measuring crime, victim surveys, police recorded crime

Question 1

official crime statistics contain stats from which 4 key area

Answer 1

1) police
2) courts
3)prison records
4)CSEW

Question 2

what three things must happen for a crime to be recorded by the police

Answer 2

1) awareness that crime is being committed
2) crime reported
3) crime recorded

Question 3

how many police forces does police recorded crime cover

Answer 3

over 43

Question 4

what can police recorded stats give an official account of

Answer 4

the volume of crime
trends in relation to e.g gender and age

Question 5

in 2015, out of 100 crimes committed what percentage of those were reported to police

Answer 5

47% are reported to police

Question 6

how many criminal offences have been recorded by the police to date

Answer 6

4.4M

Question 7

what is the dark figure of crime

Answer 7

refers to crime that is unrecorded

Question 8

give three examples of the dark figure of crime

Answer 8

fraud
scams
speeding
domestic violence
pickpocketing

Question 9

one reason there might be a dark figure of crime is due to police recorded malpractices- explain further

Answer 9

some crimes arent serious enough; too trivial and little to no evidence for e.g littering

Question 10

what is coughing, cuffing, skewing (related to dark figure of crime)

Answer 10

coughing: encouraged to admit to crime early on to get lesser charges - leading to police getting higher clear-up rate
cuffing: crime initially reported and recorded but removed coz data changed
skewing: police concentrating resources in certain areas and not others so data skewed

Question 11

5 reasons police are bad (dark figure of crime)

Answer 11

-corrupt police
-lazy police
-police are racist
-greedy police
-busy police

Question 12

6 advantages of police recorded crime

Answer 12

-stats is cheap and readily available
-temporal vailidity and reliable
-quantitative data can analyse patterns
-consistency measured
-less ethical issues compared to victim surveys
-supported by functionalists

Question 13

6 disadvantages of police recorded crime

Answer 13

-some crime not seen as crimes by victim so not reported eg identity fraud
-depends on perception of individual (you THINK your neighbour stole gnomes from ur garden so do u report it?)
-some over report crimes such as car theft due to insurance
-some crime doesn’t get recorded (white collar crime)
-governed by social constructs
-marxists say its used to control WC and justify over policing

Question 14

what is the CSEW

Answer 14

complements police recorded stats but doesnt include things like theft, fraud, drug possession

Question 15

what does the CSEW suggest

Answer 15

crime is higher than PRC suggests

Question 16

what are the 4 uses of the csew

Answer 16

-focuses on victim porfiling
-focuses on circumstance and behaviour of criminal offender
-helps estimate extent of domestic violence
-focus on crime related topics such as ASB and police effectiveness

Question 17

what does the csew say about minor and major offences

Answer 17

more likely to be a victim of a minor offence

Question 18

give a few reasons that will help you to become a victim

Answer 18

gender, age, geographical location, social activities

Question 19

what type of violence is very rare

Answer 19

stranger

Question 20

the risk of being a victim of burglary and vehicle theft is higher in

Answer 20

poorer areas due to high levels of rented accomodation
single parent families

Question 21

3 advantages of csew

Answer 21

-young states 20-25% of population doesnt participate in csew BUT 75% do
-more valid than PRC coz participants talk abt experiences
-can investigate true extent of crime, as most dont report crime to police

Question 22

5 disadvantages of csew

Answer 22

-leaves out some categories of crime e.g white collar, rape
-relies on public having a good memory and might TELESCOPE crime
-Ellingsworth says it leaves out scotland and ireland as well as ages younger than 9
-ignores victimless crime (corporate crime)
-structured interviews and surveys (Int, and Fem)

Question 23

what are victim surveys

Answer 23

surveys in concentrated areas where more crime happens

Question 24

islington crime survey (Lea and Young) two dates it was conducted?

Answer 24

1986 in london and 1990 in islington and merseyside

Question 25

islington crime survey (Lea and Young) summary

Answer 25

in-depth survey focusing on victims and their experiences trained researchers were sympathetic to victims used unstructured interviews high female victim respond rate qualitative data

Question 26

islington crime survey (Lea and Young)- what did they want to do

Answer 26

lea and young were left realist sociologists and wanted to conducted sympathetic unstructured interviews, wanted to focus on specific geographical locations and look at victim of crime on victims

Question 27

three findings from the islington crime survey (Lea and Young)

Answer 27

crime was second biggest issue with homelessness being number 1, 40% knew someone or were mugged themselves, crime shaped people's lives and 25% didnt go out after dark

Question 28

3 advantages of local crime surveys

Answer 28

-interpritivist -verstehen -validity

Question 29

3 disadvantages of local crime surveys

Answer 29

-interviewer must be highly skilled -carried out in specific areas only -low in reliability

Question 30

feminist victim surveys summary (mention Walklate)

Answer 30

collect qualitative data on female victims of crime committed by men -focus on domestic violence and sexual acts -Walklate found female victims often stayed in abusive relationships due to power imbalance

Question 31

why do feminists dislike structured interviews

Answer 31

respondent has passive role and theres a power imbalance which mirrors patriarchal society

Question 32

dobash and dobash victim survey on domestic violence (3 findings)

Answer 32

2 female researches coducted 109 unstructured interviews in scotland with women who had experience in domestic violence. -23% experienced violence before wedding but believe it will stop after wedding -some saw anger in men as showing their seriousness of relationship -few women responded with physical force

Question 33

2 advantages of female victim surveys

Answer 33

valid interpritivist

Question 34

3 disadvantages of female victim surveys

Answer 34

dark figure of crime still exists not representative sample issues w/ honesty in respondents