Getting the Measure of Crime

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.