Local Crime Trends

This research project attempts to contrast local crime trends with the British Crime Survey (BCS). In addition, it intends to explore how many Isle of Wight residents have been victims of crime and whether they felt satisfied with the police. Furthermore, it intends to measure whether residents of the Isle of Wight view it a safer place to live than mainland Britain.

A semi-structured interview was used for the primary research in order to collect quantitive data. This type of method and data collection seeks to be subjective and scientific.

The Island has a population of approximately 130,000 and the majority live in one of the eight small towns on the Island. Agriculture and horticulture take up 80 % of the land area. The Isle of Wight Crime and Disorder Partnership claim that the Island is a relatively safe place to live. This study seeks investigate this claim by comparing statsical data for the Isle of Wight with the data from Southeast Britain.

Hypothesis: The Isle of Wight is a safer place to live in terms of crime than mainland Britain.

* Aim 1 - To investigate how many Island residents have been victims of crime.

* Aim 2 - To investigate victim's satisfaction of the police.

* Aim 3 - To measure whether the residents of the Isle of Wight view it as a safe place to live.

* Aim 4 - To compare Isle of Wight crime statistics with the statistics for Mainland Britain (South East)

Sociological theories into crime and methods can be divided by the two extremes, the positivistic approach and the subjectivist approach. Positivistic approaches derive from the belief that sociological studies should be scientific, objective and use statistic analysis to explain crime. The subjectivist approach stress that there is no objective world outside the consciousness of people. Gathering statistics never uncovers the reasons people commit crime. This approach tends to favour observational methods. It is worth remembering that most sociological perspectives lie somewhere in between these polar approaches.

There are a number of theories and studies in criminology but due to restrictions, this investigation will look specifically at the perspective of the left realist

In the late 1970's, Taylor Watson and young began to modify the Marxist approach to crime, which is concerned with the political, social and economic conditions in which crime occurs. The result was a new approach to criminology that advocated a change in social conditions. According to Young (1975) the social world is complex and constantly changing. Theories that apply now may be redundant in the future. What works for one type of crime may not work for another. Therefore, a flexible theory is needed to be able to deal with a changing world and the different aspects of crime.

Some sociologists have tried to deny that there has been an increase in crime by pointing to the inaccuracy of the crime figures and the increase in the reporting of crime. Young (1993) argues that the rises have been so great that changes in the recording and reporting of crime cannot account for the increase. In addition, some sociologists have indicated that the chance of becoming a victim of crime is minimal. Lea and Young (1980) agree that while the chances of becoming a victim is relatively small in some areas, for particular groups the risk is high. It is usually the poor, deprived, ethnic minorities or residents of the inner city that are high-risk targets.

The government of the 1980's claimed that there was an irrational fear of crime. Taylor and Lea (1985) suggested that people were justified in their fear, particularly those who were working class and living in urban areas. The local crime surveys of Islington and Merseyside demonstrated that for the majority of people crime was not unusual.

Most crime surveys have focused on inner city areas. However, an example of a rural crime survey was conducted in Aberystwyth, Wales. (Koffman 1996) The data collected from this survey was compared to the British Crime Survey. They found a very different pattern of crime. In particular, there was a reduction in burglaries but higher levels of vandalism and car theft.

McConville and Shepherd (1992) suggested rules, which guide police in making their decisions to pursue a complaint or to arrest someone. A most important one relevant to the results of this investigation is the type of victim. It seems that some victims are more likely to be responded to than others. The higher the victims social standing and the more serious the offence or if the police see the victim as more deserving, the amount of police time increases and the more likely they are to apprehend the perpetrator.

Lea and Young have offered a number of solutions to the reduction of crime. In particular they stress that a radial transformation of society is needed. They see the problems in life experiences by the working class as principally due to inequalities in class. One of the solutions supported by Lea and Young is the return of community policing.

Evidence suggests that public confidence in the police has declined, especially amongst ethnic minorities. Most crimes are solved from the result of information from victims. If trust breaks down, the flow of vital information ceases and the level of solved crimes diminishes. This adds to the lack of confidence and trust in the police. Victims no longer see the point in volunteering information. Therefore, the police have to resort to military policing and this alienates the public even further creating a vicious circle. The return of community policing would encourage the public to stop seeing the police as the enemy. Trust would be built leading to crime being reported on a regular basis. In addition, vital information would again be volunteered and result in more crimes being solved.

Finally, Lea and Young point out that no matter how much police reform is advocated, no progress can be made without a long-term change in society.

Methodology

This study used a combination of both primary and secondary research. The primary research comprised of a semi-structured interview that intended to measure the attitudes to crime and to ascertain whether participants were satisfied with policing policies. The questions were fixed choice questions.

This research method was used, as firstly, it is relatively cheap. Secondly, it maintains the anonymity of the participants and therefore