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Topic 6
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Which of fhe fhree people in the photogrophs is most
Hove you hod any crime (no matter how minor) Iikely to be +he victim of an o+tock ot night on +he
committed againsf you in lhe lost yeor'. What WOS it2 slreets'. Explain the reosons for your answer
Did you reporl it lo the police7 Explain the reosons for
you repor+ing/not reporting it. :, Which car is more Iikely +o be s+olen'. Exploin your
answer.

Our common sense ideas about crime are not always matched firstIntoorder to understand
find out who commitswhycr':m;arid
peoplewhat
commisortst criofmcriyn6
ei we "l
by the picture revealed by statistics. Many of us believe that are committed.
crime is a Robin Hood type of activity, with the less wealthy Sociologists use three different ways to build up thiS
responsible for crimes against the more wealthy and more
vulnerable sections of the community. This view may well
pi'incfo;ma'
ture of:iocri';,-but
me.alEach
s;-ha;-amethod
-numb;rprovi
-of dw'eseaknesses,
us with parti ,culiar
sNh.*Ch.
ke'.'The4
have influenced your answers to the questions above. need to be identified if our picture is to be accurate-
However, po}ice figures indicate that poorer areas have higher methods of collecting information are:
crime areas than wealthy areas, that young men are more
Iikely to be the victims of crime than old ladies and that * official statistics
battered Ford Fiestas are more likely to be stolen than the * victim surveys
latest executive BMW. But are these figures accurate, and how * self-report studies.
can we rise statistics about crime to help us understand why
some people commit crimes?
?
 Official statistics
Official statistics are drawn from the records kept by Proportion of offences reported to the police in 1 999
palice and other official agencies, and are publish6d
months by the Home Offsce.
e

S.

Theft of vehicle

€ What perspective is most likelv to accept official statistics

as an objective and accurate reflectiorx of social reality?
Burglory with Ioss
Wounding 58%
81%
95%

The official statistics are particularly useful in that they have Bicycle theff 54%
been collected since 1857 and so provide us with an excellent Burglary - attempts & no loss 49%
pistorical overview of changing trends over time. They also Theft from vehicle
give us a completely accurate view of the way that the All comporable cr'?me
47%

criminal justice system processes offenders through arrests,

triais, punishments, and so on. Attempted vehicle +heft
41%

39%
Theft from persori 31%
Official statistics as social constructions Robbery 31%

Hov=.rever, official statistics cannot be taken simply at their face Vandolism 31%

value. This is because they only show crimes that are reported Common assoult 29%
to and recorded by the official agencies such as the police.
Wheii we dig a little deeper a lot of hidden issues are
uncovered.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
% of inciden+s reporled to the police
T)ie term 'social constructiort' is commorrly used in Source: British Crime Survey, (20001 Home Office
€ saciology. What does it mean and irr what other contexts
have you seen it used?
The role of the police
C;'ime statistics are not the only official statistics whose Clearly the police are filtering the information supplied to
€ accuracy has been c7yallenged. 'W7iat other examples can
y<iu think oj?
them by the public, according to factors that are important to
them. These factors have been identified as follows:
Seriousrxess
Report?'ig crime They may regard the offence as too trivial or
Official statistics are based on the information that the simply not a criminal matter.
crimina2 justice agencies collect. But crimes cannot be
*
Social status More worryingly, they may view the social

[
recorde6- by them if they are not reported in the first place, status of the person reporting the matter as
and the simple fact is that a high proportion of 'crimes' are not high enough to regard the issue as worth
pursuing.
not reperted to the police at all. According to the British @ Classifying When a person makes a complaint, police
Crirne Scrvey (1998 ), we know that individuals are less likely crzmes
officers must decide what ca.tegory of
to report a 'crime' to the police if they regard it as: offence it is. How they classify the offence
I too trivial to bother the police with will determine its seriousness. So, the police
I a private matter between friends and family - in this case officer's opinion determines the category
they will seelc redress directly (get revenge themselves) - and seriousness of crime (from assault, to
or one where they wish no harm to come to the offender
% too embarrassing (male rape).
aggravated assault for example).
Discretion Only about 10'/o of offences are actually
Als0; uncovered by the police. However, the
chances of being arrested for an offence
? The victim may not be in a position to give information
L g.or exaiaple, a child suffering abuse)
increase markedly depending upon the
'demeanour' of the person being challenged
jThey may'fear reprisals. by a police officer. Anderson et al. (1994)
t'afhe other hand, people are more likely to report a crime if. show that youths who co-operate and are
polite to police oficers are less likely to be
lTheyCl.aim)see some benefit to themselves (e.g. an insurance arrested than those regarded as
disrespectful.
lThey have faith in the police ability to achicve a positive
result. Promotiorx
and
Police officers, like everyone else, have career
and promotion concerns. This involves
lrding of crimes relationships trying to impress senior officers. However,
at work they also need to get on with other
l??d.thi
7, p,eopi
nk -t:ieadot ;h'actiesevel'syytatireport
?sticans ;'oil;a'rence to the polic'te,h;'you
st';:ourd"entyer colleagues, who do not like officers who are
too keen (as this makes more work for
C'es.a' reported-to
rePorts. Ye-tthe-inpo'-anylic?-;e-fa"i e-year,
l-to -;rp'approxi mately-40'
pear-:;-th;" o'jfic%:arof all everyone). Arrests reflect a balance between
fi;(, comradeship and a desire for promotion
(Collinson, 1995).

