The Disparity Between Official Crime Statistics And Actual Crime (Research Proposal Sample)

The Disparity between Official Crime Statistics and Actual Crime
Research Proposal
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Table of Contents
TOC \o \h \z \u Abstract PAGEREF _Toc518288388 \h 3
Introduction PAGEREF _Toc518288389 \h 3
Background of Research PAGEREF _Toc518288390 \h 3
Problem Statement PAGEREF _Toc518288391 \h 4
Research Question PAGEREF _Toc518288392 \h 5
Research Objectives PAGEREF _Toc518288393 \h 5
Literature Review PAGEREF _Toc518288394 \h 6
Comparison between Crime in Ireland and the UK PAGEREF _Toc518288395 \h 6
Official Crime Statistics in Ireland PAGEREF _Toc518288396 \h 7
Methodology PAGEREF _Toc518288397 \h 10
Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc518288398 \h 10
References PAGEREF _Toc518288399 \h 12
Abstract
Criminology in most developing countries has long been referred to as an ‘absentee discipline’, while at the global front in the developed nations, criminology is identified as a booming discipline (O’Donnell, 2005; Bosworth and Hoyle, 2011). This research proposal proposes to investigate the rates of crime in developing countries against those of developed countries and determine whether there is a connection between the development of the field of criminology and the rates of crime. The researcher intends to consider the documented rates of crime as the dependent variables of this research proposal. On the other hand, the level of development of criminological studies in developing as well as developed nations been brought in comparison will be considered as the independent variables for the research. Research enlightens that criminology in the Republic of Ireland has greatly improved over the years (Kilcommins et al., 2004). Kilcommins et al., credit this to the commencement of official recording of crime reports, development of knowledge in the field and proactive law enforcement. The researcher postulates that, there is a huge difference between the official crime reports and the actual rates of crime therefore; development of criminology and the recording of official crime statistics in a jurisdiction do not necessarily portray the actual picture of the actual rates of crime in the jurisdiction. Therefore, while the development of criminology improves the documented rates of crime, this does not necessarily capture the full crime scenario of a country.
Introduction
Background of Research
The perpetual development of society has brought with it the increase in needs and wants of man resulting in a ripple effect increase in criminal activities in the society. Research educates that criminology has developed out of the need to understand the motivations of crime and in that light therefore, be in position to set policy measures that can enable the detection, prevention or deterrence of crime (Hamilton and Healy, 2015). The reporting and recording of crime in developed nations is much advanced than in developing nations ensuring a more functional criminology in developed nations than in developing nations. Further research evidence concurs to the above informing that while the UK has for good number of decades actively recorded and stored their crime statistics electronically, the Republic of Ireland only started electronic recording of crime statistics about two decades ago and it has since improved the recording and storage of crime reports (Robinson and McNeil, 2015). The foregoing implies that when comparing the efficiency of crime reports and records of the UK and the Republic of Ireland, the Republic of Ireland’s crime recording and storage system can hardly be as efficient and advanced as that of the UK as far as predicting the rates of crime is concerned. As to whether there is any much more correctness when comparing crime statistics to actual crime on the ground between the two countries Aebi et al., (2014) educates that; both the UK and the Republic of Ireland’s records on crime was not the actual representation of the crime on the ground due to a myriad of factors.
Problem Statement
Criminological literature in developing countries has generally focussed on the poor criminological infrastructure, lack of enough literal evidence guiding the profession and the young nature of the practice (O’Donnell, 2005). That notwithstanding, the rates of crime in developing countries for instance Ireland in Europe; just like in developed countries, is increasing by day and its dynamics changing rapidly. Researchers Hamilton and Healy (2015) in an analytical piece reveal that in the recent years with the developments in terrorism activities crime has continually been a central security question. This situation is so serious that developed nations have been known over the years after the millennium to set aside a generous budgetary allocation to precisely improve criminology. Developed nations have also followed suit because as it has been mentioned, despite of the fact that criminology in such countries may be considered not really necessary, the rates of crime and their increase thereof according to research, do not seem to be discriminating in terms of national/criminological development. The problem identified by the research however is, while there is continued development of criminology, the documented rates of crime may be well limited as far as reporting the real rates of crime in the society is concerned. The researcher postulates that crime statistics differ from actual crime and therefore cannot be used to interpret the trends of crime in the society both in developing and developed nations.
Research Question
The sole question that this research proposal seeks to answer is, ‘are official crime statistics sufficient in interpreting crime trends in the society?’
Research Objectives
In answering the above question of research, the researcher seeks to fulfil the below three objectives of the research,
* Review literature and make a comparison between crime trends and official crime statistics
* Establish the disparity between recorded crime reports and real crime rate on the ground
* Determine the inadequacy of using recorded crime reports to understand the trends of crime in the society
Literature Review
Comparison between Crime in Ireland and the UK
According to researcher Parsons (2016), any commission or omission that is offensive to the recipient and is liable for legal punishment constitutes a crime. This description of crime as Parson further educates is not unanimously acceptable in all countries because what may be deemed as a crime in one country may not be a crime in another country. Therefore, while the definition is important in generally understanding what constitutes a crime, it is limited as far as authoritatively defining a crime is concerned. Further research establishes that the final description of what constitutes a crime is in the hands of the populace. Box (1981) posits that while some action may have been categorized as criminal in the 1950s, the society to come in the 2020s may declare it not criminal. Aebi et al., (2014) exemplify the 1990s decriminalization of suicide in Ireland as a perfect example of categorical changes in the classification of crimes by the populace. Over the years, the Irish crime field has developed almost similarly to that of neighbouring UK. However, the readiness and willingness of the Irish’s national to record statements by the law enforcers about crimes is low. This is especially so for crimes that the Irish citizen considers minor and inconsequential and it is in sharp contrast to the enlightened UK citizen who makes it his/her duty to record statements with the law enforcers for even the most petty of crimes in an effort to ensure a crime free society.
In concordance with the foregoing, Djik et al., (2007) report that in the Irish society a myriad of crimes go unreported and the Garda Siochana therefore has no record of these crimes. These unrecorded crimes include small crimes like attempted break-ins, petty theft, burglary, domestic violence and sexual harassment. According to research there is no active recording of statement(s) on these types of crimes in Ireland as most of the victims consider them minor and in the case of domestic violence assaults and sexual harassments, victims maintain a private consideration therefore not recording statements of the happenings of the crimes (Elison, Pino & Shirlow, 2012; Watson & Parson, 2005; CSO, 2010; Djik et al., 2007). Elison et al., (2012) in their comprehensive report reveal that the UK population is much more informed as far as reporting, recording and demanding compensation or remedy for minor crime is concerned. Therefore, there are much more reports of minor crimes in the UK as compared to Ireland whereby a greater percentage of the populace disregard certain minor crimes as not worth reporting.
Researchers Elison, Pino and Shirlow (2012) in their analysis of crime trends in the developed nations indicate that the UK, Germany and the US are leading in terms of setting up measures to curb crime. However, further research evidence on the relationship between criminology and the rates of crime informs that properly functioning criminological systems does not reduce the rate of crime in the society (Hourigan, 2015). According to Hourigan, the rate of crime in a society is as a result of social developments and the trends of crime tend to evolve from time to time. For instance, the development of cybercrime is as a result of the invention of computer and the internet. Hourigan (2015) observes that despite the fact that the US and the UK were pioneers of technological inventions and having already in place, a sound criminological system; it has not helped them in any way to completely stop the development of cybercrime. Similarly, the surge in crime rates in developing countries like Ireland doe...