Forensic Psychology - What is crime?

Question 1

Defining crime

Answer 1

• Crime is seen as anything which is going against the law of the country in which it is committed
• Crime is a social construct, it is based upon the beliefs and attitudes of the people currently living in that society.

Criminal acts are completely dependent on:
- Age
- Culture
- Context
- Circumstance

Question 2

Definitions of what affects a crime

Answer 2

Culture - each country and culture has its own laws against what is considered a felony or just socially unacceptable

Age - to be defined as a criminal do you need conscious understanding that something is wrong? How do we decide upon this age?

Context - the era in which acts are undertaken can influence others views on whether it is criminal or not

Circumstance - there should, in theory, be no argument over whether a crime has been committed or not

Question 3

What needs to be considered when charging a criminal?

Answer 3

Actus reus - individual is in control of what they are doing

Mens rea - there is an intention to do the crime

Both of these need to be considered when a crime is committed - did they know what they were doing and was it done intentionally?

Question 4

Research on crime

Answer 4

https://phw.nhs.wales/files/aces/the-prisoner-ace-survey/

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/116610/horr19-summary.pdf

Question 5

14th Prisoner Survey

Answer 5

Male prisoners -
- Decrease in 20% for drug use
- 45% were drunk at the time of offence
- Younger offenders more likely to be drunk (68%)
- Young male offenders (90%) drink more than 10 units a day

Female prisoners -
- 50% were drunk at the time of offence
- 28% had drinking issues to extent of impacting employment
- 28% said alcohol would be an issue on leaving prison

Women are more likely to face issues with social life and employment after prison than men, and so reform is more effective for men.

Question 6

Measuring crime

Answer 6

• Office of national statistics
• Victim surveys
• Offender surveys

Evaluation - figures and classification, victim survey accuracy and overlap with figures