?
 spoken agreement, whereby the defence will try to get the
The ddlerence between police records of crimes charges with the lightest possible punishment put forward by
and fhe actual number of crimes the prosecution. (In the USA this bargaining is far more open
than in Britain, and is known as plea-bargaining.) The result
l 00%
is an overwhelming majority of pleas of guilty, yet these pleas
100 are for less serious crimes than might 'really' have been
90
committed. The statistics will reflect this downgrading of
SerlOuSneSS.
80
T7ie process of plea-bargairiiy'rg shows how justice can be
% 60
art
70
€ negotiated. Which perspective focuses on the negotiation of
social reality? What other examples of the tiegotiation of
O
$ 50 44%
social reality can yori tliirrk of:
CL

40
The role of the government
30 24% What is considered to be a crime changes over time, as a
20
result of governments changing the law in response to
cultural changes and the influence of powerful groups. Any
10
exploration of crime over a period is therefore fraught with
04 difficulty because any rise or fall in the levels of crime may
All crimes
committed
All crimes reqot'ied All crimes recorded
to the police by +he police
reflect changes in the law just as much as actual changes in
crime. A good example of this is the way that attitudes to
cannabis use have shitted, with an increase in the numbers
Source: Based on figures in The British Crime Survey of peop}e possessing and using cannabis (both of which are
(Government Sfatistical Service. 1999) a crime) and a decline in the number of arrests for its
possession, as the police respond to public opinion. The
official statistics might make it look as if cannabis use is
The role of the courts actually declining, when it is not.
Official statistics of crimes committed also reflect the
decisions and sentences of the courts. However, these
statistics, too, are a reflection of social processes.
a 242 British courts work on the assumption that many people
will plead guilty - and about 75% of all those charged actually
(/)
o
do so. This is often the result of an informal and largely un-
ri
?-'ffi
o
o
(0
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0 Feminisf

l
'a!

Feminists believe +ha+ crime slolislics do

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N
not reflect +he amoun+ of crime ogainst
women, such as sexual ottacks and
domestic violence. These often occur in
Interpretive a 'priva+e' domes+ic setting where +he
The 'Iabelling' view reieds fhe police are reluctan+ to get involved.
ciccuracy of crime stotis+ics. lns+ead, Also. many women do not feel fhey con
it concenlroles on undersfonding the repotl ltiese offerices.
woy they are socially corislrocled.
v /
PerspecNves on
criminal statistics

/ '(
Left realist
Marxist
Marxists txelieve that law and i+s
T)?iese sociologists accep+ +hat crime is C'
genuine problem, especially for poorer
eriTorcemerit reflects the in+erests of the
ruling class. The crimes of the poor are
g""roups':n?socie+y."Cri?me stat:s';cs7car2not
simply be re%edeA CIS inaccurate. Left
s+rictly enforced ond the immorol realists favour detailed vic+im surveys %n
acfivi+ies of +he rich ei+her ignored or not IOCCII areas. These can reveal the 50sls-
defined 05 criminal. Statistics will reTlect
+hese inequali+ies and scapegoa+ing.
for many people's genuine feor of crim'-

7
 Victim surveys
A second way of estimating the extent and patterns of crime
'8 canCan'sensitise'
X0u identify other areas of social life where the media
the public to issues?
is that of victimisation surveys. In these, a sample of the
population either locally or nationally are asked which Self-report studies
offences have been committed against them over a certain
period of time. The third method for collecting data is that of self-report
studies. These are surveys in which a selected group or cross-
Strengths of victim surveys section of the population are asked what offences they have
committed.
This approach overcomes the fact that a significant
proportion of offences are never recorded by the police. It Self-report studies are extremely useful as they reveal much
also gives an excellent picture of the extent and patterns of about the kind of offenders who are not caught or processed
victimisation - something completely missing from official by the police. In particular it is possible to find out about
accounts. The best known victimisation study is the British these 'hidden offenders' ages, gender, social class and, even,
Crime Survey which is now collected every year and has been their location. It is also the most useful way to find out about
in operation since 1982. victimless crimes such as illegal drug use.
Weaknesses of victim surveys Weoknesses of self-report studies
*
The problem of basing statistics on victims' memories is
*
The problem of validity: The biggest problem is that re-
that recollections are otten faulty or biased. spondents may lie or exaggerate - and even if they do not
*
The categorisation of the crimes that has been committed deliberately seek to mislead, they may simply be mistaken.
against them is left to the person filling in the
questionnaire - this leads to considerable inaccuracy in
the categories.
€ Which social groups do you think would be most lilcely to
exaggerate the amount of crime t7iey commit? Can you
explain this in terms of their culture and socialisation?
*
Victim surveys also omit a range of crimes such as fraud
and corporate crime, and any crime where the victim is *
The problem of representativeness: Because it is easy to
unaware of or unable to report a crime. study them, most self-report surveys are on young people
*
Despite victim surveys being anonymous, people appear and students. There are no such surveys on professional
to under-report sexual offences. criminals or drug traffickers, for example!
*
The BCS itself suffers from the problem of not collecting *
The problem of relevance: Because of the problem of
information from those under 16 although this is not representativeness, the majority of the crimes uncovered t?:
necessarily a problem of victim surveys as such. The tend to be trivial.
British Youth Lifestyles Survey (2000), for example, was

c
carried out specifically to obtain detailed information Nevertheless, the only information that we have available of
on crimes against younger people. who offends other than the official statistics of people who
local victim surveys have been arrested comes from self-report studies, and they

