Ideological Bias Reflected in American Crime Statistics

Studies of policing support this as they show that police are more likely to stop and search or arrest men from working class backgrounds or ethnic minorities as they believe that there behaviour is ‘suspicious’, again showing how social control agents label. Interactions say that this is because the police have an idea of what a typical criminal looks like, and these things fit that idea. By the police labelling them they may create self fulfilling prophecies in which case labelling these people in the first place would be creating more crime and deviance.

The concept of ‘crime’ is something that depends on time, place, and other influences. For this reason, researchers have been trying to get criminologists to rethink their definitions of ‘crime’ and consider the idea of ‘social harm’ which could help better explain the causes of human suffering and the definitions of ‘crime’ and ‘criminals’ and broaden the application of criminal justice. What this rethinking can do for criminologists broadly is give them a broader picture of human psychology as well as the range of harms that individuals, communities, or whole societies experience. In this context this can include crime in the sense of activities of individuals as well as government and institutions.

This essay will introduce two competing perspectives of policing, they are the orthodox and revisionist perspectives. This essay will then relate the orthodox and revisionist perspectives to the themes of lack of structure, industrialisation and finally hostility. It will then discuss whether the creation of the Metropolitan Police by Sir Robert Peel in 1829 was an effective solution to the changes within society as well as the challenges brought about through crime and disorder. The orthodox view is that the Metropolitan Police were, in fact, a rational decision made to adapt to the needs of the society. They argue that the establishment of the ‘new’ police was inevitable. The revisionist view would state that the ‘new’ police were not a rational decision. They believed that crime and disorder were not increasing, it was just that the ways of counting crime were largely different to previously. The revisionists also believe that the new system was in part beneficial for which to tackle issues that may have occasioned due to the new ‘dangerous class’ (Monkkonen, 1981, p147). In this essay, there will be reference made to the Brixton Riots in 1981 with a clear explanation as to how the orthodox and revisionist perspectives relate to modern policing activities.

Reiman and Leighton comprehensively begin the discussion of crime by outlining their main objectives, establishing the immediate problems surrounding crime control in America, and setting the groundwork for their premises. In recent years, the crime rate in the United States has declined. This decline is generally attributed to ‘tough on crime’ and mass incarceration policies, but the authors are quick to assert that other variables--economic, social-- are greater contributors to this decrease, with the ‘imprisonment binge’ only actually contributing a small amount to the decline. These strict crime enforcement policies might have a small impact on crime prevention, but criminologists are concerned with the potential effect such policies might have on criminal justice procedures--promoting profit rather than safety-- and endangering citizens’ rights (particularly those considered minorities).

Throughout crime in Australia, a noticeable increase in crime occurred between the 1970’s to the 1990’s but has declined to a stable rate of crime which is similar trend in America. However, crime itself is often complex to define due to the variety of crime. Therefore, it is difficult to accurately measure crime and if crime cannot be measured efficiently and it proposes concerns of whether crime in Australia is stable or not. Although Australia’s system of collecting crime data is striving to be as accurate as possible, the media will often manipulate the data which misleads the Australian public of crime stability. Inclusively, through gaining an understanding of defining crime, accurately measuring data and comparing Australia’s crime data

Criminology is focused on the attempt to understand the meanings involved in social interaction. Theorists have tried to explain sociological behaviour by looking at the patterns created by individuals that commit crime. The August 2011 riots are pivotal in explaining criminological behaviour since official statistics show that 865 individuals were put in prison by the 9th September 2011 for offences related to the disorder between 6th and 9th August 2011. This is not to say that others were not involved, but that they have simply not been identified to date and may never be identified, however the evidence we do have about the recent riots gives us plenty to talk about. This essay will

During the 1970’s to the early 1990’s there had emerged two new approaches to the study of crime and deviance. The discipline of criminology had expanded further introducing right and left realism, both believe in different areas and came together in order to try and get a better understanding on crime and prevention. There were many theorists that had influenced the realism approaches such as; Jock Young (Left Wing) and James Wilson (Right Wing).

