1990년대 강도 및 철도범죄의 변화추세

Trends in Robbery and Theft in the 1990s: A Comparison of Official Statistics to Victimization Data

This study examines short-term trends in robbery and theft using the Analytical Report on Crimes(official statistics published annually by the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office) and Crime Victimization Survey(victimization data surveyed every 2-3 years by Korean Institute of Criminology). While the official statistics showed increasing rates since early 1990s, the victimization data indicated rather decreasing rates. The difference in the trends between the official statistics and victimization data is more obvious in late 1990s, especially since the beginning of economic crisis in 1997. The official statistics and the victimization data can be useful making inference about crime situations in Korea. But the official statistics compiles only the criminal incidents known to the police. The victimization data also has some problems defining and surveying the crime victimization. The study analyses internal consistency of each data and summaries the trends in the rates of robbery and theft since 1990. The rates in official statistics are analyzed by decomposing sub-categories of each crime. Three victimization data are checked their comparability with official statistics. The study concludes that the increase in the official statistics might be taken as a sign of increased reporting.