3
have been very widely used to explore such issues as crime art

and drug use.

o
)
The BCS is a typical cross-sectional survey, and as such may
contain some errors - certainly it does not provide detailed o

information about particular places. This has led to a number <

o

of detailed studies of crime fo-cusing on particular areas. Patterns of offending ri

These provide specific information-about local problems. Using the three methods of gathering information,
o

The rmost famous of these surveys were the Islington Crime sociologists
Surveys (1986 and 1995). Theseashowed that the-BCS under- of offendinghave managed to construct an interesting picture
and victimisation patterns.
reported the higher levels of victimisation of ethnic-minority
groups, and domestic violence.
Types of offences
@e media and sensifisation Property crime
YLi
,'?eYctiare
rn surveys are dependent
vfctim' s.-Thi :'may 's-eem'upon
obv'peopl e beinnofact
ious,-but-i g aware
;h?sathat According to the British Crime Survey, 62% of crime in 2000
was accounted for by some form of property theft, with
(P,ends very -much -on-: 'i'e ?'avrct:m;perceiving -what h'appens burglary and vehicle theft forming the bulk of these.
j'hem as being a crime. The media play a key role in'this as Violent crime
''e,eY.provi de il ustrations of 'crimes' and generally heighten
rlsitivity towards certain forms of behaviour. This is '?ffiown All forms of violence account for approximately 20% of
', jnsitising the public toward (certain types of) activity BCS-reported crime, but the huge majority of these acts of
pf ca5i be s:en as a 'aaime worth r'eporting. A p;sitive violence - about 68% - consisted only of very minor physical
el??Ple of this-ha's be-ell -t'he' change'in-port'r'ay:il-o'f- ':momestic hurt (at most slight bruising). In fact, only about 5% of
rlerlce t'romaa 'fam'ffi;matter 'to "bbein; aF crimi)nal?ac';ivity.a violent crimes reported involved more than trivial injury.

?
 Pafferns of crime: accurake or social construction?
Vidfm studies: the British
Victim sTUdies
3 0fficiol statistics Self-report studies Crime Survey
Problems Victim studies Problems
Official statistics Nof recorded Self-report
Researcher , How is decision BCS decides . Accuracy
Person defines : ? Fails to define decides on cl made'i on sample
oc+ofcrime ' ascrime
Iist of crimes
l
Person defines Not worth
l Respondents given Categories
Gives to an : - Never persis+ent/ computer +o ' : - used are not
as wor+h '? reporting key in oiferices legal/official ones
reporting available sample professional
criminal, USUC?IIY commi+ted
+
Reports +o
police
? Fails to
report
I young people
at school
agoinst them

Vic+im relied
Respondents ? : - MCIY ' : - upon to define.
l complete exaggera+e remember & tell
+ru+h
Fail +o understand
Recorded ? Refuse to Forge+
by police record
Doesn't core
+ Ashamed

Ca+egorised
by police
Categorises
along / !
guidelines but

l
BCS
act redefined to SelT-report
fit info cafegories (Bri+ish Crime Survey)

Official s+a+istics

III? Breakdown of BCS crime by calegory of Adults most at risk of violence in 1999
(/l
o ofTence
ri
o
o Avetoqe Ssk 4.2
(0
<
Block 5.4
o
Men 25-44 5.4
>
Burglary Council orei:? !!!m s s l
9%
Tenocea house 5.7

Other thef}s lncome<E5000 5.7

29% All vehicle
Flats/maisonet+es 5.8
thefts 20'/o
Divorced Hb.r
Economically inactive 6.1
Mugging
3% High physical disorder 7.9
S Vehicle
vandalism Women 16-24 9.1

Wounding 11% Visit pub/club 3 +imes or 9.6

4% more per vveek
Home Piivote renter 9.6
Common
vandalism 10.4
assaults Separated
9%
15% l0.7
Single porents
10.7
Single
11.6
Unemployed
Men 16-24 ',?
25
o s 10 15 20

% victims once or more

Source: British Crime Survey (2000), Home Office Source: Brrtrsh Crrme Survey {2000). Home Office

7
 Types of victims
Victims of violence
Oltenders as a percentage of the population: by gender ond age 1 997-98,
England and Wales
Young males, who form the 10
ma5ority of the unemployed or
low-waged, have a particularly
high chance of being victims.
Interestingly, in about 88% of 8

cases of violence, the victim and Males

perpetrator know each other. g
CD
6

Victims of property crime O

C

These are most likely to be 0)

0
D
low-income households living in a- 4

poorer areas.
Source: Sociol Trends
How might May-xists explairx
€ the existence of property
cy'ime?
2

