Essay
Unit 1 Criminology essay 2 _ Briefly explain the consequences of unreported crime
- Module
- Crime and Punishment
- Institution
- WJEC
My essays/answers from my WJEC Crimonology Unit 1 controlled assessment which I got an A* in.
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Unit 1 Criminology essay 2Briefly explain the consequences of unreported crime
The Ripple Effect
The ripple effect is a negative consequence of an unreported crime and applies to many different
types of crime. It describes how the impact of unreported crime can spread beyond the immediate
victim to throughout an entire community or society, to affect secondary victims causing a ‘wave of
harm’. Alternatively, not reporting may lead to certain crimes appearing acceptable, and those who
witness it become socialised into the behaviour seeing it go unpunished, and therefore is then
repeated by them. For example, domestic abuse can affect many individuals. Abusers are often
abused as children, or have witnessed the abuse of parents as children. If this goes unreported, the
children become socialised into this behaviour, and see it as acceptable, because it goes
unpunished, leading to them repeating it as adults, causing a ripple effect. It can also affect other
family members or neighbours who might hear the abuse, friends and work colleagues can also be
affected. And it even has an impact on criminals. If a crime goes unreported and the individual isn’t
disciplined or punished then they are more likely to do it again. Likewise, if other people hear that you
can commit certain crimes and not be reported then they may start committing those crimes as well.
Cultural Consequences
Cultural consequences are the result of cultural differences making actions criminal in one country
and not another. Leading to crimes going unreported or not recognised, this consequence usually
occurs for culture bound crimes like domestic abuse, forced marriage, and female genital mutilation. It
can lead to practices that are seen as unacceptable and illegal in the UK, being acceptable to some
people from other cultures. Many people find it difficult to understand cultures that are very different
from their own. Often people will ignore or turn a blind eye to actions or customs that are alien to
theirs. They may feel it is not their place to interfere and therefore criminals and potential criminals
may believe they can proceed without consequences, which could result in them continuing to do that
crime or they may go on to take more extreme actions. For example, Female genital mutilation is
illegal in the UK but culturally, there are some communities and minority cultures in the UK, who
believe it is an acceptable thing to do and is a common practice for them. Similarly, with honour killing,
while alien to Western society, many cultures believe it is appropriate to take such drastic action.
Therefore, these types of crimes may go unreported by members of that community as they also
practice it, leaving it out of sight of the law. This type of unreported crime may also affect society as
similar cultures living in countries where these practices are illegal won’t change their moral values as
it is still acceptable to them, as nothing happens to the offenders, leading to more unreported culture
bound crime happening in the future.
Decriminalisation
Decriminalisation is both a positive and negative consequence of unreported crime, and is where a
crime becomes socially acceptable and potentially no longer enforced. If a crime lacks public concern
or interest, it is usually perceived as a victimless crime and there is little punishment. This also
happens when it isn’t considered to be a crime itself, suggesting a lack of interest. Widespread
actions are not seen as real offences, despite there being laws against them, and are treated more as
a misdemeanour, with punishments being reduced, and less time and money spent trying to find the
offenders of these crimes. Leading to the government having little choice to decriminalise it and make
the act legal as they have to accept the criminal act can’t be controlled as no one takes notice of that
law. Decriminalisation occurs for several crimes that a large majority of society commit and includes
drugs, prostitution and illegal downloads. An example of decriminalisation was the view towards
cannabis in Australia. Large numbers of people used or had used cannabis therefore the public saw it
as relatively harmless and a victimless crime so it stayed unreported. Leading it to be decriminalised.
Decriminalisation can be a positive consequence of unreported crime because it means that the
police can put more time and resources into more serious crimes that require more effort. Meaning,
that society is more satisfied with being allowed to do their activities legally. Concerning drugs the
positive consequences are: It is associated with improved health outcomes with more accessible
treatments leading to improved social outcomes, as criminal justice system costs come down, and the
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