Strengths and Weaknesses of Crime Statistics and Victimisation Surveys

Strengths and Weaknesses of Crime Statistics and Victimisation Surveys Rates of crime are recorded using two key sources; Police Recorded Crime (PRC) and Victimisation Surveys. Both will be explored and examined to see how they can, effectively assist policy makers in targeting areas for change. In addition the advantages and disadvantages of each method will be discussed along with their similarities and differences. To understand why it is important to record crime levels, three key notions must be clarified. Firstly, crime is legally defined as any act or omission outlawed by the criminal law and thus punishable (Odgers,1911). Secondly, the purpose of the judicial system is to enforce the law and protect victims of crime. Thirdly, criminal guilt relates to premeditated intention. Universal law is non-existent; therefore each country or locality has its own legal system. The shared aim is to hold person/s accountable for their behaviour. Substructures of the judiciary may focus on specific areas of interest. These may include the courts, and penal system and constabulary. The role of the courts and penal system is specific. It is in place to serve and protect the innocent, to pass judgement on the guilt or innocence of persons presented and to serve a proportionate punishment in response to the criminal act committed. Any form of justice served must remember the civil liberties of all concerned, including the offender. Crime prevention and law enforcement are a separate division provided by the constabulary. The term criminal guilt stems from two fundamental Latin principles. These are actus reus which translates as bad act and mens rea guilty mind. The accused must be found to have committed actus reus with the willing intention to perpetrate the act and/or to have assessed the risk i.e. accident or fear may be experienced as a direct result of the action (Dubber, Markus D. (2002). Few exceptions to being found guilty of one of these alone exist, these concern whether a person can be fully answerable for their actions. Examples of mens rea without actus reus can relate to crimes, where although the action is deemed illegal, the act may not have the deliberate intention to harm another. Examples of this could involve driving at excessive speed, an act of accidental manslaughter or self-defence. (law.jrank.org) Two comparable sources are used to measure crime rates within the UK. Police recorded crime measures the volume of notifiable offences committed over a fixed period, within the jurisdiction that the constabulary serves. Crime-related statistics are obtained at request of the British Home Office, where they are collated, analysed, and published throughout the year. The figures provide the government and the public with a summarised account of the information obtained. They aim to reveal and compare crime rates within specific localities. They are also used to demonstrate the effectiveness of policing. This information can be used to suggest areas for improvement and assist in the constant struggle to prevent crime occurring. The second method that is utilised, verifies the extent to which crime is perpetrated and is a valuable tool when combatting crime. Victimisation surveys; primarily recognised as the British Crime Survey (BCS) is a form of crime-related statistical research that was established in 1982. It was introduced in response for an alternative complementary system to exist alongside using police records alone. It aimed to gather intelligence on the public attitudes towards crime and their opinions relating to the judicial system. Although operationally independent from any government body, the BCS is still conducted for the British Home Office (First BCS report, Hough and Mayhew, 1983). The survey confidentially canvasses in the region of forty to fifty thousand individuals (Office for National Statistics, 2005) to uncover various information relating to crime-related experiences, including anti-social behaviour and police interaction and response to criminal activity. The people questioned span various demographics and aim to be representative of society. They are interviewed anonymously via door to door visits or telecommunications. Police recorded crime statistics are easy to conduct and provide a good measure of criminal cases both regionally and nationally. Because the statistics are compiled from police reports readily available, the only additional cost incurred involves the information being sent, analysed and evaluated. Over time re-occurring inclines and declines in illegal behaviour can be identified and used when analysing patterns of crime, in particular to risk assess, highlight and tackle crime hotspots. Crime statistics can also indicate the workload and performance level of police forces throughout the country.  [1]   An indication of a reduction in crime related incidents could boost public morale. If necessary the findings could influence change surrounding governing policy. For example, the allocation or re-allocation of specific resources within a police department could lead to a more efficient service. Identifying the need to place patrol officers where the greatest street crime occurs would be one way to maximise effectiveness of the police service. Unless a crime has been reported to the police and they have classified it as criminal it will not be included. This means that all minor misdemeanours that would be trialled as summary offences in court such as, crimes relating to anti social behaviour, assault, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass, along with most either-way offences for example theft and drug offences are excluded from being recorded  [2]  . This highlights one of the main failings of this form of data collection as it leads to discrepancies when analysing the results, especially when comparing between PRC and victimisation surveys. Data collection and recording of PRC statistics are affected by the regulations implemented by the current governing body  [3]  . The results uncovered may point to a rise in criminal acts being committed. This could have a negative impact on society. As a result the published findings could become biased and used as propaganda to mislead people into believing that crime rates are more favourable than factual. In some situations the volume of crime could be falsely recorded to meet performance and administrative targets (Chambliss, 2001). This is in direct contradiction of providing a good service to the public. British crime surveys are independent from government reports and not affected by changes in how crime is reported and documented. They play an important role in serving the public interest and governing change and policy. They provide a better indication relating to long-term trends of crime within society  [4]  , in particular highlighting crimes which affect different sociological groups. For example, crimes against women and those which affect minority groups such as the vulnerable, mentally ill, the disadvantaged and ethnic minorities. The BCS provides statistics which demonstrate the extent to which crime occurs. It accounts for minor offences, antisocial behaviour and victimless crime such as fraud. It also includes household and personal crime which may not be otherwise reported or deemed a criminal act  [5]  . The BCS is constantly changing to adapt to new concerns affecting society  [6]  . Recent expansion has seen the inclusion of acts committed against minors such as gadget theft which has seen a vast increase as technology advances; however this is only in the testing stage and is yet to be fully implemented. It has also seen the inclusion of crimes relating to identity theft  [7]  . The confidential method of surveying is flexible and can reach a wide proportion of people. Interviews conducted may take place at home, by visiting door to door or over the telephone. This can motivate people to openly speak their mind about their experiences and concerns. It may also lead to the discussion of topics of a sensitive nature for example, being the victim of racially incited or homophobic hate crimes, which they may not have wanted to report. This may be due to shame, embarrassment, a fear of repercussions or not being believed or taken seriously by the police service  [8]  . Over all the BCS appears to paint a broader picture of how a variety of crime-related issues really affect a range of varied people. Perhaps this is because they take the initiative and seek to learn more. Shortcomings surrounding this form of canvassing is that it is very costly to conduct, not only in man power but also time and resources. The effectiveness is questionable as the results gathered rely on a persons honesty and personal insight in to how they have been affected which may provide exaggerated responses or false information. The BCS also excludes the recording of commercial crimes and heinous crime such as murder. However, the Commercial Victimisation Survey and the Offending Crime and Justice Survey are both in place to ensure that crimes outside the boundaries of the BCS are still accounted for  [9]  . In summary, I have explored both methods used to research crime statistics and outlined the strengths and weaknesses of each. For example, The BCS relies on the respondents personal view of the effect of crime. PRC assumes that crime is always reported. Both methods are dependent on the classification of crime. Victimisation surveys fail to provide an accurate depiction of society. This is because surveys of this form assume that people interviewed can and will provide a reliable version of events. An effective source of information can not solely rely on the integrity and factual representation of those it surveys. Individual perception can vary hugely, and factors such as differences between living in a rural versus urban location and coming from differing socio-economic backgrounds can lead to ambiguous results. For example, certain groups of people may be targeted more or less than indicated. If these variables are not taken in to account then the measure of crime rates could be distorted and the overall findings in relation to the sample population unfounded. Overall it can be seen that both the BCS and PRC are adequate methods for collecting information. When trying to measure crime the most effective method is to examine BCS and PRC together as the results combined provide a more com prehensive picture of how crime really affects society.

