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The perception of small crime

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  • Douhou, Salima
  • Magnus, Jan R.
  • van Soest, Arthur

Abstract

In this paper we measure perceptions of incorrect behavior or ‘small crime’, based on a questionnaire administered to a large representative sample from the Dutch population. In the questionnaire we ask the respondents to rate the severity or justifiability of a number of small crimes. We present short questions that only state the nature of the small crime, as well as vignette questions, describing in detail a fictitious person committing the small crime and other factors related to the circumstances in which the small crime is committed. We find that the perceived severity of small crimes varies systematically with characteristics of the respondent as well as of the person committing the crime. Also, the association between respondent characteristics and perceived seriousness changes if the respondents are given more information about the offender and the circumstances of the offense.

Suggested Citation

  • Douhou, Salima & Magnus, Jan R. & van Soest, Arthur, 2011. "The perception of small crime," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 749-763.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:poleco:v:27:y:2011:i:4:p:749-763
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2011.05.005
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    Cited by:

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    2. Wong, Jason Chun Yu & Blankenship, Brian & Urpelainen, Johannes & Ganesan, Karthik & Bharadwaj, Kapardhi & Balani, Kanika, 2021. "Perceptions and acceptability of electricity theft: Towards better public service provision," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    3. Abraham, Martin & Lorek, Kerstin & Richter, Friedemann & Wrede, Matthias, 2018. "Breaking the norms: When is evading inheritance taxes socially acceptable?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 85-102.
    4. Salima Douhou & Jan Magnus & Arthur Soest, 2012. "Peer Reporting and the Perception of Fairness," De Economist, Springer, vol. 160(3), pages 289-310, September.
    5. Eugene C.X. Ikejemba & Peter C. Schuur, 2018. "Analyzing the Impact of Theft and Vandalism in Relation to the Sustainability of Renewable Energy Development Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-17, March.
    6. Tim Friehe & Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch, 2018. "Predicting norm enforcement: the individual and joint predictive power of economic preferences, personality, and self-control," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 127-146, February.
    7. Traxler, Christian & Winter, Joachim, 2012. "Survey evidence on conditional norm enforcement," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 390-398.
    8. Beqiraj, Elton & Fedeli, Silvia & Giuriato, Luisa, 2020. "Policy tolerance of economic crime? An empirical analysis of the effect of counterfeiting on Italian trade," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    9. Douhou, Salima & Van Soest, Arthur, 2013. "Explaining subjective well-being: The role of victimization, trust, health, and social norms," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 52-78.
    10. Ahmad Saleem Tarawneh, 2018. "The Impact of Using Computer Applications Programs as a Tool in Accounting Education on the Performance of the Students of Financial Accounting Course," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 8(4), pages 56-64.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Crime seriousness; Social norms; Vignettes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • K14 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Criminal Law

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