Defining and measuring crime

Question 1

What are cultural issues in defining crime?

Answer 1

What is considered a crime in one country may not be in another

Question 2

What is an example of culture being an issue for defining crime?

Answer 2

In 2014, forced marriage became illegal but it is still practised in some cultures

Question 3

What are historical issues with defining crime?

Answer 3

Laws change over years

Question 4

What is an example of historical issues for defining crime?

Answer 4

Homosexuality was a crime until 1967

It is still considered an illegal activity in some countries

Question 5

How is age an issue for defining crime?

Answer 5

Whats acceptable in one age might not be in another

Question 6

What is an example of age being an issue for defining crime?

Answer 6

A young child stealing sweets is different to a teenager who steal clothes from a shop with friends, both are theft

Question 7

What are the three ways of measuring crime?

Answer 7

• Official statistics
• Victim surveys
• Offender surveys

Question 8

What are official statistics?

Answer 8

• Based on crimes reported to the police and recorded in official figures
• Officially recorded crime is affected by police recording rules
• Try to develop prevention strateies

Question 9

What are some reasons why crimes are not reported by victims?

Answer 9

• No victim
• Victim too afraid
• Too trivial
• Mistrust police
• Perpetrator is family/friend

Question 10

What are some reasons why crimes are not recorded by the police?

Answer 10

• Insufficient time
• Crime too trivial
• Not a priority
• Victim withdraws charge
• Lack of evidence
• Police recording rules

Question 11

What is the dark figure of crime?

Answer 11

The unreported crimes - make up 75%

Question 12

What are victim surveys?

Answer 12

British Crime Survey is carried out every two years
Involves interviews with large samples
To find out if they or anyone in their household has been involved in any crimes

Question 13

How many households are randomly selected?

Answer 13

50,000

Question 14

Are victim reports greater than police recorded crime or lower?

Answer 14

Greater

Question 15

What are offender surveys?

Answer 15

Offenders self report or offender surveys ask people about their offending behaviour

Question 16

What type of survey are offender surveys?

Answer 16

• Random selection
• National
• Longitudinal

Question 17

What age group are offender surveys based on?

Answer 17

10-25 years old

Question 18

What does the self report look at? (offender surveys)

Answer 18

• Trends
• Indicators of repeating offending behaviour
• Drug and alcohol use
• Role of co-offenders
• Relationship between perpetrators and victims

Question 19

What is the main evaluation point for official statistics?

Answer 19

-Significantly underestimate the true extent of crime - only 25% of crimes included in the stats, 75% dark figure of crime

Question 20

What did Farrington and Dowds (1985) find?

Answer 20

Nottinghamshire police were more likely to record thefts of under £10 than any other area.

Question 21

What are strengths of victim surveys?

Answer 21

Higher in validity than official statistics

Victims more likely to report trivial offences

Question 22

What are weaknesses of victim surveys?

Answer 22

Telescoping - Victims may mix up crimes and report them from the wrong year, distorting the figures.
Some may not realise they have been a victim of crime

Question 23

What are strengths of offender surveys?

Answer 23

Provides insight into how many people are responsible for certain offences

Question 24

What are weaknesses of offender surveys?

Answer 24

Lack validity - easy for them to lie or exaggerate

Some crimes are over-represented and others are under-represented

Question 25

How do politics influence measuring crime?

Answer 25

Politicians are happier using some measures more than others.
Party in power will state that there is a reduction in crime and those in opposition will state there’s an increase

Question 26

What is the multidisciplinary approach to measuring crime?

Answer 26

All figures should be scrutinised and treated with caution so researchers recommend a multidisciplinary approach using a mix of a number of methods