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Measuring Crime
AQA Psych B Forensics Set 3
12
Psychology
12th Grade
04/14/2015

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Cards

Term
What are the three ways crime of measured?
Definition
-Official Statistics (police recorded crime)
-British Crime Survey
-Offender Self Reports
Term
How does Official Statistics measure crime?
Definition
Crimes that are reported and recorded are measured.
Term
What are the strengths of using official statistics to measure crime?
(3 things)
Definition
-A good measure of trends in well reported crimes and less common but more serious crimes
-an important indicator of police workload
-provides data for small geographic areas
Term
What is the weakness of using official statistics to measure crime?
Definition
-The official statistics account for only 25% of crime (Holin)
Term
Why may a crime go unreported?
(8 reasons)
Definition
-victim unwilling to report crime
-victim may not press charges
-may have no clear victim
-not worth reporting (crime is petty)
-victim has no faith on justice system
-victim afraid of being prosecuted
-Criminal is known
Term
Why may a crime go unrecorded?
(5 reasons)
Definition
-lack of evidence
-police corruption
-not worth reporting (petty crime)
-victim backtracks (eg domestic abuse)
-lots of similar crime
Term
How does the British Crime Survey measure crime?
Definition
-50,000 people aged 16 and over living in England and Wales are asked about their experiences and perceptions of crime
-includes questions on people's attitudes towards crime related topics
Term
What are the strengths of using the BCS to measure crime?
(four things)
Definition
-Provides the most reliable measure of the extent of victimisation and of national trends over time
-Victims are more confident reporting crime
-large, representative sample
-more realistic because unrecorded and unreported crimes as well as reported and recorded crimes are measured
Term
What ere the weaknesses of using the BCS to measure crime?
(7 things)
Definition
-may not be representative
-people can be influenced by media (deviance amplification)
-less important crimes are reported
-subjective
-under 16s not included
-telescoping, event seen as more recent than it is
-sources aren't reliable
Term
How do Offender self reports measure crime?
Definition
Longitudinal self report survey of 5,000 10-15 year olds in England and Wales asking them about their attitudes towards and experiences of offending.
-participants contacted and interviewed oin each year
Term
What are the strengths of using offender self reports to measure crime?
(six things)
Definition
-Longitudinal data allows the examination of pathways into and out of delinquency and the impact various risks and protective factors have on these pathways
-covers mainstream offences such as burglary, shoplifting, assult, fraud.
it is a direct response from offenders
-computer questioning so increased validity
-greater accuracy of number of offenders rather than number of crimes
Term
What are the weaknesses of using offender self reports to measure crime?
(three things)
Definition
-unrepresentative sample (young people and people in institutions or homeless aren't covered)
-risk of dishonest responses
-biased representation of crimes (homocide, sexual offences and other serious crimes are omitted)
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