unit 1 (1.1 - 1.5)

Question 1

moral crime

Answer 1

acts that go against societies norms or moral code
eg. selling or possessing illegal drugs
typical offenders vary depending on the crime as some may do it for financial gain (drug dealing) or some may feel forced into it (prostitution)

Question 2

state crime

Answer 2

illegal activity perpetrated by state agencies including crimes by other individuals that are backed by the state
eg. genocide
typical victims can be citizens of the state in question, often members of religious/ethnic minorities, and political opponents of the government

Question 3

technological crimes

Answer 3

offences using ICT also known as cyber crimes or e-crimes
eg. internet fraud
typical offenders can be anyone who used the internet but more complex crimes (hacking) require specialist knowledge

Question 4

individual crimes (3)

Answer 4

hate crime
honour crime
domestic abuse

Question 5

hate crime

Answer 5

perpetrator is motivated by a hatred of the victim because they possess one of the nine protected characteristics
eg. damage to property
typical offenders are those who hold prejudices views about the group in which the victim belongs to

Question 6

honour crime

Answer 6

violence to defend the honour of a family or community directed at an individual who is thought to have brought shame on the family or community
eg. forced marriage
typical offenders are the victims’ families and members of their communities and usually male

Question 7

domestic abuse

Answer 7

violence/abuse/threatening behaviour towards a partner, ex-partner or family member over 16
eg. sexual assault
typical offenders are male partners, ex-partners or family members

Question 8

white collar crimes

Answer 8

committed by people who are in a position of power or authority
eg. corporate - tax evasion of behalf of a business
eg. professional - accountants stealing clients funds
eg. organised - drug dealing by a gang
a specific case example is Harold Shipman who was a trusted GP who killed around 218 of his patients

Question 9

personal reasons why crimes go unreported

Answer 9

fear
shame
disinterest
not affected by the crime

Question 10

social and cultural reasons why crimes go unreported

Answer 10

lack of knowledge
complexity
lack of media interest
lack of current public concern
culture-bound crime

Question 11

consequences of unreported crime

Answer 11

ripple effect
legal change
unrecorded crime
police prioritisation

Question 12

ripple effect

Answer 12

the unreported crime won’t just effect the primary victim, it can spread across a whole group or community creating and affecting secondary victims

Question 13

legal change

Answer 13

the unreported crime is seen as less serious meaning overtime less people view it as a crime which can result in the law being changed to legalise the action

Question 14

unrecorded crime

Answer 14

the unreported crime doesn’t get recorded by the police which adds to the dark figure of crime and therefore gives a distorted view of crime through incorrect statistics

Question 15

police prioritisation

Answer 15

the unreported crime causes certain crimes to appear more or less important which can be incorrect because it doesn’t account for those unreported which can cause the police to prioritise the wrong crimes

Question 16

newspapers

Answer 16

present crime in a negative way and focus on serious crimes such as murder which actually only accounts for 0.2% of crime, giving a distorted view of crime
infotainment - a cross between factual information and fictional entertainment
news values - a set of criteria to determine whether a story is published or not

Question 17

music

Answer 17

many crimes are often mentioned in music (eg. robbery, drug dealing)
crime is seen as a fashion within the music videos
gangster rap music combines images of a street hustler with luxury items

Question 18

social media

Answer 18

can be used to prevent crime by spreading awareness and setting up campaigns
however, can be used to commit crimes such as hacking
police forces now use social media to appeal to the public for information or witnesses

Question 19

film

Answer 19

1/5 of all cinema films are crime movies
violent crime movies are believed to desensitise people to the pain and suffering of others making them more likely to commit crimes
eg. Jon Venables and Robert Thompson killed 2 year old James Bulger and their actions were thought to have been influenced by the movie ‘Child’s play 3’

Question 20

Television

Answer 20

crime news - focuses on violent crimes, often portrays offenders and victims as older and middle class (eg. BBC news)
crime fiction - focuses on violent crimes and offenders are often high status individuals, the police always catch the criminals (eg. line of duty)

Question 21

gaming

Answer 21

video games (eg. GTA) portray violence as a fun/good thing to do and even reward crimes
gaming disorder is a medical condition where a person struggles to control how much time they spend on their games which effects their everyday lives (eg. not attending work/school, not socialising)

Question 22

moral panic

Answer 22

when society deem a certain group of people to be a threat to society using stereotypes (eg. mods and rockers)

Question 23

levels of response to crime and types of punishment

Answer 23

the media can affect the levels of response to crime by the police and the punishment given by the courts (eg. riots of 2011 where rioters got given much more severe punishments than the average for rioting because of the publicity)

Question 24

perception of crime trends

Answer 24

as the media over exaggerates and sensationalises crime, mainly reporting on serious crime, individuals can believe that crime is increasing which could be untrue and they may believe that some crimes are more pertinent when they are not

Question 25

changing priorities and emphasis

Answer 25

when the media report about a concerning anti-social behaviour or a particular crime, it may lead to changes in the priorities or policies of government, police or other agencies
(eg. in 1991 a law against breeding, owning, or selling Pit Bull’s was created due to newspapers reporting about how they were dangerous)