Defining and Measuring Crime Flashcards
What is a key problem in defining crime?
The legalistic definition of crime is complicated by the concept that laws change over time, this also varies from culture to culture
What is the cultural issue in defining crime?
What we consider a crime in one country may not be in another country e.g. in UK bigamy is illegal - this not a crime in cultures where polygamy is practiced
What are the historical issues in defining crime?
Homosexuality was a crime until 1967 and still is illegal in some Asian and African countries
What two other factors are important to consider when defining crime?
Age - a toddler stealing sweets off shelf not same as teenage shop lifting
Specific circumstances - many would argue a mother stealing milk for her baby is not a criminal
What are the ways of measuring crime?
Official statistics, victim surveys and offender surveys
What are official statistics
Based on crimes that are reported to the police and recorder in official figures. Published on an annual basis by the home office
What do official statistics allow the government to do?
Develop crime prevention strategies
What is the dark figure of crime?
Term used by criminologists to describe unreported and undiscovered crime - official statistic don’t represent this
What else affects official statistics?
Police recording rules
What are the reasons why crime is not reported?
There is no victim Victim is scared Crime is too trivial Mistrust police Perpetrator is friend/family
What are the reasons why crime is not recorded?
Insufficient time Crime too trivial Not a priority Victim withdraws a charge Lack of evidence Police recording rules
How are victim surveys collected?
British Crime Survey carries out every two years which involves interview with a large sample - participants asked whether they or a member of their household has been a victim of crime in the last year
interviews are heavily structured
How many take part in victim surveys and what has this enabled the Office of National statistic to produce?
50,000 households randomly selected to take part in the survey -
Produce crime figures based on victim surveys
What happened with victim surveys in 2009?
Separate survey was produced to record those aged 10-15 and their experiences of crime
What did the 2006/2007 surveys show?
That victim reports were greater than police recorder crime
What are offender surveys/ offender self-report?
They ask people about their offending behaviour e.g. the Offending Crime and Justice Survey
What is the process of an offender survey?
Young people in England and Wales interviewed about their attitudes towards and experience of offending - responses are gathered using a computer
What type of survey is offender?
National, random selection, longitudinal survey - focused on 10-25 year olds with the same people re-interviewed each year
In 2006 what was revealed on offender surveys?
Much crime is alcohol related
Common offences among male binge drinkers were violent crime and theft
What do offender surveys look at?
Trends, indicators of repeat offending, drug and alcohol use, the role of co-offenders and the relationship between perpetrators and victims
