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Crime and Deviance Statistics

• The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) recorded 50% more crime than Police Recorded Crime (PRC) in 2014.
• The public reports 85% of recorded crimes to the police.
• Only 1 in 5 crimes reported to the police are actually recorded.
• People are now more likely to report crime due to increasing privatization and the breakdown of close-knit communities.
• In 2014, 280 new criminal offences were created, while 213 were abolished.

Ethnicity and Crime

• Black people are twice as likely to be cautioned by the police compared to white people.
• Black individuals are around 3 times more likely to be arrested.
• If arrested, black individuals are more likely to be charged.
• Black individuals are more likely to be given a custodial sentence.
• Black individuals are 5 times more likely to be imprisoned.
• Asians are more likely to be charged, face court proceedings, and receive custodial sentences.
• Crimes committed by black people in the 1970s are seen as a symbol of political action, representing resistance to inequality and police racism (Gilroy).
• The idea of higher black criminality is a myth created by negative stereotypes by the police and media (Gilroy).
• An economic and political crisis in the 1970s threatened the dominance of the ruling class, creating tension between the Afro-Caribbean community and the police (Hall et al.).
• Selective publication of crime statistics and media scaremongering created a moral panic, leading to the 'black mugger' stereotype and distracting from larger issues (Hall et al.).
• Most crimes recorded are reported by the public, making it difficult to attribute black criminality solely to police racism (Lee and Young).
• Higher crime rates among black individuals are due to marginality, relative deprivation, and subcultures of resistance (Lee and Young).
• Higher levels of robbing by black people are linked to poverty and social exclusion (Phillips and Bowling).
• Asian individuals are among the poorest in the country but have significantly lower crime rates compared to black people (Phillips and Bowling).
• A racist "canteen culture" exists within the police, fostering suspicion, shared values, and racism, encouraging the development of stereotypes (Reiner).
• There is evidence of racial discrimination in the Criminal Justice System, both indirect and direct, supporting the labeling idea (Phillips and Bowling).
• Police are more likely to exercise racist stereotypes when they have more scope to do so, like during stop and searches (Fitzgerald).
• Asians are twice as likely and black people are six times more likely to be stopped and searched by police compared to white people (Ministry of Justice, 2013).
• Stop and searches unfairly criminalize a group, leading to resentment and potentially riots or self-fulfilling prophecy (Phillips and Bowling).
• The investigation into the murder of Steven Lawrence (1993) led to the Macpherson report (1999), which was highly critical of the Metropolitan Police.
• The Metropolitan Police Association (2008) discouraged ethnic minorities from joining the police due to the institution's hostile nature.
• Black and Asian prisoners face a more brutal regime than white prisoners, including abuse, violence, and intimidation (Phillips and Bowling).
• White people are more likely to commit lifetime offenses, while ethnic minorities are the least likely to commit crime (Home Office, 2003).

