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Essay on Crime Statistics

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Crime statistics ought to be evaluated in light of a number of factors that can mislead social constructions of offending. Conclusions drawn from individual data sets are to be evaluated against the dark figure of crime and commonly held myths. Statistical data are mostly gathered and interpreted to suit political and corporate agendas (Chambliss, 2001; Croall, 1998; Rampton & Stauber, 2001; Slapper & Tombs, 1999). The criminalization/decriminalization of specific activities/behaviours, for instance, can considerably transform crime trends (Croall, 1998). Male homosexuality, for instance, wasn't decriminalized in Britain until the 1960s (Croall, 1998; Downes & Morgan, 1997). Other issues stem from how the data is collected. Surveys conducted by household, for instance, don't include the victimization of homeless people (Kershaw et al., 2000). Furthermore, crimes in which offenders and victims are consenting parties (for example drug dealing) are largely unreported (Kershaw et al., 2000; Maguire, 1997).

A lot has been done to refine the collection of crime data. The introduction of victims surveys in the British Crime Survey, for instance, has improved the quality of data collection on crimes that are not recorded by the police (Kershaw et al., 2000; Zedner, 1997). Nevertheless, the reliability of statistics on offending remains questionable. Public myths over the crime problem, combined with corporate interests, drive political activities, which in turn work to mould public perceptions. These are perpetuated by the media who tend to sensationalize street crime, for instance, in order to attract the readership (Chambliss, 2001; Reiner, 1997; Slapper & Tombs, 1999). The proceeding lines will provide an account of current statistics and trends, following this line of reasoning.

Looking at the shape of crime as it appears from the 2004 BCS summary of trends, it appears that rates of offending have consistently dropped in the past decade (Dodd et al., 2004). More in detail, since 1995 violent crimes have decreased by 36%. Acts of vandalism have decreased by 27%. Vehicle theft, theft from the person, other types of theft and burglary rates appear to have declined, respectively, by 51%, 9%, 36% and 47% (Dodd et al., 2004). Though the validity of these figures, to an extent, cannot be totally dismissed, particularly in sight of their statistical significance, they should be further investigated.

Many of these crimes, including vandalism and theft, for instance, are assessed by household (Dodd et al., 2004). Therefore theft offences from homeless people may not appear in these figures. Crimes of violence, on the other hand, are statistically assessed against the overall number of adults in England and Wales (Dodd et al., 2004). In this case, illegal immigrants who do not appear in official registers are not included. The table published by the Home Office also contains a definitional bias. As it was acknowledged by the authors themselves:

"The BCS common assault definition includes minor injuries. From 2002/03 the recorded crime definition does not include minor injuries" (Dodd et al., 2004).

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