Booklet 2 Social Distribution Of Crime Flashcards
What has happened to crime since 1995?
British Crime Survey - It has fallen by 48%.
How is crime usually measured?
In the form of official statistics.
What are official statistics used for?
- To compare year on year to discover trends.
- To measure clean up rates so they can evaluate police efficiency.
- To show where police should concentrate their efforts.
- To provide the public and media with an idea of what’s happening.
- To reveal police assumptions and stereotyping.
- To provide a bass for sociologists to explain crime inc what isn’t shown in statistics.
Where do official statistics come from?
- Police recorded crime.
- Victim surveys.
- Self-report studies.
- Court and Prison records.
Victim surveys
- Reported and unreported crime.
- More accurate than PRC.
- Include CSEW, a face to face survey where residents are asked about their experience of crime in the past 12 months.
Self-report studies
- anonymous questionnaires where people are asked to own up to crimes they have committed e.g. The Home Office Offending Crime and Justice Survey carried out each year 2003-6.
Court and prison records
- Combined with OCS and BCS.
- Reveal some of the characteristics of those caught.
Official crime statistics
- Drawn from records kept by police and other official agencies.
- Published every 6 months by the Home Office and can be found on the ONS website.
- They have been collected since 1857 and provide an excellent historical overview or changing trends over time.
- Give us an accurate view of the way the CJS processes offenders.
- Some sociologists consider them social constructions due to the act that they are based on reported crime and not all crime is reported.
Why might crime not be reported?
- Victim feels the crime is too trivial.
- Considered a private matter between friends and family and seek redress directly or don’t want to get the offender in trouble.
- Victims are too embarrassed/ ashamed to report.
- Victims may not be in a position to give info.
- Fear reprisals.
- Lack faith in police to solve crime.
What does Anderson et al show?
How youths who co-operate and are polite to police officers are less likely to be arrested than those regarded as disrespectful.
According to Maguire what % of crimes end in conviction in England and Wales?
3%
reporting crime - media
- 85% of crimes are reported by the public.
- Whether someone reports is partly due to influence of media.
- Media exaggeration and creation of moral panics.
- May lead to more reporting of such actions by a more intolerant public demanding police action.
Reporting crime - Changing police attitudes, priorities and policies
- possibly influenced by media e.g. crackdown on prostitution, drug taking, drink driving.
- Might suggest these crimes have risen whereas the reality is that more police power focused on these crimes.
Reporting crime - people reporting less serious offences that they hadn’t had in the past
- Less tolerant to vandalism - perhaps as a response to media reporting.
- Maguire - increased privatisation and family breakup means police are now reporting to police incidents they would have previously sorted themselves.
Reporting crime - changing social norms
E.g. public attitudes to domestic violence and child abuse.
Reporting crime - people have more to lose today
- Insurance claims need a police number.
- Nearly all thefts of cares and burglaries are reported today.
Reporting crime - Changes in the law
Year ending May 2014 - 280 new crimes 213 abolished.
Limitations of victim surveys
- people may exaggerate or lie to impress researchers.
- People may forget they’ve bee victimised/ or when this happened.
- People may not realise that they have been a victim e.g. in case of white-collar crime they may not realise they have been a victim.
- Lack of representativeness.
- Victims may feel embarrassed at being a victim e.g. domestic violence, sexual assault, fraud and blackmail.
- Consensual/ victimless crime - where both parties agree to commit an offence e.g. taking someone’s penalty points for speeding offences or buying or selling illegal drugs.
Limitations of self reported studies
- People may exaggerate/ lie to impress researchers - young male offenders to assert masculinity - others may not admit to serious offences.
- People may forget the crimes committed/ when they happened - may have false memories, selective or constructed memories to help them forget.
- May ignore respondents own definition of crime - some subcultures some crimes such as handling stolen goods aren’t seen as criminal.
- Lack of representativeness - those living chaotic lives and persistent offenders are less likely to engage in surveys so findings aren’t going to be representative.
How much crime does the BCS believe is reported?
1/4
What are the 2 reasons the BCS believes crime is unreported?
- BCS doesn’t deal with all crime e.g. doesn’t include corporate crime in figures or crimes dearth with by Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue.
- A general belief that quite a lot of crime isn’t recorded e.g. if someone’s engaged in activity that pushes legality boundaries and has a crime committed against them whilst engaging in this activity they are unlikely to take the matter to the police.
What is positivists view statistics?
As reliable as they come from a scientific approach collected from police and court statists and the annual BSC survey.
How do interpretivists see statistics?
Less valid as all statistics are open to interpretation.
How do Marxists see statistics?
Believe they are shaped to defend the ruling class - create an atmosphere of fear that allows authorities to introduce more controlling legalisation.
Ho do feminists see statistics?
Usually done by men and are part of a patriarchal society seeking to dominate women and as a result statistics should be treated with caution as they are an ends to a mean.
How do right realists see statistics?
Proof of many things they believe in - society is becoming immoral and without firm government and more overt policing society will be overrun with criminal gangs. For right realists these statistics serve a purpose.
What do left realists think about statistics?
Don’t believe figures are valid as they believe they’re used by the government to impose even more restrictions on the population.
Who is the most likely victim of crime?
A young male who is either unemployed or gets a low wage - likely to live in a rundown area of a city/ large town.
Violence against women and girls 2021 - 2022
Suspect identified, victim doesn’t support action
38%
Violence against women and girls 2021 - 2022
Evidential difficulties, Suspect identified, victim does support action
23%
Violence against women and girls 2021 - 2022
Investigation complete - no Suspect identified
18%
Violence against women and girls 2021 - 2022
Suspect not identified, victim doesn’t support action
7%
Violence against women and girls 2021 - 2022
Charged or summons
6%
Violence against women and girls 2021 - 2022
Out of court (informal)
2%
Violence against women and girls 2021 - 2022
Prosecution prevented or not in public interest
2%
Violence against women and girls 2021 - 2022
Action undertaken by another agency/ body
1%
