Getting the Measure of Crime
What practical problems does the criminologist face in going about his
business?
What does an informed examination of hidden crime tell us about (1)
official criminal statistics and (2) The nature of social order?
Are there such things as victimless crimes? Why?
In my essay I will first talk about crime and what it means, I will
then talk about what different methods criminologists use to collect
crime such as crime surveys and self report studies and there positive
and negative sides. I will then go on to talk about victimless crimes.
The definition of crime is something that is punishable by the
criminal justice system, and is “An act punishable by law, as being
forbidden by statute or injurious to the public welfare… an evil or
injurious act, an offence, a sin.” (Robert.R 2002)
The Dark figure of crime is the amount of crime which is unreported or
unknown The total amount of crime in a community consists of crimes
which are known or recorded and the dark figure of crime.
Criminologists have used differing methods (like victimization
surveys) to try to decrease the amount of unknown or unrecorded crime.
In many cases, a crime will either be unrecorded or unreported. Such
crimes remain anonymous and so would not be counted in statistical
data relating to crime. ‘The dark figure of crime’ is the term used to
describe this. Criminologists have attempted to analyse and attempt to
assess the size of the so-called dark figure of crime. The only way
thus far has been to estimate or guess the figure, but the estimated
figures differ between criminologists, although they all agr...
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figure, this could be due to people including things which they
believe is a crime when its not. People have different perceptions of
the word crime which can sometimes cause a problem, and can also cause
this figure to be inaccurate.
Bibliography
Ÿ Ethnographic research (2001) ethnographic research, available from
http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/pa765/ethno.htm (accessed 30/03/05)
Ÿ Goetcherian.L,(2005) Methods, getting the measure of crime,
Middlesex university.
Ÿ ICR (2005) institution for creation research, available from
www.icr.org/bible/bhta116.html (accessed 30/03/05)
Ÿ Robert, R.(2002) ‘crime statistics’ Maguire, M, Morgan. R, Reiner. R
(3rd Ed) Oxford Handbook of Criminology, Oxford, Oxford University
Press.
Ÿ Williams. K (2001) Criminology, (4th ed) Oxford time press, Oxford.
An anonymous and confidential household survey revealing unreported crimes and showing that anyone can become a victim. Participants are chosen at random according to postcode, providing a mixed sample from alternative areas and backgrounds. Conducted within a person’s home by an impartial interviewer it provides a more comfortable and familiar setting enabling victims to open up and provide clarity and details of crimes that they may otherwise not have reported, such as sexual offences (ONS,2013). Universal questioning methodology means everyone experiences the same questions therefore results should be accurate.
Crime in this country is an everyday thing. Some people believe that crime is unnecessary. That people do it out of ignorance and that it really can be prevented. Honestly, since we live in a country where there is poverty, people living in the streets, or with people barely getting by, there will always be crime. Whether the crime is robbing food, money, or even hurting the people you love, your family. You will soon read about how being a criminal starts or even stops, where it begins, with whom it begins with and why crime seems to be the only way out sometimes for the poor.
think that people in society do not feel they can trust or rely on the
We hear a lot about the crime rates going up and down from the media and they tend to expand on specific types of criminal behavior that might be of interest to the public. When politicians are running for office we are told that the crime rates are down due to the tough crime policies that they have been implemented. Citizens seek crime rates for assistance in determining if the area they reside in is safe. Some people wish to get a general idea of the crime rates for a specific neighborhood where they are thinking of purchasing a house. But what is never explained is where do the crime statistics come from and were there any factors that could have had an effect on their reliability. Crime statistics, which are created from what is reported to the police, are often unreliable. There are several influential factors that can make crime statistics both increase and decrease at any time. Most police departments, but not all, use Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) to submit their statistics to the state. Attempting to compare two police agency's crime statistics is almost impossible because not all police agencies use the UCR program for classifying crimes. UCR is a national data reporting policy that is maintained by the state and regulated by the FBI. This policy requires police agencies to report their monthly statistics by following a hierarchy scale for classifying the criminal offenses. A hierarchy scale is a list of crimes in a specific order of importance used to pick out the highest crime when there are multiple crimes committed in one incident. An example: a citizen contacts the police and makes a report of a burglary, a rape and a larceny all occurring in one incident. A...
McLaughlin and Muncie (2012) in their work indicate that “crime is not a self-evident and unitary concept. Its constitution is diverse, historically relative and continually contested.” With this statement, the authors are describing crime as something which is not unique but, on the contrary, it is a fairly normal and widespread event. Moreover, they are stating that crime depends on time and culture and it is shaped by morality and social attitudes. Crime can be linked to different areas such as economics, social status and geography. In this essay, different themes will be discussed: for instance, the main ones are the history of crime, the different types of crime, how to measure crime and the various ideas of crime in different parts of the world.
