...What are the major problems with regard to the collection of crime statistics? Discuss, within your answer, the weaknesses and strengths of the official crime statistics and British Crime Survey. Official crime statistics are secondary documentary sources which are most commonly based on figures from the police and the courts. These are then announced by the Home Office at a later date. Interactionists question the validity and reliability of official crime statistics as they state that official crime statistics greatly underestimate crime itself, and as a result they only represent ‘the tip of the ice berg’ suggesting that they are not representative of all crimes. Furthermore, Interactionists dispute that statistics are seen to be socially constructed. One example is through the underreporting of known crimes. The case for the British Crime Survey rested largely in the value to policy-makers of having at least a rough idea to the extent and shape of the problem which the criminal justice system was intended to tackle. Police statistics of recorded crime seemed adequate as a measure of police workload, but because of unreported and unrecorded crime – deficient as an index of crime. The British Crime Survey illustrates that the public do not necessarily report crimes that they have been victims of, for example in 2008 only 42% of crimes were reported by victims. Victims may not report crimes to the police as they may be too insignificant and believe that the police force either...
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...Official Statistics highlight that high offending groups are: the young, blacks, males and the working class. Discuss the accuracy of UK crime statistics and evaluate sociological explanations for offending in two of these groups. The official statistics consistently show that the working class, the young, males and members of some minority ethnic groups are more likely to commit crimes than the middle class (Haralambos & Holborn, 2008). The main source of these statistics is gathered from crimes recorded by the police and courts and through the British Crime Survey (BSC). The British Crime Survey was sent out to a random sample of the population and asked respondents for their experiences of crime over the previous year. This survey has been carried out by the Home Office since 1982. The results highlighted a discrepancy between the official statistics and people’s experiences of crime, showing that there was a high level of unrecorded crime. The combination of both of these statistics should provide a picture of the full extent of crime in Britain, however, sociologists believe there are a number of factors that influence these figures and that these official statistics do not reflect a true representation of crime in Britain today (www.studyzones.com). The official statistics provide information on the total number of crimes recorded by the police. A crime is only recorded when it comes to someone’s attention that a crime has been committed, reported to the relevant...
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...Assess the Usefulness of Official Crime Statistics to a Sociological Understanding of Crime The Government publishes official statistics on crime in Britain annually. The main source of these statistics are gathered from recorded crimes by the police and courts and through the British Crime Survey (BSC) which is a large-scale victim survey conducted annually by the Home Office. The combination of both of these statistics should provide a picture of the full extent of crime in Britain, however, sociologists believe there are a number of factors that influence these figures and that these official statistics do not reflect a true representation of crime in Britain today. We shall explore these factors and perspectives further to assess whether the official statistics do serve a purpose in the reporting of crime in Britain. From the functionalist perspective Emile Durkheim stated that deviance is a necessary part of all societies and that police and the courts are necessary to keep deviance in check and to protect social order. Durkheim argued that crime is an inevitable part of society and that all social change begins with some form of deviance and in order for change to occur, and that yesterday’s deviance must become today’s normality. That a limited amount of crime is necessary and beneficial to society and that society could not exist without some form of deviance and it marks the boundaries of society. page 353 Haralambos and Holborn [2000] The most fundamental limitation...
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...As seen in item A, official statistics show that ethnic minority groups are more likely to be arrested. For example in 2007/2008 Black people were nearly four times more likely to be arrested than white people. Whilst sociologists like Lea and Young argue that statistics reliably show that ethnic minorities are more likely to commit crimes, other sociologists such as Neo Marxists and investigations into racist institutions such as the MacPherson report believe that official statistics are not a true representation of the level of ethnic crime and is socially constructed. Official statistics show there is a high level of ethnic minority crime in society for example blacks are five times more likely to be in prison than a white person. Left realists Lea and Young argue that statistics highlight that Black men are committing more crimes due to racism in society which is marginalising black people for example racism has led to high levels of unemployment amongst ethnic minority groups hence leading to poverty and poor housing situations. Lea and young believe that the Medias etherises on consumerism leads black men to feel relatively deprived as they are not able to maintain the goals of society via legitimate means hence they turn to delinquent subcultures as a means of gaining rewards through illegitimate means. This also links to Merton’s strain theory. However Neo Marxists criticise official statistics representation of ethnic minorities and crime, claiming that they are socially...
