Glossary

Characteristics of Victim

Most serious offense against victim

This variable indicates the type of crime committed during an incident. In a case where there were multiple offenses against a victim, the following hierarchy was applied for selecting the most serious offense (Murder/nonnegligent manslaughter; Kidnapping/abduction; Rape; Sodomy; Sexual assault with an object; Fondling; Robbery; Aggravated assault; Simple assault; and Intimidation).

• Murder and Nonnegligent Manslaughter: The willful (nonnegligent) killing of one human being by another.
• Kidnapping/Abduction: The unlawful seizure, transportation, and/or detention of a person against his/her will, or of a minor without the consent of his/her custodial parent(s) or legal guardian. This offense includes not only kidnapping and abduction, but hostage situations as well.
• Rape: Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim. Attempts or assaults to commit rape are also included; however, statutory rape and incest are excluded.
• Sodomy: Oral or anal sexual intercourse with another person, forcibly and/or against that person's will or not forcibly or against the person's will in instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.
• Sexual Assault With An Object: To use an object or instrument to unlawfully penetrate, however slightly, the genital or anal opening of the body of another person, forcibly and/or against that person's will; or not forcibly or against the person's will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.
• Fondling: The touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, forcibly and/or against that person's will or not forcibly or against the person's will in instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.
• Robbery: The taking, or attempting to take, anything of value under confrontational circumstances from the control, custody, or care of another person by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear of immediate harm.
• Aggravated Assault: An unlawful attack by one person upon another wherein the offender uses a weapon or displays it in a threatening manner, or the victim suffers obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury involving apparent broken bones, loss of teeth, possible internal injury, severe laceration, or loss of consciousness. This also includes assault with disease (as in cases when the offender is aware that he/she is infected with a deadly disease and deliberately attempts to inflict the disease by biting, spitting, etc.).
• Simple Assault: An unlawful physical attack by one person upon another where neither the offender displays a weapon, nor the victim suffers obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury involving apparent broken bones, loss of teeth, possible internal injury, severe laceration, or loss of consciousness.
• Intimidation: To unlawfully place another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the use of threatening words and/or other conduct, but without displaying a weapon or subjecting the victim to actual physical attack.

Victim-Offender relationship

This variable describes the victim's relationship to the offender. To be included in the "Victims of Domestic Violence" extract, the victim-offender relationship had to fall into one of the following categories:

• Spouse - includes common-law spouse
• Parent or step-parent
• Sibling or step-sibling
• Child or step-child
• Grandparent
• Grandchild
• In-law
• Other family member
• Boyfriend/Girlfriend
• Child of boyfriend/girlfriend
• Homosexual relationship
• Ex-spouse

For the "Victims of Violence" extract, the following groups are used:

• Family - includes spouse (including common-law); parent, sibling, child, grandparent, grandchild, in-law, step-parent, step-child, step-sibling, or other family member.
• Acquaintance - includes acquaintance, friend, neighbor, babysittee (the baby), boyfriend/girlfriend, child of boyfriend/girlfriend, homosexual relationship, ex-spouse, employee/employer, or otherwise known.
• Stranger - victim was a stranger.
• Other - victim was offender.
• Unknown - the relationship of the victim to the offender was unknown.

Most serious injury to victim

This variable is based on the perception of law enforcement responding to the scene, not based on actual medical records. For the purposes of this application the type of injury category was collapsed (as shown below). Multiple injuries to one victim can be reported in the data. In a case where there were multiple injuries, the following hierarchy was applied for selecting the most serious injury to the victim:

• Major injury - Death, broken bones, loss of teeth, severe laceration, or unconsciousness.
• Minor injury
• None

Characteristics of First Offender

"Victims of Domestic Violence" section: for incidents involving multiple offenders involved in an incident, the demographic information from the first offender record with a domestic/intimate relationship to the victim was included.

"Victims of Violence" section: for incidents involving multiple offenders involved in an incident, the demographic information from the first offender record was included.

Characteristics of the Incident

Violence Victims in Incident

• Number of Victims: This variable indicates the number of violence victims involved in the incident.
• Victim(s) Type: More than one victim can be involved in a single incident. Demographic information is available on each. This information is used to determine whether the incident involved a lone victim (juvenile, adult) or multiple victimization (multiple adults, multiple juveniles or a combination of juvenile(s) and adult(s)).

Total Number of Offenders

This variable indicates the number of offenders involved in the incident.

Type of Weapon

This variable indicates the presence of a weapon, but does not imply the weapon was used. For the purposes of this application the type of weapon category was collapsed (as shown below). Multiple weapons can exist if one offender possessed multiple weapons, or if multiple offenders in the incident each possessed one or more weapons. In a case where there were multiple weapons present, the following hierarchy was applied for selecting the type of weapon:

• Firearm - Firearm, Handgun, Rifle, Shotgun, and Other gun.
• Knife - Knife, Cutting instrument, Icepick, Screwdriver, Axe, etc.
• Blunt object - Hammer, club, etc.
• Personal - Hands, Fists, Feet, and Other personal weapon.
• Other - Poison, Pushed out window, Explosives, Fire, Drugs, Drowning, Strangulation, and Asphyxiation.
• Unknown
• None

Location

This variable describes where the incident occurred.

• Residence - Residence/home.

The locations below are included under "Non-residence" in the domestic violence section.

• School - elementary/secondary, college/university.
• Outside - highways and roads, sidewalks, streets, fields/woods, and parks/playgrounds.
• Commercial - includes a range of business locations, such as convenience, department, and grocery stores, as well as restaurants, banks, gas stations, and various specialty stores (TV, fur, etc.).
• Other - Other/unknown.

Day of Week

This variable indicates the day of week the incident occurred.

Type of Clearance

This variable indicates whether or not the incident was cleared, and by what means. Generally, an incident can be cleared either by arrest or "exceptional means." The first clearance type requires little elaboration. The second, however, is less intuitive. Exceptional means refers to circumstances beyond the control of law enforcement that prevent an agency from placing formal charges against an offender pursuant to an arrest. Examples of exceptional clearances include the death of the offender; victim refusal to cooperate with prosecution; or the denial of extradition because the offender committed a crime in another jurisdiction and is being prosecuted for that offense.

[The information presented above was adapted from material presented in the FBI's annual Crime in the United States report, under the section labeled "Offenses Cleared"]. Note that the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, which includes NIBRS, counts clearances by the number of offenses that are solved, not by the number of persons arrested.