SOCI3603 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Corporate Crime, Participant Observation, General Social Survey
Chapter 2: Measuring Crime January 17&19
Categories of crime from the Canadian criminal code
Violent crimes
Crimes against property
White-collar and corporate crime
Drug, alcohol and sex related crimes
What is the purpose of gathering crime date?
Gauge the health of a community or society
Determine whether crime is on the increase, in decline, or fairly stable over time
Compare the rates across neighbourhoods, regions, or nations
Researchers need to collect and analyze information in order to test theories about
why people commit crime
Criminal justice agencies depend on certain kinds of information to facilitate daily
operations and to anticipate future needs
oAllocate resource in the most cost-effective way
oEvaluate crime prevention programs
Determine the risk of victimization for different groups
Establish the social and economic impact of crime on society
How accurately do official crime statistics measure crime in our society?
Controversies over counting crime
Methodology: refer to the study used for data collection
Reliability: refers to consistency of results over time
Validity: the extent to which a tool or instrument actually measures the concept
the researcher claims to be interested in and not something else
Crime rate: criminologists calculate crime rates (or rates of incarceration,
conviction, or recidivism) by dividing the amount of crime by the population size
multiplying by 100,000
The attrition of cases in the criminal justice system
Case attrition or the crime funnel are concepts that refer to the fact that criminal
cases get progressively fewer as they move through the various stages of the CJS
In 95% of all crimes, no punishment can be imposed on the perpetrators. The
likelihood of prison is even lower
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For every 100 crimes committed:
oCase: 34 incidents are reported to the police and 33 incidents are recorded
as an actual crime
oAttrition: 12 cases are cleared or deemed to be solved and 7 cases are
cleared by charge
oCJS: 5 cases result in a conviction or guilty plea and 1 case results in a
sentence to custody
Crime funnel- four basic levels
The number of criminal incidents that actually occur
The number that are detected
The number reported to authorities
The number that officials record
Concept: reflects the fact that the number of incidents of crime shrink as one
moves from the top to the bottom of the funnel
Types of data
Primary: facts and observations that researchers gather for the purpose of a study
Secondary: data that was collected previously for a different investigation or from
government sources. Could be from Police, Courts, Corrections and Statistics
Canada
Methods of collecting crime date
Survey research
oThe systematic collection of respondents answers to questions asked in
questionnaires or interviews
oGenerally used to gather information about attitudes, characteristics or
behaviours
oPopulation
oSample
oRandom sample
oAdvantages: cost-effective, far reach, anonymity
oDisadvantages: low response rate, cannot probe, cause and effect difficult
to establish
Experiments
oUsed in physical, biological and social sciences
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oAn investigator introduces a change into a process and make
measurements or observations in order to evaluate the effects of the
change
oScientist test hypotheses abut how two or more variables are related
oMost experiments are conducted in laboratories
oField experiments are conducted
oAdvantages: can infer causality
oDisadvantage: contrived lab setting, but field expensive
Participants/ non-participant observation
oResearchers use methods that provide detailed descriptions of life as it is
actually lived
oObservation is the most direct means of studying behaviour qualitatively
oParticipant observation: the researcher may join and participate in the
activities of the group being studied
oNon-participant observation: the researcher observes the group being
studied but is not a participant in the activities
oAdvantage: real look at subjects
oDisadvantage: dangerous, difficult to gain entry
Case study
oQualitative in nature
oAn analysis of all pertinent aspects of one unit of study, such as an
individual, an institution, a group, or a community
oSources of information may be life histories, biographies, diaries, journals,
letters, and other records
Ex: Sutherland’s “ The Professional Thief:
oAdvantage: detail
oDisadvantage: time-consuming, not generalizable
Secondary data
oAdvantage: cost-effective
oDisadvantage: depending on other for data, different goals when data
collected
Qualitative and quantitative research
Qualitative: used to study topics where there is little known about the topic.
Participants and non-participants observation are qualitative in nature
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Document Summary
Categories of crime from the canadian criminal code. Gauge the health of a community or society. Determine whether crime is on the increase, in decline, or fairly stable over time. Compare the rates across neighbourhoods, regions, or nations. Researchers need to collect and analyze information in order to test theories about why people commit crime. Criminal justice agencies depend on certain kinds of information to facilitate daily operations and to anticipate future needs: allocate resource in the most cost-effective way, evaluate crime prevention programs. Determine the risk of victimization for different groups. Establish the social and economic impact of crime on society. Methodology: refer to the study used for data collection. Reliability: refers to consistency of results over time. Validity: the extent to which a tool or instrument actually measures the concept the researcher claims to be interested in and not something else.
