crime statistics and factors

official crime statistics

• released annually by the home office

• includes police recorded crime but excludes crimes that are not reported to the police

functionalist view on crime stats

• broadly accept stats as accurate and representative

• useful for establishing patterns and trends in crime as a base for forming hypotheses

• this view is supported by right realists 

marxist view on crime stats

• provides a biased view of crime that under-represents crimes of the powerful

• implies that main criminals are w/c or ethnic minorities but ignores white collar crime

• this view is supported by Neo-marxists and left realists

feminist view of crime stats

• provides a biased view as they under-represent crimes by men against women

• many crimes against women are unreported, including domestic abuse, rape, and sexual assault

• CJS is patriarchal and male stream

social action theories view on crime stats

• stats are socially constructed and shows labelling of the public by CJS. laws are different in different countries and across time

• fuels stereotypes which generate self-fulfilling prophecy 

3 steps to becoming a crime stat

1. detected - a criminal act must be noticed by a person and identified as a crime

2. reported - it then has to be reported to the police usually by a member of the public 

3. recorded - police must then decide if the act reported is criminal and worth following up. 

percentages of crime that is reported

• some crimes are detected but not reported 

• 90% of crimes that are detected are reported to police 

• only 40% of crimes that are reported are recorded 

• conviction rate is 3%

changes in reporting and recording

1. changing police attitudes - crackdowns on prostitution, drug dealing, knife crime, and drink driving

2. increased reporting - Mike Maguire argues that weaker communities mean people are reporting things they used to deal with themselves 

3. technology - the use of computers, cctv, forensic science, and DNA testing can lead to an increase in detection of crime 

4. changes in the law - e.g. in 2014 280 new criminal offences were written into law while 215 where abolished 

5. insurance - nearly all theft of cars and burglaries with loss are reported so people can claim insurance money. 

victim survey and evaluation

• victim surveys like the CSEW ask the public whether they have been victims of crime and if they reported to the police

however

• people may exaggerate

• people may forget details

• may not realise they are a victim

• often don’t include all crimes, CSEW doesn’t look at commercial businesses

• victims may feel embarrassed

self report studies and evaluation

• asks people to own up to their offending and tell researchers what crime they have done, regardless if they were caught or not

however

• validity of findings is questionable

• ignores respondents own definition of crime

• relies on memory of individuals

• lack of representativeness as young offenders are least likely to participate

crime and gender statistics 

• 60x more men get convicted fro sex offences

• 14x robberies

• 13x possession of a weapon

• 10x public order offences

• 9x drug offences

• 7x criminal damage

• 4x theft

• official stats show that in most countries men commit far more crime in what’s called the crime gender gap. me account for 75% of all people convicted, 85% of those convicted of indictable crimes and 95% of those in prison

• proportion of men found guilty/cautioned are age 17-20 and is 10x higher than rate for women

• men are more likely to be repeat offenders

chivalry thesis

• Otto pollak states that the male dominated CJS protects women

• in 1950 women made up less than 1% of police officers

• they protect women by being more lenient and are more likely to give women cautions and short sentences

• male members of CJS think about their own wives and mothers when interacting with women who had broken the law and therefore they received more sympathy than men

evaluation of chivalry thesis

• 1 in 11 self reported women have been cautioned or prosecuted whereas for men this is 1 in 7

• a study of 3000 defendants found women were about 1/3 less likely to be jailed in similar cases to men 

• women tend to get cautioned more than men because they show remorse 

• this theory is outdated and a rise in feminism for women means courts are changing their attitudes when sentencing women

• the Lucy report found that the MET police are mysoginistic 

• does not clarify type of crime

bias in the justice system

• courts treat females more harshly when they deviate from gender norms (double deviance)

• courts are more likely to punish girls for premature or promiscuous sexual activity 

• women are more likely to be jailed according to the courts assessments of them as wives, mothers, or daughters

• Walklate argues that in rape cases, the victim is on trial and has to prove her repeatability in order to have her evidence acceptance 

liberation thesis

• Freda Adler argues that if society became more equal there would be a rise in women’s crime

• greater equality should lead to a change in offending behaviour to commit more traditionally male crimes like violence and white collar crime

• girls are involved in gang life and there has been an emergence in cadette culture

sex role theory - Parsons

• boys find socialisation more difficult than girls as the father is away at work.

