Sociology - C&D - Measuring crime - Self report studies Flashcards
Self report studies
An alternative way of measuring crime, revealing the social characteristics and profiles of criminal offenders.
What can self report studies do that police recorded crime canāt?
Can pick up criminal offences that police recorded crime couldnāt record
What do self-reports consist of?
Qualitative research methods (questionnaires/unstructured interviews)
What do self-reports list?
petty criminal acts such as street crime and assault, asking respondents to tick the crimes that they have successfully committed without being caught.
Shaw (1966)
Used unstructured interviews to investigate the life history of criminals, wanting to gain insight.
What do self-reports stress?
The importance of ethics of confidentiality and anonymity to increase validity of the data but a profile is often built up of the offender
Graham and Bowling (1999)
found that the factor of social class had no effect on British males and females when self reporting crimes they had committed. Therefore all social classes would admit to committing crimes when filling out self reports
What have self reports consistently discovered about offending?
There is widespread offending amongst the public; more so than what official statistics suggest (police recorded crime). Therefore self reports can be very insightful and can reveal true crime rates and offender profiles
Campbell (1981)
found males and females though self-reports do seem to admit to committing crime which matches the police recorded crime
What are the disadvantages of self reports?
- Marsh has criticised validity - They rely on retrospective data - Underreporting of crimes - Not representative
What does Marsh say about self reports studies?
Criticised the validity of self reports, they are compromised by males overreaching reporting crimes they commit to portray a hegemonic masculinity ideal and females under report. (Sex role theory)
How does sex role theory by functionalists affect self reports?
Males over report and females under report
Why is it a disadvantage that self report studies rely on retrospective data?
Offenders have to rely on their memories when stating the crimes they have committed and a full picture might not be gained.
Why is there underreporting in self report studies?
They may have a criminal background and fear that they have already been labelled as a criminal (labelling theory). They may be fearful of the police or frightened of prosecution
Why are self report studies not representative?
It doesnāt list all crime, like rape and white collar crimes (feminists and marxists). There are lower response rates from offenders who already have a criminal record. (Junger-Tas)
Junger-Tas
Lower response rates for self-reports come from offenders who already have a criminal record rather than those who donāt. Could be because they are scared of prosecution
What are the advantages of self reports?
- More reliable - Use facts and statistics
How are self report studies more reliable?
80% of offenders who fill them in tell the truth about the crimes they have committed. They may be more reliable than official statistics.
Why is it beneficial that self reports use facts and statistics?
Positivist sociologists would favour them. The data is quantitative so trends and patterns can be easily established when looking at crimes and offending rates.
What did Farrington use self reports for?
to plot the amounts and types of offending of a sample of participants. He looked at the variables and factors that were associated with criminal offending. q
What did Farrington and West find in his self reports?
1/3 of males up to 32 had been convicted at least once. Offending is higher during unemployment.
What was the Longitudinal Research Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (1960) set up to examine?
Self reports and offending
Who did Farrington and West (1994) investigate?
400 males born between 1951 and 1954
What percentage of people did Farrington and West (1994) find committed to at least one offence?
0.9
What did Farrington and West (1994) find in relation to a ācumulative prevalenceā?
As the male matured, more offending was apparent. Known offenders were usually involved in different types of offending and tended to specialise in certain crimes as they got older.
What did Farrington and West (1994) find about the ātake offā age for offending ?
It was age 14 and crime decreased by 23
What did Farrington and West (1994) find as offenders reached their 20ās?
Theft, burglary and criminal damage declined
What crimes did Farrington and West (1994) find didnāt decline with age?
assault, drug offences and fraud.
What did Farrington and West (1994) find about the average age of first convictions?
It was 17
What did Farrington and West (1994) find about the main variables to predict the social characteristics of offending?
It was low family income, poor housing and large family size
What are the disadvantages of Farrington and West (1994) self report study?
- Marxists like Croall find it problematic - Roshier criticises it taking place in school - Roshier criticises self report studies - Issues with longevity - Ignored females
Why do Marxists like Croall criticise self report studies?
They rely on the offender telling the truth which could be problematic. Targeted young males and therefore older males were excluded so no insight on white collar and corporate crime.
Why does Roshier criticise the conducting of self report studies in schools?
Serious and frequent youth offenders would probably be absent regularly.
Why does Roshier criticise the use of self report studies?
They do not tell us how frequently the offender has committed the crime.
Why is the longitudinal aspect of the Farrington and West study an issue?
There is likely to be a high drop out rate so sample becomes smaller, potentially producing skewed results.
Why is it a disadvantage that females were left out of Farrington and Westās research?
Bias and feminists like Campbell and Carlin would state that females do commit crime so itās less insightful as it excluded females.
Who commissioned Newburn and Hagelās (1994) self report studies?
Home Office Research and Planning unit
Who was researched in Newburn and Hagelās (1994) self report studies?
531 pps, 10-16 years from london and midlands
How was the sample for Newburn and Hagelās (1994) self report studies selected?
On the basis that they has been arrested at least 3 times in 1992
How many of the 531 participants in the Newburn and Hagel (1994) self report study were interviewed?
74
What was the issue of concern in Newburn and Hagel (1994)?
reoffending
What was found about specialisation in offenders in Newburn and Hagel (1994)?
they did not specialise in any one crime
What percentage of crime in Newburn and Hagel was committed with other people who all knew each other?
0.75
What percentage of people committed a crime on police bail in Newburn and Hagel?
0.6
What percentage of people in Newburn and Hagel admitted to committing a violent crime?
0.33
What was revealed about offending rates in Newburn and Hagel?
Greater offending rates when compared to police recorded crime. Especially in terms of drug use.
What are the disadvantages of Newburn and Hagel?
- Not representative as itās only London and Midlands
What are the advantages of Newburn and Hagel?
- Favoured by Positivists - Builds a profile and offers verstehen so can inform policy - Highlights how unreliable and invalid official police statistics can be.
