MEASURING CRIME

Question 1

What do police recorded crime figures include?

Answer 1

All police recorded crime in England and Wales.

Question 2

Give 3 strengths of using police recorded crime statistics.

Answer 2

1) Easy to access and have already been complied.
2) Up-to-date and standardised.
3) Ethical problems of studying criminal behaviour is not an issue.

Question 3

Give 3 weaknesses of using police recorded crime statistics.

Answer 3

1) Do not include undetected or unreported crime.
2) Do not include unreported offences - ‘The Dark Figure of Crime’.
3) Pressure on police to meet crime reduction targets may result in some crimes ‘disappearing’ from figures.

Question 4

What is the dark figure of crime?

Answer 4

Term used for all unrecorded crime. Hard to estimate how large this figure is because it includes crimes which are not even known about.

Question 5

Give an example of a statistic used to support the dark figure of crime.

Answer 5

Survey on rape and sexual assault carried out by Mumsnet in 2012 found that 83% of those who had been assaulted did not report it.

Question 6

What is police discretion?

Answer 6

Police recorded crime figures may be affected by the discretion and decisions made by police. Some officers may be corrupt.

Question 7

Why do Functionalists accept police statistics as accurate social facts?

Answer 7

Believe there is a value consensus in society and see the police as representing all of us.

Question 8

Why do New Right theorists support police statistics?

Answer 8

Accept the official picture of the typical criminal. Focus on explaining criminality amongst the ‘underclass’.

Question 9

Why do left realists support police statistics?

Answer 9

The stats are not perfect, but they should not be dismissed.

Question 10

Why do some feminists support the use of police statistics?

Answer 10

Accept the official picture that females commit significantly less crime than males.

Question 11

Why do marxists challenge the idea of the ‘typical criminal’?

Answer 11

See police crime figures as a tool to control the working class and justify police control and oppression.

Question 12

Why do Interactionists challenge the use of police statistics?

Answer 12

Focus on the social construction of crime statistics, paying particular attention to police labelling.

Question 13

Why do radical criminologists challenge the idea of the ‘typical criminal’?

Answer 13

Tend to focus on the power of the police to label for political reasons.

Question 14

Why do other feminists challenge the use of police statistics and the idea of the ‘typical criminal’?

Answer 14

Focus on the way female offenders are treated differently by the justice system. Male crime against women is underrepresented.

Question 15

What is a self-report study?

Answer 15

Asks people which crimes they have committed themselves.

Question 16

What types of crime do self-report studies tend to pick up?

Answer 16

Quite minor offences.

Question 17

How can self-report studies be qualitative? Give an example of a study.

Answer 17

Rather than measuring crime, this method gives an insight into criminality. E.g. ‘The Jack-roller’ (Shaw, 1966)

Question 18

How can self-report studies be quantitative? Give an example of a study.

Answer 18

Involve a list of offences requiring the respondent to tick ones they have committed. E.g. Campbell (1981) study on young males and females.

Question 19

How can self-report be longitudinal? Give an example of a study.

Answer 19

Follow the same group of participants over a number of years to get an overview of their criminality. E.g. the Cambridge Study, followed the criminal careers of 411 South London boys.

Question 20

What are victim surveys?

Answer 20

Surveying people who have been victims of crime. Cast doubt on accuracy of police recorded crime figures.

Question 21

What is the CSEW?

Answer 21

Crime survey for England and Wales.

Question 22

What is the response rate of the CSEW?

Answer 22

2013-14: 75% and 68%

Question 23

What types of crime are people asked about in the CSEW?

Answer 23

Property crimes such as burglary and personal crimes such as theft from the person or violence.

Question 24

How much higher does the CSEW suggest crime is compared to police figures?

Answer 24

4 times higher.

Question 25

What has the CSEW been particularly successful in identifying?

Answer 25

The extent of domestic violence, stalking and sexual victimisation.

Question 26

Give a limitation of the CSEW.

Answer 26

Victimless crimes, or crimes where the victim is a large corporation, will not appear.

Question 27

What do Hough and Matthew comment about victim surveys despite carrying one out themselves?

Answer 27

‘Survey and police statistics combined enable the outlines of crime to be mapped far better than police statistics.’

Question 28

Give another example of a victim survey besides the CSEW.

Answer 28

The Islington Crime Survey.

Question 29

What did the first Islington Crime Survey show?

Answer 29

That a third of all households have been touched by serious crime in the last 12 months.

Question 30

What did Dobash and Dobash’s research into domestic violence involve?

Answer 30

In-depth interviews with women at a refuge, measuring the impact of crime on their lives who usually go unnoticed.

Question 31

What did Young argue about the dark figure of crime?

Answer 31

He argues that the dark figure of crime is also present in victim surveys. The accuracy of victim surveys relies on the memory and honesty of the victim.

Question 32

Give a concern about the validity of self-report studies.

Answer 32

Concerns about truthfulness and accuracy of data.

Question 33

Give a strength of self-report studies.

Answer 33

High response rate.

Question 34

What is the main ethical concern relating to self-report studies?

Answer 34

Informed consent, confidentiality and the right to withdraw.

Question 35

How did the Edinburgh study get access to a lot of young people?

Answer 35

Gained consent through letters to parents.

Parents who didn’t want their child to participate said so on a tear off slip.

Question 36

What does attrition refer to?

Answer 36

Participation and drop-out rates in studies.

Question 37

Give an example of a study that was high in response rates.

Answer 37

Edinburgh study. 94.4% response rate after four ‘sweeps’