':7'-? .'Sx
ra>?'-? Fei
l /,? Females
30. The Stotionery
Office (2000)
//
//
/}
i
Repeat victimisation
%
o
10 20
Victim surveys demonstrate not 30 40 50 60 70
only that some people are more Age

likely than others to be victims in

the first place, but that a proportion of the victims are likely
society more than the affluent. They also tell us that violent
to be targeted more than once (repeat victimisation). crime tends to happen between people who know each other,
Twenty per cent of all households burgled experienced repeat even live together.
burglaries and one tiny group has a disproportionately high
chance of being victimised: O.4% of householders accounted Types of offenders
for 22% of all burglaries.
The statistics suggest that crime does not happen to According to both official statistics and self-report studies,
everyone - it targets the poorer and less powerful groups in of offendingareformost
offenders likely to be young and male. The peak age
males is about 18, and for females about 14.

l
v v
K TERMS

Briti ':.'..??.'.'-onnualvictimisa+ionsurveycarried Repeat vicfimisation - where people are victims of the

oi?it by the Home Office.
same crimes more than ortce.
Deti . '.' - oppearance, at+i+ude and manner.
.a ?..'.' ?-' ., ?'. :':? ': ..' - where people are asked to riole down
Hori . : = . - government departmen+ responsible for the crimes they have committed over a por+icular
criminal justice matjers. period.
Isling :: Crime Surveys - famous Iocal vic+imisa+ion sfudies .' : .1 !'!::: , ' - refers to the extent of disorder or minor criminal
focusing on one area of North London. activity that people will occepl.
Offic .' itis+ics - stajistics released by government
ogencies.
Social construc+ion - in fhis cose, refers to the fact that
s+atistics represenf the activities of the people
Pleo- .':::iii0-wherethereisaninformal(sometimes constructing the statistics rother than some objective
reality.
Unspoken) agreement that if an accused person pleads
guilty to a lesser crime than that of which he or she is Vicfimisation (or vicfim) surveys - where people ore asked
occused, the prosecution will agree. what crimes have hoppened +o them over a parficular
period.

r ?
 Y

Explorinq pcitterns of crime r

Item A i levels of d?sorder in the 2000 British Crime Survey

60
Very/fairly big problem
51
50
§ Very/foirly common
42
Source: T. Brad and L. Sims (2000)
Findings 145 Anli-Sociol Behoviour and
Disorder. findings from the 2000 Brrtrsh
Crime Survey

Teenagers Rubbish Vandalism Druguse/ Rundown Noisy Abandoned RcIc:cll People

honging or litter dealing homes neighbours cors ottacks sleeping
around
rough
7

??l
l 8
Item B The fable above is based upon o national sample of
l
Serious or persistent offending, by social class people aged 16 and over. who were asked to
indicate what +he greatest problem in their orea 9
18 17
§ Males WOS.
16
Femoles to
€ l4
U
art
12 In deciding whether a specific form of disorder is
;512
'Jw 10 common or a problem. respondents will be making
Pn
;o ,O subjective judgements based on vorious factors. This
?f?a, -2 7
'aah art '.1 means that differences e+efweeri areas or groups of
'o"'-i 6 s R€
people may reTlect differences in perception, rather
'- il
(l)
a4
2 fhan differences in reality. 1
2

Or
il T
i Identify the three greotes+ problems identified in
l-11 111 IV-V Item A.

l
l . The Reqisltoy General's soc:cll cli:issijication is used to measure social class. 2 What prob)ems ore there in accepting +his data
-he individual's soc:cll class is detived ltom l1'ie jather's occupa+ion IOT lheit 21
nother's. ij lokt'iet's is unknown or nor applicable). l-projessional. 11-managerial os an objective reflection of +he reality of the

l
:x +echnical 111-skilled manual and non-manual work. IV-par+ly skilled. sifuofion?
}-unskilled.

1
:3 Examine Item B. which shows persistent

I
Source: Youth Crime. Findings from the 1998/99 Youth Leisure

l
lifestyles Survey, Research Study 209, Home Office. offending by social class. The table is based

(
upon cl self-report study. What relationship does
it show'i

4 Identify +wo other ways in which sociologists

have gathered information on the link between
social class ond offending.
s Which method would be most accurate. in 40Ur
opinion6 Explain the reasons for your view.

'l
f

7
 CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING
f {v4

Explain why official statistics give a completely

accurale picture of the workings of the criminol justice Extroct from AQA-style question
system.
In Briiain, official stotistics on crime ore published
2 Explain why official statistics do not give an accurate annually. They provide criminologis+s. +he police. fhe
picture of fhe number and %pes of crimes commitfed. courls. the meaia ond anyone else who is in+erested,
wifh +wo moin types of dofo.
3 Why might official statistics give cl more occurale l . They provide informa+ion on fhe fotal number of
picfure of fhe omount of cor theff than the amount of cr!mes aknown 10 'N'le pol!ce' . Th!s !nforma+!on !S
domes+ic violence? often taken os an accuro+e measure of the total
4
omount of crime. The dato allows comparisons to
How might cl person's 'demeanour' affect their be mode between crimes. ond with previous
Iikelihood of arresl? years. Often jhe figures receive widespreod
s
publicity fhrough the media. The stotistics often,
Explain why so many people plead guilty in court. though not always. show increases in crime over
6 Do reducfions in orrests for possession of cannabJs previous yeors. and fhis may lead to concern +hot
the counfry is being engulfed in o crime wave.
reflect o decreose in the use of fhe drug? Explain your 2. The official statistics ptovide informotion on +he
answer.
social choracteristics of those who have beeri
7 Suggest three crimes thaf you think people might be convicted on offences. such CIS fheir oge ond
willing fo admif to being victims of when questioned in gender. It is on these figures that o number of
theories of crime hove beeri based.
a victimisotion sfudy.
8
Adap+ed kyom: M. Horolombos: London: and M. Holboin. 12000)
Why might some people exaggerate the amount of Sociology: Themes ond Perspectives 15th editionl, London: Collins
crime that they have commifted in o self-report study? Educo+ional

