The Seriousness of Crime Cross‐Culturally:

Abstract

This study examines the perceptions of the seriousness of offenses:first, by examining perceptions of a wide range of oflenses f o r respondents from two verg divergent cultures, the United States and the Middle East, second, by assessing the perceived severity of s m 17 sanctions for respondents from these two cultures and finally, by assessing the impact of religiosity on the perceived seriourmess of Crime. In addition, both the magnitude estimation and category techniques for measuring the seriousness of c r i m are utilized and t h~ results from using these two techniques are compared The literature in the area of perceptions of the seriousness of offenses is characterized by a dearth of cross-cultural research. A few crosscultural studies have been conducted. However, they have been restricted in scope by the limited range of offenses that have been included and the number and diversity of cultures that have been examined. This article extends the research in the area of cross-cultural perceptions of offense seriousness: first, by examining perceptions of a wide range of offenses for respondents from two very divergent cultures, the United States and the Middle East, second, by assessing the perceived severity AUTHORS NOTE: Revised version of a paper presented at the American SocwlogiCal Association's annual meeting in Sun Francisco, September 6-10, 1982. We A h to express our appreciation to the am-referees for their helpful comments on an earlier dra& of this article. This article is the joint product of both authors, who shared equally in the writing and rewriting. The order of our names is merely alphabetical.

religiosity and perceptions of crime seriousness by jewish and muslim respondents in israel

“…Although different groups of respondents tend to agree on the relative seriousness of offenses, they tend to disagree, sometimes significantly, as to the concrete values they assign to each offense. In this context, Al-Thakeb and Scott (1981), Evans and Scott (1984), and Newman and Trilling (1975) found religiosity to be one of the best predictors of perceived crime seriousness. Moreover, the lower the perceived seriousness of an offense, the wider the dispersion of values around the mean, which indicates disagreement about the relative seriousness of such offenses (Cullen et al 1985;O'Connell and Whelan 1996).…”

“…Despite the wide diversity of research in the area of perceived crime seriousness, findings report broad consensus in the relative rankings of the seriousness of crime (the ordering of the offenses in each group of respondents by the mean ratings of the offenses) among different groups and populations within the same nation (see Levi and Jones 1985;Rossi et al 1974;Sellin and Wolfgang 1964), and also when measured cross-culturally (see Evans and Scott 1984;Scott and Al-Thakeb 1977). Generally, violent offenses are graded as the most serious, and after them come property, white-collar, and victimless offenses.…”

“…However, religious beliefs influence perceptions on many political and social issues, including those related to crime (see Al-Thakeb and Scott 1981;Evans and Scott 1984). Religious people tend to base their perceptions on absolute moral principles so they tend to have little sympathy for attitudes and behaviors differing from what they define as acceptable (Finlay 1985).…”

Badges and Brothels: Police Officers' Attitudes Toward Prostitution

“…Evidence suggests that crimes producing physical harm are perceived as the most serious crimes and deserving of the most serious sanctions (Cullen et al, 1982;Wolfgang et al, 1985). Property crimes, on the other hand, are perceived as less serious and therefore are sanctioned less severely (Evans and Scott, 1984;Wolfgang et al, 1985;Douglas and Ogloff, 1997). Property and violent crimes are met with sanctions because they involve both an offender and a victim.…”

Public perceptions of crime seriousness in Israel:

“…For between-society studies, seeEvans and Scott (1984),Newman (1976), van Dijk and vanKesteren (1996).…”