criminology wjec a level unit 1 controlled assessment
changing awareness of crime
lo1 lo3 criminology unit 1
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A/AS Level
WJEC
Criminology
Changing Awareness of Crime
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Mia Lunt
Criminology LO1 – understand how crime reporting affects the public perception of criminality
AC 1.1 – Analyse the different types of crimes
White collar crime is usually a non-violent crime committed usually in commercial situations for
financial gain e.g. fraud, tax evasion and embezzlement. There are two types; corporate and
professional. Corporate crime is when crime is committed by or on behalf of a company for example,
Starbucks evaded tax in 2012. Professional crime is when crime is committed by professionals I a
trusted position for example, Bernie Madoff’s investment fraud. The typical victim of this type of
crime is anyone with access to money but older people, who are usually retired, are the most
common targets. The typical offender are people with a high social status who are trusted and
respected by the public, such as a businessman or a large corporation. The level of public awareness
regarding this type of crime is quite low due to more violence-based crimes being more publicised
and the focus of media attention. Also, white collar crimes are often difficult to prosecute, only 2% of
fraud is successfully prosecuted, as people can sometimes be unaware, they are a victim due to
complexity. White collar crime is both deviant and criminal an it’s illegal to commit and it goes
against the norms of society as mostly older people are targeted and it is a norm within society to
respect and care for the older generation.
Moral crimes are crimes committed against the normal standard of morality in society, for example
underage drinking, vagrancy and prostitution. This type of crime is often regarded as victimless
however the victim and offender are usually the same person. The typical offender are usually
people in a difficult situation, mostly concerning money. The level of public awareness regarding this
type of crime is low as the public are often not aware it’s a crime so ignore it and often the
victims/offender’s family are not aware. Additionally, moral crimes are often not reported on by the
media as they don’t make exciting headlines. This type of crime is both deviant and criminal as it is
illegal but also goes against society’s standard of morality.
State crimes are illegal or deviant activities that break the states own criminal law e.g. genocide,
torture and imprisonment without trial. The typical victims of these crimes are citizens from a
different country to the government and hold different religious or political views to the
government. The country’s own government or high-ranking personnel working for government
agencies. There are high levels of public awareness around state crimes due to the extremity and
seriousness of the crimes. Also, there are high levels of media reports regarding state crimes as they
are very severe so passes news values (such as violence) to make an interesting story. State crimes
are highly criminal but also deviant as it goes against norms for a government to harm their own
citizens.
Technological crimes are offences that are committed through the use of technology for example
illegal downloading, inappropriate use of social media and fraud. Anyone with access to the internet
can be a victim of technological crime, could be an individual or large organisations, but vulnerable
or gullible people (older people) are often victims of phishing scams. Offenders must have basic
access and knowledge of the internet. Many offenders are based overseas where they have access
to the technical ability to access bank accounts and credit cards. There has been an increase in
young people committing this type of crime, mostly regarding or associated with social media,
possibly to impress friends and they are unaware it’s a crime. Furthermore, levels of public
awareness are low due to the lack of understanding of new technology and victims often don’t know
they are a victim while the crime is taking place. However there have been recent promotions of
these crimes to raise awareness and prevent them due to the rise in popularity of new technology.
Technological crime is both deviant and criminal as it depends of the offence committed, for
,Mia Lunt
example internet fraud is highly illegal whereas downloading songs illegally is common and not
viewed as a ‘real’ crime worthy of punishment.
Honour crime is a type of individual crime and are punishments for brining shame upon a family or
community that are usually violent, including murder. Typical victims are women who bring shame
upon their family or community by committing ‘shameful’ acts; typically, in Asian families and
communities. Offenders are usually males who are related to the victim such as a father, uncle,
brother or cousin. Generally, the level of public awareness is low due to a difference in culture as
within communities where honour crimes occur, it is viewed as an appropriate retaliation to
‘shameful’ behaviour. As a result, these types of crimes go unreported to authorities so wider
communities outside of the Asian culture remain unaware. Honour crime is viewed as criminal and
deviant, depending on the culture as it is criminal and very illegal but only seen as deviant in Asian
cultures as they believe it to be an acceptable punishment for shameful behaviour.
