Crime Statistics

Three methods of collection

• Police-recorded statistics
• Victim Surveys
• Self-report studies

Police Recorded Statistics

• Official statistics published every 6 months - Home Office
• Provide a good historical overview - from 1857
• You can see trends over time
• Accurate view of criminal justice system processing offenders
• (arrest - trial - punishment)

What problems can you identify with Police-recorded crime?

POLICE RECORDED STATISTICS

• Social Construction
• A high proportion of crime is not reported

Reporting Crime

Less likely to report if:

• Too trivial
• A private matter
• Too embarrasing 
• Fear reprisals
• Not in a position to give information

MORE LIKELY TO REPORT IF:

• Gain benefit
• Belive the Police will achieve a positive result

RECORDING CRIME

Approximately 57% of all crimes reported to the police fail to appear in the official statistics

FACTORS IMPACTING ON RECORDING CRIME

• Seriousness
• Social status
• Classifying
• Discretion
• Promotion

ROLE OF THE COURTS

• 75% of those charged plead guilty
• Often plead guilty to a less serious crime
• Statistics might then reflect a downgrading of seriousness

ROLE OF GOVERNMENT

• Governments change the Law
• Changes in crime rates may reflect changes in law, not crime

VICTIM SURVEYS

THE BRITISH CRIME SURVEY

• Read the article and then answer the three questions

BENEFITS OF VICTIM SURVEYS

• Overcomes problem of unrecorded crimes
• Finds extent and patterns of victimisation

PROBLEMS WITH VICTIM SURVEYS

• Recollections can be faulty or biased
• Self-categorisation of crimes
• Omit certain crimes (fraud, corporate)
• Despite anonymity people undereport sexual offences
• BCS - no information for under 16s

SELF-REPORT STUDIES

SELF-REPORT STUDIES

• Selected group/cross-section asked about offences
• Reveal information about offenders not caught by the Police
• Data found about age, gender, social class, ethnicity, location
• Reveals 'hidden offenders'
• Find out about victimless crimes (illegal drug use)

WEAKNESSES OF SELF-REPORT STUDIES

• Validity - respondents lie, exaggerate, mislead
• Representativeness - often young people and students
• Relevance - often uncover trivial crimes