Week 4 Flashcards
(32 cards)
1
Q
Australian overall crime
A
- The ABS and AIC do not publish data on the overall national crime rate
- Offences vary across States and Territories, which renders it difficult to count and meaningfully compare all crime across all jurisdictions
- But they do publish data on key crimes of importance
2
Q
QLD key crime stats
A
- The overall crime rate has decreased by 1.2% in the past year
- The overall crime rate has increased by 8.1% in the past 9 years
- There is substantial variation in crime rates across different regions
- It has decreased 18% between 2001 and 2018
3
Q
Violent crime in Aus
A
Nationally, most categories of violent crime are stable or decreasing (except sexual assault).
4
Q
Homicide in Aus
A
- Homicide in Australia has declined over the last 25 years.
- The current homicide incidence rate is the lowest on record in the past 25 years.
- Port Arthur Massacre
Overall homicide incident rate was down that year.
But the rate of victimisation far exceeds the rate of incidents and offending (i.e. far more victims than offenders). Shows how a single major event can cause a statistical blip.
5
Q
Homicide by state and territory
A
- There is variation between Australian jurisdictions in the rate of homicide
- Most have low rates of Homicide and a declining trend
- The Northern Territory has the highest rate of homicide in the country, but it to is declining
6
Q
Sexual assault in Aus
A
- Between 2010 and 2017 the rate of sexual assault increased 18.6%
- sexual assault includes a broad range of behaviours
- Comparing the ABS Crime Victimisation Surveys for 2010/11 and 2017/18:
the proportion of people victimised in the past 12 months is the same (0.3%) but reporting to police has decreased from 31% in 2010/11 to 20.1% in 2017/18
-> One possible reason for the increase is increased reporting of historical offences, but needs more work to understand the trend
7
Q
Non-sexual assault in Aus
A
- Non-sexual assault is the most commonly reported offence against the person
- Overall the longer term rate of non-sexual assault has been declining for both males and females (albeit at different rates)
- While traditionally males have had a greater rate of victimisation, the most recent data shows very similar rates of victimisation
8
Q
Property crime in Aus
A
- Property crime is the most frequently occurring type of crime in Australia
- The medium and longer term trends are that all majority categories of property crime are stable or declining
9
Q
Ascertaining offender characteristics
A
- Historically police and ABS data on offenders has been based on cleared crime / arrest data
- This fails to account for repeat offenders, who appear in the data multiple times. This can skew the data
- The Queensland Government Statistician’s Office Crime Report, Queensland 2017 – 18 provides data on unique offenders.
- insight into the number and characteristics of offenders in Queensland who were charged/prosecuted in 2017-18
10
Q
Offender age - the crime curve
A
- Late teens to early 20s is the peak age of offending
- Teenagers commit more property crime than any other form of crime and more of it than other age groups
- From age 17 years ‘other offences’ become more prevalent than property offences
- We can therefore conclude that the 15 – 19 year olds commit more offences than the 20 – 24 year (and all other) age groups (i.e. they are being repeatedly counted in the offending data)
11
Q
Unique offenders, juvenile v adult
A
Examining trends in the rate of unique juvenile and adult offenders tends to dispel the myth that there is an increasing number of ‘out of control’ juvenile offenders (…at least in Queensland)
12
Q
Offender education level
A
- In 2015-16 38% of offenders had year 10 or less
- 2016 Census: 19.7% of Australian’s had year 10 or less
- > The proportion of offenders with year 10 or less is almost double that of the Australian population as a whole
- But it is an improvement on 2007 when 46% of offenders had year 10 or less
13
Q
Offender employment
A
- Offenders tend to have higher levels of unemployment and underemployment
- This is in part driven by limited levels of education
14
Q
Offending risk factors
A
- School drop out / low levels of education
- Socioeconomic disadvantage
- Disorganised living arrangements
15
Q
Offender accommodation
A
- Offenders’ lower levels of education are associated with unemployment and underemployment.
- This is turn results in them (and their dependents) having unstable living arrangements
16
Q
Ascertaining victim characteristics
A
- Victim data derived from reported offences suffers the same problems as offender data
- Just as there is a small number of repeat offenders who account for a disproportionate percentage of all crimes, there are also a small number of repeat victims who account for a disproportionate percentage of all crime incidents
- Overall risk increases following a victimisation
- Repeats occur swiftly offering a limited opportunity for intervention
- Repeat victimisation contributes to hot-spots
17
Q
Assault victimisation
A
- Overall there are more unique female victims (15,115) than male victims (14,409)
- Appears that repeat victimisation is perhaps greater for males and skews the victim data
- Overall, and across all age groups (ex. 10-19 years), males are more likely to be victims of assault (non-unique)
18
Q
Types of crime
A
Crime types can be categorised in different ways.
Most common categories are:
- Offences against the person (violent crime)
e.g. murder, manslaughter, assaults and robbery
- Offences against property (property crime)
e.g. stealing, break and enter, burglary, motor vehicle theft, property damage
- Other offences (other crime)
e.g. drug offences, justice procedure offences, disorderly conduct
19
Q
Aus youth offending
A
- Juvenile offenders (aged 10 – 17 years) are more likely to be arrested for property offences than violent offences
theft, unlawful entry with intent and property damage offences. - People aged 15 – 19 years are the largest offending group as measured by arrest rates. But their offences are less serious.
