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Crime Stats - Coggle Diagram
Crime Stats
Offending, Sentencing and Punishing
1. Official Statistics
- Official statistics tell us the number of people arrested by the police.
. Collected since 1857 and has large sample
. They are not necessarily a reflection of offending rates but can be seen just as much as a comment on the actions of the police.
. Some sociologists argue that the actions of some police officers are motivated by racism and this is reflected in the arrest rates, rather than being representative of offending by the ethnic minorities.
2. Victimisation Studies
- Victim-based studies are gathered by asking victims of crime for their recollection of the ethnic identity of the offender.
- According to the British Crime Survey (March 2020)
. 'People of a White ethnic background were the least likely to have experienced crime (13%)'
. 'Mixed or Multiple ethnic backgrounds were the most likely to have experienced crime, with 20% having experienced crime in the same period'.
- Critiques:
. Only about 20% of crimes in the survey records are personal crimes where the victim might actually see the offender.
.Bowling and Phillips (2002) argue that victims are influenced by (racial) stereotypes and 'culturally determined expectations as to who commits a crime.
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3. Self-report Studies
- Asks people to disclose their own dishonest and violent behaviour.
- Graham and Bowling
. Black (44%) and white (43%) ethnicities had a similar rate of offending
. Indian (30%), Pakistani (28%), and Bangladeshi (13%) ethnicities had a lower rate of offending.
¬ Sharpe and Budd (2005) found similar patterns
- Self-report studies can challenge Official Statistics and Victim Survey
. Self-report studies highlight inconsistencies
Evaluations
Marxism
- Official statistics are created by the state and are part of the ideological state apparatus.
. They are created for the benefit of the bourgeoise
- Crime statistics are ideological - convinces is crime is a working class issue.
. They hide the true causes of crime and inequality
¬ Mainly report WC crime
. Benefits the bourgeoisie.
Feminism
- Quantitative methods are patriarchal
. Generally created by men
. Quantitative data does not reflect the lives of women
- Created by the state - patriarchal
Official Statistics
- Quantitative data is collected and used by government and its agencies to make decisions about society and the economy.
. E.g. Birth rate/ death rate, Census, employment rate and crime rate
- Governments and institutions like the police use this data to inform policy making
. Registration - official births or marriages
. Official surveys - Census
. Administrative records - Truancy rates/ conviction rates
Advantages
- Provides us with a general overview of the UK population.
. Allows us to make easy comparisons between groups.
. E.g. WC Vs UC crime
- Governments have the power to compel people leading to a high response rate
. 2011 Census has a 95% response rate
Disadvantages
- Lacks validity as they can be manipulated for government interests.
. E.g. unemployment rate
- The definition of terms may be different to sociological definitions
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Declining Crime Rate
The police-recorded crime stats show crimes which have been both reported to and recorded by the police.
Dark figure of crime