Crime In England Research Articles

Acute and diffuse impacts of fraud: A victim-centred teleology for a wicked problem

Fraud is the most frequently experienced crime in the UK, yet significantly underreported. Despite its prevalence, understanding and addressing fraud remains challenging. This paper applies the interdisciplinary framework of ‘wicked problems’ to fraud, proposing a novel approach to categorise fraud based on its impact on victims rather than the intent of perpetrators. The article introduces new categories: Acute Impact Fraud (AIF) and Diffuse Impact Fraud (DIF). In AIF the impacts of fraud falls on an individual or a small number of victims, while DIF describes fraud affecting large entities like governments or large businesses, where the impact is shared among many, often resulting in less noticeable individual harm but significant collective loss. A third category, Hybrid Impact Fraud (HIF), is also proposed, where fraud has both acute and diffuse impacts, affecting some victims significantly while spreading minor effects across a larger group. This new approach seeks to enhance the understanding and management of fraud, emphasising victim impact over perpetrator intent, and contributing to the nascent field of economic criminology.

‘Doesn’t anyone care anymore?’ – Bystander intervention to hate crime

While previous studies have focused on bystander intervention, current understanding specifically in the area of bystander intervention to hate crime is limited. This study seeks to focus on bystander intervention to hate crime in the United Kingdom. This study utilised 10 semi-structure interviews with participants who had personally witnessed a hate crime incident, exploring reasons for intervention, or lack thereof. Results revealed that for some who intervened, the decision to do so often stemmed from an instinctive, impulsive place, whereas for others it was a calculative decision-making process. The findings also reveal that there are various factors which influence participants in deciding whether to intervene. Critically, while all factors were described as pivotal to influencing participants in choosing whether to intervene or remain bystanders, there was no hierarchy of factors which can be generalised. The study concludes that the decision to intervene is a complex multi-faceted process and promotes awareness-raising about the various options available when witnessing a hate crime.

The Influence of Visibility of Police on Crime in England and Wales : Focusing on the Austerity Measures

The Influence of Visibility of Police on Crime in England and Wales : Focusing on the Austerity Measures

An early economic evaluation of Kooth, a web-based mental health platform for children and young people with emerging mental health needs

Background“Kooth” is a web-based mental health platform commissioned by the National Health Service (NHS), local authorities, charities, and businesses in the UK. The platform gives children and young people (CYP) access to an online community of peers and a team of counsellors. This study reports an early economic evaluation of the potential benefits of Kooth in the UK. MethodsAn early evidence cost calculator was built to estimate the potential costs and savings of implementing Kooth from a UK NHS and crime sector perspective. A decision tree structure was used to track the progress of CYP with emerging mental health needs (EMHN), comparing CYP with access to Kooth to CYP without access to Kooth. The model implemented a 12-month time horizon and followed a typical Kooth contract in relation to costing, engagement, and CYP demographics. ResultsThe base case results followed a cohort of 2160 CYP. The results of the cost calculator estimated that engagement with Kooth is associated with a cost saving of £469,237 to the NHS across a 12-month time horizon, or £236.15 per CYP with an EMHN. From a combined NHS and UK crime sector perspective, the cost savings increased to £489,897, or £246.54 per CYP with an EMHN. The largest cost savings were provided by an estimated reduction of 5346 GP appointments and 298 antidepressant prescriptions. For this cohort, the model predicted that engagement with Kooth averted 6 hospitalisations due to suicidal ideation and 13 hospitalisations due to self-harm. Furthermore, the number of smokers and binge drinkers was reduced by 20 and 24, respectively. When a crime sector perspective was taken, 3 crimes were averted. DiscussionThis early model demonstrates that Kooth has the potential to be a cost-saving intervention from both an NHS and a combined NHS and UK crime sector perspective. Cost savings were provided through aversion in clinical and social outcomes. The model used a conservative approach to balance the uncertainty around assumptions of the intermediate outcomes (GP and medication use). However, it is limited by a paucity of costing data and published evidence relating to the impact of digital mental health platforms.

