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19 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Several Approaches
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1) Direct Observation in natural settings (Ethnographic Research)
2) Experimental Observations 3) Police Reports 4) Victimization Surveys 5) Self-report Surveys |
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Direct Observation
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- Ethnographic Research
- Not necessarily most efficient manner to research crime - Criminal events occur with relative infrequency - Criminals spend lot of their time doing same things as non-criminals (Regular lives) - If done successfully, researchers may learn in-depth info about criminal sub-cultures that aren't usually amenable to investigation |
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Secret Lives of Criminals
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- Criminal behaviour tends to be secretive in nature
- Criminals go out of their way to avoid observation/detection |
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Experimenting on Humans
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- Issues of "Informed Consent" (if you tell me subjects what they're going to do, may result in them refusing/altering behaviour)
- If encouraging subjects to break the law, you may be breaking law yourself |
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Uniform Crime Report (UCR)
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- Official crime rates usually based on UCR
Problems - Many incidents of crime go undetected/unreported and end up not making it in UCR - Some incidents reported may not show up in UCR because police concluded they're unfounded |
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General Social Survey (GSS)
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- Victimization survey that interviews people by phone (random)
- 2009: sampled 19,500 individuals over 15 across Canada - Respondents asked about their victimization experiences & their perceptions of crime and criminal justice system Revealed - Instrumental in revealing "dark figure of crime" (69% of all crimes) - In distinct contrast to UCR (only includes cases where people actually report crime to police, and/or police feel complaint justifies writing up a report) Problems - Interviews only those respondents with a phone - Marginalized people with no phone are excluded from survey (may be most victimized) - Misses crimes committed against business (robberies, shoplifting, credit card fraud) - Don't sample under 15 (fail to uncover substantial amount of youth victimization) - Problem of "Telescoping" (respondents may unintentionally include incidents that happened to them more than 1 year prior) |
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The Dark Figures of Recordings, Act 2, Scene 33 (Reporting Practices)
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- Wide variations in reporting practices across the country
- Professionalism & degree of organization of particular police department may be a factor |
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Ethnicity & Crime
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- Canada doesn't collect stats on relationship (if any) b/w race and crime
- To the extent that we have reliable information (usually collected by correctional institutions instead of by police or courts) |
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Federal Incarceration Rates (per 100,000)
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Aboriginals (185); Blacks (146); Whites (42); Asians (16)
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The Great Debate (Julian Roberts vs. Thomas Gabor)
RE: Informing public about statistics of ethnic minorities involvement in crime |
NO! (Julian Roberts)
- Difficult to classify people in a multi-racial society - Police officers (ones most likely to make decisions about race of suspect) have no training/expertise in these manners - Information might result in discrimination against ethnic groups that appear over-represtented in statistics YES! (Thomas Gabor) - Why should academics, CJ personnel & political leaders determine what public can/can't know? - We live in a free society (censorship is unacceptable) - If some ethnic minorities are more involved in crime, shouldn't the public have right to know? |
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The Gladue Decision (R. v. Gladue) (1999)
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1999 Decision by Supreme Court of Canada
- Section 718.2 (Criminal Code): Mandatory for sentencing judges to take into consideration unique circumstances of Aboriginal offenders - Supreme Court confirmed this "is remedial in nature and is designed to improve serious problem of overrepresentation of aboriginal peoples in prisons." - Decision encourages judges to take "restorative approach" when sentencing Aboriginals - Court acknowledges that "jail term for Aboriginal offender may in some circumstances be less than term imposed on non-Aboriginal offender for same offence". NOT FAIR! |
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Why Crimes Go Unreported (Question) Over 2/3 of all crimes are not reported to the police. What do you think the #1 reason given for people not reporting crime?
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#1: Didn't think it was important enough (most common)
#2: Didn't think police could do anything about it #3: Dealt with it in another personal manner #4: Felt it was personal matter #5: Didn't want police involved (least common) |
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Self-Report Surveys
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- Usually conduced over the phone (like GSS)
- Asks members of public whether they've ever committed a criminal act - Again confirms large amount of undetected/unreported crime Problems - Offenders who have most to hide least likely to participate - Tend to uncover type of petty crime that many people engage in from time-to-time - Sometimes get respondents confessing to every crime in the book |
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Reliability (UCR, GSS, Self-Report Surveys)
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Most Reliable (in order): UCR, GSS & Self-Report Surveys
- UCR Data: reflects more balanced picture (judged by police to be serious and well-founded) - Reports of criminal activity/victimization in Self-Report Surveys or GSS accepted at face value (no collaborating evidence/further investigation; only phone callers word) |
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Crime Is Common (UCR, GSS, Self-Report Surveys)
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- GSS & Self-Report Surveys helpful illustrating vast amount of undetected & unreported crimes
- demonstrates crime is much more common than believed - Victimization surveys (GSS): provide information for criminal event theory, routine activities theory, lifestyle exposure theory, etc. |
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Attitudes Towards Police and CJS (GSS)
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- GSS provides insight into why people don't report crime to police, and what their general attitudes towards the CJS are
- 2004 GSS: 60% Canadians (police were doing a good job); 40% (courts doing good job ensuring accused individuals got fair trail); 20% (courts doing good job helping victims) - Prison & Parole System rated much less favourably than police/courts |
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The Official Crime Rates (inc. Violent Crimes)
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- Police-reported crime rate decreased every year from 06-09 (06: 3%; 07: 7%; 08: 5%; 09: 3%; 10: 5%); Since then, crime rate reached lowest point since 1971 (Crime rate continues to decrease)
- Homicide reached 36-year low in '03; yo-yoing since (04: + 12%; 05: +4%; 06: -10%; 07: -3%; 08: +2%; 09: Same; 10: -10%; 11: +7%); going up and down - Despite + in 04, 05, 08 & 11: homicide rate in '10 lowest since 1966 |
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The Frontier Phenomenon
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Violent crimes are lower in the East, start to climb in the middle towards the Coast, and higher up North
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Property Crimes
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- Rates of property crime down 6% (2010); down over 40% (since 2000) (Rates of property crime declining)
- Rates of break-ins also declining (06: -5%; 07: -9%; 08: -10%; 09: -4%; 10: -6%); lowest level in 40 years - Almost 50% of all property crime involves theft under $5,000 |