Perception of Crime

• • Whether official crime statistics accurately reflects real crime levels in UK has been subject to debate 
  • Criminologists and politicians have been using Crime Survey of England and Wales as valid and reliable source 
  • It has started measuring different crime to increase trustworthiness  
  • Picture = distorted not exaggerated 


  Intro
• • Doubt that society has distorted view on crime primarily because of great difficulty in sourcing accurate measurements of crime in UK  
  • Recorded police stats only paint a small part of the pic 
  • Dark figure = unreported crimes are not recorded  
  • Contribution to dark figure --> fear or reprisals, of not being taken seriously and belief police won't do anything 
  • Prevalent in sexual crimes 
  • Crimes like Sarah Everard – 97% of women being sexually harassed  
  • 16% of women fear being harassed VS 2% men  


  Para 1 - Point
• US – 65% of women feel scared to walk alone VS 12% men  


  Para 1 - Int Comp
• These stats are collected through victimisation surveys which should be more accurate as they do not rely on police figures, can capture incidents not reported and can investigate impact of crime on victims 


  Para 1 - Rebuttal
• • Despite sample size of 31,000 in 2021, it is still considered too small to gain accurate perspective of crime  
  • Australia – Crime Victimisation Survey (CVS), sample = around 24,000 
  • Excludes homeless people, those living in hostels or prisons which are more likely to be victims of crime  


  Para 1 - Rebuttal Examples
• £700 million spent on CJS each year still shows impact is not overexaggerated  


  Para 1 - Back to LOA
• • Overall perception of crime is flawed and depends on demographic of individual as everyone has different relationships with the CJS 
  • The perception of crime has also affected how individuals view the police is effective in carrying out their work 
  • 2019/20 - 47% of respondents said they were confident in the ability of the police to prevent crime, down from 50% in 2018 


  Para 2 - Point
• New Zealand – victimisation survey showed that public trust in police = 69% in comparison to the UK (reputation damaged by cases like Sarah Everards) 


  Para 2 - Int Comp
• • Respondents were more accurate in perception of local crime (only 27% believed crime in their area decreased) 
  • Scotland – ¾ of people thought crime rates were stable/ gone down – which was true  
  • 2016 - Crime survey of England and Wales highlights people are accurate in their perception of impact of social context of an area and crime levels within 


  Para 2 - Rebuttal
• Around 20% of respondents in areas with lowest crime deprivation levels incorrectly perceive that crime in their area is higher than national average 


  Para 2 - Back to LOA
• • Distorted perception partly due to overrep of violent crime in the media (newspaper and TV) to gain more readers 
  • UK – newspapers dedicate approx. 30% of their space to crime stories 
  • 65% of newspapers crime reporting involves violent crime --> 9% of all crime in Scotland  


  Para 3 - Point
• • 2020, US, research by Pew Research Centre – 78% of Americans felt there was more crime across the US than previous year despite FBI figures showing 74% reduction in violent crime from ‘93 to 2019 
  • Similar tv networks in US – ABC, NBC CBS 
  • Comparison study between UK, Italy, and Norway – Norway media coverage = sober and ethically conscious  
  • 45% Americans and 42% British worried about being robbed or mugged VS 31% Norwegians 


  Para 3 - Int Comp
• • Moral panics are also involved 
  • 2021 study = “The Demonisation of Delinquency” - youth crime across UK depicted as social problem 
  • Youth crime increased = truth. E.g. knife crime in England and Wales was 27% higher in 2020 than 2010 & typical age range of offenders = 13 – 24  
  • But right-wing sensationalist language does not help  
  • Daily express --> “bloodbath” 
  • Daily mail compared London to “Wild West” 


  Para 3 - Rebuttal