Statistics and factors

25% theft

25% vandalism

20% violent crime (only 2% of these have life threatening injuries)

5% drug offences

1% sexual offences 

Crime Statistics

The Home Office release the official crime statistics yearly. This includes police recorded crime. (crimes which aren’t reported, or aren’t recorded due to not being serious are not included).

Functionalist view (and right realist)

• broadly accept statistics are accurate and representative of most crime.

• useful for establishing patterns and trends in crime. 

Marxist view (also Neo Marxists and left realist)

• provide a biased view of crime as under represent crimes of the powerful.

• imply main criminals are ethnic minorities or working class but ignore white collar crime.

Feminist view

• provide a biased view of crime as they under represent crimes by men against women (malestream)

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

• criminal justice system is patriarchal.

Interactionist view (also Postmodernists)

• statistics are socially constructed, only useful to show labelling of the public done by the criminal justice system.

• pattern shown in statistics fuel stereotypes which generate a self fulfilling prophecy. 

The Dark figure of crime

3 steps to making a crime statistic

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

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

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

Changes in reporting and recording

1. changing police attitude- crackdown on prostitution, drug dealing, knife crime and drink driving. 

2. increased reporting- with weaker communities 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 the amount of crime detected. 

4. changes in the law- 2014: 280 new criminal offences

5. insurance- nearly all theft of cars and burglaries with loss are reported today as people can claim insurance money (not available before)

victim surveys: ask the public whether they have been victims of crime, and if they have reported it to the police e.g. CSEW

• help to overcome problems of offences not reported or recorded to police to provide insight into the victims of crime. 

• people may forget they were victimised e.g. forgetting when, or have constructed false memories of victimisation

• may not realise they were victims of crime e.g. white collar crimes- do not realise they have been conned.

• survey may not be representative so findings can’t be generalised.

• victims may feel embarrassment or guilt at admitting to being a victim so don’t

• there are consensual and victimless crimes where both parties agree to commit offence e.g. buying and selling drugs, or bribery so they won’t be reported.

self report surveys: ask people to ‘own up’ to their offending and tell researchers what crimes they have done regardless of if they were caught or not. 

• uncover some of the hidden figures of crime

• most useful way to find out about victimless crimes e.g. substance abuse

• help to discover some of the factors associated with risks of offending e.g. unemployment, difficult childhood

• validity of findings limited as offenders may exaggerate or lie about crimes committed to be dramatic e.g. young male offenders asserting masculinity.

• may not be willing to admit more serious offences with more stigma e.g. domestic abuse, child abuse. overemphasis on minor or trivial offences. 

• ignore respondent’s own definitions e.g. handling stolen goods may be common occurrence so therefore are not reported. 

• relies on memories (may be inaccurate or have been repressed)

• lack of representativeness- people with chaotic lifestyles least likely to participate in such surveys. 

Crime and gender

Men are more likely to be convicted than women.

• 60x sex offences

• 14x robberies (have a weapon)

• 4x theft

In most countries, males commit far more crime than females

• 75% of convicted offenders are male

• 85% of serious offences committed by man

• 95% of prisoners male

Otto Pollak, Chivalry Thesis

• states that the male-dominated CJS protects women

• more lenient as gives cautions and a second chance, also shorter sentences compared to men

• due to male police officers thinking about their own wives/mothers/daughters when interacting with female criminals

• therefore received more sympathy

Study of over 3000 defendants found women are a 1/3 less likely to be jailed than men.

Men are 1.5x more likely to be prosecuted.

Women tend to get cautioned more than men but due to showing more remorse

Outdated- rise in feminism and equality for women means the courts and changing their attitude towards women when sentencing e.g. casey report, MET police are misogynistic (rather than chivalrous)

Feminists criticise the patriarchal nature of the CJS as argue that it creates a bias due to male domination as women are underrepresented in positions of power.

• courts treat females more harshly when they deviate from the expected gender norms e.g. if they are lesbian, Lucy Letby: killing children (not maternal instinct)

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

• women are more likely to be jailed due to a judgement on their character as wives, mothers and daughters

• in rape cases, the victim on trial has to prove her respectability in order to have evidence accepted.

liberation thesis, Freda Adler

• if patriarchal domination is the main factor that prevents women from committing crime, society needs to become more equal so see a rise in female crime.

• greater equality means women change offending behaviour and adopt more traditionally male offences like violence and white collar crimes.

→ ladette culture: girls who are delinquent, involved in gangs, armed robbery (offending rate has risen)

Sex role theory, Parsons

• men take on roles as breadwinners away from the home while women take on roles within the home

• boys find this socialisation more difficult than girls as father is away at work
  - due to lack of male role model, they seek to distance themselves from female roles and engage in masculinity through aggressive and anti social behaviour 

• society expects boys to be tough, aggressive risk takers and predisposed to violence. 

Postmodernism and masculinity, Messerschmidt

Hegemonic masculinity: defined through work in the paid labour market, being driven, subordination of women and uncontrollable sexuality 🐺

Subordinated masculinity: defined by some men who have no desire to acquire hegemonic masculinity. 

→ men from w/c and BAME lack resources to achieve hegemonic masculinity. so use crime and deviance to accomplish masculinity. 

