Crime Essay Outline Essay

Critically examine the methods use to cake plague in Australia. In your answer you should discuss the adjacent How atomic number 18 hatred statistics collected, collated and used? What ar the strengths and weaknesses of official statistics versus unofficial statistics and substitute methods? How might these weaknesses be overcome?IntroductionBy measuring crime, dead-on(prenominal) crime data crumb be used for access the forte of public policies, including the measurement of crime trends and the evaluation of crime control initiatives (Weatherburn 2011). This act will discuss how crime statistics be used in Australia, the variances amidst official and unofficial statistics and the solutions of the weaknesses of official statistic. The definitions of conceptsofficial statistics- They are produced by presidency institutions such as constabulary offence information systems and Australian pioneer of Criminology.Unofficial statistics They are produced by people and agencie s that are not composite in the criminal justices system.The methods used to measure crimeAccording to Addington (2010), the main(prenominal) sources of crime data are crimes report from police, victim surveys and self-report surveys. Police preserve crime statisticEasy to conductIncluding information about the nature of the save crime, location, time, what weapons were used etc. (Weatherburn 2011). Regionally and nationallyReliablePolice were clever under criminological backgroundPolice are experienced victim surveysMeasure the dark figure of crime abhorrences reported to an interviewer by the victimNationallyBased on sample of address (Block, C. R., Block R. L. 1984) half-dozen index offensesRape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, larceny, and automobile theft (Decker 1977) Self-report surveysRarely reported to policeExamples are illegal drug use and tax evasion (Weatherburn 2011)The advantages authorized statisticsAdministrative data such as data from state and land p olice forces, courts, hospitals, community services (Browyn 2004). Represent an official record of crimeUp-to-date information (Browyn 2004).Can be used for comparative purposes and discount rate of crime trend.The limitationsOfficial statisticsNot all crimes committed are discoverNot all crimes committed are reportedAttitudes about the strength effectiveness of police in handing matters (Browyn 2004). Who are involved in an incident (Browyn 2004).The possible implication for victims (Browyn 2004).Not all crimes reported to police are recordedTechnical difficultiesA lack of sufficiently precise definitions for the phenomena to be measured (Security Publique Quebec 1993). A lack of uniformity or rigour in administrative practices used to compile the date (Security Publique Quebec 1993). Statistics only reflect the ocular face of crime and do not make it possible to measure all the crimes perpetrated (Security Publique Quebec 1993). Selective use of dataThe lag in describeSoluti onsEnsure independence (UK statistics laterality 2010)Public confidence as a targetA augment that statistics needed to be at affectionateness of policy-making and performance management Reinforce supervision on mediaThe media plays an primary(prenominal) role in forming peoples views on official statists (UK statistics Authority 2010). The misreporting and under reporting apparently endemic in current statistic has guide to their widespread devaluation (Skogan 1975) Prevent from abuse of official statisticsConclusionOfficial statistics are more credible but need to overcome their weaknesses. There are two possible options which are ensuring independence and reinforcing supervision on media can be considered as solutions in this paper.ReferencesBlock, Carolyn R. , Block, Richard L. (1984) Crime definition, crime measurement, and Victim Surveys, daybook of Social issues, Vol. 40, No.1, pp 137-160 Browyn, H. (2004) measuring crime in Australia, crime in the community, chapter 4, p p 64-78 Decker, Scott H. (1977) Official crime range and victim surveys an empirical comparison, Journal of twist Justice, Vol. 5, pp 47-54 Lynn A. Addington (2010) Measuring Crime, Oxford Available from Oxford Bibliographies 30 March 2014 Security Publique Quebec (1993) Partners in Crime Prevention For a Safer Quebec Report of the Task Force on crime prevention Skogan, W. G. (1975) Measurement problems in official and survey crime rates, Journal of Criminal Justice, Vol3, pp17-32 UK statistics Authority (2010) Overcoming Barriers to Trust in Crime Statistics England and Wales, observe report 5 Weatherburn, D. (2011) Uses and abuses of crime statistics Crime and Justice Bulletin, no. 153