Victims of Crime - Cost Of Victimization

Several different ways are available for a crime victim to consider his or her loss. Direct costs to the victim are easy to pinpoint, but indirect costs must be shared by the entire society (the expenses of the criminal justice system, for instance). In 2002 victims suffered a total economic loss of some $15.5 billion to crime. This amount refers to the actual loss of property and not to such additional expenses as medical or insurance costs. While material losses are very important, emotional costs can affect the victim for the rest of his or her life, sometimes producing radical and permanent changes in his or her lifestyle.

A National Institute of Justice Study

In Victim Costs and Consequences: A New Look (National Institute of Justice, Washington, D.C., 1996), Ted R. Miller, Mark A. Cohen, and Brian Wiersema estimated that from 1987 to 1990 personal crime cost $105 billion per year in medical costs, lost earnings, and public program expenses related to victim assistance. This amounts to about $425 per person (including children) in the United States. These tangible losses, however, do not account for the full impact of crime on victims. If the intangible factors of pain, suffering, reduced quality of life, and risk of death are included, victims' costs increase to an estimated $450 billion annually, or $1,800 per person.

The study excluded several crimes that also have large cost impacts, such as many forms of white-collar crime, personal fraud, and drug crimes. Also excluded were the costs of operating the nation's correctional institutions, an additional expense of approximately $40 billion annually.

VIOLENT CRIME.

Violent crime, including drunk driving and arson, accounted for $426 billion of the annual total. Property crime accounted for $24 billion. Rape was considered the costliest crime, accounting for $127 billion

TABLE 3.7
Victimization rates for persons age 12 and over, by type of crime and annual family income of victims, 2002

	Rate per 1,000 persons age 12 and over
Type of crime	Less than $7,500–	$7,500–$14,999	$15,000–$24,999	$25,000–$34,999	$35,000–$49,999	$50,000–$74,999	$75,000 or more
All personal crimes	47.2	32.0	30.8	27.4	26.0	19.3	19.7
Crimes of violence	45.5	31.5	30.0	27.0	25.6	18.7	19.0
Completed violence	18.7	12.0	11.4	9.3	6.7	4.9	5.6
Attempted/threatened violence	26.8	19.5	18.6	17.7	18.8	13.8	13.4
Rape/Sexual assault	2.5*	3.2	2.1	1.2*	0.9*	0.2*	0.4*
Rape/Attempted rape	2.3*	2.7	1.3	0.8*	0.3*	0.1*	0.2*
Rape	0.6*	1.4*	1.0*	0.3*	0.1*	0.1*	0.1*
Attempted rape1	1.7*	1.3*	0.2*	0.5*	0.2*	0.0*	0.1*
Sexual assault2	0.3*	0.4*	0.8*	0.4*	0.6*	0.1*	0.2*
Robbery	6.3	4.1	2.9	2.9	2.2	2.1	1.0
Completed/property taken	5.0	2.4	2.4	1.9	1.9	1.5	0.8
With injury	2.4*	1.3*	1.1*	0.8*	0.5*	0.3*	0.4*
Without injury	2.7*	1.1*	1.3	1.1*	1.4	1.2	0.4*
Attempted to take property	1.3*	1.7*	0.5*	1.0*	0.3*	0.6*	0.2*
With injury	0.3*	0.9*	0.1*	0.4*	0.0*	0.2*	0.1*
Without injury	1.0*	0.8*	0.4*	0.6*	0.3*	0.4*	0.1*
Assault	36.7	24.2	25.0	22.9	22.4	16.5	17.6
Aggravated	11.2	5.8	6.1	4.1	5.2	2.5	2.8
With injury	4.2	2.4	1.8	1.5	1.3	0.5 *	0.9
Threatened with weapon	7.0	3.3	4.3	2.5	3.9	2.0	1.9
Simple	25.5	18.4	18.9	18.9	17.2	14.0	14.8
With minor injury	8.6	5.6	5.7	5.2	3.1	2.8	3.7
Without injury	16.9	12.8	13.3	13.7	14.1	11.2	11.2
Purse snatching/Pocket picking	1.7*	0.5*	0.8*	0.3*	0.4*	0.6*	0.7
Population age 12 and over	8,347,650	15,608,210	23,872,200	24,104,810	31,655,160	33,713,640	43,139,380
Note: Detail may not add to total shown because of rounding.
Excludes data on persons whose family income level was not ascertained.
*Estimate is based on about 10 or fewer sample cases.
1Includes verbal threats of rape.
2Includes threats.
SOURCE: "Table 14: Personal Crimes, 2002, Victimization Rates for Persons Age 12 and Over, by Type of Crime and Annual Family Income of Victims," in Criminal Victimization in the United States, 2002 Statistical Tables, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington, DC, 2003

annually. Rape and sexual abuse costs represented 28.2 percent of the total costs.

