범죄현상에 대한 경험적 연구 방법론 성찰 = A Fundamental Reflect on the Methodology of Criminology

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper aims to reflect fundamentally on the methodology of criminology in Korea by showing the discrepancy within Korean official crime statistics, especiaIIy statistics of rape and murder. Nobody who study criminology will not deny that in empirical criminological researches dependent variables(the measurement of crime itself) are very important as weII as independent variables. But during the recent decades there has been serious problems about which is the true trends of crime rate(dependent variables) in Korea. The official crime rates in Korea have increased almost continuaIly, but in the recent results of crime victim survey the crime rates have decreased also almost continuaIly. In such situation, it will be very difficult to study which independent variables mainl-y explain the true cause of crime(or the changes of crime rates) in Korea I think that until now most of Korean criminologists have taken for granted. the approximate buth of the trends of official crime statistics in Korea. If so, it should be the drastic false of crime victim survey in Korea. But I assume the reverse carefully. I think that recent Korean official crime statistics have undergone great quality changes and. they may not be the real trends of recent Korean crime rate. In this paper, I presented the crucial discrepancies within statistics of rape and murder in Korean official statistics system. In overall statistics the crime rates of rape and murder have increased for ten years or more. But in the specific statistics, i.e., incidents including wounded rape victims or incidents of death in murder(In Korean offi.ciaI statistics, the murder crime category includes the incidents in which the victims did not die. It includes failed murder trial!) have decreased almost continuaIly during the same period. There may be two interpretation about such statistics. The one is the possibility of the truth of recent trends which Korean crime victim survey have showd(The declines of crime rates are real). The other is the possibility of terrible and systematic omission of data of subcategories of rape and murder crime report format in the entry stage of procedure of making official crime statistics by policemen, while the overall entry rates having increased. Any of possibilities will be quite matter. H we do not solve such problems, I think the foundation of criminological researches in Korea will be very unstable. So I think it is urgent to solve such problems for the stable methodological condition.