Hate crime is also a type of individual crime and it is any crime that is perceived by the victim or
anyone else as being motivated by prejudice or hate based on a person’s: race, religious beliefs,
sexual orientation, disability or if they are transgender. Victims of hate crime are people that fall
under the five characteristics previously stated or anyone who is associated with someone who
comes under these characteristics. The usual offender is anyone that holds some form of prejudice
view against a group of people with one or more of the five characteristics and also tend to have
more traditional views and beliefs, which differ from those of the victim. The public awareness
around hate crime has rapidly grown in more recent years due to gaining a lot of media attention,
especially on social media apps such as Instagram and twitter. It is criminal to commit a hate crime
as it goes against law but also seen as deviant as society has progressed and attitudes have now
changed to become more accepting of everyone.
Domestic abuse is another type of individual crime and it is any act or pattern of incidents such as
controlling/abusive behaviour targeted towards a family member or partner, aged 16 and over.
Victims of domestic abuse tend to be women, but can be men, who are in intimate relationships. The
offenders typically have a close relation to the victim such as a boyfriend or husband and is usually a
man. The levels of public awareness are high surrounding the crime itself as there are a lot of
campaigns about domestic abuse that raise awareness, however it can also be seen as low due as it
often goes unreported. Domestic abuse is criminal but also deviant as it goes against norms and
morality to harm someone you have a close relationship with and care about.
,Mia Lunt
AC 1.2 - explain the reasons that certain crimes are unreported
There are many different reasons why crimes go unreported and this may be due to personal
reasons or social and cultural reasons but also pressure surrounding the individual. Overall, it
ultimately depends on the context of the crime and how the individual has been affected by it.
There are various different personal reasons for not reporting a crime such as general fear of
reporting the crime and also fear of the consequences after reporting the crime. Crimes such as hate
crime and domestic abuse mostly go unreported for these reasons. Also, victims of domestic abuse
often have intimate relationships with the offender, meaning they may share a house or have
children therefore meaning victims might be scared to report it in case they don’t have anywhere
else to go and they are scared of possibly losing their children. In March 2019 the CSEW found that
43% of domestic abuse cases were unreported. Another personal reasons are that victims may feel
shame or embarrassment and this is mostly associated with crimes such as rape/sexual assault,
domestic abuse and hate crime. The victim of these crimes may not want others to know what
happened to them and might not feel comfortable sharing details about what happened as they
were in a vulnerable state. An additional reason is that people are not directly by the crime and this
relates to moral crimes that are perceived as victimless such as underage sex, vagrancy and drug
taking. Individuals that don’t feel upset or affected by these crimes may choose to ignore them as
they don’t want to get involved. Lastly, a disinterest in the crime itself is another personal reason for
crimes being unreported. This can occur with crimes such as vandalism and vagrancy as it doesn’t
directly concern the individual so therefore doesn’t take up interest of a bystander to report it.
Social and cultural reasons can also affect whether a crime is reported or not. One reason may be a
lack of knowledge meaning a victim or individual may be unaware that acts being made are a crime
and may not know the procedure of how to report the crime. Crimes such as cyberbullying via social
media, domestic abuse and hate crime may be unreported due to this. Another reason is that a lot of
crimes or the process of reporting the crime itself can be very complex and this may put an
individual off reporting it as they may be confused as it is too difficult to understand. White collar
crime and technological crime may be unreported for this reason as victims are often not aware
there is a crime taking place at the time and don’t know how to report it. Furthermore, a lack of
media interest can also be a reason why crimes are unreported as they are not widely promoted as
they think the public won’t be interested. This mostly effects moral crimes such as prostitution and
underage drinking but also individual crimes such as honour crime. Also, a lack of public concern can
determine whether an offence is considered a ‘real’ crime or not also influences an individual to
report a crime or not as sometimes there is no concern about an offence being illegal. Examples of
crimes that may be affected by this are downloading music illegally, drug use and using cannabis as
overlooked by society today as they are relatively common and people don’t see a purpose in
reporting it. Lastly, culture bound crime can determine is crimes are reported or not as some crime
are viewed as acceptable in certain cultures but not others. Therefore, people may ignore it due to
not having a full understanding of the culture and don’t want to interfere. Crimes affected by this
are honour crimes e.g. honour killings, witchcraft and arranged marriages.