• due to a lack of a male model within the home they distance themselves from the female role and engage in masculinity through aggressive and anti-social behaviour

• society expects boys to be tough aggressive risk takers and so are more disposed to violence

postmodernism and crime - Messerschmidt

• linked offending to two types of masculinity

1. hegemonic masculinity - defined through work in the paid Labour market, subordination of women, being driven, and the uncontrollable sexuality of men

2. subordinated masculinity - defined by some men who have no desire to acquire hegemonic masculinity

• people from w/c and ethnic minority backgrounds lack the resources to achieve hegemonic masculinity and therefore turn to crime.

• m/c men also turn to crime to achieve masculinity but this could be white collar crime.

• the postmodern era has seen a decline in traditional w/c jobs. men now work in the service sector but there are some jobs that allow men to express their masculinity through violence and power. e.g. bouncers, security guard, police and the army.

delinquency

• crimes committed by those under 18

• young people commit the most crime with the highest age range being 17-20

• this is associated with non-indictable crimes and anti-social or deviant activity by young people. even if it is not criminal. e.g. trespassing

delinquency and drift - David Matza

• suggests we all share the “delinquent” values that lead some people to criminal and deviant behaviour, but most of us are able to keep them suppressed.

• Matza believes this is a learned skill so people are more likely to commit crime when they are young.

• people are neither conformist nor deviant and instead have “subterranean values” and are able to “drift” between both throughout their life.

• to justify their behaviour people use “techniques of neutralisation”

techniques of neutralisation 

1. denying responsibility - may claim circumstances were special or unusual 

2. denying cause of injury - while there may have been crime or deviance, no harm was done

3. denying the victim was a victim - if there was crime or deviance, it was justified as “victim” caused incident. 

4. condemning the condemned - claiming those complaining about crime or deviance are just as bad 

5. appealing to moral justification - arguing they were only committing crime for greater 

crime and social class

• predominately w/c young males living in w/c neighbourhoods of towns and cities who appear to be the main offenders according to official crime statistics 

David Nelken 

• marxists like Nelken argue that the crime statistics are not representable of the truth nature of crime

• he says that white collar crimes are “invisible” because there is often no obvious victim, making the crimes hard to detect

• middle and upper classes have advantages like being able to afford better lawyers, have money to use to bribe police officers, they have better knowledge of legal system and make up the CJS who target the w/c

Haze Croall 

white collar crime - committed by m/c and u/c who abuse they work positions for personal gain

corporate crime - offences committed by large companies, or individuals acting on behalf of the company to directly benefit the company rather than individuals 

six types of corporate crime 

identified by Slapper and Tombs

1. paperwork and non-compliance - where correct permits are not obtained or companies fail to comply with legal requirements 

2. environmental crimes - damage to environment either done deliberately or through negligence 

3. manufacturing offences - incorrect labelling on products, false advertising, counterfeit goods, failing to recall unsafe products 

4. labour law violations - neglect of health and safety regulations failing to pay minimum wage, causing or concealing industrial diseases 

5. unfair trade practices - illegally obtaining information on rival businesses, and anti-competitive practices such as price fixing

6. financial offences - tax evasion, concealment of debt using offshore financial centres to pay lower taxes

Stephen Lawrence

• 18 yr old was stabbed to death at a bus stop in a racist attack on April 22nd 1993

• it was a racially motivated attack by a gang of white men 

• his family felt the case was handled in an institutionally racist way

institutional racism

• in 1999 the MacPherson report found that the Metropolitan police were “infected with institutional racism”

• defined as discrimination that has become established as normal behaviour within a society or organisation 

• to change their image they actively sought to hire more ethnic minorities but the met black police association warned people from ethnic minority backgrounds not to join the force because of the hostile atmosphere 

• Casey report in 2023 found there was still institutional racism and also misogyny and homophobia

crime stats and ethnicity

• in every category ethnic minorities are overrepresented 

• 85% of population are white British, 3% black, 8% asian, 2% mixed, and 2% Chinese or other 

• but for prison population 73% are white, 13% black, 8% asian, 5% mixed, and 1% Chinese or other

• for stop and search 63% are white, 18% black, 14% asian, 4% mixed, and 2% Chinese or other 

stop and search

• black people are 7x more likely to be stopped and search while asians are over 2x as likely 

