International Differences in Crime Reporting: A Multilevel Exploration of Burglary Reporting in 35 Countries

• Published date: 01 June 2021
• Date: 01 June 2021
• Author: Alyssa K. Mendlein
• DOI: 10.1177/1057567720981625
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

International Differences

in Crime Reporting: A Multilevel

Exploration of Burglary Reporting

in 35 Countries

Alyssa K. Mendlein

1

Abstract

Our knowledge about crime, and the ability to help victims, is only as good as the information that is

shared with us. However, crime reporting is known to be variable, and much research has been done

to look at factors that influence the decision to report. Few studies, though, have looked at whether,

and how, the country context impacts a victim’s decision to report crime. Using data from the

International Crime Victims Survey and available data on corruption, income inequality, develop-

ment, and democracy, this article explores that relationship for burglary reporting in 35 different

countries through multilevel models. The results confirm that there is significant variation among

countries in terms of burglary reporting. In addition, models that take into account both micro- and

macro-level predictors show that country-level crime prevalence, democracy, corruption, and

income inequality significantly predict burglary reporting and provide support for using Freda Adler’s

conception of “synnomie” and anomie as a theoretical framework for understanding the crime

reporting decision internationally. Future research should continue to examine crime reporting

decisions cross-nationally, as this research has shown the importance of sample composition and

crime type on findings, and test the influence of macro-level factors, especially relating to

“synnomie,” over time.

Keywords

crime reporting, burglary reporting, international, multilevel models, synnomie

Although victimization rates differ across global regions (Del Frate, 2003), burglary is seen to be

a fairly serious crime and impacts everyone around the world. van Dijk (1999) found, by analyzing

international victimization surveys, that only car theft, sexual assault, and robbery with a weapon

were seen as more serious than burglary, of the crimes included for 17 industrialized nations, and

this ranking of seriousness is cons istent across global regions. Bu rglary is generally seen as a

particularly upsetting offense (Mayhew & van Kesteren, 2002) and is primarily thought to be very

1

Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Alyssa K. Mendlein,Temple University, GladfelterHall 5th Floor, 1115 PolettWalk, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.

Email: alyssa.mendlein@temple.edu

International CriminalJustice Review

2021, Vol. 31(2) 140-160

ª2020 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/1057567720981625

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serious because it is a “violation of the domestic sphere” (Del Frate, 2003, p. 132). Burglaries are not

always reported, however, and this has many important ramifications, such as affecting the accuracy

of crime statistics, “limit[ing] the deterrent capability of the criminal justice system, contribut[ing]

to misallocation of police resources, and render[ing] victims ineligible for public and private ben-

efits” (Skogan, 1977, p. 41). In addition, there is evidence that the rate of reporting may be different

in different global regions (Del Frate, 2003). Because of the importance of burglary to victims and

crime reporting to the goals of criminal justice systems, it is the aim of this research to further

examine differences in burglary reporting worldwide and explore why they may occur.

Current Research

The first purpose of the current research is to determine whether there are significant differences

in the proportion of crime reporting between countries, specifically focusing on burglary. This is

important because, while much research has been done to understand the factors that lead crime

victims to report or not report, the current literature has infrequently examined whether there might

be crime reporting differences globally. Because of its prevalence and seriousness, it is important to

understand potential differential impacts of country context on whether people report their burglary

victimization. If we assume that certain factors are always significant predictors of crime reporting,

but have not analyzed these relationships in other nations, we lose the ability to generalize our

findings to other contexts. This could have theoretical implications for the factors taken into con-

sideration to understand crime reporting as well as policy implications for governments hoping to

curb rates of burglary.

The second purpose of this research is to understand what could be associated with country-level

differences in burglary reporting, should they exist. This research examines both the effect that

incorporating country-level factors has on the significance of individual-level factors and the ability

of specific country-level factors to predict variation between countries on burglary reporting. This

research attempts to incorporate micro- and macro-dynamics by including country-level factors that

could impact crime reporting, such as crime rates, human development, level of democracy, corrup-

tion, and income inequality. Each of these factors could contribute to the harmony or disharmony of

individuals within a state and, therefore, affect whether people report crimes to the police, a

manifestation of state social control. This focus will allow a broader theoretical understanding of

crime reporting in context and have implications for institutional structures to promote reporting.

Existing Research

A significant amount of existing research focuses on individual-level or situational factors that

lead to reporting. There appears to be consensus on factors that are the most important, such as

offense severity (Skogan, 1976), but few studies explicitly take into account the social context in

which a crime occurs. This could have impacts on both theory and police policy if the evidence

consistently points to offense seriousness as the most important factor. The consensus around certain

incident-level factors such as offense severity shows support for a rational choice perspective of

crime reporting, which suggests that victims conduct a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether to

report (Gottfredson & Gottfredson, 1988). However, we do not know whether we have made these

conclusions prematurely or have fully understood the influences if we do not consider the context of

the incident. As for police practice, the police may not focus on other important aspects of their jobs

that affect reporting because they believe only crime seriousness impacts that decision (Goudriaan

et al., 2004).

A growing body of research is looking into how these individual and situational factors may

interact with the larger contexts in which they occur, such as neighborhood-level and city-level

Mendlein 141