defining and measuring crime

• historical issues in defining crime

  Definitions of crime change over time because attitudes change according to historical context e.g. smacking children, homosexuality.
• cultural issues in defining crime.

  what is considered a crime in one culture may not be judged as such in another i.e. crime is culturally relative because social attitudes differ between cultures e.g. bigamy, forced marriage, alcohol consumption. this suggests that the definition of crime is a social construction
• measuring crime

  • official statistics
  • victim surveys
  • offender surveys
• official statistics

  These are government records of the total number of crimes reported to the police. published on an annual basis. allows the government to develop crime prevention strategies.
• victim surveys

  peoples experiences of crime over a specific period. a questionnaire that asks a random sample which crimes have been committed against them.
• offender surveys

  These are a self-report measure that involve individuals volunteering details of the number and types of crimes they have committed over a specific time period.