this study's estimates for child abuse should be viewed as very rough and worthy of further study.

Insurance administrative costs were estimated to be 7.5 percent of medical costs covered under health insurance policies and 13 percent for workers' compensation-related cases. These estimates were based on insurance statistics as explained in Miller (1992, volume 2).

A final caveat on the costing methodology is that managed care systems appear to be changing health care utilization patterns and payments dramatically (e.g., the distribution of hospitalized versus nonhospitalized incidents, length of stay, etc.). The estimates do not reflect those changes.

Mental health care: payments for services to crime victims by psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and pastoral counselors, and associated insurance claims processing costs.

This cost category has been one of the least studied areas of crime costs. Since there were no known estimates available, the research team conducted a pilot survey of 168 mental health care professionals (Cohen and Miller, 1994b). This survey, using a stratified random sample of members of seven different professional organizations, asked respondents to detail the number of visits by clients being served primarily as a result of crime victimization. (See "Mental Health Care Following Victimization.")

The average murder puts 1.5 to 2.5 people into counseling. Rape and child abuse victims also frequently obtain mental health care, with usage rates approaching 25-50 percent or more. Thus,mental health care costs are the largest component of tangible losses for most forms of child abuse and rape. For example, the cost of mental health care for the typical child sexual abuse victim is estimated to be $5,800. Mental health care usage for other crimes is much lower, generally 1-4 percent of victims. Thus, the average cost per victim is relatively small, generally under $100.

Police and fire services: initial police response and followup investigation, as well as fire service costs related to arson and drunk driving crashes. The cost of other aspects of the criminal justice system is not included.

These estimates are derived from various surveys and other published statistics on the cost of police and emergency response costs, many of which were reported in Cohen, Miller, and Rossman (1994). Compared to the direct impact on victims, police and fire service costs are a relatively small portion of the cost of crime, generally under $100 per case. However, they add up to about $4 billion per year and may be a significant portion of municipal budgets. Exceptions are the costs of