measuring crime, victim surveys, police recorded crime Flashcards

1
Q

official crime statistics contain stats from which 4 key area

A

1) police
2) courts
3)prison records
4)CSEW

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2
Q

what three things must happen for a crime to be recorded by the police

A

1) awareness that crime is being committed
2) crime reported
3) crime recorded

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3
Q

how many police forces does police recorded crime cover

A

over 43

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4
Q

what can police recorded stats give an official account of

A

the volume of crime
trends in relation to e.g gender and age

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5
Q

in 2015, out of 100 crimes committed what percentage of those were reported to police

A

47% are reported to police

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6
Q

how many criminal offences have been recorded by the police to date

A

4.4M

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7
Q

what is the dark figure of crime

A

refers to crime that is unrecorded

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8
Q

give three examples of the dark figure of crime

A

fraud
scams
speeding
domestic violence
pickpocketing

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9
Q

one reason there might be a dark figure of crime is due to police recorded malpractices- explain further

A

some crimes arent serious enough; too trivial and little to no evidence for e.g littering

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10
Q

what is coughing, cuffing, skewing (related to dark figure of crime)

A

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

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11
Q

5 reasons police are bad (dark figure of crime)

A

-corrupt police
-lazy police
-police are racist
-greedy police
-busy police

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12
Q

6 advantages of police recorded crime

A

-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

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13
Q

6 disadvantages of police recorded crime

A

-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

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14
Q

what is the CSEW

A

complements police recorded stats but doesnt include things like theft, fraud, drug possession

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15
Q

what does the CSEW suggest

A

crime is higher than PRC suggests

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16
Q

what are the 4 uses of the csew

A

-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

17
Q

what does the csew say about minor and major offences

A

more likely to be a victim of a minor offence

18
Q

give a few reasons that will help you to become a victim

A

gender, age, geographical location, social activities

19
Q

what type of violence is very rare

A

stranger

20
Q

the risk of being a victim of burglary and vehicle theft is higher in

A

poorer areas due to high levels of rented accomodation
single parent families

21
Q

3 advantages of csew

A

-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

22
Q

5 disadvantages of csew

A

-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)

23
Q

what are victim surveys

A

surveys in concentrated areas where more crime happens

24
Q

islington crime survey (Lea and Young) two dates it was conducted?

A

1986 in london and 1990 in islington and merseyside

25
Q

islington crime survey (Lea and Young)
summary

A

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

26
Q

islington crime survey (Lea and Young)- what did they want to do

A

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

27
Q

three findings from the islington crime survey (Lea and Young)

A

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

28
Q

3 advantages of local crime surveys

A

-interpritivist
-verstehen
-validity

29
Q

3 disadvantages of local crime surveys

A

-interviewer must be highly skilled
-carried out in specific areas only
-low in reliability

30
Q

feminist victim surveys summary (mention Walklate)

A

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

31
Q

why do feminists dislike structured interviews

A

respondent has passive role and theres a power imbalance which mirrors patriarchal society

32
Q

dobash and dobash victim survey on domestic violence (3 findings)

A

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

33
Q

2 advantages of female victim surveys

A

valid
interpritivist

34
Q

3 disadvantages of female victim surveys

A

dark figure of crime still exists
not representative sample
issues w/ honesty in respondents