Summary
Summary criminology unit 1 - AC1.3 - Consequences of unreported crime
- Module
- Criminology
- Institution
- WJEC
Unit 1 AC1.3 - Consequences of unreported crime notes that I used in my external exam that allowed me to get 100/100
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AC1.3 - Consequences of unreported crimeTHE RIPPLE EFFECT
Based on the idea that if crime goes unreported, it can affect the whole community
and can lead to other crimes not being reported.
Unreporting crimes may make children think it is okay or socialise them into the
criminal behaviour
By not reporting, that means police aren’t able to address the crime and thus means
that society isn’t able to take care of the behaviour.
The ripple effect also describes how crime can affect others not just the immediate
victim but maybe even their families too.
Example
An example of the ripple effect is being burgled. Having your house being burgled
can also affect your neighbours.
Negative
The buglers may think of the neighbourhood as being an easy target and so may
commit another crime in the area since it wasn’t dealt with at first.
People are likely to move away from the area which may result in the pricing of the
neighbourhood decreasing
Positive
A positive consequence of this may be that the neighbours of the burgled house are
more likely to be more vigilant in case the crime also happens to them.
(explain example, give positive and negative reasoning)
CULTURAL CONSEQUENCES
Sometimes, cultures can view behaviours differently, a behaviour in one country may
be deemed as criminal but not in another.
This means that some crimes will go unreported because some cultures do not view
it as a crime.
Some people may not report the crime either because it is outside of their own
culture and so may not be aware that it is a crime. They may also feel it is not their
place to get involved which then leads to criminals not getting convicted.
Example
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is an example of this. Although FGM is illegal in the
UK, many communities still see it as an acceptable thing to do. FGM is a common
crime that happens in a lot of minority communities.
Because of it being deemed as socially acceptable by many cultures, it often means
that the crime goes by unreported by members of the culture and communities.
, According to Haroon Siddique “more than 20,000 girls a year are though to be at risk
of FGM in the UK.”
Negative
Because of the cultural consequences, this means that many crimes like FGM and
honour killings are not brought to the attention of authorities because of people’s
view on whether it is acceptable or not.
The lack of attention means that the police cannot allocate their time and resources
to preventing these crimes.
It also means that the crime is then not represented in the media resulting in the
public knowing little about the crime which means they are then not able to be on
the look out for potential victims or offenders of this crime meaning innocent young
girls are forced to go through these crimes alone.
Victims are unable to seek help as there aren't any places of help they can reach out
to and it means these crimes are likely to continue and offenders are likely to get
away with the crime since members of the community are unlikely to report it.
Positive
A positive to this is that as society progresses, more and more members of these
minority group are speaking out against these crimes.
Speaking out means that they are able to bring attention to these underreported
crimes and thus increase the publics knowledge about them meaning that more
people are then able to be on the look out for these crimes.
More knowledge means more charities and organisations can be put into place so
that victims are able to reach out for help when needed.
DECRIMINSATION
Decriminalization - “the action or process of ceasing to treat something as illegal or
as a criminal offence”
Some laws aren’t enforced by the police due to the changing attitudes of the public.
The crime becomes socially accepted by the public.
Because of this, often times the government have no choice but to decriminalise
certain crimes because the public no longer acknowledges the crime or the law.
The public is no longer concerned about the crime and may even view it as being
victimless. Eg drugs, prostitution and illegal downloads.
Although there might still be laws against the crime, they are often not enforced as
harshly and punishments for it may even be reduced. Less of the police’s money and
time are spent enforcing these crimes and in some cases, these crimes can even
become legalised.
Examples
An example of discrimination is the legalisation of cannabis use in the US for
recreational or medical use.
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