of entry and exit that may occur.

4.5 FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information about the Australian Bureau of Statistics' National Criminal Justice Statistical Framework, please contact Chris Libreri Director, National Centre for Crime and Justice Statistics by e-mailing crime.justice@abs.gov.au More information about the ABS National Centre for Crime and Justice can be obtained by accessing the Crime and Justice Theme Pages.

Special thanks are due to all the individuals and groups who participated in the consultation process, particularly the Statistical Framework Working Group, the various Working Groups of the Council of Australian Governments project, and our practitioner groups. Their comments played an important role in the development and refinement of the Framework.