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...Booklet 2 - Crime and Variables Patterns of Official Statistics: Crimes reported by victims and the general public, and recorded by the police Crimes detect and solved by the police Crimes reported to the British Crime Survey. This has occurred annually since 1983, interviewing approx 47000 adults about their experiences as victims of crimes such as burglary and assault. Problems with official statistics some sociologists, such as Barry Hindess, have argued that official statistics on crime, do have serious deficiencies. There are several reasons for these deficiencies. there are many reasons why the public may not report all crimes to the police: they may not realise they’ve been a victim, embarrassment, they may implicate themselves in a criminal act, etc. Another reason there are also many reasons why the police may not take action against all offences which are known to them. Sociological studies of the police, such as that conducted by Simon Holdaway in the 1980s, demonstrate that the police simply cannot take action against all offences which they identify, and therefore have to prioritize their activities. Gender and Crime – What the statistics say? – The statistics are correct - womens crime rate is lower Reasons why: The statistics are correct - mens crime rate is lower Reasons why: The statistics are incorrect – women commit more crime - they are not caught / treated more leniently Women are committing more crime today Women and victimisation ...
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...approaches to the study of crime and deviance began to emerge in Britain and America, both of which focused upon the "realities" of crime (specifically) - but from different ends of the political spectrum. In Britain, the "New Left Realism" started to develop through the work of writers such as Lea and Young ("What Is To Be Done About Law And Order?", 1984), while the "New Right Realism" (confusing isn't it?) developed around the work of Wilson ("Thinking About Crime", 1977) in America and writers such as Clarke and Mayhew ("Designing out Crime", 1980) in Britain. While, as you might expect, the two basic approaches address the "problem" of crime from quite different political starting points, they have a couple of ideas in common: 1. Both view crime as a form of "social problem" - not only for control agencies but also for the victims / potential victims of crime. 2. Both produce ideas that attempt to locate crime within a wider political (albeit different) context - the "New Realism". In this set of Notes, therefore, what I propose to do is: a. Outline the basic elements of each perspective. b. Evaluate their overall strengths, weaknesses and general contributions to our understanding of the phenomenon of crime / deviance. This set of Notes focuses on New Left Realism and a subsequent set focuses on New Right Realism. www.sociology.org.uk Page 2 Deviance and Social Control New Left Realism New Left Realism For the past 30 years, Jock Young has been recognized as...
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...extent do the official statistics on crime and ethnicity provide a valid picture of the criminal activities of ethnic minorities? The purpose of official statistics is to provide us with an unbiased, objective and informative look at crime rates within the UK. However, although the statistics themselves may, to a certain extent, be reliable, the way in which they are obtained is not. Police in different areas may deem certain areas of crime a priority and thus report and record these accordingly. Also, biases within the system itself against those from ethnic minorities may affect the resulting statistics to portray an uneven account of criminal activity. The relationship between crime rates and ethnicity is extremely complex due to other factors such as the difficulty of identifying a person’s ethnic origin and the cultural and social differences between ethnic groups. It has been shown on a variety of occasions that male black youths are disproportionately selected by the police to be ‘stopped and searched’; this then results in higher numbers of black youths being charged with offences as they have been caught doing so. However, the same crimes are probably being committed by other subcultures within society, but as both the media and police do not focus on them, they are not being seen. There are many flaws with official statistics and therefore their reliability. For example, there are sections of crime that are not dealt...