Research funding of medical product development Essay

Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most common ailments in adults especially the old. Over 26.6 million people around the world are affected by the disease with an increase expected in the coming years. So far, there has been no established cure for the disease whose results are pain and suffering in the patients and death. With these facts, research that can lead to success in tackling this global calamity would be instrumental and welcome. This makes it critical and worth for any form of funding to be provided in any research towards elimination of the same. The document evaluates the various forms of funding available which would help in the research to develop a novel compound critical in controlling and even curing the disease. Discussion National governments are one of the biggest sources of funding for clinical research. Various governments set aside some money in their Health sector budget of which a big portion includes money for research. The government funding programs operate locally or internationally (Murray & Johnston, 2010). An example in national government funding is the NIH (National Institute of Health) which through its various sections such as the National Human Genome Research Institute provides funding for research projects in America (Kulakowski, 2006). For the case of research in Alzheimer’s disease, national funding is through the National Institute on Aging. Government funding is beneficial in that they are not discriminative compared to funding from other sources such as organizations. However, one disadvantage is that the funds may take long thus jeopardizing the research (Kaitin, 2010). Associated closely with national governments and also a source of funding are government agencies. Agencies operate both nationally and internationally (Shaw, 2005). An example of such an agency is the Department of Energy in America. The agencies provide the funds to different sub-divisions of research areas, for example, the Human Genome Project section which may assist in developing the compound identified (Boss & Eckert, 2006). With their international operations, the benefit is that the agencies will fund any project that fulfills its requirements. One disadvantage however is that agencies are prone to manipulation and thus may be biased in funding projects due to political differences (Smith, 2006). Another source of funding for scientific research projects are foundations. These entities have a wide range of research requirements and interests (Hulley, 2007). Some of the foundations will be specific in the areas they want to fund such as the American Cancer Society that focuses on Cancer. Others are open for any research in any area such as the Howard Hughes Medical Institute which provides funding for various areas, for example, Alzheimer’s disease (Reinhart & National Research Council, 2006). Brightfocus Foundation and Alzheimer’s Research Foundation are some of the foundations that focus on funding Alzheimer based research (Financing roundup, 2008). The benefit in using foundations is that they span a wide range of research areas thus a big chance of being funded (Clinical research in Finland in 2002 and 2007, 2013). There is a disadvantage in that funding from foundations is subject to misappropriation through vices such as corruption affects the operations (C ambron, 2008). Many individuals have been known to offer private funding for research projects all over the world. Wealthy individuals are now funding scientific research institutions or individual based ones (Page, 2012). Armand Hammer, former chairman of Occidental Petroleum Corporation is an example. For his case, he provided funding for cancer related projects (Lee, 2010). Another example is Ronald Perelman and Lilly Tartikoff who funded the Revlon/ UCLA women’s Cancer Research Program under the leadership of Salmon (Bazell & Bernstein, 1998). One advantage of funding from individuals is that there are no rigorous processes involved in obtaining the funds like is the case with government agencies and foundations. A disadvantage in using the same is that individual funding may be withdrawn when differences arise thus stalling the research (Kullmann, 2006). References Bazell, R., & Bernstein, A. (1998). Her-2: The making of herceptin, a revolutionary treatment for breast cancer. New York: Random House. Boss, J. M., & Eckert, S. H. (2006). Academic scientists at work. New York, NY: Springer. Cambron, J. (2008). Grant funding for elderly health services (6th ed.). Manasquan, NJ: Health Resources Publishing. Clinical research in Finland in 2002 and 2007: Quantity and type. (2013). BioMed Central.Financings roundup.(Harvard University Office of Technology Development is funding for research projects in biomedical and life sciences )(Report). (2008, February 11). Medical Device Week.Hulley, S. (2007). Designing clinical research (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Kaitin, K. (2010). (video) Research funding of medical product development.Kulakowski, E. (2006). Research administration and management. Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett. Kullmann, P. (2012). The Inventor’s Guide for Medical Technology From Your Napkin to the Market. Minneapolis: Hillcrest Media Group. Lee, J. (2010). Biomedical engineering entrepreneurship. Singapore: World Scientific. Murray, T. H., & Johnston, J. (2010). Trust and integrity in biomedical research: The case of financial conflicts of interest. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Page, P. (2012). An introduction to clinical research. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Reinhart, G. R., & National Research Council (U.S.). (2006). Enhancing philanthropy’s support of biomedical scientists: Proceedings of a workshop on evaluation. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Shaw, G. (2005, October). Tapping Alternative Sources: Funding Beyond the NIH. G & P, 5(8)12-18. Smith, C. (2006). The process of new drug discovery and development (2nd ed.). New York: Informa Healthcare. Source document

Individual Rights Vs. National Security - 868 Words

I negate the resolution, Resolved: When the United States is engaged in military conflict, national security ought to supercede conflicting claims of individual rights. My value for the round is Human Dignity, or what can be defined as a respect for the individual and his or her rights and virtues. John Stuart Mill states that Everyone who receive the protection of society owes a return for the benefit... but not to the point that it violates constituted rights. Thus those rights which are the fundamentals of human dignity must be maintained. No fundamental goal should ever undermine this fundamental goal. The criteria which must consistently achieve is the maintenance of a legitimate government, or a govt. that maximizes the rights of†¦show more content†¦Finally, security loses its worth if not accompanied by rights. 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A Baseball Proposal Essay - 1574 Words

A Baseball Proposal Ever since the creation of Americas favorite pastime, baseball, cheating has been an integral part of the game. Each era of baseball has offered new and improved techniques for cheating the game of baseball. Cheating has become a common occurrence in baseball, from the 1919 Chicago Black Sox, who were paid to throw the World Series, to Ty Cobb sharpening the spikes on his shoe to scare off fielders from tagging him out. Other famous cheating acts include Gaylord Perrys illegal spitball, Pete Rose betting on baseball, and†¦show more content†¦There are some facts concerning steroid use in recent years: Ken Caminiti, the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1996, admitted to steroid use which ‘coincidentally began the same year he won the MVP. Mark McGwire, who in 1998 br oke the homerun record by hitting seventy in one year, has testified to Congress that he had used steroids while playing. Testifying with McGwire were fellow superstars Jason Giambi and Rafael Palmero. 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