Suggest two reasons why young males might make up

the majority of victims of violetice. Evoluate
(40 morks)
+he accurocy of official stafistics of crime.
Explain why repeal vicfimisation may occur.
OCR-style question
Outline and assess methods of discovering informcition
Reseorch ideas about fhe amount of different +ypes of crime.
(60 marks)
1
Undertake a piece of reseorch fo discover the factors
that influence public reporting of crime. Does it
depend on seriousness, whe+her fhe crime has a
victim or other factors? Ooes likelihood of reporting
correlate with variables such as oge or gender?
2
Look at fhe Item A in Exploring patterns of crime.
Conduct a small pilot survey of 14-16 yeor olds using
the categories in the figure. Do your results reflect the
resulfs here? Amend the cafegor3es and?then osk cl Find the site of the Home Oliice iwww.homeoffice.qov.uk).
cross-section of 14-16 year olds. What difi€erence does Go to the section on Research Developmenf Stajistics. Try to
age make to the identification of social problems? find figures about the omount ond type of crime using official
statistics. self-repott studies arid victim s+udies. Wha+ similori+ies
ond differences con you find2 Try jo explain +he patterns you
find.

?
 Topic 7
place and time

l
lGettinq you thinkinq
! "!-? ':! [11 zouQ.-- -w - y
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41
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Ja!11
ra
ra 'l;F Jllg":J 'tL] 1
'%=l'
s
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ib
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!. '! k ih(Oz J l
k
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t?t!!qffi!'ii!J! ' ?'

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ir
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21

TJ
il
i"n
4
I )l
it
'J n
?
'df'
Look at the firs+ two photos.
Which do you think has +he higher rate of crime'v -"6;;jr & -'.lX l

What reasons can you give for your answer2

'W
r
r
r

v?aa ' a .?
2481 Look at the second two photographs.
(/) , What different sor+s of crimes might take place in the fl
!
-i
?
o
ri city during the day and during the nigh'R Who+ If
l
d'r

o
o
reasons can you give for your cinswer'3
to
<
When you are walking home in the evening, do you
o
t%

i feel more concerned +hon during the day0 Are there

>
k) any precoutions VOU take if you are walking alone cif ?
i
-scr (mdt'Tlm'
lfi
'%;!
%i%?
r
l

night'V Wha+ are +hey0 !

%

If you see a group of young males standing ahead of ,',=-=, €f

ff
2m
you on the slreel do you alter your behaviour or rou+e ,ff O ,
@vC ?l? ;4

in any woy0 Give reasons for your answer. *

(Above right) Piccadilly Circus at nigh+

(Below rightl Piccadilly Circus during the doy 2'='>?
l

p
l

We examine the explanation under two groupings:

This topic explores the relationship of crime to places and those concerned with locating offenders
times. This link is hardly an original idea - since the earliest those concerned with exploring-the location of offerlce'
recorded history peop}e have been warned against going to
dangerous places, particularly at night-time. But sociologists
have taken this basic idea and explored the links between
where people live, work and have their leisure, and crime
patterns.
wy?
 Explaining offenders In response, Sutherland (and Cressey, 1966) introduced the
concept of differential association. This states that a person
Chicago sociology is likely to become criminal if he or she receives an excess of
definitions favourable to violation of law over definitions
The pattern unfavourable to violation of law. This simply means that if
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, one of people interact with others who support lawbreaking then
the fastest growing cities in the USA was Chicago. The city they are likely to do so themselves.
also possessed one of the new University departments of Further tightening his approach in order to avoid
sociology, and two of its researchers, Shaw and McKay (1931 ) criticisms of vagueness, Sutherland suggested that these
began plotting the location of the addresses of those who definitions vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity,
committed crimes in the city. The results showed that, if they * frequency: the number of times the definitions occur
divided the city into concentric zones, each of the five zones * duration: over what length of time
they identified had different levels of offenders, with zone two * priority: e.g. at what stage in life (childhood socialisation
(which was nearest the city centre) showing the highest rates. is more important than other periods)
This was interesting in itself, but they also found that *
intensity: the status of the person making the definition
because of rapid social change, the population living in zone (e.g. family member rather than a stranger).
two was changing regularly so that although the various zones
maintained their different levels of offenders over time, they
were different offenders. This meant that there was something The dynamics of community
about the zones that was linked to crime rates, rather than Most British research failed to reproduce the clear pattern of
individuals who lived there.
concentric circles that the Chicago School had identified.
The explatxation: social disorganisation Crime rates certainly varied by areas, but in more complex
Shaw and McKay suggested that as each successive wave of patterns, as can be seen from Item B in the section 'Exploring
immigrants arrived in the city they were moved into the environmental approaches' at the end of the topic.
cheapest and least desirable zones - that is, the zone of
transition. Over time, some were successful and they moved Housing policies
out to the more affluent suburbs, while the less successful One early study by Morris in 1957 led the way. Morris found
remained. The places of those who had moved on were taken no evidence that people in areas of high delinquency held a
by newer immigrants, and so the process started again. coherent set of values that was any different from that of
This pattern of high population turnover created a state of mainstream society. 249
social disorganisation, where the informal mechanisms of
social control that normally hold people back from criminal
behaviour were weak or absent. € writings
The argument that there is a distinct group of people with
their own deviant values can be fout'id today iyi the
of Charles Murray and his concept of t)ie
:)

