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Flashcards in problems in defining crime Deck (22)
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1
Q

crime

A

act that violates the law. punished by state

2
Q

The law

A

context bound and subject to change

3
Q

crime as a a social construction

A

a reflection of the attitudes and beliefs in society

4
Q

factors affecting definition of crime

A

culture
age
context
circumstance

5
Q

factor culture

A

crime varies cross culturally

6
Q

factor age

A

what age should we make individuals responsible for actions

7
Q

age in UK

A

in UK it is 10yrs old that you are deemed responsible for your actions

8
Q

Historical context

A

the legal system changes its law over time

9
Q

example of context

A

homosexuality illegal until 1967

10
Q

factor of circumstance– mens Rea

A

the intention to do the crime

11
Q

factor of circumstance– Actus reus

A

the crime should be voluntary act, the individual is in control of what they are doing

12
Q

what are the two core elements of circumstance

A

mens rea
actus reus
when these are present it is a guilty act

13
Q

ways of measuring crime

A

official statistics, victim surveys, offender surveys

14
Q

official statistics

A

the office for national statistics monitors crime rates throughout England and Wales
categories include criminal damage, drug crime, violent and sexual crime
based of an incident reported

15
Q

problem with official statistics

A
  1. not every crime is reported, may not be a true representation
  2. some types of crime difficult to measure– domestic abuse
16
Q

police recording crime

A

recored crime, not always resulting in conviction

17
Q

problem with police recording crime

A

many crimes go unreported– from fear on involvement, lack of faith in system

18
Q

victim surveys evaluation

A

it is a self report technique = poor reliability

unreported crime know as ‘dark side’ of crime

19
Q

offender surveys

A
  • a offending cim and justice survey was taken place in England and Wales every year from 2003-2006
  • it was done to pick up crime trends and patterns of offending behaviour
20
Q

14th prisoner survey - male offenders

A

decrease of 20% in self reported drug use

45% reported they were drunk when committing crime

21
Q

14th prisoner survey- female offenders

A

50% reported being drunk when committing offence

28% reported alcohol affected their employment

22
Q

evaluation- offender survey

A

it can pick up on unreported crimes = more accurate picture of ‘dark side’