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Crime and Deviance

The Crime Survey, victim surveys and self-report studies

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  • Component 03

Overview

Recall questions on the Crime Survey for England and Wales, its advantages and limitations and why it differs from police recorded crime, local victim surveys, and self-report studies with their uses and weaknesses.

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Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Apart from the national survey, what use do sociologists make of victim surveys?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What is the Crime Survey for England and Wales, and whom does it ask?

    Model answer

    It is a large annual victim survey in which a nationally representative sample of adults in private households is interviewed about their experience of crime in the previous twelve months, supported by a confidential self-completion module for sensitive offences; children are surveyed separately.

  2. 2

    State three advantages of the Crime Survey for England and Wales.

    Model answer

    It captures offences the victim never reported to the police and so reaches part of the dark figure, it has used a consistent method for decades and so gives a trustworthy picture of long-term trends, and it records victims' perceptions and fear of crime as well as incidents.

  3. 3

    What are the main limitations of the Crime Survey for England and Wales?

    Model answer

    It relies on respondents' memory and honesty, it cannot record homicide or victimless offences, and it has historically excluded crimes against businesses and people living outside private households.

  4. 4

    Why do police recorded crime and the Crime Survey for England and Wales often tell different stories about crime?

    Model answer

    They measure different things: the survey counts incidents the public say they experienced whether or not anyone told the police, while police figures depend on victims reporting and officers recording, so the survey normally shows more of the comparable household and personal offences and is less disturbed by changes in recording practice or policing priorities.

  5. 5

    Apart from the national survey, what use do sociologists make of victim surveys?

    Model answer

    Local victim surveys are used to expose the concentration of crime in particular neighbourhoods and among particular groups, an approach associated with left realist research into inner-city victimisation.

  6. 6

    What is a self-report study?

    Model answer

    A self-report study is an anonymous or confidential questionnaire or interview in which respondents are asked to admit to offences they have committed, whether or not they were caught.

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AVictims may fear reprisal, or feel shame or economic dependence.
BAbuse in the home has historically been treated as a private matter.
CMany incidents are never reported or recorded.

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