measuring crime, victim surveys, police recorded crime Flashcards
official crime statistics contain stats from which 4 key area
1) police
2) courts
3)prison records
4)CSEW
what three things must happen for a crime to be recorded by the police
1) awareness that crime is being committed
2) crime reported
3) crime recorded
how many police forces does police recorded crime cover
over 43
what can police recorded stats give an official account of
the volume of crime
trends in relation to e.g gender and age
in 2015, out of 100 crimes committed what percentage of those were reported to police
47% are reported to police
how many criminal offences have been recorded by the police to date
4.4M
what is the dark figure of crime
refers to crime that is unrecorded
give three examples of the dark figure of crime
fraud
scams
speeding
domestic violence
pickpocketing
one reason there might be a dark figure of crime is due to police recorded malpractices- explain further
some crimes arent serious enough; too trivial and little to no evidence for e.g littering
what is coughing, cuffing, skewing (related to dark figure of crime)
coughing: encouraged to admit to crime early on to get lesser charges - leading to police getting higher clear-up rate
cuffing: crime initially reported and recorded but removed coz data changed
skewing: police concentrating resources in certain areas and not others so data skewed
5 reasons police are bad (dark figure of crime)
-corrupt police
-lazy police
-police are racist
-greedy police
-busy police
6 advantages of police recorded crime
-stats is cheap and readily available
-temporal vailidity and reliable
-quantitative data can analyse patterns
-consistency measured
-less ethical issues compared to victim surveys
-supported by functionalists
6 disadvantages of police recorded crime
-some crime not seen as crimes by victim so not reported eg identity fraud
-depends on perception of individual (you THINK your neighbour stole gnomes from ur garden so do u report it?)
-some over report crimes such as car theft due to insurance
-some crime doesn’t get recorded (white collar crime)
-governed by social constructs
-marxists say its used to control WC and justify over policing
what is the CSEW
complements police recorded stats but doesnt include things like theft, fraud, drug possession
what does the CSEW suggest
crime is higher than PRC suggests
what are the 4 uses of the csew
-focuses on victim porfiling
-focuses on circumstance and behaviour of criminal offender
-helps estimate extent of domestic violence
-focus on crime related topics such as ASB and police effectiveness
what does the csew say about minor and major offences
more likely to be a victim of a minor offence
give a few reasons that will help you to become a victim
gender, age, geographical location, social activities
what type of violence is very rare
stranger
the risk of being a victim of burglary and vehicle theft is higher in
poorer areas due to high levels of rented accomodation
single parent families
3 advantages of csew
-young states 20-25% of population doesnt participate in csew BUT 75% do
-more valid than PRC coz participants talk abt experiences
-can investigate true extent of crime, as most dont report crime to police
5 disadvantages of csew
-leaves out some categories of crime e.g white collar, rape
-relies on public having a good memory and might TELESCOPE crime
-Ellingsworth says it leaves out scotland and ireland as well as ages younger than 9
-ignores victimless crime (corporate crime)
-structured interviews and surveys (Int, and Fem)
what are victim surveys
surveys in concentrated areas where more crime happens
islington crime survey (Lea and Young) two dates it was conducted?
1986 in london and 1990 in islington and merseyside
islington crime survey (Lea and Young)
summary
in-depth survey focusing on victims and their experiences
trained researchers were sympathetic to victims used unstructured interviews high female victim respond rate
qualitative data
islington crime survey (Lea and Young)- what did they want to do
lea and young were left realist sociologists and wanted to conducted sympathetic unstructured interviews, wanted to focus on specific geographical locations and look at victim of crime on victims
three findings from the islington crime survey (Lea and Young)
crime was second biggest issue with homelessness being number 1, 40% knew someone or were mugged themselves, crime shaped people’s lives and 25% didnt go out after dark
3 advantages of local crime surveys
-interpritivist
-verstehen
-validity
3 disadvantages of local crime surveys
-interviewer must be highly skilled
-carried out in specific areas only
-low in reliability
feminist victim surveys summary (mention Walklate)
collect qualitative data on female victims of crime committed by men
-focus on domestic violence and sexual acts
-Walklate found female victims often stayed in abusive relationships due to power imbalance
why do feminists dislike structured interviews
respondent has passive role and theres a power imbalance which mirrors patriarchal society
dobash and dobash victim survey on domestic violence (3 findings)
2 female researches coducted 109 unstructured interviews in scotland with women who had experience in domestic violence.
-23% experienced violence before wedding but believe it will stop after wedding
-some saw anger in men as showing their seriousness of relationship
-few women responded with physical force
2 advantages of female victim surveys
valid
interpritivist
3 disadvantages of female victim surveys
dark figure of crime still exists
not representative sample
issues w/ honesty in respondents
