Things are made criminal, and they are legalised as society changes.
The case of domestic violence
There are more reported cases of domestic violence than in the 1970s.
Is there more violence?
Probably not – the police did not act on reports of domestic violence and many women regarded violence as a ‘normal’ part of marriage.
Jock Young
Jock Young (1994) pointed out that laws have been created, often quickly and without forethought, in response to moral panics or to political events.
Examples include various laws against terrorism
Stephen Moore
Stephen Moore points out that the police play a very significant part in the social construction of crime and deviance because it is they who record reported crimes.
He said that Coroners create a definition of a typical suicide and then categorise individual deaths according to that social construction.
Frances Heidensohn
Heidensohn says that the police have a powerful ‘canteen’ culture, which has elements of masculinism, authoritarianism, intolerance of ethnic minorities, a desire for excitement and strong notions of law enforcement.
They will therefore categorise acts as criminal on the basis of these perceptions
Howard Becker
Becker pointed out that delinquent boys were less likely to be charged if they behaved with a sufficiently cooperative and pleasant manner and if they were seen as basically ‘good’ than if they were aggressive or hostile.
a family car to be stolen or taken by once every 60 years
a burglary in the home once every forty years
This glosses over the fact that some people are considerably more at risk than others.
The Islington Crime Survey
Conducted by Jones et al (1986)
Islington is the seventh most deprived area in England).
The researchers found higher levels of victimisation and multiple victimisation amongst women, ethnic minorities and the poor.
Burglary, robbery, or sexual assault had touched a third of all households within the last twelve months.
Feminists and victim studies
Feminist researchers such as Hanmer and Saunders 1984, Hall 1985 suggest levels of sexual crime against women are far higher that those revealed by national victim surveys and infinitely higher that those indicated by police records.
Fear of crime
The British Crime Survey shows that older women tend to be the most afraid.
Younger men - who are most likely to end up victim in a violent or criminal incident on the street - are the least likely to admit fear.
However the repercussions for older people may be more serious if a crime is committed.