‘On the frontline’: gangs, teachers, and the ethics of care

Knife crime in the UK is on the increase, prompting an emphasis in education policy on the role of secondary schools in addressing gang violence. Very little is known, however, about how teachers in secondary schools experience this new role. This article helps to fill this gap in the literature by foregrounding teachers’ perspectives on gang violence in an East London secondary school. It analyses their teaching practices through an ‘ethics of care’ lens, understanding ‘care’ as an inherently relational practice based on mutuality and trust. The article shows how these qualities are being subverted by individualised approaches to care in education, which reproduce rather than challenge the violent care offered by gangs. It argues that the political dimensions of care must be reclaimed if efforts by schools to address gang violence are to be effective.

Connecting the Corrupt: Data Sources to Study Networks of Serious Financial Crime in the United Kingdom

Connecting the Corrupt: Data Sources to Study Networks of Serious Financial Crime in the United Kingdom

JINOYATCHILIKKA QARSHI KURASHISHNING BUYUK BRITANIYA MODELIGA XOS XUSUSIYATLAR

In the article, the author seeks to reveal the specific aspects of the fight against crime in the UK. In particular, it considers certain elements of the crime fighting system-doctrinal and criminological approaches on which criminal policy is based-features of legislation on combating crime, as well as notable aspects of law enforcement. It is known that the British model of fighting crime was formed under the influence of the Anglo-Saxon legal system and Anglo-American criminological schools. The basis of doctrinal and criminological approaches to crime are administrative-classical and sociological theories. In criminal policy, there is periodically a focus on the priority of criminal law measures (tightening) or on the priority of socially liberal measures (mitigation). Since there is no codified legislative system in the UK, the development of anti-crime policies is based on medium-term (3-5 years) strategic concepts. Despite the fact that crime in the UK is growing at a high rate, there is a loss of ability to maintain accurate crime statistics. At the same time, it turns out that this loophole in the detection of crimes is being overcome by the systematic introduction by the British police of the practice of studying latent crime. The British practice of crime prevention is notable for the fact that it includes situational and victimological measures involving a number of public organizations.

Counter-Denunciations: How Suspects Blame Victims in Police Interviews for Low-Level Crimes

This article explores the ways in which suspects attempt to make putative victims/complainants at least partially responsible for the incidents for which they are investigated, transforming themselves into the victim and the other into the perpetrator. Drawing upon conversation analysis, I examine audio-recorded police interviews for low-level crimes in England and in which suspects have constructed what I refer as counter-denunciations. I argue that suspects accomplish these counter-denunciations through discursive practices that involve, for example (a) contrasting the complainant’s actions with their own innocent conduct; (b) historicizing the event being investigated; and (c) discrediting the complainant’s character—stigmatizing. These practices have in common the suspects’ reliance on the relational and contextual character of the categories ‘offender’ and ‘victim’.

Local deprivation predicts right-wing hate crime in England.

We argue that community deprivation can increase the risk of right-wing radicalization and violent attacks and that measures of local deprivation can help improve forecasting local hate crime rates. A large body of research stresses how experiences of deprivation can erode the perceived legitimacy of political leaders and institutions, increase alienation, and encourage right-wing radicalization and hate crime. Existing analyses have found limited support for a close relationship between deprivation and radicalization among individuals. We provide an alternative approach using highly disaggregated data for England and show that information on local deprivation can improve predictions of the location of right-wing hate crime attacks. Beyond the ability to predict where right-wing hate crime is likely, our results suggest that efforts to decrease deprivation can have important consequences for political violence, and that targeting structural facilitators to prevent far-right violence ex ante can be an alternative or complement to ex post measures.

Crime in the era of COVID‐19: Evidence from England

AbstractThis paper examines the effects of COVID‐19‐induced lockdowns on recorded crime in England. The enforcement of lockdowns at both the national and local levels allows unveiling the impact on criminal activities by type of shutdown policy. Using official crime data across the universe of local authorities, we find that unlike local lockdowns national lockdowns significantly change the shape of recorded criminal activity, with the first nationally‐imposed lockdown having the strongest impact. Findings also reveal that police operations play a prominent role in explaining changes in reported crimes. Back‐of‐the‐envelope calculations suggest that lockdowns reduced the economic costs of crime by £4.2 billion.

