PATTERNS AND TRENDS IN CRIME
SOCIAL CLASS AND CRIME
Sutherland → Statistics show that crime is more common in the lower
socio-economic class
→ 67% of the prison population are unemployed
Williams → Factors found frequently within the prison population :
- Run away from home
- Victims of violence or drug misuse
- Truanting
- Exclusions
- No qualifications
- Lower literacy and numeracy levels
Victimisation → according to the British Crime Survey:
- Young households
- Lone parents
- Unemployed
Are twice and likely to be victims of violence
GENDER AND CRIME
Ministry of Justice:
→ Males commit 80% of all offences
Peak offending age:
- Males → 18
- Females → 15
Female offending drops significantly in late teens however for males it does
not drop until way into their 20s
→ In 2011, female offenders were more likely to be on benefits than males
Young
- The same crime does not always have the same seriousness
- “The meaning of a punch” can be very different depending on the power
dynamic between the parties
Feminists
Saunders → 20% of women had been sexually assaulted and had not
reported it
,Walklate → women are unable to leave abusive relationships + less likely to
report due to:
- They have nowhere to go + may lack financial independence
- Psychological issues eg self-blame, lack of audience
- The law often operates against women
- Police procedures for dealing with rape claims are not effective
Victimisation → The types of crimes men + women are victims of differ:
★ A higher proportion of men are victims of violence + the perpetrator is
more likely to be a stranger or acquaintance
★ Women are twice as likely to be a victim of non-sexual partner abuse
and 7x more likely to be reported being a victim of sexual assault
● Males account for 7/10 homicide victims + are more likely to be killed by
a stranger or acquaintance
● Over ½ of female homicide victims since 2003 were killed by their
husband or partner
● 2 women every week are killed by a husband or partner
ETHNICITY AND CRIME
Ministry of Justice:
→ Black people were stop+searched 7x more than white
The Association of the Chief Police Officers 2008 found that newspaper
headlines linked new migrants to crime such as Polish, Romanian and
Bulgarian communities
➔ during the last 15 years immigration from these areas has increased but
the overall crime rate has fallen
Victimisation → CSEW: adults from Mixed, Black and Asian ethnic groups
were more at risk of being a victim of a crime
★ InterRacial Crimes : the number of racist incidents + racially or
religiously aggravated offences by police has decreased
★ IntraRacial Crimes : Home Office - black people are 5x more likely to be
murdered than their white counterparts
, AGE AND CRIME
● Young people are more likely to offend
● Juvenile offenders are more likely than adult offenders to receive a
caution rather than conviction for their first offence
● Males aged 10-17 were responsible for 20% of crime
● Women aged 10-17 were responsible for 4% of crime
McVie: data is grouped too largely, with usually under 21’s together
Soothill : peak age of conviction for crimes such as burglary were around 16
or less whereas motoring and drug offences were between 21-25
Victiminsation → the incidence of victimisation is disproportionate to the fear
of the crime eg older people are more likely to fear crime but young people are
more likely to be victims
Patterns of crime in a global context
GLOBAL ORGANISED CRIME
→ Aka transnational time
Aas: globalised crime is the the cross-border activities of organised crime
groups, exploiting global interconnectedness to their advantage
Difficulties in responsibility:
★ The diversity / amount of groups eg Mexican CJNG, US Cripps
★ Border issues and lack of common definitions
★ Lack of international cooperation
★ The increased trend towards state deregulation
★ Lack of global attention at the expense of the threat of terrorism
SOCIAL CLASS AND CRIME
Sutherland → Statistics show that crime is more common in the lower
socio-economic class
→ 67% of the prison population are unemployed
Williams → Factors found frequently within the prison population :
- Run away from home
- Victims of violence or drug misuse
- Truanting
- Exclusions
- No qualifications
- Lower literacy and numeracy levels
Victimisation → according to the British Crime Survey:
- Young households
- Lone parents
- Unemployed
Are twice and likely to be victims of violence
GENDER AND CRIME
Ministry of Justice:
→ Males commit 80% of all offences
Peak offending age:
- Males → 18
- Females → 15
Female offending drops significantly in late teens however for males it does
not drop until way into their 20s
→ In 2011, female offenders were more likely to be on benefits than males
Young
- The same crime does not always have the same seriousness
- “The meaning of a punch” can be very different depending on the power
dynamic between the parties
Feminists
Saunders → 20% of women had been sexually assaulted and had not
reported it
,Walklate → women are unable to leave abusive relationships + less likely to
report due to:
- They have nowhere to go + may lack financial independence
- Psychological issues eg self-blame, lack of audience
- The law often operates against women
- Police procedures for dealing with rape claims are not effective
Victimisation → The types of crimes men + women are victims of differ:
★ A higher proportion of men are victims of violence + the perpetrator is
more likely to be a stranger or acquaintance
★ Women are twice as likely to be a victim of non-sexual partner abuse
and 7x more likely to be reported being a victim of sexual assault
● Males account for 7/10 homicide victims + are more likely to be killed by
a stranger or acquaintance
● Over ½ of female homicide victims since 2003 were killed by their
husband or partner
● 2 women every week are killed by a husband or partner
ETHNICITY AND CRIME
Ministry of Justice:
→ Black people were stop+searched 7x more than white
The Association of the Chief Police Officers 2008 found that newspaper
headlines linked new migrants to crime such as Polish, Romanian and
Bulgarian communities
➔ during the last 15 years immigration from these areas has increased but
the overall crime rate has fallen
Victimisation → CSEW: adults from Mixed, Black and Asian ethnic groups
were more at risk of being a victim of a crime
★ InterRacial Crimes : the number of racist incidents + racially or
religiously aggravated offences by police has decreased
★ IntraRacial Crimes : Home Office - black people are 5x more likely to be
murdered than their white counterparts
, AGE AND CRIME
● Young people are more likely to offend
● Juvenile offenders are more likely than adult offenders to receive a
caution rather than conviction for their first offence
● Males aged 10-17 were responsible for 20% of crime
● Women aged 10-17 were responsible for 4% of crime
McVie: data is grouped too largely, with usually under 21’s together
Soothill : peak age of conviction for crimes such as burglary were around 16
or less whereas motoring and drug offences were between 21-25
Victiminsation → the incidence of victimisation is disproportionate to the fear
of the crime eg older people are more likely to fear crime but young people are
more likely to be victims
Patterns of crime in a global context
GLOBAL ORGANISED CRIME
→ Aka transnational time
Aas: globalised crime is the the cross-border activities of organised crime
groups, exploiting global interconnectedness to their advantage
Difficulties in responsibility:
★ The diversity / amount of groups eg Mexican CJNG, US Cripps
★ Border issues and lack of common definitions
★ Lack of international cooperation
★ The increased trend towards state deregulation
★ Lack of global attention at the expense of the threat of terrorism
