Sociology - C&D - Measuring crime - Self report studies

Question 1

Self report studies

Answer 1

An alternative way of measuring crime, revealing the social characteristics and profiles of criminal offenders.

Question 2

What can self report studies do that police recorded crime can’t?

Answer 2

Can pick up criminal offences that police recorded crime couldn’t record

Question 3

What do self-reports consist of?

Answer 3

Qualitative research methods (questionnaires/unstructured interviews)

Question 4

What do self-reports list?

Answer 4

petty criminal acts such as street crime and assault, asking respondents to tick the crimes that they have successfully committed without being caught.

Question 5

Shaw (1966)

Answer 5

Used unstructured interviews to investigate the life history of criminals, wanting to gain insight.

Question 6

What do self-reports stress?

Answer 6

The importance of ethics of confidentiality and anonymity to increase validity of the data but a profile is often built up of the offender

Question 7

Graham and Bowling (1999)

Answer 7

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

Question 8

What have self reports consistently discovered about offending?

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Campbell (1981)

Answer 9

found males and females though self-reports do seem to admit to committing crime which matches the police recorded crime

Question 10

What are the disadvantages of self reports?

Answer 10

• Marsh has criticised validity - They rely on retrospective data - Underreporting of crimes - Not representative

Question 11

What does Marsh say about self reports studies?

Answer 11

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)

Question 12

How does sex role theory by functionalists affect self reports?

Answer 12

Males over report and females under report

Question 13

Why is it a disadvantage that self report studies rely on retrospective data?

Answer 13

Offenders have to rely on their memories when stating the crimes they have committed and a full picture might not be gained.

Question 14

Why is there underreporting in self report studies?

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Why are self report studies not representative?

Answer 15

It doesn’t 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)

Question 16

Junger-Tas

Answer 16

Lower response rates for self-reports come from offenders who already have a criminal record rather than those who don’t. Could be because they are scared of prosecution

Question 17

What are the advantages of self reports?

Answer 17

• More reliable - Use facts and statistics

Question 18

How are self report studies more reliable?

Answer 18

80% of offenders who fill them in tell the truth about the crimes they have committed. They may be more reliable than official statistics.

Question 19

Why is it beneficial that self reports use facts and statistics?

Answer 19

Positivist sociologists would favour them. The data is quantitative so trends and patterns can be easily established when looking at crimes and offending rates.

Question 20

What did Farrington use self reports for?

Answer 20

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

Question 21

What did Farrington and West find in his self reports?

Answer 21

1/3 of males up to 32 had been convicted at least once. Offending is higher during unemployment.

Question 22

What was the Longitudinal Research Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (1960) set up to examine?

Answer 22

Self reports and offending

Question 23

Who did Farrington and West (1994) investigate?

Answer 23

400 males born between 1951 and 1954

Question 24

What percentage of people did Farrington and West (1994) find committed to at least one offence?

Answer 24

0.9

Question 25

What did Farrington and West (1994) find in relation to a “cumulative prevalence”?

Answer 25

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.

Question 26

What did Farrington and West (1994) find about the “take off” age for offending ?

Answer 26

It was age 14 and crime decreased by 23

Question 27

What did Farrington and West (1994) find as offenders reached their 20’s?

Answer 27

Theft, burglary and criminal damage declined

Question 28

What crimes did Farrington and West (1994) find didn’t decline with age?

Answer 28

assault, drug offences and fraud.

Question 29

What did Farrington and West (1994) find about the average age of first convictions?

Answer 29

It was 17

Question 30

What did Farrington and West (1994) find about the main variables to predict the social characteristics of offending?

Answer 30

It was low family income, poor housing and large family size

Question 31

What are the disadvantages of Farrington and West (1994) self report study?

Answer 31

• Marxists like Croall find it problematic - Roshier criticises it taking place in school - Roshier criticises self report studies - Issues with longevity - Ignored females

Question 32

Why do Marxists like Croall criticise self report studies?

Answer 32

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.

Question 33

Why does Roshier criticise the conducting of self report studies in schools?

Answer 33

Serious and frequent youth offenders would probably be absent regularly.

Question 34

Why does Roshier criticise the use of self report studies?

Answer 34

They do not tell us how frequently the offender has committed the crime.

Question 35

Why is the longitudinal aspect of the Farrington and West study an issue?

Answer 35

There is likely to be a high drop out rate so sample becomes smaller, potentially producing skewed results.

Question 36

Why is it a disadvantage that females were left out of Farrington and West’s research?

Answer 36

Bias and feminists like Campbell and Carlin would state that females do commit crime so it’s less insightful as it excluded females.

Question 37

Who commissioned Newburn and Hagel’s (1994) self report studies?

Answer 37

Home Office Research and Planning unit

Question 38

Who was researched in Newburn and Hagel’s (1994) self report studies?

Answer 38

531 pps, 10-16 years from london and midlands

Question 39

How was the sample for Newburn and Hagel’s (1994) self report studies selected?

Answer 39

On the basis that they has been arrested at least 3 times in 1992

Question 40

How many of the 531 participants in the Newburn and Hagel (1994) self report study were interviewed?

Answer 40

74

Question 41

What was the issue of concern in Newburn and Hagel (1994)?

Answer 41

reoffending

Question 42

What was found about specialisation in offenders in Newburn and Hagel (1994)?

Answer 42

they did not specialise in any one crime

Question 43

What percentage of crime in Newburn and Hagel was committed with other people who all knew each other?

Answer 43

0.75

Question 44

What percentage of people committed a crime on police bail in Newburn and Hagel?

Answer 44

0.6

Question 45

What percentage of people in Newburn and Hagel admitted to committing a violent crime?

Answer 45

0.33

Question 46

What was revealed about offending rates in Newburn and Hagel?

Answer 46

Greater offending rates when compared to police recorded crime. Especially in terms of drug use.

Question 47

What are the disadvantages of Newburn and Hagel?

Answer 47

• Not representative as it’s only London and Midlands

Question 48

What are the advantages of Newburn and Hagel?

Answer 48

• Favoured by Positivists - Builds a profile and offers verstehen so can inform policy - Highlights how unreliable and invalid official police statistics can be.