Crime is always in the news, and how to control it is a matter of intense political and public debate. So say three academics in a foreword to a document making the case for social science research. They are Prof Cary Cooper of the Academy of Social Sciences; Prof Mike Hough, president of the British Society of Criminology; and Prof Gerry Mulhearn of the British Psychological Society.
They write that many people are poorly informed about crime and justice. They go on:
The issues are complex; measuring crime is far from simple because many crimes go unreported and unrecorded; keeping track of peopleโs โcriminal careersโ is bedevilled by the obvious fact that crime is a covert activity. Finding out what works in reducing crime โ and what doesnโt – requires careful and thorough research. And any balanced strategy to control crime needs to be underpinned by a proper understanding of the underlying social, cultural and economic causes of crime. This is because social justice and criminal justice are inevitably intertwined: it is hard to envisage a fair system of justice in an unfair society.
Social science research has made a major contribution to knowledge about crime and justice and we have a much better grasp of crime trends, the causes of crime and its prevention than we did 25 years ago. It is sometimes an uphill battle to make the voice of dispassionate research heard above the clamour of populist debate about law and order. But it is essential that politicians and policy makers have a solid evidence base to draw on in this critically important policy area, where facts are hotly contested and where media representations of the problems are sometimes distorted. โCommon-senseโ solutions to โwicked problemsโ โ of which crime is surely a prime example โ can create more difficulties than they solve.
The 28-page document goes on to offer a digest of some social science research, covering subjects such as; anti-social behaviour; gun control; illegal drugs; why do people go into crime; how offenders stay away from crime after prison; and what makes homicide difficult-to-solve and so can help the gathering of material in a homicide case.
And also featured is study into crowds and policing. Contrary to popular belief, people do not adopt a โmob mentalityโ (losing their identity and control of their actions) once in a crowd, for example in a football stadium or an emergency. Instead, they act in terms of a shared social identity rather than their own personal identity.
And on fraud, the document recalls how in 1990 the Home Office commissioned a study of the prevention of cheque and credit card fraud. Prof Michael Levi of Cardiff University led a team investigating this issue. Their report recommended more data-sharing, more specialist police units and improvements in police-industry partnership working. Stimulated by meetings between the Home Secretary, a Home Office Minister and senior bankers, this report got the industry working together more closely. As a result the Plastic Fraud Prevention Forum was created within what was then APACS and is now โThe UK Cards Associationโ, and credit information sharing flourished via the not-for-profit body CIFAS, This model โ of collective pooling of data and risk analysis โ has been followed by the motor claims industry, which has set up an Insurance Fraud Bureau, which uses software to pick out concealed patterns of inter-relationships to reduce motor claims frauds. However, different companiesโ commercial interests mean that data-sharing in other areas of insurance has not yet enjoyed the same support, the document notes.
Payment card fraud fell in the 1990s and chip and pin came in, instead of signing a signature.
For more information visit –
http://library.npia.police.uk/docs/hofindings/r281.pdf
http://www.apa.org/pubs/books/431645A.aspx
To access a report Towards Effective Practice in Offender Supervision see –
http://www.sccjr.ac.uk/pubs/Towards-Effective-Practice-in-Offender-Supervision/79
On repeat victimisation, reports of much of the early work can be accessed at: www-staff.lboro.ac.uk/~ssgf/kp%20pdfs.htm
And to download this document visit the website of the British Society of Criminology –
