8. Crime statistics

Question 1

Define trends of crime

Answer 1

Refers to the movement of the official crime statistics.

Question 2

Define patterns of crime

Answer 2

Patterns refers to the characteristics of the offenders e.g social class, age, gender etc

Question 3

Define the crime rate

Answer 3

The distribution of crime which is taken from the official police statistics to show the number of crimes committed per 1000 people.

Question 4

Why don’t sociologists trust crime rates?

Answer 4

Because they claim they are socially constructed

Question 5

What is the dark figure of crime?

Answer 5

Crime that has either not been reported to the police r has been reported but not recorded.

Question 6

How many crimes do not make it into official stats?

Answer 6

1 in 5, only 3% end in conviction.

Question 7

Name factors that can make it seem crime is rising when it isn’t?

Answer 7

-The media
-Changing police attitudes, priorities etc
-Changing social norms
-Lower tolerance of acts
-Higher policing levels
-More sophisticated policing techniques.

Question 8

Name the 4 methods of measuring crime?

Answer 8

-Police recorded crime
-Self-report surveys
-Other victim surveys
-Crime survey of England & Wales

Question 9

Who are PRC statistics supplied by?

Answer 9

Supplied by 43 territorial police forces in England & Wales

Question 10

When is PRC published?

Answer 10

Every six months by home office

Question 11

What do police statistics only include?

Answer 11

Crimes the police become aware of and those which they record.

Question 12

Define Cuffing?

Answer 12

Police reducing the number or type of crimes in their area

Question 13

Define Coughing?

Answer 13

Getting an offender to admit to other offenses to get a reduced sentence.

Question 14

Define Skewing?

Answer 14

Police focusing on the crimes which are reflected in performance indicators to make them look more efficient.

Question 15

Reasons crime statistics are useful?

Answer 15

-Easy to access
-Up to date
-Covers whole population
-Goes back years to see trends
-Accurate reflection of reality.

Question 16

Limitations to crime statistics?

Answer 16

-Doesn’t include undetected or unreported crime
-Lacks specific detail
-Public awareness of certain crimes influences reporting rate
-Manipulation by police

Question 17

What is the biggest victim survey?

Answer 17

Crime survey of England and Wales (CSEW)

Question 18

When is the CSEW carried out?

Answer 18

Annually, usually face-to-face structured interviews. Used alongside police recorded statistics as part of the official crime statistics by the government.

Question 19

What does the CSEW suggest?

Answer 19

Some crimes are 4x as high as police recorded figures.

Question 20

What is the aim of victim surveys?

Answer 20

Aim is to provide more accurate picture to make up for crimes missed due to lack of reporting or recording.

Question 21

Weaknesses of victim surveys

Answer 21

-People may exaggerate or lie
-People may forget they were victimized
-People may not realize they have been victims of crime

Question 22

What is a self-report study?

Answer 22

A way of measuring or studying crime where people are asked to talk abut crimes they have committed.

Question 23

What do self report studies help to do?

Answer 23

Highlight victimless crimes, compare to official statistics, provide information on criminal profiles, determining bias in criminal justice systems.

Question 24

What have self report studies shown?

Answer 24

Self report studies have shown that young females commit as much crime as young males, W/C youths commit as much crime as W/C youths.

Question 24

What does Box show?

Answer 24

Box shows once petty crime is removed the male to female ratio is 5:1