• MacPherson concluded that institutional racism is deeply ingrained and racist attitudes led to targeting certain individuals 

• the terrorism act in 2000 says that police can stop and search without reasonable suspicion. stats show asians are 3x as likely to be stopped 

two types of stop

1. low discretion - stops where police have a description given by a person after a crime is committed 

2. high discretion - stops where officers decide who to stop and why

the judiciary

convictions

• black and asian defendants are less likely to be found guilty which suggests the crown prosecution service are more likely to bring ethnic minority cases to court 

sentencing 

• custodial sentences in 2006/7 were given to a greater proportion of black offenders which may be due to the seriousness of offences 

pre-sentence reports 

• asian offenders were found to be less comprehensive and remorseful which links to 9/11

the prison system 

• in 2007 7.4 per 1000 black people were in prison

• black people 5x more likely to be in prison 

• black and asian have longer sentences 

• all ethnic minorities have a higher than average proportion of prisoners on remand and less likely to get bail 

victimisation 

• police recorded 61,000 racist incidents in 2006/7 but the CSEW found 184,000 incidents in the same year

• people of mixed ethnicities have a higher risk of being a victim 

• ethnic minorities are more likely to under-report being victims of crime

the myth of black criminality

• neo-marxist Paul Gilroy argues that crime by black people was a form of political action, representing a culture of resistance to inequality and oppression

• denied that there was greater criminality among black people and suggested it was a myth created by negative stereotyping

• he argued black criminality is because they resent the cultural experience of colonialism and slavery

• however a criticism is most crime is intra-racial and first generation immigration willingly took opportunities to move to UK 

policing the crisis

• Stuart Hall is a Neo-marxist and interactionist who explained why young black male commit more crime

• growing conflict between police and afro-caribbean community meant the media selectively published crime stats to create a moral panic and use young black men as a scapegoat to distract from the economic and political crisis

• these exaggerated stats diverted attention from the wider crisis

double standards and sentencing

• Roger Hood found that ethnic minorities are more likely to elect for a crown court trial rather than having their case decided in a magistrates court

• magistrates are volunteers with less legal experience and so minorities may not trust them to treat them fairly.

• however crown courts can hand out longer sentences and more severe punishments

• black people were 5x more likely to have a sentence for 3 months longer than white people, 9 months longer for Asian

2 types of racial discrimination

• identified by Phillips and Bowling

1. indirect

• mistrust of police - minority suspects less likely to cooperate and less likely to admit offences

• social position - due to social exclusion, minorities are seen as more likely to abscond so less likely to get bail

2. direct

• stop and search - minorities overrepresented

• institutional racism - Stephen Lawrence, MacPherson

• court proceedings - law conviction rates

• unfair sentencing - longer sentences

• prison treatment - more brutal

Crime and location

• city centres, poorer districts and affluent areas

• Increase in policing these areas using CCTV, security guards and gates

• This displaces crime pushing undesirables from these spaces to less affluent public areas

• Highest crime rates in urban areas like London

Social disorganisation theory, Shaw + McKay

• mapped home addresses of criminals in Chicago

• Most lived in urban areas

• Population changes rapidly in these areas yet criminals often were from that area enjoying that the location encourages crime not inhabitants

Cognitive mapping, Brantinghams

• taken into account where the offences take place

• Argue that we all have mental maps of the areas where we live

• Have crime opportunities along the area we do activities and consider different location to commit crime

Nochimal economy, Dick Hobbs

• study of inner city Manchester where there was an increase in pubs and clubs

• Les to more people going out, drinking and taking drugs

• Huge number of intoxicated young people within a small window of time in a specific area

• 65% violent crimes, weekend 9pm-3am

Broken window theory, Wilson and Kelling

• any visible signs of crime and civil disorder e.g broken windows, vandalism, public drinking, transportation, law evasion creates an urban environment that promotes even more crime and disorder

• States that these signs of disorder show that the area is not cared for so is a place where crime goes undetected

County lines

• criminal activity where gangs in urban areas recruit young people to carry, store and sell drugs

• Criminals crossing border across countries

Zero tolerance policing, NYC - clean car

• trains with graffiti taken away immediately and graffiti is largely removed

• Squeegee merchants, crack down