Defining and Measuring Crime

• What is the definition of crime?

  Crime refers to any behaviour that is unlawful and punished by the state. It is an act which is harmful to an individual, group or society as a whole
• Legislative approach of defining a criminal?

  Someone who has broken the law (over inclusive)

  Someone who has been convicted (some not caught, wrongful convictions, unsuccessful criminals by definition)
• Deviance approach to defining a criminal?

  Someone who behaves in a deviant/anti-social way (legal crime is only part of this) - involves subjective opinion
• Problems with defining crime: Geography/culture?

  Some things are legal in some parts of the world and not others. For example, polygamy is illegal in the UK, although it is still legal to have multiple wives in other parts of the world
• Problems with defining crime: Historical context?

  Some things that were once illegal have been made legal and vice versa. For example, homosexuality was only made legal in the UK in 1967
• Problems with defining crime: Age?

  Criminal behaviour is designated according to age and intention - thus the same behaviour can be seen as criminal in one case and not in another. The age of criminal respinsibility varies from country to country

  Scotland: 8

  England and Wales: 10

  France: 13

  Sweden: 15

  Individuals are deemed to have committed a criminal act only if they can be shown to have had the intention of doing so. Those suffering from some forms of psychiatric illness are considered incapable of this aspect of criminal behaviour
• Ways of Measuring Crime?

  Official statistics

  Victim surveys

  Offender surveys
• Official statistics

  Government records of the total number of crimes reported to police and recorded in the official figures. Published annually and provides a useful snapshot of crime across regions. This helps to develop crime prevention strategies and helps with the policing of resources
• Evaluation of official statistics?

  p: Official statistics is unreliable, as it underestimates the true extent of crime.

  e: Some suggest that only 25% of crimes make up the official statistics figures due to under reporting and recording by victims and criminals.

  e: For example, Farrington and David found a pike of crimes in Nottingham due to Nottinghamshire police being more likely to report theft under £10 than in other areas.

  l:This suggests that police priorities in different areas may distort official figures
• Victim Surveys

  Records of people's own experience of crime over a specific period. The British Crime Survey asks people to document crimes that they have been a victim of in the past year. 50,000 households randomly selected.
• Example of Victim Surveys?

  In 2009, a separate survey was introduced, to record the experiences of children aged 10-15. The results of this survey are published anually.
• Evaluation of Victim Surveys:

  p: Victim surveys provide more detail and accuracy about a crime than official statistics due to victims not reporting full information to the police.

  e: For example 2006-2007, official statistics suggested a 2% decrease in crime whereas surveys suggested a 3% increase.

  e: However, victim surveys rely on people having an accurate recall of crimes. Victims may suffer from telescoping, where the victim may think that the event happened to them in the last year when it infact didn't due to trauma.

  l:This may distort figures - less reliable
• Offender surveys?

  Individuals volunteer the number and type of crime they have committed. These surveys target groups of likely offenders based on risk factors, such as age, social background and previous convictions.
• Example of Offender Surveys:

  2003-2006 the Offenders Crime and Justice Survey was the first self-report survey of its kind in England and Wales.
• Evaluation of Offender Surveys

  p: Offender surveys provide insight into how many people commit crimes, some people may commit multiple.

  e: However, responses may be unreliable as some may want to conceal serious crimes or exaggerate smaller ones.

  e: This means smaller crimes, such as burglary may be over represented and more serious crimes will not be reported in the survey.

  e: Therefore, the results of the survey are not reliable and will not provide a true representation of crimes and offences.
• Offender profiling is a behavioural and analytical tool that is intended to help investigators accurately predict and profile the characteristics of unknown criminals