(?ri
Cultural transmission r'i
In their later writings, Shaw and McKay (1942) altered the uiiderclass. What are the arguments for and agairrst the
existence of an underdass? 3
meaning of 'social disorganisation' to refer to a distinct set of (!l
o
values that provided an alternative to those of the mainstream Morris suggested that a key factor in the concentration of a
society. This amended approach came to be known as delinquents in certain areas was linked to the local council's 0

cultural transmission theory. They argued that amongst housing policies. For example, in his study of Croydon, the tb
<

some groups in the most socially disorganised and poorest local council's policy of housing problem families together o

zones of the city, crime became culturally acceptable, and was meant that these areas became, almost by definition, high- ri
(!l

passed on from one generation to the next as part of the crime areaS.

normal socialisation pattern. The impact of local-authority housing decisions was

Successful criminals provide role-models for the next clarified much later by the work of Baldwin and Bottoms
generation by demonstrating both the normality of criminal (1976) who compared two similar local-authority housing
behaviour and that a criminal career was possible. estates, separated by a dual carriageway. One of the estates
€ Wi'iich agencies of socialisation are most likely to pass on
these deviant values? Why?
'Gardenia' had a 300% higher number of offenders and a
350% higher level of crimes than the other 'Stonewall'. The
difference according to him was the result of a process that
he named tipping.
@fferential association
9,n.e criticism of Shaw and McKay and other members of the
C. 'l!cago School of 'Criminology was that their theorie: were
€ Bottoms changed the name of the estates Gardeiqia and
Stonewall. Why do sociologists oflen change the names of
the pcople, organisations atid areas that they research?
'O vague and difficult to prove.
Tipp'mg
[)What other sociological theories have you come across that Most estates consist of a mixture of people from different
[coutacouldbe you
accusea of being aiHictat to prover what methoas
use to prove Shaw arxd McI(ay's theories?
backgrounds and with different forms of behaviour. Informal
social control imposed by the majority of residents limits the
offending behaviour of the anti-social minority. However, if
?
 The process of tipping

Balanced
community Unbalanced
with low Shiff in balance community. The
with outflow of remaining Iaw-abiding repu+otion CIS
crime. A
successTvl, ci+izens are trapped 'tough' area.
law-abiding Iaw-obiding majority frightened
mojority replaced by a high due to poverty or old to confront anti-social
control +he proportion of anti- oge. The minority of
Iaw breakers gows in behaviour.
minority of sociol groups.
anti-sociol size.

families.

for whatever reason (such as local-authority housing policies), The Brantinghams: Cognifive Maps
the anti-social minority grow in number, their behaviour
drives away some of the law-abiding families. Those who
wish to enter the estate tend to be relatives of the anti-social &
families and this leads to a speed up in the law-abiding
residents leaving. The estate has 'tipped' and becomes
i

? jj
increasingly regarded as a problem estate. Those who are
able to flee, do so. In Bottom's analysis Gardenia had tipped m s ml l m

whilst Stonewall had not. ms m l m

l
Disorder
W. G. Skogan (1990) in the USA has fleshed out this idea of
tipping. He suggests that social control breaks down when a
combination of physical deterioration in local buildings and 7

IIII? parks, and social disorder in the form of public alcohol and
drug use, for example, increase.
( ' ] Aworenessspoce
Ua)
o This leads to a situation of disorder, which has three §Opportunities
n
o consequences: [?Areas of cnme occurrence
o
(C)
<
€h It undermines the mechanisms of informal social control
o and leads people to withdraw, thus undermining the
bonds between peop}e. Source: Bran+ingham and Brontingham [1984: 362)
N
@ It generates worries about neighbourhood safety, so that reproduced in Moguire. Morgan and Reiner (1997)
people avoid going out at night - thus, making it easier for
street crime to be committed.
It causes law-abiding people who can afford it to move out burglary was more likely in the affluent areas adjacent to
of the area, and leads to a decrease in property values and poorer districts. This observation shifted environmental
*

