definition and measurement of crime and deviance Flashcards
normative definition of deviance
the violation of the shared norms and values
relative definition of deviance
states society doesn’t have a collective conscience. there are different sets of values competing to be the most important values. When these values are broken somebody has been deviant.
who are the victims of violence?
Young unemployed males
who are the victims of property crime?
low income households living in poor areas
What is the peak age of offending for males and females?
males - 18
females - 14
who are most likely to be offenders?
Young males
what are the official statisitics made up of?
the government and police recorded statisitcs
what percentage of crimes fail to make the official statistics?
57%
why do people not report crime
- think its too trivial
- scared
- can’t e.g children
- embarrassed
- family matter
- part of everyday life e.g racism
- protecting someone
- dont think the police will do anything
why do the police not report 57% of all crimes
- too trivial
- dont think its serious enough
- they want the big cases for promotion
- don’t know how to classify it
- they don’t think its solveable
- dont think the victim is important enough e.g wc or ethnic minority
what are the 4 advantages of victim studies
- shows you the victims who don’t report crime
- shows patterns and trends of victimisation so policies can be put in place to help those most at risk
- annonymous which encourages people
- large sample
what are the 7 disadvantages of victim studies
- doesn’t show victims under 16
- doesn’t show victimless crime e/g drugs
- some people don’t know theyre victimes e.g fraud
- recollections of crimes can often be wrong
- victim could categorise the crime incorrectly
- people under report sexual assault
- doesn’t tell you about the offender
what is an example of a victime sirvey
islington found the bcs underreported the high levels of victimisation in minority ethnic groups and domestic violence which was influential in the development of left realism
what do marxists functionalists and feminists think of victim surveys
marxists - like them becuase it gives the victims of the powerful a voice
functionalists - like them becuase they say they reflect society
feminists - say it gives victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault a voice
what are the 6 advantages of self report surveys
- show the true extent of crime
- victimless crimes can be seen
- anonymous which encourages people to be truthful
- provides insight into the dark figure and location of crime
- more valid than victim sureveys because the criminal is more precise about the crime they committed
- cheap, can reach thoudands of people
why are self report studies more valid than victim studies
because the criminal is more precise about the crime they committed
what are the disadvantages of victim studies
- respondents may lie or exaggerate
- polikce may interpret the crimes wrong
- most surveys doen on young people, not proffesional criminals
- the crimes uncovered tend to be peti crimes
- effectiveness depends on whether the police report it or not
what do marxists funtionalists and feminists say about self report studies
marxists - ignore crimes of the powerful so not representative or valid
functonalists - reflects society
feminists - good as before womens crime wasn’t looked into but now it is
what is an exapmple of a self report study
farrington et al 1995 used self report studies in his longitudinal study and found they improved the validity because the findings were coming from the best possible source - the criminals
what are the official statistics
police recorded statistics and government stats
when were police recorded statistics first collected
1857
