What s Going On? Understanding Criminology 14 th October 2008

Transcription

1 What s Going On? Understanding Criminology 14 th October 2008

2 Lecture Outline John Braithwaite s 13 Facts a Theory must Fit What s Going On? Amount of crime: types, trends Reporting Crime Distribution of Crime Perceptions of Crime More profound trends

3 John Braithwaite s 13 Facts about Crime (part 1) Crime is committed disproportionately by males. Crime is committed disproportionately by 15- to 25-year-olds. Crime is committed disproportionately by unmarried people. Crime is committed disproportionately by people living in large cities.

4 John Braithwaite s 13 Facts about Crime (part 2) Crime is committed disproportionately by people who have experienced high residential mobility and who live in areas characterized by high levels of residential mobility. Young people who are strongly attached to their schools are less likely to engage in crime. Young people who have high educational and occupational aspirations are less likely to engage in crime.

5 John Braithwaite s 13 Facts about Crime (part 3) Young people who do poorly at school are more likely to engage in crime. Young people who are strongly attached to their parents are less likely to engage in crime. Young people who have friendships with criminals are more likely to engage in crime themselves.

6 John Braithwaite s 13 Facts about Crime (part 4) People who believe strongly in the importance of complying with the law are less likely to violate the law. For both women and men, being at the bottom of the class structure increases rates of offending for all types of crime apart from those for which opportunities are systematically unavailable to the poor.

7 Reminder: we need to assess the quality of the evidence Is it looking at the same stuff? Is it measured accurately?

8 Amount of Crime Number of Crimes BCS Police 2007 / 08 10,143,000 4,950,700 Comparison to 2006/07 down 10% down 9% Why the Difference? 1. BCS includes incidents not reported to the police 2. BCS does not include Violent Crime against under 16 s People living in institutions Drug Crime 3. Reluctance in reporting (to both) Domestic Violence Rape and Sexual Assault 4. Knowledge of victimisation (to both) Fraud Corporate Crime

9 Types of Crime Violent Crime Criminal Damage Vehicle Theft BCS 21% 27% 15% 46% Police Recorded 19% 21% 13% 37% Other Property

10 Trends in Crime Crimes recorded by the police ,000,000 5,000,000 4,000,000 3,000,000 2,000,000 1,000,000 0 Year

11 Recent Trends in Crime

12 Reporting Crime

13 Why don t people report crime to the police? Trivial/no loss/police would not or could not do anything BCS Reports all crime Private/dealt with ourselves Inconvenience 5 6 Reported to other authorities 4 6 Common Occurrence 2 3 Fear of Reprisal 2 5 Dislike / Fear of police or bad prev. experience 2 2 Other 6 10 BCS Reports Violence

14 Regional Distribution of Crime (BCS Data) No. per 1000 popn. % change Comparison to Nation North East Higher HH North West Higher HH Yorkshire & Humber Higher HH E Mids 93-6 W Mids East of Eng 75-8 London S East 83-9 S West 78-9 Wales 82-9 Lower HH, Vehicle and Violence Lower HH, Personal and Vehicle Lower HH, Personal and Vehicle

15 Demographic Distribution - Areas

16 Demographic Distribution - Victims

17 Uneven Victimisation

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19 Perception of Crime: Crime going up? Whole country Local area BCS Property Crime BCS Personal Crime

20 More profound trends Shifts in political culture Can be reflected in statistical trends But also reflected in policies and legislation, public opinion, perceptions and assumptions David Garland The Culture of Control : a crime-consciousness appears to have become institutionalised in the media, popular culture and the built environment (Owen, 2007)

21 Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 Protection from Harassment Act 1997 Sexual Offences (Protected Material) Act 1997 Sex Offenders Act 1997 Crime and Disorder Act 1998 Human Rights Act 1998 Access to Justice Act 1999 Local Government Act 1999 Protection of Children Act 1999 Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 Local Government Act 2000 Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 Private Security Act 2001 Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 Terrorism Act 2002 Police Reform Act 2002 Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 Criminal Justice Act 2003 Sexual Offences Act 2003 Courts Act 2003 Crime (International Cooperation) Act 2003 Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 Serious Organised Crime and Policing Act 2005 Constitutional Reform Act 2005 Police and Justice Bill 2006 (Some of the) Legislation under current Government

22 Garland: (Some) Indices of Change 1. The decline of rehabilitation 2. A return to punitive sanctions and expressive justice 3. An emotive tone in crime policy esp. place of the victim 4. Public protection and risk aversion 5. Increased role for crime prevention esp. private sector 6. A perpetual state of crisis