Crime statistics Flashcards
(28 cards)
What are crime statistics?
A collection of numerical data based on various methods of measuring the amount of crime in society
What is the dark figure of statistics?
A large amount of hidden crime which doesn’t appear in statistics can be compared to an ice burg
Why does the dark figure of statistics apply to a crime?
- victims choose not to report it
- victims cannot report it
- victims unaware of crime
- complaints referred
- complaints not taken seriously enough
- don’t/aren’t reported by police
The social constriction of crime statistics
- product of human being making decisions
- interactionism (social control agencies-police)
- victim & perpetrator, law changes, hoe gov measure statistics
- street crime, police target WC
Where do crime statistics come from?
1) Police recorded statistics
2) Victim surveys
3) Self-report studies
What are police recorded statistics?
- drawn from records kept by the police and other official agencies
- published every 6 months by the Home Office
- collected since 1857, excellent historical overview of changes over time
- rely on detecting, reporting and recordng of crime
What are the problems with relying on police recorded statistics?
X people do not report a crime, not representative
X higher number than reported
X cannot detect or unaware
X event may be more common
X exaggerated or over-represented
What kind of crimes might someone be more likely to report and why?
Crimes such as burglary or theft
- see some benefits for themselves
(insurance claims)
- murder or kidnapping
- have faith in polices ability to achieve a positive result
(find killer/missing person)
What are the characteristics of a person more likely to be taken seriously by the police?
High social class or status
e.g. WC taken less serious if they are reporting instances of white collar crime
- age, gender, ethnicity, social class
What is a plea-bargain and how does this impact statistics?
When a defendant pleads guilty to reduce time in prison/their punishment
- plea guilty for crimes less serious than they actually committed
- make crime rates look better than they actually are
What factors have the most significant impact on validity and why?
Reporting and recording of crime
- people have many reasons as to why they do not report crime
- police have biases meaning some groups may be hugely over-represented (white, male, WC)
Role of the government
- change how they measure crime
What are victim surveys?
- based on surveys asking a sample of the population whether they have been victims of crime and if so, was it reported to the police
- used by government
-provides a comparison to police statistics - CSEW (Crime survey for England and Wales)
How does the CSEW try to maximise the representativeness of the survey?
They have a sampling technique based on all households in England and Wales
- small sample of children aged 10-15
Are some groups left out or under-represented?
Young people and children
What crimes are excluded from the survey?
- homicide
- crimes against businesses
- drug possession
-sexual offences
Why are some crimes excluded from the survey?
Sexual offence is a very sensitive matter and may not be appropriate to discuss in interviews with unknown people
Why were respondents in the smaller sub-sample asked to input their answers directly into the laptop?
They were sensitive topics so participants may lie/not feel comfortable discussing it with a person
What are the strengths of victim surveys?
- overcomes the fact that a significant proportion of offences are never recorded by the police
- gives a good picture of victimisation
- local victim surveys can be compared to national figures
- certain groups/crimes
What are the weaknesses of victim surveys?
X problem basing statistics on victims memories and recollection
X the categorisation of crimes may be different to the police
X may choose not to report it
Why may victims choose not to report the crime?
- uninsured (theft)
- wish to protect perpetrator
- unaware of being a victim
- victim precipitation
- lack of confidence in police
What is a self-report study?
Surveys which select a cross section of the population and ask the, what crimes/deviant behaviour they have committed
- often used by sociologists such as Campbell
- The CSEW has a SRS section to complete
What are the strengths of self-report studies?
- most useful to find out about victimless crimes
- finding out different characteristics of offenders that are not processed by the police
- can find out about delinquency/crimes committed by children
What are the weaknesses of self-report studies?
X respondents may lie/exaggerate
X lack representativeness, mostly done with young people
X mostly uncovers minor deviance, people not likely to admit to serious offences
Interpretive
How does labelling impact the validity of crime statistics?
Minority ethnic groups are stereotyped and therefore over-represented in crime statistics
- police actively seek these groups
- white, WC, men
