Measuring Crime

Measuring Crime: Definition

There are many ways to measure crime, including official statistics and reports from the police and governing bodies, victim surveys, and offender self-reports and surveys. Measuring crime focuses on the various methods employed by official bodies to assess crime rates across a country. The data provided can offer valuable insights into the current state of society.

Problems in Defining Crime

When defining crime, one must consider cultural and historical aspects. Think of the plague example. The plague is no longer a problem, but the law is still in place, so when the needs of society change, the laws should change with them.

When it comes to crime, there are also cultural aspects to consider.

So how do we define crime? What are the methods used to measure crime?

Definition of Crime

In general, we can define crime as anything that breaks the law and results in punishment. The action, or lack of action, in some cases, is punishable by law. As we discussed above, there are different ways to measure and record crime: official statistics, victim surveys, and offender surveys.

The definition of breaking the law changes from country to country, and crime is not always punished. Also, crime can change over time. Things that were not illegal in the past may be illegal in the present.

As we mentioned above, actions considered crimes in some cultures might not be illegal in others.

Therefore, definitions of crimes change drastically over time, which can be a problem in defining crimes. The legislature needs to keep up with the changes in attitude that occur within societies and cultures. Problems often arise and people can clash when the law fails to keep up with the people.

Methods Used to Measure Crime: How Crime is Measured

Given the problems described earlier, how can we measure crime? Typically, we use official statistics, such as those provided by the Home Office in the UK, victim surveys involving those affected by crimes, and offender surveys, examining those who commit crimes, to measure crime.

Official Statistics

Official statistics are official government records of the total number of crimes reported to the police and recorded in official figures. In the UK, the Home Office publishes these statistics annually, which are helpful in understanding crime rates geographically. They help the government develop crime prevention strategies and policing initiatives, such as direct assistance to those in need.

Fig. 3: Official statistics allow professional bodies to understand rates of crime across a country.

Victim surveys

Victim surveys record people’s experiences of crime over some time as part of the Crime Survey for England and Wales. These surveys document the crimes people have fallen victim to in the previous year. They select a random sample of 50,000 households to participate.

The survey has been conducted since 1982, and in 2009, a version for young people aged 10 to 15 was added.

Offender surveys

Offender surveys rely on voluntary information from individuals about the types of crimes they have committed. The survey assesses risk factors such as past convictions, age, social background, and more to identify likely offenders.

Pros and Cons of Measuring Crime

As with any technique, we must consider the pros and cons of measuring crime.

Disadvantages

Let us deliver the bad news first. Here are some disadvantages of measuring crime.

Official Statistics

Many believe that official statistics are not an accurate measurement of crime. In fact, many states significantly underestimate crime. Some crimes go unreported by victims or unrecorded by police. As a result, some commentators claim the statistics represent only up to 25% of crime.

Therefore, the official statistics may not show the true extent of crime.

The Politics of Measuring Crime

Politicians can distort crime figures for political reasons. Opposing political parties are likelier to use measures that make the other party look bad.

Some groups might also misuse statistics for political or discriminatory reasons.

A Multidisciplinary Approach

There are significant issues with reliability and validity when it comes to using surveys and statistics to measure crime. As a result, all crime statistics should be interpreted with extreme caution. Therefore, researchers advocate for a multidisciplinary approach (combining all methods) for solving crime to give the best insight into the true extent of offending.

Advantages

Every cloud has a silver lining. Let's dig into the advantages of victim and offender surveys.

Victim Surveys

Victim surveys tend to contain details about crimes not reported to the police. Therefore, they are believed to have higher accuracy than other measurement methods.

This finding suggests that the official statistics may have been less accurate due to the under-reporting of crime.

Offender Behaviour

Offender surveys are helpful because they provide information on how and why many people commit crimes. Even though these surveys assure confidentiality, people may feel uncomfortable disclosing their crimes or even brag that they have committed more crimes than they have.

Therefore, the results may not be accurate. The sample of surveys also means that these surveys probably do not cover white-collar crimes, such as financial crimes, but overrepresent other types of crimes, such as theft or burglary.

Comparison

Crime measurement methods that provide quantitative data are beneficial for comparing crime rates and types across different times and cultures. Using this approach, we can fight cultural and historical problems in defining crime.