Sometimes individual crimes are not reported for many various reasons and may not fit into one
category of either personal or social and cultural reasons. An example of this is rape as the victim
may feel embarrassed talking about their experience and also may feel triggered by discussing it as
they do not want to relive what happened to them. Also, society can sometimes have a negative
attitude towards rape and pass the blame onto the victim rather than the offender and victims are
afraid that they do not have enough evidence to report this so people might not believe them.
, Mia Lunt
Furthermore, men in particular don’t report sexual assault as society’s masculine stereotypes make
men feel as if they are not strong if they report what happened to them and also many not want to
admit it due to pride. It was found that only 15% of people who experience any form of sexual
assault report it to the police. This is also the case with domestic abuse as people may feel
embarrassed to talk about what happened as they were in a vulnerable position and do not want to
be seen as weak, again especially with men as society’s perceptions of men as strong and brave etc.
may deteriorate people’s perceptions of the victim. Furthermore, victims may not want to get their
partner into trouble due to their intimate relationship and feelings towards the offender, they may
rely on the offender financially, they made share a house or even have children with the offender so
don’t want to feel as if they ruined the family. Also, vandalism often isn’t reported due to a lack of
public intertest as if the bystander’s property is not affected it’s seen as ‘someone else’s problem’ as
they don’t want to waste their own time reporting it if they are not affected by the crime. Also, it is
considered a low-level crime so people overlook it and also think it would be a waste of police time
to report it. Common assault also may go unreported as victims could fear of consequences from the
offender after reporting it and due to the low levels of physical contact ad commonness of crimes
such as verbal abuse individuals may feel it would be a waste of their own and police time to report
it and that police won’t take their report seriously so don’t want to waste effort to report it. Lastly,
victimless crimes are viewed as behaviour that goes against morality and social norms. Examples
include vagrancy, prostitution, drug taking and assisted suicide. A lot of the time people are unaware
that vagrancy is an offence as it mostly just viewed as a social problem, not an actual crime.
Therefore, people mostly choose to ignore it as it doesn’t affect them and it’s not their problem to
deal with. Also, people may feel sympathy for those who are in that position without anywhere to
live so don’t want to interfere and report them. Prostitution is unreported as the people who are
taking part in this crime made a choice to do so, meaning they have equal responsibility. Also, most
people who partake in this offence are ‘forced’ into it by their financial situation as it is a relatively
fast way of generating a source of income. Drug taking goes unreported as the offender of this crime
is also the victim as if any harm as a result of the drugs occurred it would be the responsibility of the
person who made their own choice to take the drugs. Also no one else is affected by this crime apart
from the person who took the drugs therefore people think it would be a waste of police time to
report it. Assisted suicide is a very private occurrence meaning only those close to the victim will be
aware and possibly even involved with the plans of the acts that will happen and they often avoid
telling others about what is planned. Most people feel sympathy towards this type of crime as it is
the victim’s own choice and it is done out of love and compassion to prevent prolonged suffering,
rather than malicious intent, therefore they are less likely to report it. Additionally, people don’t
want to interfere if they are not a part of the plans made or close to the victim as it is not their
problem.
*reference the scenario and say why the crime will go unreported – 2 paragraphs on two different
crimes including both a personal and social/cultural reason*
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