Measuring Crime Flashcards
The two ways of recording crime
- Official Police Crime Stats
- The Crime Survey of England and Wales
In order for an offence to exist in the Official Police Crime Stats it needs to be:
- Reported by a member of the public
- Recorded by the police
- Recorded by a member of the public
A member of public/victim/ organisation has to decide an act is worthy of being a crime and reported to the police
- Recorded by the police
- Recordable = Crimes which carry a custodial sentence
- Notifiable = Those not notifiable are likely to be low level without an identifiable victim
Because not ALL crime is reported or recorded by the police, this creates:
The dark figure of crime
The dark figure of crime
There’s an unknown amount of crime which is hidden from view
Official Crime Stats on class
The police do not collect data directly on the social class of offenders, so there’s no official record
However, how do we measure class and crime?
Looking at amount of crime vs postcodes. Found that more deprived areas have higher crime rates.
Marxist Critique of the OFCST
See the criminal justice system as part of the RSA and the ISA.
Repressive State Apparatus
Its an institution that manipulates ideas and beliefs in the interests of the ruling elite
Ideological State Apparatus
The media is used to manipulate ideas and beliefs in the interests of the ruling elite
3 Ways which the RSA and the ISA do this
- Focus on more deprived areas, therefore find more in deprived areas.
- Media builds up moral panics about knife crime but not tax avoidance.
- Tax laws are selectively made in the interests of the ruling elite so that they’re not criminal.
Analysis/ evaluation of OFCSTS
The Crime Survey of England and Wales
A victim survey
What does The Crime Survey of England and Wales reveal
The dark figure of crime
