The Official
Statistics Debate
Relevant names and issues to
mention in your essay work.
Who gathers statistics?
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The government gathers statistics
from the police.
It commissions research projects
from university researchers and
teachers.
Other agencies concerned with crime
gather statistics.
Statistics: a social construction
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Statistics may appear to be facts.
However, statistics are not fully
reliable as they are socially
constructed by the people who gather
the data.
What do statistics measure?
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Statistics measure crimes.
Crimes are socially defined, what is a
crime will vary according to changes
in norms, values and mores.
Things are made criminal, and they
are legalised as society changes.
The case of domestic violence
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There are more reported cases of
domestic violence than in the 1970s.
Is there more violence?
Probably not – the police did not act
on reports of domestic violence and
many women regarded violence as a
‘normal’ part of marriage.
Jock Young
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Jock Young (1994) pointed out that
laws have been created, often quickly
and without forethought, in response
to moral panics or to political events.
Examples include various laws against
terrorism
Stephen Moore
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Stephen Moore points out that the
police play a very significant part in
the social construction of crime and
deviance because it is they who
record reported crimes.
Atkinson
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Atkinson criticised Durkheim’s study
of Suicide.
He said that Coroners create a
definition of a typical suicide and
then categorise individual deaths
according to that social construction.
Frances Heidensohn
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Heidensohn says that the police have a
powerful ‘canteen’ culture, which has
elements of masculinism, authoritarianism,
intolerance of ethnic minorities, a desire
for excitement and strong notions of law
enforcement.
They will therefore categorise acts as
criminal on the basis of these perceptions
Howard Becker
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Becker pointed out that delinquent
boys were less likely to be charged if
they behaved with a sufficiently
cooperative and pleasant manner and
if they were seen as basically ‘good’
than if they were aggressive or
hostile.
How do we know about crime?
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Official Statistics
Victim Studies
Self Report Studies
Official Statistics
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Tell us about patterns of reporting,
recording and conviction.
We learn about public and police
practice.
They give us a base line from which to
work.
Victim studies
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The best known is the biennial British
Crime Survey.
This is available on-line.
Adults from a large sample report which
crimes they have experienced.
They also report which crimes they have
told the police about – this is usually less
than half the crime experienced.
The British Crime Survey
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The statistically average person aged 16 or over
can expect
– a robbery once every five centuries (not
attempts)
– an asssault resulting in injury (even if slight)
once every century
– a family car to be stolen or taken by once every
60 years
– a burglary in the home once every forty years
This glosses over the fact that some people are
considerably more at risk than others.
The Islington Crime Survey
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Conducted by Jones et al (1986)
Islington is the seventh most deprived area in
England).
The researchers found higher levels of
victimisation and multiple victimisation amongst
women, ethnic minorities and the poor.
Burglary, robbery, or sexual assault had touched a
third of all households within the last twelve
months.
Feminists and victim studies
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Feminist researchers such as
Hanmer and Saunders 1984, Hall 1985
suggest levels of sexual crime against
women are far higher that those
revealed by national victim surveys
and infinitely higher that those
indicated by police records.
Fear of crime
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The British Crime Survey shows that older
women tend to be the most afraid.
Younger men - who are most likely to end
up victim in a violent or criminal incident on
the street - are the least likely to admit
fear.
However the repercussions for older
people may be more serious if a crime is
committed.
Self Report studies
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Ordinary people are asked what
crimes they have committed.
These reveal high levels of petty
criminality.
They tend to focus on minor
misdemeanours rather than serious
acts of deviance.