Crime is the product of the social structure; it is embedded in the very fibres of society. In this essay, I aim to explore different theories as to why crime exists within society and how we as a society therefore construct it. Crime is a social construct; it is always in society and is on the increase. It is inevitable. Where does it come from? It comes from legislation, from the making of laws.

The Extent to Which Sociologists Agree that Official Criminal Statistics Do Not Give an Accurate Picture of the Extent in Terms of Crime

For example, when discussing the dependency on prisons, they give statistics proving how much more they were used, “By 2000, more than two million people were in prison, roughly four times the number as of 1972” (Levitt and Dubner 111). This data clearly elaborates on how much impact prisons had which helps the general reader process the information smoothly. Similarly, the authors discuss the impact of police strategies and the increased number of police with statistics. They include data which explains that “Homicide rates fell from 30.7 per 100,000 people in 1990 to 8.4 per 100,000 people in 2000, a change of 73.6 percent” (116). This supports the authors’ findings and convinces the reader about the accurate effects that the police force had. Levitt and Dubner successfully include credible evidence which supports their claim and ensures a valid position throughout this

In my essay I will first talk about crime and what it means, I will

Managerialism and populism are key concepts that have influenced many state-organised responses to crime. Populism, on one hand, is defined by Shils (1956, p.100-1) as existing “wherever there is an ideology of popular resentment against the order imposed on society”, so it is seen to establish policies that reflect the voices and needs of the public. Whereas McLaughlin (2013) defines managerialist policies as “a set of governmental knowledges, techniques and practices which aim to fracture and realign power relations within the core agencies of the criminal justice system” (2013, p.260). This is so the criminal justice system is run in a more cost-effective, efficient way (Pratt, 2007, p.133). McLaughlin discusses two ‘waves’ of

This question focuses on crime and its measurement which is one of the most controversial topics in modern times. There has been a lot of debates by politicians, the media and the general public whether crime is falling or rising. We shall attempt a definition of what is crime, what are crime statistics, what is known and not known about crime in England and Wales, the techniques used in measuring crime, and the evaluation of the strength and weaknesses of the different ways of measuring crime. Our final discussion will be on the reliability of the statistical data and the criminologists view or perspective of the various data sources.

This paper analyses the disparities of the 2014 reported burglary and theft statistics between the, Auckland City District (ACD) and Waitematā District (WD). The statistics are reported by the National Police Headquarters as of April 2015 (New Zealand Police, 2015). Therefore, Police reporting practices will be discussed to point out the strengths and weaknesses of the reported data. Secondly, the Routine Activities and Social Disorganisation theories will be used to provide an explanation for the differences in recorded burglary and theft statistics. Lastly possible policy solutions to reduce the amount of crime reported to and recorded by Police will be discussed. As it appears, burglary and theft offences are higher amongst the Auckland City district than the Waitematā. These results are consistent with the Routine Activity and Social Disorganisation theories as there are more suitable targets, less collective efficacy and more incapable guardians within the ACD due to structural deficiency.

Mosher, Miethe, and Hart (2011) note censuses were perhaps the earliest example of social measurement, and were used principally to conclude the number of males available to fight in the military, as well for tax purposes. The census taking then emerged to the establishment of a statistical database that served to analyze social and economic trends, and even develop policies in some instances. Officially, based on judicial data, the first national crime statistics were published in France in 1827, which covered data of the year 1825. They were a part of the moral statistics movement that surfaced in many Western nations during the 1800s (Mosher et. al, 2011). This initiation of the moral statistics movement led to the desire to undertake the complicated assignment of measuring crime. Measuring crime has been and will continue to be a tough task to perform. Despite the difficult mission, throughout the years many approaches and methods have been introduced to try and account for all criminal occurrences. Furthermore, there have been a few major actors that played a vital role in assessing crime, that have led to today’s innovative methods of measuring crime more efficiently.