Defining And Measuring Crime Flashcards
Defining crime: A crime is an act that violates the law and results in punishment by the state. Culture has an influence on what is classified as a crime. In the U.K. it is illegal to have more than one wife but this is not the case everywhere.
Ways of measuring crime: official statistics- the government produces official crime statistics annually. Info is based on any incident reported to the police or if the police witness an offence. They can also identify any trends by making historical comparisons.
Victim surveys- asks a sample of people to identify which crimes have been committed against them over a fixed period of time. Involves a sample of 50,000 households interviewing those 16 and over. Smaller sample of 10-15 also involved. Sample is selected randomly from the Royal Mail list of addresses. They are interviewed using a fixed set of questions.
Offender surveys- questions offenders instead. The aim is to increase knowledge on criminal behaviour and young people. Initial sample was 10-65 year olds living in private household. Sub sample of 5000 people aged 10-25 were studied longitudinally afterwards. Aimed to produce info on the extent of offending
Evaluation of defining crime: there are some behaviours that are universally regarded as unacceptable but some cultural variations still apply.
Evaluation of measuring crime- official statistics: only a certain number of crimes make it through the crime funnel and get reported to the police. A victim may feel that the police will not take them seriously or be unaware that a crime has been committed. Only 42% of crimes reported in the British crime survey were reported to the police. So official statistics represent a small part of criminal activity.
Victim surveys: it provides info about the unreported crime which is an advantage. But this does depend on the honesty of answers. Victim surveys can be more consistent in making historical comparisons than official statistics because official statistics vary with changes in the law. Random sampling is used to identify a representative sample but only 75% of those contacted take part so the final sample is biased. Sample is also only drawn form those who have postal addresses so again the sample is biased.
Offender surveys evaluation:
There can be a lack of accuracy and honesty in answers. People may underplay their criminal involvement and other behaviours. However participants say they were honest
