Introductions to Crime

Question 1

Give 6 points into researching crime

Answer 1

• Official statistics are produced by the government - trusted
• Positivism - patterns and trends
• Not everyone reports crimes to the police
• Interpretivists - why crime is happening
• Alternative - victim surveys
• Alternative - self report studies

Question 2

Give an example of why O.S. can be trusted and conflicting evidence

Answer 2

Produced in national interest - avoid the bias of private researchers

Thatcher ‘Short, Sharp, Shock’ study - results not published due to undesirable results

Question 3

Give an example of why positivism is beneficial and conflicting evidence

Answer 3

Forms patterns and trends - macro can get the full picture

Can’t look into reasons behind crime

Question 4

Give an example of why not everyone reports crimes to the police and conflicting evidence

Answer 4

May not be serious enough, may not know it’s an offence etc.

May be reported just not taking seriously - fault of the police

Question 5

Give an example of why interpretivism is beneficial and conflicting evidence

Answer 5

Looks into reasons behind crime - can help find ways to solve it

Looks into individual cases so can’t look at crime as a whole

Question 6

Give an example of why victim surveys may be a good alternative and conflicting evidence

Answer 6

Looks into experiences of crime - high in validity

May be difficult to find victims as not all crimes are reported

Question 7

Give an example of why self report studies may be a good alternative and conflicting evidence

Answer 7

Easily replicated and cheap to carry out

Self report - social desirability

Question 8

Which 5 points would be discussed regarding how crime is a social construction?

Answer 8

• Differences over time
• Differences between cultures
• Differences between situations
• Formal vs informal control
• Theory and social control