Measuring crime

Question 1

What was the trend in crime from 1930 to 1950?

Answer 1

Gradual increase post war

Question 2

What was the trend in crime from 1950 to 1980?

Answer 2

Steady increase due to economic growth and women’s position in society changing

Question 3

What was the trend in crime between 1980 and the mid 1990’s?

Answer 3

Rapid increase, because of the recession

Question 4

What was the trend in crime from mid 1990 to 2016?

Answer 4

Gradual decline, potentially due to new crimes not be recorded with the data and changes to reporting crime.

Question 5

What are official statistics?

Answer 5

Statistics collected by governments agencies and usually published by the Office for National Statistics of ONS.

Question 6

What is the official crime rate?

Answer 6

The statistics that are compiled using police, court and prison records.

Question 7

What is the british crime survey?

Answer 7

Statistics compiled through victim surveys and self-report survey. 50,000 people over the age of 16 were asked annually if they have been a victim of crime.

Question 8

What are the sources of crime statistics?

Answer 8

Police recorded crime
Victim surveys
Court records
Prison records
Self report studies

Question 9

What is police recorded crime?

Answer 9

Statistics based on reports filed by the police. These are a;l crimes that are investigated by the police, whether the secure a conviction or not.

Question 10

What is an evaluation of police recorded crime?

Answer 10

Not all reported crimes are recorded by the police.

Question 11

What is a victim survey?

Answer 11

People are asked if they have been a victim of crime over a certain time period,mutually 12 months.

Question 12

What are the evaluations of victim surveys?

Answer 12

People are not always aware that they are a victim of crime.
May record crime differently to police, in terms of definition.
Relies on the victims memory

Question 13

What are court records?

Answer 13

Compiled using courts records of which cases are taken to prosecution. Includes information about the defendants, victims and the types of crime as well as the verdict.

Question 14

What are the evaluations of court records?

Answer 14

Only records crimes that are heard/tried in court. Many crimes are reported and not going to court (CPS prosecution threshold)

Question 15

What are prison records?

Answer 15

Details the composition of the prison population, like ethnicity gender, age and class. Also looks as the length of sentences and recidivism rates.

Question 16

What is the evaluations of using prison records?

Answer 16

Not all crimes are punished with a custodial sentence.
Middle class criminals are more likely to get a fine or a suspended sentence.
Can be biased towards the working class due to the previous point.

Question 17

What are self-report surveys?

Answer 17

Ask people if they have committed a crime in a given time period, usually 12 months. These are usually conducted alongside victim surveys annually.

Question 18

What are the evaluations of self report studies?

Answer 18

People may not know if they have committed a crime.
Relies on memory.
Relies on truthfulness

Question 19

What are the reasons for unreported crime?

Answer 19

Embarrassment
Fear
Lack of knowledge
Distrust the police

Question 20

What are the reasons for unrecorded crime?

Answer 20

Status of the victim
Work relations
Not all crimes are entered into official statistics
Police priorities/targetting

Question 21

What do functionalists, the new right and right realists argue about crime statistics?

Answer 21

They are reliable and valid sources of data

Question 22

What do interactionists and labelling theorists argue about crime statistics?

Answer 22

See the, as social constructions, only useful for identifying stereotypes and typifications

Question 23

What do marxists and neo-marxists say regarding crime statistics?

Answer 23

They show a biased view of crime, as they are constructed by the ruling class. Believe they ignore white collar crime, which therefore exacerbated the label of the working class as criminal.

Question 24

What did feminists argue about official statistics?

Answer 24

They underrepresent the extent of female crime and crimes against women, like rape and domestic violence.

Question 25

What do left realists believe about crime statistics?

Answer 25

They are broadly correct, but underrepresent white collar and corporate crime whilst exaggerating working class crime, especially those committed by ethnic minorities.