the growth of housing to let. theories towards explanations of these different patterns of
offences.
How do these ideas link to J. Q. Wilson's arguments on
€ zero tolerance, exprored in Topic 11. Cognitive mops
P. J. and P. L. Brantingham (1991) argue that we all hold
Explaining olfences cognitive maps of th; towns and cities where we live, so sOlTle
parts of our local town are familiar to us and other parts
So far we have 'been exploring theories that look at where much less known. In particular we know the routes from Our
offenders live and why they have higher levels of offending. homes to where we study or work, and where we go for
However, other approaches have looked at where offences entertainment.
take place and why they occur in these places and not others. According to the Brantinghams, offenders are most likelY
This distinction has been highlighted in Wilkstrom's to commit offences where opportunities (e.g. houses tO
(1991 ) study of crime patterns in Stockholm. This is burgle) link with 'cognitively 'known' areas, 'and converselY
particularly important as it demonstrates that the types and that places that are less 'cognitively known; are }ess likelY (':,
extent of offences vary across neighbourhoods. At its simplest, be-burgled. -Th'is p;o;:des-aon -expla'nati':oW-fo;-the patterns Of
city centres, poorer districts and affluent areas adjacent to crime we noted earlier for burglary, for example.
poorer districts have higher rates of crime. Within this, crimes
of violence are more likely in the poorer districts, while
7
 Opportunity theory
Shearing and Stenning (1983) pointed to the growth of
If crimes are most likely to be committed in areas that shopping centres and leisure complexes which are both public
cffenders know, then the next question must be why, within in that they are spaces where (most) people are welcomed and
these areas, are some properties or people chosen and others private in that they are privately owned, and the owners have
are not? The answer, according to Clarke's (1995) opportunity the power to exclude those they define as undesirable, in
theory, is that of opportunity. housing too, there has been the growth of gated communities
Opportunity consists of two elements: - housing estates where only residents and guests are allowed.
@
how attractive the target is - for example, how much can private Shearing and Stenning argue that the owners of these
be gained by committing a crime against this particular 'public' spaces have taken over the responsibility for
place or person and, if it is property, how easy it is to carry has led tothem
policing
the
- using CCTV and security guards - and this
privatisation of public space. The police have
away and to sell afterwards
*
how accessible the target is - for example, how easy it is to been increasingly confined to the more peripheral areas of the
commit the crime. city and to the poorer (particularly 'problem') housing estates.
The exclusion of undesirable groups (young people, known
offenders, beggars) from these private 'public' areas, has
Routine acfivifies simply displaced crime to the less affluent public areas.
These ideas of cognitive maps, and opportunity were further Time: the nocfurnal economy
developed by Cohen and Felson's concept of routine
act5vities (1979). They argue that crimes are more likely to Earlier, we noted the implication in Cohen and Felson's
occur where the day-to-day activities of victims and offenders routine activities theory, that time is a crucial and neglected
are likely to coincide, and where there is little in the way of element in understanding crime. If dMerent places have
formal or informal control to prevent an offence taking place. varying levels of crime and different styles of control, then so
Cohen and Felson have introduced two new issues into the do different times. The busy city centre, fiued with families
discassion with their definition. shopping during the day, becomes the location for the young
1 They point out that crimes are likely to occur where there seeking pleasure at night. The same location therefore changes
is no 'capable guardian', such as a police officer, its meaning and possibilities with the closing of the shops and
the coming of the darkness.
rieighbours or informal social control engendered by a An interesting example of the significance of time is what
sense of community.
2 They are pointing out that it is not just place that is Hobbs and Lister (2000) call the 'nocturnal economy'. They
important, but also time. For example, the person who is point out that in the last fifteen years there has been a huge
mare likely to be 'mugged' is the person returning from growth in pubs and clubs, as Britain's youriger people have

[
wark, walking along a quiet street, in the evening. We will increasingly embraced the leisure society. This involves, in
explore this issue of time later, but first let us summarise Britain at least, going out at the weekend to clubs and pubs
what we know so far. to consume alcohol (and possibly also drugs) and to enjoy
oneself. In 2000, for example, there were over 200 million club
Crime occurs in: admissions to the value of f2.5 biuion. This means that there
* areas that are familiar to criminals are huge numbers of young people who come together within
0 targets that are potentially most rewarding a very narrow time-band in order to engage in the search for
* places where the perceived risk is low - particularly where pleasure. Almost three-quarters of all violent incidents in
there is no one to 'guard' the person or property urban areas occur during the weekend between 9pm and
% these targets and risks are linked to the activities and daily 3am, usually by and between groups of young males fuelled
lives of the yictims. by drink and/or drugs.
Interestingly, as we saw before regarding the privatisation
of public space, at night-time too, there are relatively few
lhe privatisation of public space police officers available, so that a medium-sized town might
Sociologists have always been aware of the distinction have 15,000 night-time 'revellers' with only 12 police officers
bebseen private space and public space, and its imp-ortance on duty. The bulk of the 'policing' is performed by private
re
on the levels and types of offending. IPor example, as long ago security companies employed by the pubs and clubs. The high
as the 1960s, Stinch';ombe used the term 'the institution-of' rates of violent crime occurring within this framework of
Pr!Vacy' to illustrate how policing tended to be against deviant time and space illustrate perfectly the three elements referred
activities carried out in public, with much less st';ess placed to by Cohen and Felson of: offenders, targets, and lack of
guardians.
on violerice and abuse in the home.
Pl[) 4>-'Q'=r'2i;=:='are,",?'the.a4'pol;;ice often reluctant to get involved in
ei 51

r,o:ever, in recent years, the issue of pr?vate and public space

h,as, 5e-emerged as an;;c;Fi
important Go to the Home OTTice websi+e (ywvw.homeoffice.qg?). Go
Panges-havbe-taken n t'h"e'debate
nat;e-offorurban
sociolilof"e".
gists,- as to the stotistics section and find fhe resulfs of 1)'-re lo+es+ Brifish
Crime Survey. Find out the sorts of people most likely +o become
victims.

