Crime & deviance Flashcards
crime
a legal wrong that can be followed by criminal proceedings which may result in punishment
deviance
behaviour which is disproved of by most people in a society or does not conform to shared norms and values
social order
general conformability to shared norms and values, implemented so that society is peaceful and predicable
social control
process by which people are persuaded to obey the rules and conform to social expectations
ogburn & nimkoff
patterns of pressure which a society exerts to maintain order and establish rules
social control- functionalists
allows people to live the most functioning lifestyle, protects against the impacts of crime and deviance on peoples everyday life
social control- marxists
used to manipulate the proletariat and prevent a revolution
social control- feminists
on an informal level it prevents female opportunity to commit crime and reinforces paraparticle ideology
social control- new right
nesseccary to limit social delinquency caused by the underclass, crime is inevitable as long as underclass exist
official crime statistics
police, court and prison records
crime survey for england and wales
victim survey asking experiences of crime
police recorded crime statistic (prcs) includes
- all territoral police forces within england and wales
- all police recorded crimes
- crimes police know about
strengths of prcs
- easy to access
- up to date, can be compared over time
- whole population, patterns and trends
- no ethical issues
dark figure of crime
all unrecorded crimes
weaknesses of prcs
- do not include undetected or unreported crimes
- not enough useful data can be collected about criminals
- definition of lens changes over time
- depends on police focus/ target
cuffing
when police do not record crimes that they don’t think they’re going to solve
skewing
forces putting resources into areas measured by performance indicators
coughing
when police get offenders to own up to crimes that they may not have committed, in exchange for a more lenient sentence
prcs- functionalists
accept- police help society function well
prcs- new right
accept- police keep people safe, highlights problems caused by underclass
prcs- left realists
agree- acknowledge flaws but argue they’re useful
prcs- feminists
agree- help women, keep men in check
prcs- marxists
reject- keep proletariate in line so no revolt
prcs- other feminism
reject- most police force is men women victims not taken seriously
prcs- interpretivists
believe police discriminate some groups
prcs- radical criminologists
police abuse power and over police certain groups
victim survey
people are asked about their experiences of being a victim of crime within a certain period of time
crime survey for england and wales (csew)- victim survey
- carried out annually on behalf of home office
- face to face interviews structured interviews
- sheds light on dark figure of crime
victim surveys- strength
- can capture crimes not reported to the police
- can capture crimes not recorded to the police
- provides contextual understanding of crime and its impact
victim surveys- weaknesses
- does not capture victimless crimes
- only a sample population is surveyed, so overall trends may not be representative
- relies on memory and/ or honesty of those being surveyed
self reported study
people are asked about crimes that they themselves have committed
sutherland (1949)- social class offending
- high numbers of working class offenders and low numbers of middle/ upper class offenders
- social class of criminals not usually recorded, but there is link between crime and deprivation
reiner (2007)- social class offending
- 74% of the prison population drawn from poorest 20% of population
- 1/2 of all male and 1/3 of all female criminals were excluded from school
- 41% of criminals grew up in domestic abusive households
london’s poverty profile- social class offending
- 80% more crimes were recorded in the most deprived areas
- drugs and weapon offences are 2.6 more prevalent in the most income deprived 10%, compared to least deprived 10%
csew (2021)- social class victimisation
- no statistically significant correlation between most crimes and social class
- victims of violent crimes 2x more likely to be from the poorest areas of the country than the richest
safe lives (2021)- social class victimisation
women in households with less income then £10,000 were 3.5 times more at risk than those above £20,000
islington and merseyside crime surveys- social class victimisation
poorer communities more at risk of crimes and repeat victimisation
wiles and costello (2000)- social class victimisation
offenders more likely to commit crime where they themselves live
ministry of justice (2000)- age offending
- aged 15 -17 account for 74% of offending population, make up 37% population in england and wales
- 24 - 44 make up 63% prison population
- boys accounted for 86% of offending population, compared with 51% of the 10 - 17 population
csew (2020)- age victimisation
- likelihood of being a victim of crime decreases with age
- 18.3% 16 - 24 year olds been a victim of crime
- 5% aged 75 years or older having been a victim of crime
ons- rise in crime
- shoplifting- up by 36%
- theft (from person)- up by 18%
- robbery- up by 13%
ministry of justice- gender crimes
- 36% female prisoners with sentence less than 6 months were caught shoplifting
- males more likely to be involved in violent crimes
home office homicide inex- gender victimisation
49% adult female homicide was committed by their partner compared to 10% of men
PRCS- gender offending
males commit 80% of all recorded crimes
ministry of justice- gender victimisation
3.2% of women
ministry of justice- ethnicity offending (asian)
- in 2020 asian offenders had longest average custodial sentence for drug charges at 46.2 months
- asian ethnic group (2%) were less likely than white ethnic group (4%) to be victim of a personal crime (7%)
ministry of justice- ethnicity offending (black)
- 2017- 2020 49% of homicide victims ages 15-17 and 37% aged 18-20 were from black ethnic group
- in 2018-2019 cohort reoffending rates for adults was highest for black offenders at 30%
ministry of justice- gender offending
females accounted for only 18% of arrests and 25% of convictions in 2013
official crime data- gender offending
- peak age for female offending is 15, whist male is 18
- girls continue to commit throughout their teens, male offending declines in late 20s
CSEW- gender victimisation
- males accounted for 7 out of 20 homicide victims, most likely to be killed by a stranger or acquaintance
- over half of female homicide victims since 2003 were killed by a husband or partner
CSEW- gender victimisation
- each year since 1982 fewer women are victims of crime
- in last 5 years victimisation has decreased for men, leaving men and women with similar victimisation rates
global crime
crimes that transcends national borders and takes place across different parts of the world
global/ transnational organised crime
cross border activities of organised crime groups e.g drug trafficking, human trafficking and cyber crimes
castells
organised crime groups are ran like business, different groups work together in different countries/ areas to minimise risk and maximise profit
statistics on organised crime
- hard to get accurate picture on global crime
- most successful crimes are ones we don’t know about
crimes are often not reported to police - constantly changing with society
