sociologyexchange.co.uk shared resource
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Measuring Crime
The advantages and disadvantages of crime statistics
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What are official crime statistics?
They are produced annually by the Home Office
They are records of criminal activity and police effectiveness
They provide information on crimes known to the police (CKPs)
They give information on the social characteristics of those who have been convicted for criminal behaviour
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Burglaries in Cherwell District
2005-2006
Offences per 1000 population
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Violence against the person 2005-6
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Find out more about the statistics and what they mean at….
www.crimestatistics.org.uk
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What are crime statistics used for? To compare crime rates with previous years
To reveal police efficiency
To help the police to concentrate their resources
To provide the public with information about criminal activity
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Domestic burglary - British Crime Survey data
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Sociologists have treated such statistics with caution. They reveal more about the process of
reporting (by the public) and the collecting (by the police).
They are heavily criticised by social constructionists (labelling theory) who argue that they reveal much about the definitions and stereotypes adopted by the police and courts
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Problems with reliability
(a) Unrecorded crime
- Not all crimes are recorded by the police
- There is evidence of a ‘dark figure of
crime’ (Paul Wiles)
- 3 things must happen before a crime is
recorded
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1. The crime must come to somebody’s attention.
2. The crime must be reported to the police.
3. The police must be willing to accept that the law has been broken.
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The Dark Figure of Crime
OFFICIAL FIGURES
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Jones & Young (1989) – criticisms of official crime figures
The crime rate is ‘a barometer in which the glass is darkened, the mercury stuck and nobody agrees on how many times to shake it’
The problem with the crime rate is that it is based on crimes reported to the police
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FACTORS AFFECTING THE REPORTING & RECORDING OF CRIME
Public reporting
Invisible crime
The police
The judiciary
Media and politics
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Why people do not report crime
See it as too petty Only reported
if beneficial
‘private matter’
Victim not want to harm offender embarrassment
Victim unable to report
Distrust police
Victim unaware
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Public reporting of crime
Which crimes are insurance related?
Which crimes could cause major embarrassment?
Who would deal with a matter ‘privately’?
What crimes are too petty?
What crimes do family members do to each other?
Who distrust the police?
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Kinsey, Lea & Young (1984)
Inner City residents have little faith in the police.
Working class people will turn a ‘blind eye’ and not get involved!
Fear of reprisal from criminals.
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INVISIBLE CRIME Where victims are unaware
White collar crime that’s hard to detect
Ditton – breadsales – overcharging/fiddles
Mars – ‘Cheats at Work’ – theft is a perk
Corporate crime = profits
Hidden by internal inquiry
SEE MARXISM NOTES
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THE POLICE
Police response – many crimes defined as petty by the police. Take into account the social background of those reporting.
Categorisation of crime – police ‘filter’ crimes.
Dispersal of resources – targeted resources.
Differential enforcement – regional priorities.
Police discretion – selective policing (gender, ethnicity, class, age, area).
Police culture – attitude to arrests/levels etc.
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THE JUDICIARY
Stereotypes play a part in court
Solicitors crafting of cases
Biased jurors
‘middle class/white’ magistrates
Police distortion of facts
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MEDIA & POLITICS
Politics – laws are created – biased attention to certain groups
The power of certain groups to shape the law in their interests
Media – deviance amplification and sensitisation
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EFFORTS TO UNCOVER A
TRUE PICTURE OF CRIME
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1. Self-Report Studies
Questionnaires completed by people – revealing crimes that they have committed.
These question the stereotypical view of a typical criminal.
Officially males to female crime ratio 6:1 Officially w/c to m/c crime ration is 6:1
Surveys reveal a ratio of 3:2 in both cases
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Steven Box is critical of these….
Validity – w/c may underestimate and m/c over-exaggerate
Relevance – they include trivial items (riding bike without lights,etc)
Representativeness – they say little about white collar criminality (they won’t confess)
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2. The British Crime Surveys
These are ‘victimisation studies’.
They started in 1983 and occur every 2-3 years.
They ask individuals what crimes they have been victim of in the previous year.
Numbers involved – England & Wales (10’392) and Scotland (5000).
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The logic behind them…
People will tell researchers more about their experience of crime that to the police (anonymous/confidential)
To overcome the problem with ‘non-reporting of crime’ and the ‘dark figure of crime’
To gain a more accurate picture of criminal activity
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The 3 questions they ask
Have you been a victim of crime?
Did you report it to the police?
Did the police record the reported crime?
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The results of the surveys
Only 22% of vandalism is reported
Only 18% of theft from dwelling is reported
Only 50% of violent assault is reported
ONLY 34% of crime is reported
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Only 8% of vandalism is recorded
Only 11% of sexual offences are recorded
Only 48% of burglaries are recorded
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The REAL VICTIMS of crime are:
young
working class
male
black
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Pros and con of BCS
PROS They identify specific
victims of crime
They show how the middle class are not the real victims
Most crime never reaches the police
CONS They do not cover all
crime (prostitution, drug, white collar)
Few women report sex offences
Rely on victim’s memory
Depend on people’s definition of crimes
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THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
Labelling Marxism New Criminology Feminism Functionalism etc
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Labelling
Selective policing
Deviance amplification – media
Social construction/ relative deviance
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Marxism
Biased laws/police
Middle class escape conviction
White collar - invisible
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New Criminology
Racist policing
Suss Laws
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Feminism
Control of ‘non-feminine’ women
Chivalry factor
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Functionalism etc
Police are neutral
Laws serve dominant values/everyone
Media is neutral and beneficial
Statistics reveal the truth
Working class are real criminals
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