AC 1.

2 – Lesson 1
EXPLAIN THE REASONS CERTAIN CRIMES ARE UNREPORTED
 Starter

If you witnessed a crime, would you always report it?

Would it depend on the type of crime?

With a partner:

• list 3 crimes which you, or someone you know could be a victim of

• For each of these crimes, give a reason why the victim might not
report the crime
 Reasons for unreported crime

Crimes can only be investigated and solved if they are reported to the
police. There are many reasons why crimes are not reported. For
example, a person may be unaware that they are the victim of a crime.
On the other hand, they may well be aware that they are a victim but may
have personal, social or cultural reasons for not reporting the crime .
 Why are crimes not reported?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6ZIeWrpACk
 The ‘dark figure’ of crime

 The dark figure of crime is a term used to describe the amount of unreported or
undiscovered crime, which calls into question the reliability of official crime statistics.
 Victim studies, like the research associated with the British Crime Survey (BCS), are
recent attempts to provide an insight into the amount of unreported crime.
 Not all the crimes that take place are reported to, or recorded by, the police. This gap
between the official level of crime and the amount of crime in the community is known
as the 'dark figure' for crime. It is now widely accepted by social researchers that official
crime statistics have significant limitations
Crime statistics

https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=jzdTiM5wS_c
 Some crimes are much more likely to be reported and
recorded than others

 Where insurance claims for cars or household goods are involved

 Serious crimes are more likely to be reported than trivial offences
 Media campaigns or the reporting of high profile cases can lead to 'moral panics' and sensitize the general
public to the existence of crime and thus reporting behaviour.
 Police discretion can influence reporting and recording
 Different police forces employ different categories and paperwork
 There are campaigns that lead to crack downs on certain crimes or offences, such as drunk driving at
Christmas
 Some forces will pay less attention to certain types of offence, such as the decision by the Met to liberalize
the policing of soft drugs in Brixton in 2002
 A shift from informal or community policing to stricter, military style policing and zero tolerance
campaigns, or vice versa, will influence crime rates
Reasons for unreported crime

Personal reasons Social and cultural reasons

Fear Lack of knowledge

Shame Complexity

Disinterest Lack of media interest

Not affected by the crime Lack of current public concern

Culture-bound crime
 Personal reason - fear

The victim of the crime may be concerned that there will be reprisals if they report it to the police. If the victim knows
the offender, they may be afraid that reporting the crime might lead to further actions against them. Victims may also
fear the possible consequences for their families and those close to them. Examples include: domestic abuse, honour
crimes, hate crimes.
 Personal reason - shame

Being a victim of some crimes may cause embarrassment or shame. The victim may not want to admit that
such a crime has happened because of how it makes them feel or how it makes them appear to others
(vulnerable, unable to defend or protect themselves).
 Personal reason - disinterest

A crime may go unreported because those who witness it are disinterested, maybe because they feel it has
nothing to do with them, they don’t care about it, the crime doesn’t make them feel upset so they leave it to
someone else to report. For example, witnessing underage drinking, or a homeless person high on drugs.
 Personal reason – Not affected by the crime

Similar to being disinterested, a person might not be personally affected by a particular crime and so may
not feel the need to report it to the police. For example, if a person sees someone else’s car being broken
into, they may not care because it doesn’t affect them personally and so they don’t report it.

In the scenario on disinterest, why

might Sam not be affected by the
young people?
AC 1.2
EXPLAIN THE REASONS CERTAIN CRIMES ARE UNREPORTED:
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL REASONS
 Social and cultural reason: Lack of knowledge

 People may not know that a particular action is against the law so
they do not consider reporting it.
 They may lack the knowledge of how to make a report or to whom
they should make it.
 E.g. someone receiving abusive or threatening messages online
may not know what they need to do to report this crime. If no face
to face personal contact has occurred a victim may not realise that
these actions can be dealt with by the authorities.
 Task

Visit the website below:

https://www.bullying.co.uk/cyberbullying/what-to-do-if-you-re-being-bullied-on-a-social-network/

1. Make notes on the ways in which online bullying can be reported on different social media.
2. Design some interview questions to ask young people if they are aware of what they should report and how they
report such bullying.
3. Interview five students who are not in your Criminology class.
4. From your interviews, write a summary of your findings about young people’s knowledge of online bullying and
how to report it.
5. Share your main findings with the rest of the class.
 Social and cultural reason: Complexity

Some crimes are very complex and it can be difficult to tell whether a crime has been
committed as it is difficult to understand.

Can you think of any examples?

