MEASURING CRIME Flashcards
how can we measure crime?
police recorded crime figures
victim surveys
self report
police recorded crime figures are easy to…
access
police recorded crime figures are __ __ ____
up to date, as they are recorded annually
we can spot _______ and _____, because….
patterns and trends because the sample is of the whole population
police recorded crime figures are collected legally, which makes it…
ethical
police recorded crime figures to not capture…
the dark figure of crime which is crime that goes unreported, unrecorded or undetected
police recorded crime figures do not show a…
complete picture of crime as it can vary between areas
who are police recorded statistics collated by?
the home office, published by the ONS
what would func say about official stats?
agree because it is quantitative, shows value consensus of typical criminal, and is reliable since it is representative
what would new right say about official stats?
accept the pic of crime it gives, says crime is made to benefit society and that it occurs due to the underclass
what would left realists say about official stats?
not the best, but we cannot ignore them and can improve them by pairing them with victim surveys
what would some feminists say about official stats?
females commit less crime due to high level of social control on them
what would marxists say about official stats?
used to control and oppress the WC
what would interactionists say about official stats?
socially constructed due to police labelling and treatment of WC
what would radical criminologists say about official stats?
police are in power to label politically, so we challenge EM increase in stats
what would other feminists say to criticise official stats?
female offenders treated differently in court
male crime against women is still underrepresented
the dark figure of crime is hard to….
estimate as it is unlikely to be in proportion to police recorded crime
what is police discretion?
all police figures are affected by police e.g. corruption, using own reasoning to record crime
what are police influenced by?
the image of the typical criminal
what do recent studies show about police recorded crime?
they have been manipulated
what is the CSEW?
crime survey for england and wales, it is a victim survey
since 2009, who has been included in the CSEW?
10-15 year olds
how are respondent contacted in the CSEW?
in their homes and interviewed about experience of property crime and personal crime
what does the CSEW show?
crime is higher than official stats suggest, some crimes up to 4x increase
what 3 things does the CSEW use to organise incidents?
detailed info about victim
circumstances of the crime
behaviour of offenders who commited crime
what has the CSEW been successful at?
developing measures to estimate extent of sexual and domestic violence, since are the most unreported crime
the CSEW also questions attitudes about…
crime related topics e.g. anti-social behaviour
what are limitations of CSEW?
doesn’t look at victimless crime
only over 16’s studied
only small sample with low response rate
what is the name of another victim survey?
islington crime survey focusing on impact of crime on vulnerable groups
what did the islington crime survey find?
1/3 of households had experienced major crime in the last year (1990)
what qualitative data did the islington crime survey find?
25% of people avoided going out after dark
28% of people felt unsafe in their own homes
who did Dobash and Dobash study?
experiences of domestic violence on women in refuge centres, who are usually ignored
how does Young criticise victim surveys?
they depend on the memory and honesty of the victim
how can response rates affect results of victim surveys?
if response rates is too low, then the results will be unrepresentative
if those who are not victims don’t respond, there is an overestimation of crime
