consequences of unreported crime Flashcards
what are they
- ripple effect
- decriminalisation (law is altered to make a crime that was once illegal now legal, so a reduction in punishment and the act may be legalised)
- police prioritisation
- unrecorded crime
- legal change
- procedural change
- cultural change (minor crimes that are not reported so amount of cases increase/ broken window theory)
- cultural (FGM)
ripple effect
+ Clare’s law, Police officers can now disclose a person history of abusive behaviour to those who are at risk of such behaviour
- Family members or anyone else may feel guilty if they know about it but cannot report it
EXAMPLE- Domestic violence being a vicious cycle, abuse often starts at childhood so if this goes unreported it may be seen as normal within a family, so the abuse would repeat on to their children
culture
+ Allows culture to continue in the way they think is best, so they are representing their culture
- It could be harmful as social divisions between people may lead to the ripple effect
EXAMPLE- FGM
decriminalisation
+ Saves time for police as they aren’t dealing with minimal crimes so they can put more money, time and resources into the major crimes
- Because the smaller crimes on being dealt with, it becomes the norm so more people commit this act
EXAMPLE- illegal downloading of music
police prioritisation
+ Serious crimes are dealt with faster and the entire police force are working on it
- Smaller crimes may go unnoticed which means the public may feel the police don’t care which results in some similar crimes continuing to happen with nothing being done about it
EXAMPLE- not perusing small scale growers of cannabis
cultural change (broken window theory- BWT)
+ Police know where to go to catch offenders
- Can lead to the ripple effect and because crime is all in one area, antisocial levels are high
EXAMPLE- If an area becomes run down people stop caring as much so lesser crime would be reported and recorded from the area
legal change
+ Things that were first deemed as wrong and unnatural are now legal
- Some examples of legal change can cause debates such as abortion
EXAMPLE- homosexuality laws
procedural change
+ If there are more ways, people will be more likely to report it as there would be one way that is the most understandable for them
- Because there are so many ways in which people can report it, it can be confusing overwhelming on which one to choose which may lead to them giving up
EXAMPLE- crime stoppers
unrecorded crime
+ Police can focus on the more serious crimes
- Victims may feel as if the police don’t care so they won’t report it because nothing will be done
EXAMPLE- may POC don’t report it due to police brutality against them
