Chapter 2 - Patterns of crime and crime statistics

What are official crime statistics?

• Compiled by examining police and court records

• Produced on yearly basis

• Tell us:

1. Total number of crimes known to the police

2. Social characteristics of offenders

What do official police statistics tell us?

• Most offenders are young (16-24)

• Most offenders are male (80%)

• Most offenders come from poor home backgrounds

• Most offenders lack educational qualifications

Pros of using official crime statistics

• Allows govt. to monitor patterns of crime at reliably regular intervals

• Certain increases or decreases help identify priority areas

• Allows researchers to identify cause and effect relationships

Issues of reporting crime (OCS)

• People will not report crimes they think are petty

• People will report crimes if there is an advantage for them

• Some crimes are regarded as private

• May be too embarrassed to come forward

• May be unable to inform police

• Little faith in police

• Afraid of reprisal

• Indirect victimisation

Issues of recording crime (OCS)

• Difficult to compare statistics over time because laws change - stalking 2012 - artificial increases

• Dark/hidden figure of unreported crime

• Counting crimes is problematic (12 people in a household = 1 crime)

• May have to decide what category crime falls into

• Over-policing in one area

• Different officers have different attitudes to crime

What is the crime survey?

• Completed every year - compared to police data

• Representative sample of 46,000 over 16s. used

• Focuses on people living in privately owned home

• Main aim is to provide a completely independent way of examining crime

• Tap into dark/hidden figure of crime

What are the main findings of crime surveys?

• Less than 1 in 4 crimes are reported

• Twice as much crime exists as compared to what police data shows

• Crime is consistently falling

Main problems with the victim survey

• Not all crimes can be directly compared to police recorded crimes

• Many crimes are not included in the crime survey since it is a household survey

• Does not account for crimes committed against people under 10

• Homeless, living in prison and living in hostels are excluded

• Only can disclose if they know they are victims

• Telescoping - unable to accurately remember what happened

What are self-report studies?

• Ask selected cross-section people what offences they have committed during the previous year

• Interviewed or questionnaire

Pros of self-report studies

• Provide information about social characteristics of offenders

• Shed light on motivation - dark/hidden figure of crime

• Much broader coverage of crime in society

Problems with self-report studies

• Validity - respondents might lie, exaggerate

• Representativeness - use young people and students, since they are easy to access

• Focus on male juvenile delinquency - street crime