?
?
 /15
ssv

? .' - areas where entry is con+rolled.

- closed circuit TV. -+hewaythatpublicareas
" : "
-apersonalmapofatownbasedonan are increasingly being owned and con+rolled by
individuol's daily activities. companies who police it in such a WC)Y as +o exclude the
undesirables.
- widening circles.
- values are passed on from one ? ' ? : -areoswhereanyonecango.
" - the normol activities of daily life provide
.

generotion +o the next.

a - a theory which suggests that the cognitive maps and oppor+uni+ies for crime.
deviant behaviour is leorned from, and justified by fomily o ' a -anareaofacitydoesnothave@
and friends. shared culture, existing over fime
" - housing esloles where only residents ' - the process whereby on oreo moves from being
and guesfs are allowed. predominan+ly Iow-abiding to predominantly accepting
- refers to fhe woy +hot a leisure of an+i-social behaviour.
industry has developed at night, which provides the . : . - fhe cheapest ond least desirable zones
location of many offences. of the city.
- that crime occurs when 1)'iere is an
opportunity. Stop the opportuni'iy ond crime is less Iikely
to occur.

Exploring environmentol approciches: the criminology of ploce and time

l ItemB l Areo distribution of crimes in Sheffield, 1966
h ltemA l i

According to Show and McKoy Chicogo

252
I
wos divided into distincfive 'zones': i

Zone I: the centrol business district. This had very few

&la}
occupanfs but was the hub of commerce ond banking
during the doy.
Zone 2: 'fhe interstitiol zone' (or zone of tronsition). This WCIS
S<8
'??.gs%
l/ €j.:€%
}=li

ir) once an oreo of some consideroble offluence. buf had }

W31.'%,%r
Gs".l
?
%
decoyed ond WCIS charocterised by multi-occupofion use. (>h%.,?'><1,
4"af
This was the cheapest zone for housing. so new immigrants 4§%§{3:§:3%
.%,?.Qs,:>. , .{,i, : P,W
J<,. @.%.,s?'j
settled here first.
N
Zone 3: the respectoble working-closs district. This was where 1%. S
the solid working CIOSS Iived. '-,
Zone 4: suburbio. )-lere vvere the pleasanter middle-class E<{<
)J-
districfs forther out of town. iS}S3%

Zone s: the outer orer:rs on the fringe of the ci+y w)?iete fhe
')a%a <<S
.':'-',?kkSS'
::§?:) S<{;}

well-off lived. "l

l
l

Cognitive
circle
QO cr'mes per thousand
model [] l-lAperthousi:ind
[315-26 per thousand
Q27-39 per thousand
GY40 or more per +housand
%,l 7
L?
l mile

o?Orkingia?'
/l.,
?sider?rioi zo?'
Source: Baldwin cind Bolloms (1976: 75)
:c0?mmuleis'zor'?e
?
7
!

Source: Burgess 11925)

l
wy
 f
l

CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING .

Reseorch ideo
Shaw and McKay suggested two explanations for fhe Your local authority may well have Iocal crime-maps
behaviour of the people in the zones they identified. drawn up as part of ifs eommunify Safefy Strategy.
What are these explanations? Contact your local Community Safety Offlcer ana
osk her/him to provide you with similar maps of your
Explain, in your own words, whaf is meant by the term area - ideally osk her/him fo come in to discuss fhem
'tipping'. with you.

What are normally fhe lhree key componenfs of a

person's 'cognifive map'?
E X A M IR A C T
Whot information do 'cognit}ve maps' and 'routine
activities theory' tell us about where and who are more Extract from AQA-sfyle quesfion
Iikely to be targeted by otfenders?
Describe the explanations sociologists hove oiiered for
, Briefly explain how the privatisation of public space why the crime rale is higher in urban areas thon in rural
'displaces' crime. areas. (12 marks)

Why is fhe cr(me rate likely to r?se during the hours of OCR-style quesfion
9pm and 3am?
Outline and assess sociological explonations of the high
crime raies in inner city areas. (60 marks)

i6 l How do Items A and B illustrate the difficulty of

applying the Chicago model outside the USA'3
r
r 2 Whaf factors, other +han migrotion, might influence
l
l
the number of offenders living in o particular oreo in
Britaim'
l

3 Pointer { 1992) has argued that a simple WCIY to

l

l
redoce crime is to introduce street-Iigh'ts. Her reseorch
in a number of cities. including Manches+er. seems to
suppor+ +his argument.

I 4 Whot explanation(s) of crime provided in this topic

would. in your opinion. relate most closely to Painter's
l

reseorct?i<

s What form of me+hodology migh+ be used to prove

or disprove Pain+er's argument0 Whof problems
s could you foresee with fhis mefhodologyV

-?

7 'Q

? ? 1

j ?