E.g. white collar crimes can involve complex accounting procedures which mean the
crime is never uncovered.
If a crime is not discovered in the first place, then it cannot be reported.
 Social and cultural reason: Lack of media
interest

Much of our knowledge of crime is gained through the media’s coverage of it. This
increases people’s awareness and may make witnesses and victims of the sorts of crimes
covered by the media more likely to report them to the police.
On the other hand, crimes that are not in the media spotlight may not get reported to the
police. If the media don’t sensitise their audiences to a given type of crime, the public
will be less vigilant or anxious about it and less likely to notice it, and less likely to report
it if they do notice it.
However, if the media start to take an interest in a certain type of crime, this will increase
the crime’s profile and may encourage victims of similar offences to report them.
 TASK

Read the article and answer the questions

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/15/me-too-founder-tarana-burke-women-sexual-assault

1. Why was Tarana Burke surprised by the Twitter activity on her #MeToo account?
2. What had caused the women to begin sharing their stories on social media?
3. Why was Tarana Burke worried about the use of social media in her campaign?
4. Why did Tarana Burke attend the Golden Globes?
5. Why does Tarana Burke think social media is useful in the campaign against sexual harassment and
violence?
6. What might be the negative effects of the use of #MeToo on social media?
7. Summarise how social media has enabled the #MeToo campaign to encourage the reporting of crime.
 Social and cultural reason: Lack of public
concern

Similar to a lack of media interest, if a crime

is not causing public concern then it is less
likely people will report it. For example, A YouGov survery in 2018 found a slight majority
public attitudes to cannabis have changed in favour of legalising its posession
over the years and many people now see it as
relatively harmless, despite the fact that
possession of the drug remains a crime.
As a result, they are unlikely to report it to
the police.
 Social and cultural reason: Culture-bound
crime

 The United Kingdom is a multicultural society with a range of different beliefs and cultural
practices. The cultural practices of some groups may break the law. Examples of cultural practices
that are against the law in the UK are female genital mutilation and forced marriage.
 While such practices are criminal, the fact that they are linked to the culture and customs of some
communities may mean they are not reported to the police. For members of the community in
question, this may be because they see no wrong in the activity. Alternatively, they may fear reprisals
from their own community if they report the crime. Those outside the community may feel that they
should not interfere in other people’s cultures
 Handy hint:

In the controlled assessment, when

you address this AC, ensure you
include a range of criminal offences
by way of examples to support your
points.

AC 1.2
EXPLAIN THE REASONS CERTAIN CRIMES ARE UNREPORTED:
FURTHER CASE STUDIES AND EXAMPLES
 Case study: sexual assault/rape
Rape may not be reported due to
embarrassment or shame. As a result
of the intimate nature of this crime,
many people may not want to re-live
the experience by talking about it to
the police. Men, in particular, may feel
that they should have prevented such
action from taking place and pride
could prevent them reporting it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk7
KJnt6tEE
https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2
018/09/21/trump-kavanaugh-accuser-chr
istine-blasey-ford-tweet-nr-vpx.cnn
https://www.theguardian.com/global/vid
eo/2018/sep/19/this-is-not-a-man-that-de
serves-this-trump-defends-kavanaugh-vi
deo
#whyididnotreport

Rape/Sexual assault

https://www.gov.uk/report-rape-sexual-assault

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSWwX7lBEGk

1. Explain why people are not willing to report these types

of crimes

2. Suggest strategies that could be used by the police to

encourage people to report these kind of crimes.
 Common assault

Common assault involves a very low level of physical contact with very
little injury. It can be committed without any touching if a person
apprehends violence. For example, shouting ‘I am going to get you’,
but not doing anything else may result in an assault. In such a situation,
someone may feel it is not worth reporting it to the police or may feel
that the police may not take them seriously.
Domestic abuse

Domestic abuse may not be reported, as the victim often cares about
the offender due to their relationship. Alternatively, fear about future
abuse may be the issue, or not having somewhere else to live for the
victim and any children of the family may force someone to just put
up with it. Male victims of abuse may be particularly embarrassed
about reporting this to the police.
Vandalism
Officially known as criminal damage,
vandalism may be considered someone
else’s problem and, unless the damage is
against their property, many people
would simply ignore it. If the damage is
in the form of graffiti, people may feel it
is not worth reporting to the police.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

 Perceived victimless crimes

Perceived victimless crimes such as white collar crimes, may not be reported as people are unaware that they
are happening. They are usually carried out in secret, hidden behind complex transactions that people cannot
easily detect. Offenders are usually able to cover their tracks in unseen dealings.
Perceived victimless crimes include vagrancy, which is usually not reported as many people are unaware that
sleeping rough is actually a crime. Legislation concerning this offence dates back to 1824 and sympathy for a
person being homeless may prevent reporting.
Perceived victimless crimes include prostitution. Prostitution may not be reported as people understand that
such activities occur and are willing for them to continue providing it does not affect them. It is also
acknowledged that women earn a living from such an activity and men receive a ‘service’. As it is legalised
in other countries, in certain situations many people may feel that, due to both parties’ consent, it should not
be illegal.
Other perceived victimless crimes

Other perceived victimless crimes include assisted suicide. In assisted

suicide the victim usually desires the action to take place. It is often a
crime carried out due to compassion and love rather than a wish for
financial gain or revenge. The government has produced guidelines to
indicate when prosecutions are unlikely to take place, showing it is
recognised that in certain circumstances no action will take place.
The wordsearch contains six
words relating to reasons why
crime is not reported.
 For each example, note down
which category it fits
into (reason why that crime is
not reported)
 How many case studies can
you link?