Weaknesses of Official Crime Statistics: "Dark Figure" of Crime Flashcards
What is a “dark figure” of crime?
The idea that there are crimes that are committed but not recorded
Name 2 Sociological Theories which argue there is a dark figure of crime?
Marxists, Feminists
What is the case with police and following rules of reporting crimes?
People in the police force will interpret these instructions differently
What did Holdaway find?
Police officers have their own priority over how serious offences are and if they should report them
What did Holdaway find with some offences seeming too small for officers?
The officers would not report them if they were too small
What did Holdaway find with some crimes being resolved?
Some crimes had the victim and offender resolve the issue themselves
Give a crime which a victim and offender could resolve the situation about with?
A fight
Give a crime where the offence seems to small to be reported?
Petty theft
What did Holdaway find with the amount of evidence to report a crime?
Police officers would decide if there was not enough evidence to report a crime.
Name a situation where a crime may have been committed but there was not enough evidence to report it
If the crime had not been captured on CCTV
