Sociology

Rachel Byekwaso 207748
Q1. Outline and explain ways in which data about crime is collected Data about crime is collected through official statistics that are mainly based on police records where crime is reported to the police, and then the police records it and keep the records to provide measure of trends in different types of crime. Official statistics on crime are published by the Home Office. These records provide official accounts and indicate the police workload as well as being useful for an analysis of patterns of particular crimes. However, even though the police have a statutory obligation to record crime, some go unrecorded just because they have some discretion to decide how serious enough a crime is to warrant their attention. So, police crime statistics do no account for the total volume of crime living an unrecorded figure of crime. (A. Pilkington, 2005)
British Crime survey (BCS) is another way of measuring and collecting data on crime. It is an example of a victim survey. The study is done by interviewing the victims of particular crime. People are asked to report any crimes committed against them or any members of the house hold in a particular period. The statistics are based on interviews given to age16 and over adults to help provide a true extent and better reflection of crime. The BCS includes crime that are not reported to and recorded by the police to give a better indication of trends of crime over time. However some crimes like murder, drug possession, and sexual offences are excluded from the BCS mainly because either people are no longer available for the interview or due to a small number reported to the survey and peoples willingness to disclose as according to (Simmons & Dodd et al, 2003)
The main strength of the BCS is that it portraits a more accurate image of the extent to which crime and its trends are, as compared to the police recorded crime by giving estimates of unreported and unrecorded crimes and the trends identified are not affected by changes in recording practice. The British Crime Survey is very important in giving a better oversight and picture of crime to the public and the home office. The survey, which interviews around twenty-four thousand people, is crucial in reporting to the government crimes which are unrecorded, and is also used in designing crime prevention programmes. (A. Pilkington, 2005)
However, BCS has a number of weaknesses; the surveys are household ones, so it covers less range of crime as compared to the police statistics. For instance, crimes like shoplifting, fraud and sexual assaults are left out and BCS underestimate assaults committed by people known to the victims. (A. Pilkington, 2005)
Self-Report Studies (SRS) is a primary crime data collection, a survey is done on people about their involvement in given possible crimes on the checklist committed over a certain period of time. It is usually done through completion of questionnaires or an interview. They seem to suggest that we all have been criminals at some stage in our lives be it intentionally or not. Like the official statistics, it is suggested there are more young offenders “young person’s game”, although the crimes committed are more likely to be listed in the self-report checklists like car theft, they will be reported to the police. Also, there is little difference betwixt Black n White (ethnicity) in self-report crime as compared to the picture presented by the official statistics, which seem biased. (A. Pilkington, 2005)
One of the strength of SRS is that they are developed from dissatisfaction with official statistics as an accurate source of information about the true extent and nature of crime. They give a more accurate picture of the nature of crime, extent and distribution of criminal behaviour. However its weakness is that the approach is mainly suitable for minor crimes and it tends to focus on young males traditionally. In fact the crimes in the checklist are those committed by these young men as a result, SRS represent partial picture of crime.

Q2. Outline and assess sociological explanation for patterns of female crime.

Women commit less crime as compared to men. Official crime statistics show that males are four times more likely to commit crimes than females. Victim surveys show women to be more likely to be victims of sexual and violent assaults than males. It has also been suggested there are gender differences in punishments. And therefore different people have given their explanations for the reasoning behind this. The official crime statistics show that women commit less crime than men. Men are convicted of 80% of serious crimes, and women only make up about 5.7% of the prison population. There is also a difference in the types of crimes committed by men and women; most women are imprisoned for non-violent crimes such as theft or handling of stolen goods, which accounts for 57% of known female offenders in 2002. (Taylor, 2005)
One sociological explanation for the Pattern of female crime is due to various theories like, the sex-role theory where it’s argued that girls and boys should socialise differently. The gender role is created through socialisation. For example boys are encouraged to be tough therefore they are more likely to take part in criminal violence. Talcott Parsons (1955) traces differences in crime and deviance to the gender roles in the conventional nuclear family. Men take the instrumental breadwinner role outside the home; women perform the expressive role in the home. While it gives girls access to an adult role model, it means boys reject feminine models of behavior that express tenderness and emotion. Boys distance themselves from such role models by engaging in compensatory compulsory masculinity through aggression, which slips into acts of delinquency. Because men have less of a socializing role than women in the conventional nuclear family, socialization can be more difficult for boys than girls. (Taylor, 2005)
Another one is the Social control theory where women are controlled by men. This theory emphasises the way in which females are controlled both in the private and public settings and how there are more likely to conform. Frances Heidensohn (1985) argues the striking feature of women’s behavior is conformity. She argues this is because patriarchal society imposes greater control over women and it reduces their opportunities to offend. Control in the home revolves around women’s domestic role, with its constant round of housework and childcare that imposes restrictions on their time and movement and confines them to the house for long periods, reducing opportunities to offend. Women who try and reject their domestic role find their partners impose it by force, through domestic violence. Women are controlled by ideologies of appropriate behavior for their role in the family.
Also linked to this…lack of opportunity.
Another argument is called the “chivalry factor”. It is argued that most criminal justice agents are men who are socialized to act in a chivalrous way towards women. Otto Pollak (1950) argues men have a protective attitude towards women. The criminal justice system is thus more lenient with women and thus their crimes are less likely to end up in official statistics. This in turn gives unreliable information of the extent of gender differences in crime. Evidence from self report studies show female offenders are treated more leniently. Women are also more likely to be cautioned than prosecuted and Roger Hood (1992) found women were a third less likely to be jailed than men for similar offences.
A major strength of the sex-role .theory is an early sociological theory which tries to explain crime difference between genders it explains them in terms of learned behaviour and not as biologically adapted. However, feminist writers have criticised the sex-role theory for failing to consider gender differences in power, particularly the power men have over women. Although women are far less likely to commit serious offences than men, those who do are likely to face more severe punishment, particularly for violent crime, as it violates socially acceptable patterns of feminine behavior.