- Highest arrest rates for this group are for theft, unlawful entry with intent and property damage
- Rates of offending for all offence types are highest for young adults aged 18 – 24 years.
- Offending decreases with age from mid-20’s.
20
Q
Offending and gender
A
- Males are far more likely than females to commit crime.
- Approx 80% of all crime is by males -> 90% of violent crime is committed by males
- For convictions, the 80/20 rule applies (80% male/20% female).
However for proportions change in relation to imprisonment:
92% of prison population is male
For violent offences – murder, sexual assault and robbery – vast majority of imprisoned offenders are male.
Higher proportion of females incarcerated for fraud and related offences, but males still represent the majority of offenders for this offence category.
21
Q
Offenders and race
A
- In the USA the chances of being imprisoned are higher for ‘blacks’ (18.6%), and ‘Hispanics’ (10%) than ‘whites’ (3.4%).
- Indigenous Australian are over-represented in the criminal justice system. Indigenous Australians represent 2% of the population, but a greater proportion of court appearances and imprisonments.
Indigenous Australians more likely to be arrested for public drunkenness, public order offences, assault and break and enter (i.e. less serious offences)
22
Q
Offenders and class
A
- Class is an important correlate of crime
- 50% or more of prisoners report being unemployed at the time of arrest.
- Prisoner’s education and literacy standards are on average below the population average.
- People within the ‘Lower class’ are more likely to be arrested for street and property offences
- But important to remember that people within the upper-class also commit crime (e.g. white collar crime)
23
Q
Repeat offenders
A
- A large proportion of people who commit crime do so only once or only for short period of time over life-course.
- BUT, a minority of offenders account for a majority of offences.
- In Australia in 2010, 54.6% of all adult prisoners had previously been incarcerated.
24
Q
Explanation for youth crimes
A
- Most offending occurs middle-to-late adolescence & subsides in early adulthood
- Outcome of “normal” adolescent rebelliousness and mischief.
- 12-18yrs – parental influence wanes & influence of peers increases
- Greater opportunity to engage in mischief
- More time in public places – increased police attention
- Problem behaviour may escalate
25
Crimes among young people
- Youthful Offending
Usually not serious (e.g. petty theft – see previous mini-lecture)
- Persistent Offending
Usually more serious (e.g. arson, robbery, assault)
BUT, young people more likely to be the victims of crime
Explanations are many, but include young people being more likely to engage in behaviours or situations which expose them to potential violence
However, a significant proportion of violence occurs within the home (not just for young people).
26
Who are the victims of violent crime
- Males are both the main victims and perpetrators of violent crime.
- Females more likely to be the victims of sexual assault
- A significant proportion of violent crime is committed by family members or people known to the victim, but there are gender differences for some offence categories
e.g. in Queensland in 2009, 9.3% of male assault victims were victimised by a family member (compared to 30.9% of female assault victims).
For sexual assault, males (72.3%) and females (70.6%) were similarly likely to be victimised by someone they know
27
Violent crime victim age trends
- Similar to offending, the peak ages for being a victim of crime are mid-to-late teens through to early 20s.
- After mid 20s the risk of victimisation generally decreases with age.
- Multiple explanations, but include that as people age they are less likely to be in places where victimisation is more likely to occur (e.g. late night / early morning in nightclub precincts)
28
Repeat victimisation
- Many victims of crime are victimised more than once.
ABS Crime Victimisation Survey 2010:
- More than 1/4 of assault victims has been victimised 3+ times in the previous 12 months
- 44.9% of males reported experiencing 2+ assault victimisations in the previous 12 months, compared to 57.5% of female victims.
- Lower rates of repeat victimisation for household property crime (e.g. burglary and property damage)
29
Reasons for repeat victimisation
e.g. frequenting of ‘risky places’ such as pubs and nightclubs, some properties lend themselves to repeat burglary
30
Risky places
- Crime events, offenders and victims are not evenly distributed in the community.
For many offences the ‘riskiest’ place is the home:
- In 2009, 67.3% of sexual assaults occurred in residential settings;
- 65.1% of murders occur in residential settings (compared to 20.7% committed in a community location
Within cities / towns, some areas present greater risk:
e.g. some crimes, for example assault, cluster around transport nodes (e.g. railway stations)
- Break and enter offences are largely clustered in residential areas (but not all residential areas are equal in terms of risk)
31
Crime hotspot mapping
- Spatial analysis of crime highlights ‘crime prone places’.
- ‘Hotspot maps’ show the spatial distribution of reported crime.
- Crime mapping is used by analysts in law enforcement agencies to map, visualize, and analyse crime incident patterns.
- Can examine factors such as the environment which may be increasing risk
e.g. focus on why assaults may be occurring in an around nightclub precincts (binge drinking, poor security etc)
location and characteristics of homes and their occupants which may increase risk.
32
Crime mapping as a police strategy
- Helps law enforcement management make better decisions, target resources, and formulate strategies, as well as for tactical analysis (e.g. crime forecasting, geographical profiling).
From a research and policy perspective, crime mapping used to:
- understand patterns of repeat victimisation
- help target resources & programs
- evaluate crime prevention or crime reduction programs
- further understand the causes of crime