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...measurements of crime When measuring crime and deviance sociologist tend to look at the different types of ways that we can measure crime; this includes, Official statistics, Victim survey and lastly self report studies. Each of these methods focuses on very different things, they also have strong and weak points but by combining them, a possible general picture of crime and deviance could be drawn. Firstly, official statistics show that public fear of being a victim of crime is rising. This stark difference between the level of crime and fear of crime has been attributed to the way of crime is reported in the media. Tabloid papers often use alarmist headlines about crime and deviance to grab the attention of readers causing a moral panic. It’s been argued that these exaggerate the chances of being victim of crime. Official statistics have strong points such as they are relatively cheap and readily available. They are published annually and they provide data on crime across the whole of the UK and also provide insight into regional differences in crime. This means that sociologists would be able to compare between different parts of the UK for example rural and urban areas. Positivist sociologists such as Functionalists are very supportive of the Official statistics; they see that this method of measuring crime is reliable, representative and valid. It also provides a true picture of the extent and nature of crime. However, this method does come with disadvantages. The official stats...
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...usefulness of official statistics in measuring crime. Official statistics are a source of secondary data found in police records published by the Home Office, a government department responsible for law and order, since 1857. In order for a crime to appear two things must happen; the crime must be reported to the police and the crime must then be recorded by the police. People may be reluctant to report a crime to the police for a number of reasons; they could see the crime as trivial, they could have been blackmailed to remain silent, they could personally know the criminal, they could be scared to report the crime or they may be involved in the crime. Similarly, some crimes which are reported to the police may not be recorded as an official crime. This could be because the crime was too trivial, the police were too busy, the law was not in fact broken or because there was not enough evidence. The other alternatives to measuring crime rates include self-report studies and victim surveys, which now form part of the official crime statistics. Victim surveys involve asking a sample of the population what crimes they have been a victim of, in the previous 12 months. These are effective as they include crimes which may have not been recorded by the police. As well as measuring crime the Crime Survey for England and Wales, a victim survey conducted by the Office of National Statistics, looks at those most at risk of crime, people’s attitudes towards crime and peoples experiences of...
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...a wide range of methods and sources to study crime and official statistics can be an important source of information about crime. Although official statistics are often heavily criticised by sociologists they provide a potentially useful source of secondary data, if used cautiously. Official statistics have a number of apparent advantages to the sociological researcher. Firstly, they are relatively cheap and readily available. Government statistics are published annually; they provide data on crime across the whole of the UK and also provide insight into regional differences in crime. As such, official statistics can thus be regarded as providing a good starting point for researchers. Also, official statistics enable sociologists to make comparisons over time and between different parts of the country and between different types of area, e.g. rural/urban. For positivist sociologists (following Durkheim’s method), official crime statistics can be seen as providing a measure of crime which is representative, reliable and valid. Official statistics thus provide a true picture of the extent and nature of crime. Of course, those who support the use of official statistics – such as Roger Matthews and many other sociologists interested in influencing policy would recognise that crime statistics can be heavily criticised. However, those supporting the use of official statistics argue that the deficiencies of official statistics can be minimized by using self-report studies...
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...Crime is an act committed which breaks the laws of society and therefore is deemed punishable. There are 4 main factors that are considered when classing an act as a crime; these are age, historical context, culture and specific circumstance. There are 3 ways of measuring crime, official statistics, victim surveys and self-report measures. Official statistics is based on crimes that are reported to the police and recorded in the official figures. However there are many reasons as to why this is not an accurate measure of crime, this is because for numerous reasons crimes may not be reported by the victim or recorded by the police. Crimes may not be reported because there is no victim, victim is too afraid, the crimes to trivial, the perpetrator is a family member/friend or they cannot be bothered. Reasons why crimes are not recorded could also be because the crime it to trivial, insufficient crimes, one of several similar offences, not a priority, victim withdraws charge or there is a lack of evidence. It is suggested that the official statistics account for 25% of actual crime. The crimes that do not appear on the official statistics are known as the ‘dark figure’. This was investigated and looked into by Farrington and Dowd’s (1985); the aim of their experiment was to see the differences in crime figures between countries in the UK. They did this by analyzing random samples of police records of crimes. They found that in certain areas what was considered worthy enough to...
