How does the dark figure of crime make it difficult to answer how much crime occurs in the U.S.?
a. Most criminal records are sealed (kept dark) and restricted from public viewing.
b. Some of the darkest crimes are committed from official crime reports, due to their nature.
c. A lot of crime goes unreported, which creates a dark figure of what is actually reported by official crime data.
d. Jurisdictions tend to try and hide their darkest crimes in reporting.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Answer is The dark figure of crime refers to the amount of unreported or undiscovered crime, which is not captured in official crime statistics. This makes it difficult to accurately answer how much crime occurs in the U.S. because a significant portion of criminal activity may never come to the attention of law enforcement or be recorded in official data. The correct answer to the question is:

c. A lot of crime goes unreported, which creates a dark figure of what is actually reported by official crime data.

This means that the crime rates we see in official reports do not represent the total amount of crime that actually takes place. Various factors contribute to the dark figure of crime, including victims' reluctance to report crimes due to fear of retaliation, lack of trust in the police, feelings of shame or embarrassment, or the belief that the police cannot help. Additionally, some crimes may not be recognized as such by victims or may be considered too trivial to report. As a result, the dark figure of crime obscures the true extent of criminal activity and poses a challenge for crime prevention and policy-making efforts.

How Does the Dark Figure of Crime Make It Difficult