Measuring crime: the Official Statistics (Forensic Psychology)

OFFICIAL STATISTICS:

A01:

This is the figure of crimes that are reported to the policed, and recorded in the official figures. This may be expected to be reasonably accurate – but it depends on people reporting crimes (which they may not do, eg. if they are scared or embarrassed) and depends on the police recording such crimes (which might not be done if they, for example, deem the crime too trivial, or if there is a lack of evidence), and so it’s very likely that it doesn’t reflect the true extent of crime. These unreported/unrecorded offences are often referred to as a ‘dark figure’ of crime.

A03:

Farrington and Dowds (1985) investigated the differences in the Official Statistics between Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and Leicestershire and found that Nottinghamshire police were a lot more likely to report thefts of £10 and under – this explains why the official crime rate in Nottinghamshire is much higher.
This demonstrates how police recording procedures can distort the Official Statistics, suggesting that may not be the most appropriate method to use – and other measures of crime should be used as well.

A03:

Hollin (1992) suggested that the Official Statistics, in fact, only account for about 25% of crime actual crime, and therefore this suggests that the Official Statistics only provides a limited view of the true extent of crime – as 75% is unaccounted for – thus, demonstrating that it is a potentially very unreliable method.