The study estimated that violent crime accounts for 3 percent of all U.S. medical spending and 14 percent of injury-related medical spending. The wage losses caused by violent crime are equivalent to 1 percent of American earnings. Violent crime may also account for as much as 10 to 20 percent of expenditures for mental health care, primarily to treat victims. About half of these expenditures are for child abuse victims who are receiving treatment for abuse experienced years earlier. These estimates do not include any treatment for the perpetrators of violence.

PERSONAL CRIME.

The study claimed that, by conservative estimates, personal crime reduced the average American's quality of life by 1.8 percent. Violence alone caused a 1.7 percent loss. These estimates include only costs to victimized households, ignoring the broader impact of crime-induced fear on society.

WHO PAYS THE CRIME BILL?

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) study found that crime victims and their families pay the bill for some crimes, while the public largely pays the bill for others. Insurers pay $45 billion annually due to crime, about $265 per every American adult. The federal government pays $8 billion annually for restorative and emergency services for crime victims, plus perhaps one-fourth of the $11 billion paid in health insurance payments. For arson and drunk driving, taxpayers and insurance purchasers cover almost all the tangible costs (for example, property damage and loss, medical care, police and fire services, and victim services).

Victims pay about $44 billion of the $57 billion in tangible nonservice expenses for traditional crimes of violence (murder, rape, robbery, assault, abuse, and neglect). Employers pay almost $5 billion, primarily in health insurance premiums, because of these crimes. (This estimate excludes sick leave and disability insurance costs other than workers' compensation.) Government bears the remaining costs through lost tax revenues and Medicare and Medicaid payments. Crime victim compensation accounts for 38 percent of homeowners' insurance payments and 29 percent of auto insurance payments.

TABLE 3.8
Victimization rates for persons age 12 and over, by gender and marital status of victims and type of crime, 2002

		Rate per 1,000 persons age 12 and over
						Robbery			Assault
Gender and marital status	Total population	Crimes of violence	Completed violence	Attempted/threatened violence	Rape/Sexual assault1	Total	With injury	Without injury	Total	Aggravated	Simple	Purse snatching/Pocket picking
Male
Never married	39,330,360	46.5	14.4	32.1	0.5*	5.3	2.2	3.1	40.7	8.8	31.9	1.3
Married	59,173,620	11.4	2.4	9.0	0.1*	0.9	0.4*	0.5	10.4	2.7	7.8	0.1*
Widowed	2,695,670	17.0	4.5*	12.5	0.0*	4.1*	1.6*	2.5*	12.9	6.8*	6.0*	0.0*
Divorced or separated	10,251,890	27.7	8.1	19.6	0.7*	4.9	2.1*	2.8	22.1	5.5	16.6	1.1*
Female
Never married	34,699,450	39.6	14.6	25.0	4.9	2.0	0.9	1.0	32.8	5.7	27.1	0.9*
Married	58,123,160	9.7	3.1	6.7	0.3*	1.0	0.1*	0.8	8.4	1.8	6.7	0.5
Widowed	11,003,700	4.7	2.0*	2.7*	0.4*	1.4*	0.8*	0.6*	2.9	1.0*	1.9*	0.8*
Divorced or separated	14,516,310	32.9	15.2	17.7	1.3*	3.4	2.1*	1.4*	28.1	6.1	22.0	1.1*
Note: Detail may not add to total shown because of rounding.
Excludes data on persons whose marital status was not ascertained.
*Estimate is based on about 10 or fewer sample cases.
1Includes verbal threats of rape and threats of sexual assault.
SOURCE: "Table 12: Personal Crimes, 2002, Victimization Rates for Persons Age 12 and Over, by Gender and Marital Status of Victims and Type of Crime," in Criminal Victimization in the United States, 2002 Statistical Tables, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington, DC, 2003

