Which is the best measurement of the dark figure of crime PDF

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This essay lacked major errors on in the grammar areas. Make sure to give clear examples and clear explanations of the examples while providing proper format for referencing....

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Plaeton Xavier

CRIM580/12

19083310

Measuring the dark figure of crime: Assignment one Crime is not something new to society, it has been around for long time. For over a century crime data has been recorded by the police in New Zealand to find ways to stop it. In order to measure crime, one needs to know the definition of crime. There is no universal definition of crime but Ministry of Justice (2020) defines crime as “An action or an omission which constitutes and offence and is punishable by law”. The dark figure of crime is a term mostly used by criminologists when they talk about the crimes which go unreported or undetected. To find the best way to measure the dark figure of crime whether it being official police stats or victim surveys, a comparison must be made between the two. This essay will analyse the benefits and the limitations of official police statistics and victim surveys. In doing this a conclusion will be formed in regards to the best measurement of the dark figure of crime. Victim surveys tend to look at a random group of people to find out if they have ever witnessed or been a victim of crime in their lives. Mayhew and Riley (2007) looked at over five thousand New Zealanders who were aged fifteen years or older for this matter. Victim surveys like any other study contain limitations, one of the main limitations of victim surveys is that they do not account for victimless crimes. This means that crimes such as drug and alcohol misuse are not recorded. Another limitation of a victim survey is that of memory recall where a lot of people do not remember a clear picture of the crime committed against them as they tend to be traumatized. However, there are also quite a few benefits of victim surveys. One main one being that they look at crimes that are reported to police along with crimes that are not reported to the police which makes them reliable as they paint an accurate picture of crime. Another benefit of a victim survey is that they look at different aspects of the crime, like the characteristics of the victims and the characteristic of the crime itself. Victim surveys also tend to provide information on how different groups of people are at risk to crimes (Mayhew & Riley, 2007). Official police statistics are a record of all the crimes which are reported to the police. Official police statistics tend to provide some information about the crime such as, the nature of the crime and the outcome of the investigation if there was one conducted. There are few benefits of official police statistics one being the police figures are put out every six months meaning the data recorded is up to date. Another benefit is that official police statistics record all crimes including victimless crimes and crimes against the homeless (Mayhew & Riley, 2007). Official police statistics also look at the percentage of crimes reported, and the percentage of crims resolved showing the public how well the police are doing their jobs. However, there are also a few limitations that official police statistics have. A limitation that makes official police statistics unreliable is that they do not account for police strategy. If the police are concentrating on driving offences in a particular location like speeding and drink driving, then those statistics will go up. One the main limitations of official police statistics is that they cannot account for the dark figure of crime (Mayhew & Riley, 2007). This means that crimes that are not reported to the police go undetected and are overlooked making information given unreliable. There is a reason that that the dark figure of crime exists, this being that people do not always report crimes that they experience or witness. In 2013 an average of 68% of crimes went unreported and only crime 31% of crimes were reported to the police (“Reporting crime,” 2020). There are various reasons for someone to not report a crime. According to Mayhew and Riley (2007) the two main reasons for not reporting a crime is because it was either too trivial or it was not worth reporting which was stated by 47% of people. Some of the other reasons which stopped people from reporting crimes was because they felt that nothing could be done by the police or that they had no time and were already occupied, this was the response by on third of the people (Mayhew & Riley, 2007). Another reason that prevents victims from reporting a crime is because they have a relationship with

Plaeton Xavier

CRIM580/12

19083310

the offender. In 2013 76% of victims reported that their offender was an intimate partner meaning they were either boyfriend and girlfriend or husband and wife (“Reporting crime,” 2020) The purpose of this essay was to analyse the benefits and the limitations of official police statistics and victim surveys. The main limitation of official police statistics is that not all crime is recorded, meaning that crimes that aren’t reported go undetected which is also known as the dark figure of crime. Despite this limitation there are also benefits of using official police statistics. One of the main benefits of official police statistics are that they record all crimes reported even if the crime is victimless. The main limitation of victim surveys is that they do not account for victimless crimes such as the misuse of drugs and alcohol. However, there are also many benefits of victim surveys, the most important one being that they also record crime which has been reported to the police and crimes that are not reported, which is the dark figure of crime (Mayhew & Riley, 2007). Two of the main reasons that victims do not report crime to the police are because they felt the crime was either too trivial or was not worth reporting (Mayhew & Riley, 2007). With all the research provided in this essay a conclusion can be made that the best way to measure the dark figure of crime is in fact using victim surveys.

Plaeton Xavier

CRIM580/12

19083310

References

Mayhew, P. & Riley, J. (2007). The New Zealand crime & safety survey: 2006. Key Findings. Wellington: Ministry of justice Reporting crime. (2020, March 04). Ministry of justice. https://www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector-policy/research-data/nzcass/surveyresults/reporting-crime/ Terms & definitions. (2020, March 04). Ministry of justice. http://archive.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/people_and_communities/crime_and_justice/ rev...