Exam (elaborations)
Criminology Unit 1 1.3 Model Answer
- Module
- Changing Awareness of Crime
- Institution
- WJEC
This is a full mark model answer for unit 1 1.3
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By: elektratyack • 11 months ago
By: estellebrome • 2 year ago
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Outline all the consequences outlined in AC 1.3 of unreported crimeOne consequence of unreported crime is the ripple effect. The ripple effect is
when the impact of a crime expands beyond the immediate victim, and affects the
victim’s family, friends and community. In the brief, Miss S becomes a victim of a hate
crime, when the young boys spit at her and call her a terrorist. The ripple effect could
occur here, as Miss S would be considered an immediate victim, but this hate crime could
spread a wave of harm throughout her community, creating and affecting secondary
victims, such as her extended family. A real life example of the ripple effect taking place
is in the 2011 riots when Mark Duggan was shot by metropolitan police. Protests started
in London, and soon rioting began. The rioting spread across the whole country. This is
an example of the ripple effect as Mark Duggan was the immediate victim, but this crime
spread a wave of harm across the nation and people demanded better.
A second consequence of unreported crime is decriminalisation.
Decriminalisation refers to a criminal act becoming legal through law or policy. In
certain circumstances, certain behaviours can not be controlled or enforced by Police, so
the Government has no choice but to decriminalise. Especially if the public does not
perceive these acts as a crime, they may campaign for decriminalisation to occur. An
example of this can be that a number of countries and US states have decriminalised the
possession of cannabis. In fact, an online newspaper called ‘Independent’ conducted a
survey, and 59% of participants strongly supported the legislation of cannabis.
A third consequence of unreported crime is unrecorded crime. When certain
crimes are not reported, this creates a dark figure of crime. One personal reason a victim
may not report a crime is they may fear reprisals from their abuser. This is a very
common reason for unreported domestic abuse cases. This is evident through BMJ
Journals study, and they believe that almost 25% of the female population are victims of
domestic abuse, but only 2.5-15% of these victims report to the police. Furthermore,
when the police don’t believe a victim, they may not report the crime, in order to save
time and resources. Therefore, this dark figure of crime leads to a distorted perception of
crime rates. This means statistics reflect an untrue image of crime and this may lead to
police forces focusing on other types of crime, despite there possibly being more severe
crimes occurring. In the brief, Danny commited a white collar crime by over-charging his
patients. The police may not prioritise this as they may not have the resources to prove
what Danny is doing and may just not report it - this is called cuffing.
Another consequence of unreported crime is legal change. Particular crimes may
go unreported as they are perceived to breach our human rights. For example, when
homosexuality was illegal, individuals may not report it when they notice a homosexual
couple as they percieve it is wrong that is criminalised in the first place. However, this
can lead to positive change. Changes in law can lead to greater things for certain people.
The marriage (Same sex couples) Act in 2013 allowed same sex couples to marry, legally.
Another example of legal change being positive change is when it became illegal in 2015
to smoke in the car with someone under the age of 18. Furthermore, under the Equality
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