Understanding Crime and Its Impact Flashcards
Explore key concepts of crime, its types, and societal impacts through engaging flashcards. (18 cards)
What is a moral crime?
Crimes against the normal standard of morality. Examples: vagrancy, prostitution, illegal drug use, under age drinking, illegal gambling.
Victim: Often the victim and offender can be the same person. Offender: Often people that are in difficult social or financial situations. Level of public awareness: Low. Criminal/deviant: Both.
What is a hate crime?
Any crime perceived as being motivated by prejudice or hate based on race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or transgender identity.
Victim: Anyone who falls into the categories above. Offender: People who hold prejudicial views against someone belonging to the categories above. Level of public awareness: Increasing recently due to media focus. Case study: Adam Pearson, homophobic bus attack.
What is domestic abuse?
Any abuse targeted against a partner/family member. Examples: assault, torture, verbal abuse, murder.
Victim: Typically women, however men are victims too. Offender: Typically, but not always, men such as boyfriends or husbands. Level of public awareness: Low.
What is honour crime?
Punishments on people deemed to have brought shame on their family or community. Examples: Acid attacks, abductions, beatings, mutilations, murder.
Victim: Typically a young girl within the family, commonly from an Asian community. Offender: Usually a male member of the family. Level of public awareness: Low.
What are some reasons certain crimes go unreported?
Examples include domestic abuse, rape, vagrancy, under age drinking, illegal downloading, vandalism, honour killings, FGM, cannabis, prostitution, speeding, white collar crime, and technological crime.
What is the ripple effect of unreported crime?
The impact of unreported crime ripples through the community and can affect more than the initial victim.
What is cultural change in relation to unreported crime?
Often, people turn a blind eye to practices carried out in some cultures despite them being illegal, resulting in criminals continuing unpunished.
Example: FGM.
What is decriminalisation?
When certain laws are ignored by society, they become impossible to police, leading to reduced consequences for these crimes.
How does police prioritisation affect crime reporting?
Police focus on certain crimes, ensuring that local issues are addressed, which can result in some crimes not being investigated.
What is unrecorded crime?
Some crimes are reported to the police but not recorded.
Also Known as Dark figure of Crime
How does cultural change affect crime perception?
In some areas, crime becomes the norm, leading to a cultural shift that tolerates crime.
What is legal change in the context of crime?
As societal attitudes change, certain crimes may no longer be deemed deviant, leading to changes in the law.
What is procedural change in crime reporting?
Different procedures to report crime are introduced to encourage reporting, such as crime stoppers and online reporting.
How does the media represent crime?
Newspapers use dramatic headlines and images, exaggerating violent crimes. TV shows portray police as successful and criminals as evil.
What is the impact of media representations of crime?
The media exaggerates the seriousness of crime and can alter public attitudes, leading to stereotypes and changes in police priorities.
What is the Crime Survey for England and Wales?
A victim survey interviewing around 50,000 people annually about their experiences of crime.
Strengths: Includes unreported crime, large sample, confidential, helps identify potential victims. Limitations: Might miss certain crimes, relies on victim memory, not 100% response rate.
What are Home Office Statistics?
All crimes recorded by the police from all 43 police forces are included in these statistics.
Strengths: Accurate recording, can inform new policies. Limitations: Not all crimes are recorded, variations in recording practices.