Crime has always been a hot topic in sociology. There are many different reasons for people to commit criminal acts. There is no way to pinpoint the source of crime. I am going to show the relationship between race and crime. More specifically, I will be discussing the higher chances of minorities being involved in the criminal justice system than the majority population, discrimination, racial profiling and the environment criminals live in.
Crime has always been around in the community. The way crime has been measured and defined has changed over the centuries. The FBI collects data from all the police agencies all over the United States, and puts all the data in the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) which has all the crimes committed for decades; however, a lot of crimes are not always reported, so the Uniform Crime Report may not be as accurate as possible. The Measurement of crime will never be the same as earlier in life because our government, and police agencies has improved over the centuries which will make the measurement of crime not as harsh as it was back in the early 1900’s. The measurement of crime will continue to evolve as our government does.
There are many views on crime and deviance and many theories to why they occur.
One of the biggest issues in America today is crime. It is a large problem that continues to erode our country economically as well as morally. Because of the vastness of the problem, many have speculated what the cause for crime may be in hopes that a solution will be found. Many believe that a bad family life, location of residence, and poverty hold a few of the answers to why an individual becomes involved in criminal activity.
According to a study regarding relationships between crime rates and police efficiency, the average efficiency for the timeframe studied is 84%. The study considered three theories when reviewing the relationship. The first was the Strain Theory, which deals with societal structures exerting pressure to commit property crimes to acquire symbols of wealth. The second is the Social Disorganization Theory, which links crime with neighborhoods or geographical areas. This theory does not account for individual differences or similarities. Finally, the Economic Theory of Crime, which focuses on criminal activity as a rational choice where criminals receive benefits from the activity. Reduce the benefit and prevention of the criminal activity may occur. A person engages in criminal activity because the reward or monetary income outweighs the probability of arrest and conviction. Density in population, unemployment rate also contribute toward the effect of crime and police efficiency. According to the authors, the focus needs to be on addressing the at-risk youth (Javier Parra Dominquez, 2013). For Overland Park, I would surmise, the economic theory of crime is the primary motivation. The vast majority of our criminal
In Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov is a developing character who embarks on a personal journey throughout the contents of the novel, which centers on the compelling nature of his environment. Raskolnikov is man who is consumed by the thoughts in his head, and receives quite a few omens that compel him to make certain choices. The issue of compulsion and persuasion can be observed in his inner and external environment, and affects Raskolnikov’s decisions. The topic of compulsion deeply affects Raskolnikov’s character development and personal journey throughout the course of their respective novels as seen through unconscious motivation, compulsion from his ideology, and from persuasive characters.
Morrison, W. (2009) 'What is crime? Contrasting definitions and perspectives', in C. Hale, K. Hayward, A. Wahadin and E. Wincup, (eds), Criminology. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Crime and Everyday Life chapter two, The Chemistry for Crime outlines the various components of a crime. Noting that offenders are just one small element to any crime. In all honesty offenders are a variable waiting for time that all the elements are in place. Violent, predatory crimes only occur while an absence of guardians around a target. Clarke named the check list for a target or hot product as, concealable, removable, available, valuable, enjoyable, and disposable. Equally, fights develop in the absence of peacemakers and a present crowd. Illegal sales crime all depend on the setting that offers coverage and removed management. The Chemistry for Crime argues that everyday life tempts as well as diminishes the potential for crime, influencing
According to Rachel Boba, “Crime analysis is a law enforcement function that involves systematic analysis for identifying and analyzing patterns and trends in crime and disorder” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime analysis).The information on these patterns can assist law enforcement agencies in the deployment of resources in a more effective manner; it can also help detectives to identify and catch suspects. Crime analysis also plays a role in improvising solutions to crime problems, and developing crime prevention strategies. There are various types of technology that is used in crime analysis. Crime analysis relies heavily on computer technology, and over the past fifteen years there has been a significant improvement in computer hardware and software that has led to tremendous developments in this field. One form of hardware that is used by Crime analysts to complete most of their work is Desktop personal computers, laptop computers are also used by crime analysts for fieldwork and presentations. Other forms of hardware that are used include color laser printers that can produce high-quality documents quickly, plotters which are printers that can produce large poster size color maps, scanners, and digital cameras, these specific types of hardware is mostly used by police departments when analyzing crime.
Crime is a human conduct that violates the laws of a state or the ferdral government. There are different ways people view criminal behavours either thourgh the view of the social problem prespective which blames the society and the social responsibility which blames the person who commited the crime. Through thses two prespective we get the idea of therories. A thoerey