problems in defining crime

Question 1

crime

Answer 1

act that violates the law. punished by state

Question 2

The law

Answer 2

context bound and subject to change

Question 3

crime as a a social construction

Answer 3

a reflection of the attitudes and beliefs in society

Question 4

factors affecting definition of crime

Answer 4

culture
age
context
circumstance

Question 5

factor culture

Answer 5

crime varies cross culturally

Question 6

factor age

Answer 6

what age should we make individuals responsible for actions

Question 7

age in UK

Answer 7

in UK it is 10yrs old that you are deemed responsible for your actions

Question 8

Historical context

Answer 8

the legal system changes its law over time

Question 9

example of context

Answer 9

homosexuality illegal until 1967

Question 10

factor of circumstance– mens Rea

Answer 10

the intention to do the crime

Question 11

factor of circumstance– Actus reus

Answer 11

the crime should be voluntary act, the individual is in control of what they are doing

Question 12

what are the two core elements of circumstance

Answer 12

mens rea
actus reus
when these are present it is a guilty act

Question 13

ways of measuring crime

Answer 13

official statistics, victim surveys, offender surveys

Question 14

official statistics

Answer 14

the office for national statistics monitors crime rates throughout England and Wales
categories include criminal damage, drug crime, violent and sexual crime
based of an incident reported

Question 15

problem with official statistics

Answer 15

1. not every crime is reported, may not be a true representation
2. some types of crime difficult to measure– domestic abuse

Question 16

police recording crime

Answer 16

recored crime, not always resulting in conviction

Question 17

problem with police recording crime

Answer 17

many crimes go unreported– from fear on involvement, lack of faith in system

Question 18

victim surveys evaluation

Answer 18

it is a self report technique = poor reliability

unreported crime know as ‘dark side’ of crime

Question 19

offender surveys

Answer 19

• a offending cim and justice survey was taken place in England and Wales every year from 2003-2006
• it was done to pick up crime trends and patterns of offending behaviour

Question 20

14th prisoner survey - male offenders

Answer 20

decrease of 20% in self reported drug use

45% reported they were drunk when committing crime

Question 21

14th prisoner survey- female offenders

Answer 21

50% reported being drunk when committing offence

28% reported alcohol affected their employment

Question 22

evaluation- offender survey

Answer 22

it can pick up on unreported crimes = more accurate picture of ‘dark side’