The Effects of Sanction Intensity on Criminal Conduct - JDAI Helpdesk

specific information for drug <strong>of</strong>fenses, which constitute 16 per cent <strong>of</strong> all the charges in
our sample. Furthermore, the age <strong>of</strong> these studies and changes in prices and monetary
value may limit the usefulness <strong>of</strong> their estimates (although procedures are available for
converting them into current values).
One proxy for dollar value that would also allow a basic distinction to be drawn
between more or less ‘expensive’ crimes is victim status (crimes with victims, such as
assault, versus ‘victimless’ crimes like drug and weapon possession). This approach
assumes that crimes with victims cost society more because the victims themselves suffer
both tangible (e.g., loss <strong>of</strong> earnings) and non-tangible (e.g. fear) costs, in addition to the
criminal justice system costs <strong>of</strong> processing the <strong>of</strong>fender, while non-victim crimes
(crudely) only involve <strong>of</strong>fender-related costs. Of course, the reality is less clear-cut, but
victim status remains a useful proxy for cost, and does not fully overlap with substantive
severity. 4 We define ‘victim’ crimes as those <strong>of</strong>fenses that were most likely to have
involved injury or death, psychological distress, loss <strong>of</strong> earnings, or other costs such as
loss <strong>of</strong> or damage to property <strong>of</strong> a personal (not corporate) victim. <strong>The</strong> process <strong>of</strong>
applying the definition was somewhat crude, because only limited information about the
<strong>of</strong>fense was available. Our criminal history database contained a free-text description <strong>of</strong>
each <strong>of</strong>fense and a statute section and subsection reference. 5
<strong>The</strong> <strong>of</strong>fense type was
initially determined by reference to the relevant statute, as we believed that variable
would be more accurate than the free-text description. <strong>The</strong> description was used for
confirmation and additional information about the <strong>of</strong>fense. However, without full crime
reports for each <strong>of</strong>fense, it was not possible to know for certain whether a victim was
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