ABSTRACT
This chapter will build on what we have learned from Chapter 2 by taking a look at what the various data sources discussed there can tell us about how much crime there is. It is hoped that having read Chapter 2 the reader will be well aware of the difficulties involved in trying to assess the nature and extent of crime. However, you will remember from Chapter 1 that criminology is a ‘modern’ discipline and that means that part of its intent as a discipline is to provide the kind of information that might better inform how to deal with the problem of crime. So, it is necessary to form some picture of the nature and extent of this problem despite the inherent difficulties in trying to do this. It is also important to remember that part of the role of criminology is to offer a critical assessment of what is understood as crime. In this chapter we shall be taking our understanding of this critical role further by thinking about the nature and extent of crime under three general headings; crimes of the streets, crimes behind closed doors, and crimes of the suites. As with Chapter 2, the reader will be asked to think about different questions as they become appropriate in our exploration of the question: how much crime?