The power of anonymity: An exploratory study into the role of Crimestoppers in reporting and investigating crime in England and Wales

The UK charity Crimestoppers supports the police by taking and passing on information about crime. However, its service has been subject to little examination. This paper explores how Crimestoppers acts as an enabler to reporting crime and assists the police in solving crime. A small-scale qualitative study, using semi-structured interviews, was conducted with participants drawn from Crimestoppers’ contact centre and two Welsh police forces. Following a thematic analysis, the overarching finding submits that ‘anonymity’ is the golden thread which preserves Crimestoppers existence. The charity has a strong relationship with the police and exists in a network of plural policing.

The Conundrum of Defining and Prosecuting Terrorism: A Review of United Kingdom and International Reponses

Terrorism presents one the biggest criminal justice postmodern challenges worldwide. The way criminal justice systems proact and react to mitigate and prevent such criminality raises a plethora of legal, socio-political, and strategic hurdles relating to how terror crime is defined, the human rights of the accused, protecting due process when using secret courts, the use of special advocates, the use of national security courts, civil rights i.e., freedom of association, cross-jurisdictional information sharing, and the requirement or right to prosecute etc. In this article, which is influenced by criminological theory, the definition of terror crime in the United Kingdom and at an International level is examined to ascertain whether common definitional elements exist, and the complex and competing local and International interests that are being balanced in preventing and/or prosecuting such crime.

Analysing the effect of betting shops on crime in England

ABSTRACT This study explores the relationship between the clustering of betting shops and crime in England using both spatial and multilevel modelling approaches. Spatial analysis revealed significant clustering of betting shops and crime across all crime types. Results from the multilevel models revealed statistically significant relationships between the number of betting shops and all the crime categories, with the strongest relationships observed with theft and disorder offences. These relationships were observed after controlling for socio-demographic and land-use predictors of crime. To reduce the effect of betting shops on crime, efforts should focus on place management strategies.

Farm Crime Victimisation and Prevention Decision Making: Can insights from England and Wales inform the Baltic Sea Region?

Farms in England and Wales continue to have low levels of crime prevention measures in use despite the increasing threat, and what is used is often ineffective. Farm crime in England and Wales is becoming increasingly organised in its nature, as such farmers are having to deal with both the ever-present threat of opportunistic thefts, but also the broadening impact of Organised Criminal Groups in the rural space. As a result of this change, farmers are very much being left on the back foot in being able to protect themselves adequately. They are no longer just facing traditional thefts, but other crime types that are now significantly challenging traditional crime prevention theories such as Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) often favoured by police forces in England and Wales. Such crimes include hare coursing as a sport, agrochemical theft and counterfeiting, and forced labour within the agricultural sector. As a direct result of this, farmers are finding themselves under much more significant pressure from criminality in the rural space. Crime is increasingly challenging farmer ontological security, and thus their ability to make effective decisions both around crime prevention but also general business decision-making. This coupled with an inability to protect their farm using traditional crime prevention methods may potentially have a negative impact on farmer mental health, and this should be discussed among rural crime researchers and practitioners to ensure that the wider impact is clearly understood. This position seen within England and Wales will be briefly reviewed and compared in relation to the experiences noted in the academic research being conducted across the Baltic Sea region to establish any potential similarities in patterns, and whether any learning can be taken from the situation being experienced in England and Wales.

Exploring UK Knife crime and its associated factors: A content analysis of online newspapers.

Knife crime has become a common phrase used by the media, but it is not always clear what it refers to or what they mean when they use the term. Knife crime can cover many offences, making it challenging to define and estimate its prevalence. This review aimed to evaluate potential knife crimes in the UK from 2011 to 2021 and analyse the causes and risk factors associated with the crimes. Six UK online news portals were purposefully chosen to be included in the study, and knife crime news was searched retrospectively. The term "knife crime" was used to search. The news portals were the: Metro, the Sun, the Guardian, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror and the Evening Standard. In the assigned news portals, 692 reports were found between January 2011 and December 2021. The study revealed that the 11-20 years of age group individuals are more vulnerable as victims, and males are more reported as victims when compared to females. About 61.8% of knife crimes are reported from South England. Knife crime risk is higher in early adulthood and among males. Street violence, fights/gang attacks, family issues and robbery are the leading causes of knife crime and have all been identified as risk factors that must be addressed with caution.