TABLE 3.9
Property crime victimization rates, by type of crime, region, and residence locality, 2002

	Rate per 1,000 households
	All regions				Northeast
Type of crime	All areas	Urban	Suburban	Rural	All areas	Urban	Suburban	Rural
Property crimes	159.0	215.3	145.3	118.3	117.0	126.7	108.0	125.7
Household burglary	27.7	40.5	22.4	22.6	18.4	23.2	14.0	22.7
Completed	23.5	34.1	19.1	19.5	15.0	18.8	11.3	19.3
Forcible entry	9.2	16.4	6.1	6.7	4.8	8.7	3.5	1.8*
Unlawful entry without force	14.3	17.8	12.9	12.9	10.3	10.1	7.8	17.5
Attempted forcible entry	4.2	6.4	3.4	3.0	3.4	4.3*	2.7 *	3.4*
Motor vehicle theft	9.0	17.1	7.5	2.2	6.4	11.2	5.7	0.6*
Completed	7.1	13.1	6.0	2.0	5.5	9.7	4.8	0.6*
Attempted	1.9	4.0	1.4	0.3*	0.9*	1.5*	0.9 *	0.0*
Theft	122.3	157.7	115.4	93.5	92.1	92.3	88.3	102.4
Completed	118.2	151.5	111.6	91.3	88.3	88.0	84.9	98.3
Less than $50	37.9	42.5	37.1	34.1	33.0	27.8	33.5	40.0
$50–$249	40.4	55.3	36.5	30.1	28.9	28.6	28.3	30.9
$250 or more	29.6	40.3	28.0	20.1	17.5	19.6	16.1	17.8
Amount not available	10.2	13.4	10.0	7.0	9.0	12.1	6.9	9.6
Attempted	4.1	6.2	3.8	2.2	3.8	4.3*	3.4	4.1*
Total number of households	110,323,840	31,937,800	51,446,980	26,939,060	20,821,680	6,354,700	10,628,640	3,838,340
	Rate per 1,000 households
	Midwest				South
Type of crime	All areas	Urban	Suburban	Rural	All areas	Urban	Suburban	Rural
Property crimes	155.8	221.6	135.7	128.3	147.8	222.3	140.9	94.2
Household burglary	30.7	57.1	19.4	24.4	28.2	45.3	22.2	22.3
Completed	25.9	46.9	17.1	20.4	24.1	38.8	18.4	19.9
Forcible entry	10.5	24.4	5.0	6.4	10.7	20.1	6.0	9.7
Unlawful entry without force	15.4	22.5	12.1	14.0	13.4	18.7	12.4	10.2
Attempted forcible entry	4.8	10.1	2.3*	3.9	4.1	6.6	3.8	2.4*
Motor vehicle theft	7.9	20.7	4.8	1.2*	7.9	16.0	6.4	3.3
Completed	6.0	15.5	3.9	0.9*	6.1	11.6	5.0	2.9
Attempted	1.8	5.2	1.0*	0.3*	1.8	4.4	1.4*	0.4*
Theft	117.2	143.8	111.5	102.7	111.8	161.0	112.3	68.6
Completed	113.4	137.0	108.1	100.8	108.0	155.4	107.5	67.8
Less than $50	40.3	41.1	38.9	41.5	31.9	40.5	35.5	19.1
$50–$249	38.5	50.8	35.1	33.0	37.6	58.7	35.5	22.7
$250 or more	24.9	31.3	25.2	19.0	29.7	44.8	27.3	20.2
Amount not available	9.7	13.8	8.9	7.3	8.8	11.4	9.2	5.8
Attempted	3.8	6.8	3.4	1.9*	3.8	5.6	4.8	0.8*
Total number of households	26,238,340	6,822,000	11,482,180	7,934,160	40,202,070	10,310,590	17,922,400	11,969,080
	Rate per 1,000 households
	West
Type of crime	All areas	Urban	Suburban	Rural
Property crimes	219.9	268.3	196.7	175.0
Household burglary	31.9	34.2	33.8	19.0
Completed	27.6	29.6	29.3	16.5
Forcible entry	9.3	11.0	10.0	1.9*
Unlawful entry without force	18.4	18.6	19.3	14.7
Attempted forcible entry	4.2	4.6	4.4	2.4*
Motor vehicle theft	14.3	19.8	13.5	2.6*
Completed	11.4	15.3	11.0	2.6*
Attempted	2.9	4.5	2.4*	0.0*
Theft	173.8	214.2	149.5	153.4
Completed	168.5	206.3	146.4	147.5
Less than $50	50.4	57.3	41.3	64.7
$50–$249	57.6	75.0	46.9	50.0
$250 or more	45.9	57.7	43.0	25.5
Amount not available	14.5	16.3	15.1	7.3*
Attempted	5.3	7.9	3.1	5.9*
Total number of households	23,061,760	8,450,520	11,413,760	3,197,480
Notes: Detail may not add to total shown because of rounding. The term "Urban" is used to denote "Central cities." The term "Suburban" is used to denote "Outside central cities." The term "Rural" is used to denote "Nonmetropolitan areas."
*Estimate is based on about 10 or fewer sample cases.
SOURCE: "Table 58: Victimization Rates by Type of Crime, Region and Locality of Residence," in Criminal Victimization in the United States, 2002 Statistical Tables, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington, DC, 2003

