Perspectives on Police Recorded Crime Statistics

Question 1

Functionalists:

Answer 1

• believe in the existence of social facts and measuring social behaviour scientifically
• they trust quantitative data (statistics) and see them as reliable and representative.
• believe in a value consensus, seeing the police force as representing us and so don’t question their motives
• they use the typical criminal figure as their starting point to explaining crime.

Question 2

New Right:

Answer 2

• accept the typical criminal figure
• believe the laws are made to benefit society
• believe the police represent us and our interests
• focus on explaining criminality amongst the the Underclass

Question 3

Left Realists:

Answer 3

• recognise that polis figures aren’t perfect but they shouldn’t be dismissed entirely because they’re about real crimes
• they suggest that police figures should be supplemented by other methods i.e. victim surveys

Question 4

Feminists:

Answer 4

• accept that females commit less crime and try to explain why.
• they look at reasons such as the high levels of Social Control applied to females.

Question 5

Marxists:

Answer 5

-see the Police Recorded Crime as a tool to control the W.C and justify their control and oppression

Question 6

Interactionists:

Answer 6

• focus on the social construction of Crime Statistics

- focus on police labelling and interactions between the police and courts and certain powerless groups in society

Question 7

Radical Criminologists:

Answer 7

• focus on the power of the police to label for political reasons
• challenge the over-representation of some ethnic minorities in the statistics