Defining and measuring crime Flashcards
What are cultural issues in defining crime?
What is considered a crime in one country may not be in another
What is an example of culture being an issue for defining crime?
In 2014, forced marriage became illegal but it is still practised in some cultures
What are historical issues with defining crime?
Laws change over years
What is an example of historical issues for defining crime?
Homosexuality was a crime until 1967
It is still considered an illegal activity in some countries
How is age an issue for defining crime?
Whats acceptable in one age might not be in another
What is an example of age being an issue for defining crime?
A young child stealing sweets is different to a teenager who steal clothes from a shop with friends, both are theft
What are the three ways of measuring crime?
- Official statistics
- Victim surveys
- Offender surveys
What are official statistics?
- 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
What are some reasons why crimes are not reported by victims?
- No victim
- Victim too afraid
- Too trivial
- Mistrust police
- Perpetrator is family/friend
What are some reasons why crimes are not recorded by the police?
- Insufficient time
- Crime too trivial
- Not a priority
- Victim withdraws charge
- Lack of evidence
- Police recording rules
What is the dark figure of crime?
The unreported crimes - make up 75%
What are victim surveys?
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
How many households are randomly selected?
50,000
Are victim reports greater than police recorded crime or lower?
Greater
What are offender surveys?
Offenders self report or offender surveys ask people about their offending behaviour
What type of survey are offender surveys?
- Random selection
- National
- Longitudinal
What age group are offender surveys based on?
10-25 years old
What does the self report look at? (offender surveys)
- Trends
- Indicators of repeating offending behaviour
- Drug and alcohol use
- Role of co-offenders
- Relationship between perpetrators and victims
What is the main evaluation point for official statistics?
-Significantly underestimate the true extent of crime - only 25% of crimes included in the stats, 75% dark figure of crime
What did Farrington and Dowds (1985) find?
Nottinghamshire police were more likely to record thefts of under £10 than any other area.
What are strengths of victim surveys?
Higher in validity than official statistics
Victims more likely to report trivial offences
What are weaknesses of victim surveys?
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
What are strengths of offender surveys?
Provides insight into how many people are responsible for certain offences
What are weaknesses of offender surveys?
Lack validity - easy for them to lie or exaggerate
Some crimes are over-represented and others are under-represented
How do politics influence measuring crime?
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
What is the multidisciplinary approach to measuring crime?
All figures should be scrutinised and treated with caution so researchers recommend a multidisciplinary approach using a mix of a number of methods