Crime and Deviance - Measuring crime Flashcards
In order for an offence to exist in the official stats in must be..
- explain each one
REPORTED TO THE POLICE - the member of public/ the victim/ an organisation or business must decide a crime has been committed and deem it worthy of informing the police about
RECORDED BY THE POLICE - a complaint which is formally registered by the police
Outline 3 reasons why a crime may not be reported or recorded by the police
Some victims feel it is pointless to involve the police if there has been no personal injury or damage to property, despite how shaken they may feel
Another reason is that people may not be aware that they have been a victim of a crime. For example young children may not have such intellect to be aware that they are victims of abuse. Socialised into thinking abuse is normal
One reason for it not being recorded is that there may not be enough evidence/ selective reinforcement
Examining the trends: Police do not collect data directly on….
the social class of offenders.
Some official data exists which can give some indication of the relationship between class and offending rates
Outline the trend between class and crime (class, crime and postcode graph)
The more deprived an area is there is an increased rate of crime
What is the peak age for committing offences
14-25
Outline two reasons why the peak age for being convicted of crime is between 14-25
Being influenced by other people
Peer pressure - afraid of social rejection and wanting to fit in. (left realism - marginalisation)
Outline three reasons for the trends in crime based on gender
Men are more risk taking
Difference in opportunities - women live in a private sphere more (bedroom culture) - less chance to commit crime
Women can’t commit crimes where power is required due to glass ceiling - less access
What are the 3 types of methods that are used to measure crime
Official crime stats (police)
Victim survey
Self report study
Official crime stats
The crimes which are recorded by the police are those which have been…
REPORTED and RECORDED
Because not ALL crime is reported or recorded by the police, this creates a DARK FIGURE OF CRIME
Dark figure of crime meaning
There is an unknown amount of crime which is hidden from view (iceberg effect)
Analysis of the dark figure
- Police official crime stats are less valid, objective, reliable or representative than the ideal
- For this reasons, the police crime stats are not usually in the press or by the police and government as the basis for developing the law and order policy. An alternative source of data is used
- Often associated with POLICING policies such as SELECTIVE LAW ENFORCEMENT (police and resources are focused on certain areas/offences i.e deprived inner city areas)
- Crime stats are a social construction
Social construction
Where something is created by social processes, rather than simply occurring naturally
Strengths of crime stats (practical)
Easy and cheap to access
Large scale
Collected at regular intervals
Allows for comparison between groups
Collected in a standardised, systematic and scientific way
Strengths of crime stats (ethical)
Few ethical issues as there is no direct contact with criminals
Sociologists not put in danger
Limitations of crime stats
Selective law enforcement
Impact on reliability
Subjectiveness of definition/social construction
Impact of validity - open to interpretation - do stats measure what they claim to measure?
Representativeness
Collected by someone else for someone else’s purpose
Do not show complete picture as it doesn’t break down stats i.e no stats regarding socio-economic background of criminals
Open to political abuse, parties pick best figures to support their argument
Which parties are most likely to be interested in the dark figure of crime
Marxist
Labelling theory
Victim survey
Asking randomly selected members of the public about their experience as victims of a range of crime, including those not reported or recorded
Captures the dark figure
Advantages of CSEW
Focuses on what v believes is the central issue
Verstehen - rapport with v
Higher validity than official crime stats because it relies upon first hand info from those who have been v of crime
More complete picture of crime in England + Wales
Large sample
Reliability (repeated annually)
Trends in particular crimes can be identified
Richer, vivid, qualitative data about the experience of v
Disadvantages of CSEW
Fails to capture victimless crimes such as prostitution and drug use
It is an estimate of the amount of crime in the UK
Relies upon subjective interpretation of individuals as to whether crime has been committed
Data is hard to analyse/categorise
Expensive - researcher needs training
Time consuming to conduct and transcribe
ANALYSIS of victim surveys
Whilst there are limitations to victims surveys such as CSEW, it is a more valid way of measuring crime compared to the police stats because it helps reveal some of the dark figure of crimes which have not been recorded/reported
Self report studies
Respondents are asked about their experience of committing crimes
Anonymous self completion questionnaire
Fairly small scale, can involve quota, snowball or volunteer
Samples - getting people to take part can be tricky
Strengths of self report studies
Reliable - same process for everyone
Can be helpful uncovering the dark figure
Limitations of self report studies
Hawthorne effect
Cannot elaborate on answers - lacks validity
Low verstehen
Lying and deceit
Not representative - small group, lack of variety
Difficult to get people to participate
Functionalism
Most likely to trust the stats
Police are trustworthy in collecting data about crime
Marxism
Especially radical - do not trust the stats, social construction, manipulated by the people at the top, focus is on w/c crime
Uses the RSAs (repressive state apparatus) - use control/force e.g police/army
and ISAs (ideological state apparatus) - exert psychological control e.g media
to achieve this
Labelling is done in the interests of capitalism
Labelling theory
The statistics are a social construction
