Measuring Criminal Behaviour

• Why may ppl not report crimes?

  • ‘Private matter’
  • Embarrassment
  • Police distrust
• AO2: Hollin

  • Points out BIG problem w/ criminology; 'the dark figure of crime' = Crime that's undetected/unrecorded/unreported by police
  • Only 25% of crime makes it into recorded crime figs
• What metaphor is used to describe crime stats + why?

  Iceberg + small portion of crime is visible but the rest is hidden from our view
• What is the benefit of Official Crime Stats being national?

  Provide MACRO perspective of crime
• What do Functionalists think of OCS?


  They’re reliable + valid sources of data
• What do NR thinkers think of OCS?

  They use them to inform + create policies
• What do Interactionists think of OCS?


  Crime stats are socially constructed + only help identify stereotypes and the way police officers arrest people
• What do Marxists/N-Marxists think of OCS?

  They think it shows the biased view of crime (which is constructed by the RC).

  Ignores white collar crime ➡️ suggests crime is mainly WC ppl
• What do Feminists think of OCS?


  Underrepresent crime against W - DV + rape