TABLE 3.10
Family violence victimization rates, by victim-offender relationship, type of crime, and selected victim characteristics, 2002

		Rate per 1,000 persons age 12 and over
		Crimes of violence1				Assault
Characteristic	Total population	Relatives	Wellknown	Casual acquaintances	Strangers	Relatives	Wellknown	Casual acquaintances	Strangers
Gender
Male	112,241,930	1.0	5.6	3.2	14.3	0.9	5.2	3.0	12.0
Female	119,347,330	2.8	7.0	3.2	6.4	2.5	5.9	2.7	5.2
Race
White	192,956,980	2.0	6.0	3.2	10.2	1.8	5.4	3.0	8.7
Black	28,871,440	1.9	9.4	3.4	11.3	1.9	7.3	2.6	8.4
Other	9,760,850	0.9*	3.1	1.9*	7.5	0.9*	2.1*	1.9*	5.3
Age
12–15	16,676,560	1.1*	15.9	8.9	16.3	1.0*	14.7	8.1	13.9
16–19	16,171,800	3.1	19.6	10.1	22.9	2.4	15.5	8.3	19.8
20–24	19,317,740	4.2	12.3	4.5	23.8	4.1	10.0	3.8	19.5
25–34	37,329,720	2.6	6.6	3.5	12.6	2.3	5.8	3.5	10.6
35–49	65,263,580	2.4	4.2	2.1	8.0	2.3	3.9	1.9	6.8
50–64	43,746,850	0.9	2.5	1.4	5.2	0.8	2.3	1.4	3.9
65 and over	33,083,000	0.2*	0.5*	0.4*	1.5	0.2*	0.4*	0.3*	1.0
Marital status2
Married	117,296,790	1.3	2.0	1.0	5.6	1.3	1.7	1.0	4.9
Widowed	13,699,370	0.8*	1.9*	0.2*	3.7	0.7*	1.3*	0.2*	2.5
Divorced or separated	24,768,200	6.4	7.7	5.4	9.5	5.8	6.5	4.9	7.1
Never married	74,029,810	1.6	13.7	6.4	19.1	1.4	11.9	5.6	15.9
Family income3
Less than $7,500	8,347,650	4.6	16.5	6.3	15.6	4.1	13.7	5.7	12.1
$7,500–$14,999	15,608,210	2.8	9.4	4.6	12.6	2.3	6.8	3.7	10.3
$15,000–$24,999	23,872,200	4.0	9.0	4.6	10.7	3.6	7.2	4.4	8.5
$25,000–$34,999	24,104,810	1.9	8.0	4.5	10.4	1.9	7.1	3.9	8.2
$35,000–$49,999	31,655,160	2.3	6.3	3.4	12.2	2.1	5.9	2.9	10.3
$50,000–$74,999	33,713,640	1.5	3.9	3.1	9.5	1.2	3.6	3.0	8.1
$75,000 or more	43,139,380	1.1	5.5	2.2	9.5	1.0	5.3	2.1	8.6