Crime Statistics And Patterns Of Offending

Question 1

Outline two sources of crime statistics

Answer 1

1. Police recorded crime (PRC). These are offences either detected by or reported to the police, and recorded by them.
2. Victim surveys. These survey the victims of crime and include unreported and unrecorded crime. They give a more accurate picture than police recorded crime, and are not affected by the recording/counting rules that statistics are bound by. They include, for example, the Crime Survey for England and Wales. This is a face to face survey in which people resident in households in England and Wales are asked about their experiences of crime in the 12 month period prior to the interview.
3. Self-report studies. These are anonymous questionnaires in which people are asked to own up to committing crimes, whether or not they have been discovered. An example of thus was the Home Office’s Offending, Crime and Justice Survey, which was carried out annually between 2003 and 2006.
4. Court and prison records, and records on police cautions. These reveal some of the characteristics of offenders who have been caught.

Question 2

Outline two ways crime statistics may be socially constructed

Answer 2

1. Unreported crime. A large number of people who are victims of crime don’t bother to report it to the police. The CSEW found three main reasons people don’t report a crime to the police are because:
   - It was too trivial, involved no loss, or the police would not have been interested or could not do anything.
   - It was a private matter which they dealt with themselves.
   - It was inconvenient to report.
   - Victims are too embarrassed to complain to police. Might think the police are uncaring in their procedures e.g. rape.
   - There is no advantage for the person e.g. not insured (don’t need a crime number).
   - The victim may not want to harm the offender e.g. within/intra family.
   - Some communities less trusting of police.
   - Fear of reprisals.
2. Reported but unrecorded crime. The police may decide not to record an offence that has been reported to or observed by them because:
   - They may regard the matter as too trivial to waste their time on, such as anti-social behaviour or the theft of a very small sum of money.
   - It has already been satisfactorily resolved, or because the victim does not wish to proceed with the complaint.
   - They may regard the person complaining as too unreliable to take his or her account of the incident seriously, as in the case of complaints made by a tramp, a drug addict, or someone who is drunk.
   - They may interpret the law in such a way that what is reported is not regarded as an offence.

Question 3

Outline two limitations of victim surveys

Answer 3

1. People may exaggerate, or lie, perhaps because of a desire to impress researcher or be dramatic.
2. People may forget they were victimised, particularly the more trivial incidents, or forget when they were victimised. They may have repressed and totally forgotten what they regard as traumatic incidents, or they may construct false memories of victimisation they haven’t actually experienced (psychology students may recognise these as selective and constructed memories). In an annual survey like the CSEW, errors may arise if victims think incidents occurred outside the time period (the previous 12 months) covered by the survey, even if they were in it, or report incidents outside the time period.
3. People may not realise they have been victims of a crime, nor that what happened to them was actually a criminal act. For example, in the case of white collar and corporate crimes, they may not realise that they have been duped, ‘conned’ or sold dangerous products.

Question 4

2 reasons why females appear to commit less crime

Answer 4

1. Less detectable offences. Like shoplifting. Theft from shops is the most common offence among women, and around one third of women in prison are there fir theft and handling stolen goods. Although men do most shoplifting, women tend to steal smaller, less detectable items such as clothing, groceries, health products and perfumes, while males go for larger, more detectable and higher value items like electrical equipment and power tools.
2. Sex-role theory and gender socialisation. Generally associated with functionalism and New right. Women’s traditional ‘expressive’ roles involve caring for partners, children and dependent elderly relatives, and these are combined with responsibilities for housework and family management, and often paid employment. Gender socialisation encourages women to adopt feminine characteristics such as being more emotional, less competitive, less tough and aggressive, and more averse to taking risks than men. These combine to make any women avoid risk taking involved in crime, as well as giving them fewer opportunities than men to commit crime,
3. Chivalry-thesis
4. Police assumptions and stereotyping
5. Control theory and rational choice and opportunity in a patriarchal society.

Question 5

2 reasons