• postmodern era has seen a decline in traditional w/c/ jobs e.g. mining, manufacturing, manual labour

• w/c men were able to express their masculinity but now turn to crime as response to crisis of masculinity 

• more men work in service sector e.g. bouncers express masculinity through violence and may commit utilitarian crimes like embezzlement. 

Crime and social class

• predominantly w/c young males in w/c areas of towns and cities who are the main offenders.

David Nelken

official crime statistics not representative of the true nature of crime

• white collar crimes invisible as have no obvious victim so hard to detect

• m/c and u/c also have advantage
  - can afford better lawyers
  - better knowledge of legal system
  - money to bribe law enforcement
  - make up the CJS itself

Hazel Croall

white collar crime: committed by middle and upper class individuals who abuse their work positions for personal gain at expense of employers, government or clients.

corporate crime: offences committed by large companies or individuals acting on behalf of those companies who directly benefit the company rather than individuals e.g. increased profits, helping the organisation survive

6 types of corporate crime, Slapper and Tombs

1. Paperwork and non-compliance: when correct permits are not obtained or companies fail to comply with legal requirements

2. Environmental crimes: damage to the environment either deliberately or through negligence e.g. pollution, water supplies, air

3. Manufacturing offences: e.g. incorrect labelling on products, false advertising, counterfeit goods, failing to recall unsafe products.

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

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

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

Crime and age 

• young people commit the most crime (17-20)

Delinquency- crimes committed by people under 18. 

• associated with less serious non indictable crimes and anti social or deviant activity e.g. running away, truanting, underage smoking or drinking, vandalism

David Matza, Delinquency and Drift

• we all share the delinquent values that lead to some people committing criminal and deviance behaviour but most of us can suppress these

• this is a learned skill so people are more likely to commit crime or engage in deviant behaviour when they are young. 

• drift between conformist and deviant values ‘subterranean values’

Techniques of neutralisation

1. denying responsibility- claim they were under unusual circumstances e.g. anger

2. denying cause of injury- claim no harm actually caused

3. denying victim was a victim- argue victim caused incident e.g. beat someone up so was act of retaliation

4. condemning the condemners- those complaining about crime are just as bad

5. appealing to moral justifications- committing deviance for greater good e.g. country, race, religion

Crime and ethnicity 

• Stephen Lawrence, 1993: stabbed to death in a racially motivated attack by a gang of white men. family felt case had been handled with institutional racism and the case would have been treated differently if he was white.

• → Macpherson report, 1999: MET police are institutionally racist meaning that racial discrimination is normal in the organisation. e.g. deeply ingrained racist attitudes means BAME individuals are targeted due to stop and search. 
  - then actively tried to recruit more members of ethnic minority groups into the force. 
  - MET Black Police association: warned those from BAME backgrounds to not join force due to persistence of racism.

• → Casey report, 2023: racist, homophobic and sexist

Types of stop and search 

Low discretion: police stop people based on a description given by persons after a crime has been committed. 

High discretion: officers themselves decide who to stop and why → meaning a prejudice of ethnic minorities come through. 

Judiciary

• Convictions: fewer cases in court of black and asian defendants are found guilty as so many innocent and weak cases of ethnic minorities are brought to court. 

• Sentencing: custodial sentencing are given to a greater proportion of black offenders than whites.

• Pre sentence reports (advise on an appropriate sentence) often suggest that Asian offenders are not remorseful due to stereotypes of Muslims after 9/11

• Ethnic minorities more likely to have remand and not be granted bail because they’re not trusted. 

racial victimisation: individual selected as a target due to race, ethnicity or religion. 

dark figure of crime

• 2006: police recorded 61,000 racist incidents (mostly property and verbal harassment)

• CSEW found 184,000 racist incidents (ethnic minorities likely to not report being victim as believe police cannot protect them and don’t care).  

Paul Gilroy, Neo Marxist

• crime by black people was a form of political action trying to resist their oppression, and due to resenting culture of colonialism  

• denied there being higher black criminality as just a myth created by negative stereotyping within the police and the media.  
  - most crime is intraracial e.g. black on blacks.
  - many first generation immigrants willingly took opportunities to move to the UK (not due to colonialism) 

Stuart Hall, Interactionist 

• Britain facing economic crisis which threatened dominance of ruling class. 

• Media selectively publishing stats showing black youth involvement in mugging in order to divert attention from wider crisis in British society. 
  - had not been a real increase in mugging.
  - led to a moral panic (overreaction) and the black mugger became a scapegoat for all of society’s problems.  

• Meant that aggressive police action was justified. 

Roger Hood

• ethnic minorities more likely to choose having their case trialled in a crown court rather than a magistrates court as magistrates are volunteers with less legal experience so can’t be trusted to treat ethnic minorities fairly. 

• However, the crown court hands out more severe punishments and harsh sentencing meaning ethnic minorities are more likely to be jailed.  

Philips and Bowling: 2 types of racial discrimination

1. Indirect racial discrimination e.g. ethnic minorities are seen as more likely to run away and not be trusted so not given bail. Leads to EM mistrusting police. 

2. Direct racial discrimination e.g. being overrepresented in stop and search, fewer convictions as so many weak and innocent cases taken in, poor prison treatment as abused and intimidated