Crime statistics Flashcards
What are crime statistics?
A collection of numerical data based on various methods of measuring the amount of crime in society
What is the dark figure of statistics?
A large amount of hidden crime which doesn’t appear in statistics can be compared to an ice burg
Why does the dark figure of statistics apply to a crime?
- victims choose not to report it
- victims cannot report it
- victims unaware of crime
- complaints referred
- complaints not taken seriously enough
- don’t/aren’t reported by police
The social constriction of crime statistics
- product of human being making decisions
- interactionism (social control agencies-police)
- victim & perpetrator, law changes, hoe gov measure statistics
- street crime, police target WC
Where do crime statistics come from?
1) Police recorded statistics
2) Victim surveys
3) Self-report studies
What are police recorded statistics?
- drawn from records kept by the police and other official agencies
- published every 6 months by the Home Office
- collected since 1857, excellent historical overview of changes over time
- rely on detecting, reporting and recordng of crime
What are the problems with relying on police recorded statistics?
X people do not report a crime, not representative
X higher number than reported
X cannot detect or unaware
X event may be more common
X exaggerated or over-represented
What kind of crimes might someone be more likely to report and why?
Crimes such as burglary or theft
- see some benefits for themselves
(insurance claims)
- murder or kidnapping
- have faith in polices ability to achieve a positive result
(find killer/missing person)
What are the characteristics of a person more likely to be taken seriously by the police?
High social class or status
e.g. WC taken less serious if they are reporting instances of white collar crime
- age, gender, ethnicity, social class
What is a plea-bargain and how does this impact statistics?
When a defendant pleads guilty to reduce time in prison/their punishment
- plea guilty for crimes less serious than they actually committed
- make crime rates look better than they actually are
What factors have the most significant impact on validity and why?
Reporting and recording of crime
- people have many reasons as to why they do not report crime
- police have biases meaning some groups may be hugely over-represented (white, male, WC)
Role of the government
- change how they measure crime
What are victim surveys?
- based on surveys asking a sample of the population whether they have been victims of crime and if so, was it reported to the police
- used by government
-provides a comparison to police statistics - CSEW (Crime survey for England and Wales)
How does the CSEW try to maximise the representativeness of the survey?
They have a sampling technique based on all households in England and Wales
- small sample of children aged 10-15
Are some groups left out or under-represented?
Young people and children
What crimes are excluded from the survey?
- homicide
- crimes against businesses
- drug possession
-sexual offences
Why are some crimes excluded from the survey?
Sexual offence is a very sensitive matter and may not be appropriate to discuss in interviews with unknown people
Why were respondents in the smaller sub-sample asked to input their answers directly into the laptop?
They were sensitive topics so participants may lie/not feel comfortable discussing it with a person
What are the strengths of victim surveys?
- overcomes the fact that a significant proportion of offences are never recorded by the police
- gives a good picture of victimisation
- local victim surveys can be compared to national figures
- certain groups/crimes
What are the weaknesses of victim surveys?
X problem basing statistics on victims memories and recollection
X the categorisation of crimes may be different to the police
X may choose not to report it
Why may victims choose not to report the crime?
- uninsured (theft)
- wish to protect perpetrator
- unaware of being a victim
- victim precipitation
- lack of confidence in police
What is a self-report study?
Surveys which select a cross section of the population and ask the, what crimes/deviant behaviour they have committed
- often used by sociologists such as Campbell
- The CSEW has a SRS section to complete
What are the strengths of self-report studies?
- most useful to find out about victimless crimes
- finding out different characteristics of offenders that are not processed by the police
- can find out about delinquency/crimes committed by children
What are the weaknesses of self-report studies?
X respondents may lie/exaggerate
X lack representativeness, mostly done with young people
X mostly uncovers minor deviance, people not likely to admit to serious offences
Interpretive
How does labelling impact the validity of crime statistics?
Minority ethnic groups are stereotyped and therefore over-represented in crime statistics
- police actively seek these groups
- white, WC, men
Positivist
How can you criticise the positivist uncritical acceptance of crime statistics?
The official crime statistics ignore the dark figure of crime
Feminist
Why are feminists critical of official crime statistics?
They don’t reflect the amount of crime against women
- sexual attacks
- domestic violence
Left realist
Why do they prefer local crime surveys to national statistics?
They reveal the biases for many people’s genuine fear of crime
Marxist
Which crimes do Marxists believe are undereprented in crime stats and why?
Crimes committed by RC, MC because the law reflects their interests
- ignored or not defines as criminal
