Statistics

  1. Official crime statistics

  • Collected by the police/ government

  • Show trends: Long term fall in crime since 1995, rise in cybercrime

  • Huge dark figure (Unreported/ unrecorded crime)

  • Influenced by police discretion, victim reporting, media attention

Criticism- OCS are a social construct- reflect police practices, not actual crime

  1. Victim surveys

  • For example the crime survey for England and Wales (CSEW)

  • Ask people if they have been victims even if unreported

  • Reveal higher levels of crime than OCS

Advantages- Includes hidden crime

Limitations- Memory errors, people may still underreport sensitive crimes

  1. Self-report studies

  • Ask people if they’ve commited crimes

  • Often shows a higher level of crime than OCS, especially for minor offences

  • Useful for studying youth offending and comparing social groups

  • Weaknesses- People may lie, exaggerate or forget

Problem with crime statistics

  • Underreporting- Fear, embarrassment or feeling its not serious enough

  • Police targeting- More patrols in working-class or ethnic minority areas

  • Media distortion- Moral panics (Youth crime)