Gender and Crime

• Men are more likely to commit crime than women.
• Men account for ¾ of people convicted of crimes and 85% of recorded crimes.
• 95% of the prison population are men.
• Men are 60 times more likely to be found guilty of sexual offenses.
• Women are often perceived as needing protection, less guilty, and more vulnerable due to the protective and patriarchal nature of the criminal justice system (Pollack - Chivalry thesis).
• Women are treated with more leniency when convicted of a crime.
• First-time female offenders are nearly half as likely to be given a sentence of immediate imprisonment as their male counterparts.
• Women are less likely to be remanded in custody and more likely to receive a community or suspended license.
• Women do not get as harsh sentences due to existing responsibilities, less serious crimes, remorse, and fewer previous offenses.
• Females are more likely to be harshly judged than men when they deviate from traditional gender norms, reflecting double standards (Heidensohn).
• Women who don't conform are more likely to be harshly punished in the court system.
• Women are jailed less based on the seriousness of their crime and more on the court's assessment of them as wives, mothers, and daughters (Carlen).
• Women with children are more likely to be labeled as guilty by the system.
• Men try to distance themselves from feminine role models through compensatory masculinity (Parsons).
• Male socialization pushes boys to engage in gangs, especially if they lack a male role model; boys growing up with single mothers are more likely to fail in education and turn to crime (Cohen).
• Gender socialization is decreasing (Evaluation of Parsons and Cohen).
• The assumption that women are best suited for the expressive role because they have the biological capacity to have children is criticized (Wurklates).
• Women are more likely to be controlled in all spheres of life, limiting their opportunities to commit crime (Heidensohn - control theory).
• Women are encouraged to conform to class deals (fulfilling their role at work and getting material reward) and gender deals (fulfilling their roles within the family) (Carlen).
• Most women accept these roles; however, some women lack access to these roles due to poverty, abuse, etc., leading them to commit crime as they have nothing to lose (Carlen).
• Carlen's evaluation is unrepresentative, with a small sample of 31 working-class women aged 15-46, all convicted of a crime.
• Increase in women's criminality statistics: in 1957, men were responsible for 11 times the offenses compared to women; in 2014, it is 3 to 1.
• Between 2002 and 2014, there was a decrease in male crime but an increase in female crime.
• It's suggested that the increase in female crime is due to their liberation, as they are no longer as significantly controlled and have more opportunities to commit crime (Alder).
• There is growing 'ladette' culture with women adopting behaviors traditionally associated with young men through binge drinking, gang culture, risk-taking, and peer group violence (Denscombe).
• The increase in girls' violence results from changes in labeling of girls' behavior rather than real changes in behavior (Heidensohn and Silverstri).

Masculinity and Crime

• Hegemonic masculinity refers to the traditional masculine image of what makes a "real man". Gender is socially constructed.
• Male peer groups reinforce competitive and aggressive tendencies, leading to increased risks of crime and delinquency (Connell).
• Concerns among young men can lead to risks of crime and delinquency (Miller - subcultural theory).
• Men sometimes turn to crime and violence to assert their masculinity when traditional legitimate ways of asserting their masculinity are blocked (Messerschmidt).
• Engaging in edgework is a way of expressing masculinity when approved means are blocked (Lynn).
• Men are more likely to be labeled as criminal due to stereotypes (Labeling theory).

Social Class and Crime

• Sociology of crime and deviance focuses on the crimes of the powerless rather than the powerful (Newburn).
• Crime is not solely a working-class phenomenon but is widespread throughout all sections of society (Sutherland).
• White-collar and corporate crime are offenses committed by the more affluent in society, suggesting many remain undetected (Sutherland).
• White-collar crime is committed by middle-class individuals abusing their position for personal gain, while corporate crime is committed by large companies or individuals on behalf of those companies (Croall).
• Corporate offenses include paperwork and non-compliance (e.g., Volkswagen), environmental crime (e.g., Volkswagen), manufacturing offenses (e.g., Thalidomide), labour law violations (e.g., Shein), unfair trade practices (e.g., 2011 price-fixing), and financial offenses (e.g., Starbucks and Amazon offshore centers undermining tax) (Slapper and Tombs).
• Corporate crimes are hidden from view and harder to detect, making them relatively invisible and appearing to be normal jobs (Clark and Croall).
• These crimes may lack personal or individual victims, resulting in less obvious personal harm (Croall).
• These are 'complaintless' crimes, with no individual victim to report an offense (Clark).
• Victims may lack the expertise to recognize that they have been victims of corporate crime (Croall).
• Individuals around people commonly associated with illegal activity are more likely to commit crime (Sutherland - differential association theory).
• White-collar/corporate crime results from a criminogenic society (Marxist perspective).
• Corporate/white-collar crime is less likely to be labeled as criminal, leading to continued offending (Nelken).
• Crime can be seductive and thrilling (Katz and Lyng).
• Evidence from the world of high finance shows a clear subculture of excitement among men making high-risk decisions (Nelken).
• This perspective fails to explain why not all individuals turn to crime.
• Marxist explanations do not explain why corporate crimes are present in countries without pressure for profit.