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...Age and Crime 1. Who does Maguire say are likely to be in prison? Maguire says that there are many more males, young people, black people, poor people, and poorly educated people in the prison population relative to the general population. 2. What do official statistics and self-report studies show? Official statistics suggest a link between age and offending behaviour, with younger people, particularly males, being more likely to engage in criminal activity than older people. In 2006 for example, around 6%of all 17-year-old males in England and Wales were found guilty of, or cautioned for, serious offences. However, less than 1% of men in age groups over the age of 45 were found guilty, or cautioned for serious offences. Self-report studies suggest that the majority of young people do not engage in crime. Additionally, young people who do engage in crime tend to commit relatively minor offences. Data from the 2004 Offending, Crime and Justice Survey, for example, indicate that 74% of younger interviewees (that is around ¾ of the 5000 young people aged 10 to 25) said that they hadn’t committed any of the offences they were asked about during the previous year. Of those who said they had committed one of these offences, many had committed relatively minor offences or had only offended occasionally. 3. How do we explain these patterns? * Peer group pressure may encourage some young people to engage in criminal activity. We have seen, for example, that...
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...According to official statistics, there are significant ethnic differences in the likelihood of being involved in the criminal justice system. Specifically, black people are over-represented in the system. In this essay I will talk about the reasons for these differences. One of the reasons for the differences in crime statistics is put forward but left realists Lea and Young (1993), they argue that the statistics do, in fact, reflect real life differences. Left realists see crime as the product of relative deprivation, subcultures and marginalisation. They argue that racism has led to the marginalisation and economic exclusion of ethnic minorities, who face higher levels of unemployment, poverty and poor housing. This means that these minorities then get things they cannot usually get by illegitimate means. Delinquent subcultures are made especially by young unemployed black males; this produces higher levels of utilitarian crime, such as theft and robbery, as a means of coping with relative deprivation. Furthermore, because these groups are marginalised and have no organisations to represent their interests, their frustration is liable to produce non-utilitarian crime, such as violence and rioting. Lea and Young also acknowledge that the police often act in racist ways and that this results in the unjustified criminalisation of some members of minority groups. However, 90% of crimes are reported by the public, not police, therefore it is unlikely that the police do not...
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...According to the Official Crime statistics most crime is committed by young people with the peak age of crime being 18 for males and 15 for females, with the majority of this crime consisting of theft and handling stolen goods which make up over 50% of all youth crimes. Cohen states that young people have a desire to feel valued, respected and to gain status within society. He states that this age difference may exist due to young working class boys feeling alienated and angry at the low status that schools and society allocate them and experience status frustration which results in the formation of gangs or subcultures of like-minded boys who reverse the norms and values of dominant culture and award status on the basis of anti-school and delinquent behaviour. This theory was influence by Merton, who states that crime results from a strain to anomie, which is when a working class boy is unable to achieve success in society through legitimate means which results in those boys looking for this achievement through illegitimate means by committing crimes to get back at a society which did not allow them to achieve. Kintrea’s theory of gang violence reinforces this as it explains that territorial conflict with rivals from other areas heightens the sense of masculinity. This in turn allows males to gain status, respect and reputation from each other which they failed to receive from mainstream society. However, these theories fail to explain why those in the middle or upper classes...
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...Crime and Deviance Revision SCLY 4: Crime and Deviance with Methods in Context Sociology Department Greenhead College SCLY 4: Crime and Deviance with Methods in Context Remember: You have to revise everything, because you have no choice on the exam paper. The specification 1 Different theories of crime, deviance, social order and social control * Different definitions of crime, deviance, social order and social control * The distinction between sociological theories of crime and other theories (eg biological, psychological); crime and deviance as socially constructed * Functionalist theories of crime: Durkheim, anomie, collective conscience; Merton’s strain theory; manifest and latent functions; functionalist subcultural theories * Marxist and neo-Marxist theories of crime: classical Marxism, laws reflecting class interests; Neo-Marxism, hegemony, the CCCS studies, critical and new criminology * Interactionist theories of crime: labelling theory, the self-fulfilling prophecy * Feminist theories of crime: patriarchy, male control of women’s lives * Control theory and other contemporary approaches to crime: social bonds, communitarianism, situational prevention; postmodern theories; Foucault on individualisation and surveillance * Realist theories: New Left Realism and Right Realism * The relevance of the various theories to understanding different types of crime, and their implications for social policy. 2 The social distribution...
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