The Age of Johnson, ed. Jack Lynch and J. T. Scanlan

<i>The Age of Johnson</i>, ed. Jack Lynch and J. T. Scanlan

Assessing the seriousness of cybercrime: The case of computer misuse crime in the United Kingdom and the victims’ perspective

The reform of the Crime Survey of England and Wales (a national victim survey) has exposed a very high number of individuals who fall victim to computer misuse cybercrimes such as hacking, computer viruses and ransomware. These crimes receive very little attention from the criminal justice system and very few are brought to justice, partly because of the nature of them (global crimes), but also because of a lack of capability among the police. This paper draws on official statistics, an empirical survey and interview research with computer misuse victims. The paper juxtaposes the low priority and lack of resources given to this crime by political and police leaders against many victims’ perceptions and experiences of the crime as equivalent if not more serious than physical counterparts such as burglary, where there is greater interest. The increasing prominence of the virtual world in human life and the impacts of these crimes call for a reappraisal of the official assessment of seriousness in order to raise the priority and increase the capacity of criminal justice towards such offences.

Profiling the Fraudster: Findings from a Rapid Evidence Assessment

ABSTRACT Fraud accounts for a growing proportion of UK crime, causing economic losses, societal and personal harms. While there is a growing body of literature on the scale and prevalence of fraud, little research has been undertaken about those who carry out the crime – the offenders – since seminal studies undertaken in the 1970s and 80s. This study reports on findings from a Rapid Evidence Assessment commissioned by the Home Office, to explore this gap, seeking to provide an up-to-date socio-demographic profile of fraudsters. It was found that much of the international research considered supports the historical picture of the traditional fraudster as an older, White, employed, well-educated male of a middle-high socio-demographic status, who appear to be late onset offenders. However, there may be different types/groups of fraudsters emerging that might not fit the traditional profile.

The Effect of the Brexit Vote on the Variation in Race and Religious Hate Crimes in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Abstract This paper examines possible mechanisms behind the spike in racially or religiously-aggravated (RR) offences after the Brexit vote. It adds to the current literature in five significant ways: (1) it provides the first Brexit-related RR hate crime comparison between England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; (2) it reports on results from a national-level panel model that adds to the debate in the literature on whether pro-leave or pro-remain areas saw greater increases hate crimes; (3) it assesses the role of demographic characterises on the variation in hate crime; (4) it compares the effect of the vote with other ‘trigger events’; and (5) it uses social media data to control for variation in hate crime victim and witness reporting.

Public Responsiveness to Declining Crime Rates in the United States and England and Wales

Abstract During much of the second half of the twentieth century, public opinion in both the United States and Britain became more punitive as crime rates rose. These shifting public attitudes had a profound influence on criminal justice policies. What is less understood is how public attitudes in these countries have responded to declining crime rates since the early-1990s. To understand how the public reacts to declining crime rates, we focus on crimes recorded by the police as well as data on actual victimisation. We also draw on more than 4,000 national survey questions to construct measures of public concern about crime and support for punitive criminal justice responses. Our analyses illustrate parallels in the crime drop measured by victimisation surveys in the two countries (with recorded violent crime in England and Wales the exception to this overall trend). The over-time patterns in public concern about crime and punitive sentiment are more complex, with the US public becoming less punitive (in line with declining crime rates) while the British public’s concern with crime appears more in tune with actual crime rates. Given the distinct social, political and institutional settings offered by the two countries, the parallel dynamics of crime and the mixed response of public opinion help illustrate the importance of the comparative analysis of crime and its effects on society as well as the importance of considering multiple measures of public opinion related to crime and punishment.