Age and crime Cambridge IGCSE Sociology revision
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In plain words
In every country's figures, the same thing appears: offending climbs through the teenage years, peaks before twenty-five, and falls away. Either young people really do commit more crime, or they are the ones most likely to be caught. Sociologists argue that it is both.
9 things to know
- The pattern: official statistics show that young people, especially those in their teens and early twenties, are the group most likely to be recorded as offenders. Most people stop offending as they get older. Young people are also the most likely to be victims of violent crime.
- Police targeting, and stop and search: the police expect young people to offend, so they watch them more closely and stop them more often. More are caught, and that seems to confirm the expectation.
- Stereotyping: the media often show young people as a threat. This shapes how the public and the police see them.
- Self-fulfilling prophecy: a young person who is labelled a troublemaker may come to accept the label and behave accordingly.
- Gang culture: a gang offers belonging, protection and status. Its norms may require members to break the law.
- Socialisation and social control: some young people have not been adequately socialised. Teenagers also have fewer ties than adults. With no job, mortgage or children, they have less to lose.
- Lack of opportunity: unemployment, low income and boredom leave some young people with little to do and few legal ways to get what they want.
- Status frustration: young people who fail at school are denied status. They are frustrated, and may gain status among their peers by breaking the rules.
- Evaluation. Most young people are law-abiding. The statistics exaggerate youth crime, because the crimes of adults, such as fraud and domestic violence, are better hidden.
Worked example
Police in a town stop and search mainly young men. The statistics then show that most people caught with illegal items are young men. Explain why this does not prove that young men offend the most.
- The police searched mainly one group, so they could only find offences in that group.
- Offences by others went undiscovered, because nobody looked.
- The statistics reflect where the police looked as much as who offends.
- This is how police targeting can turn an expectation into an apparent fact.
Tips and tricks
- Split your explanations into two kinds: why young people may really commit more crime (gangs, status frustration, opportunity), and why they are more likely to be caught (targeting, stereotyping).
- Status frustration is the term for crime that brings no money, such as vandalism. It explains what need alone cannot.
It lands in your notebook with its questions as flashcards.
Age and crime: 5 questions and answers
These are the quiz’s questions. Do the quiz first, then come back here for the ones that got you.
At what age does recorded offending peak?
It falls away as people get older.
What is "stop and search"?
It is used more on some groups than on others.
Why might gang membership lead to crime?
Status in the gang is earned by following its rules.
Why do teenagers have "less to lose" than adults?
Fewer ties mean weaker control.
Which finding would suggest that young people are not much more criminal than adults?Stretch
Hidden adult crime narrows the gap.
Quiz
5 questions
Tap an answer and you’ll see straight away whether it’s right, and why.
Worksheet
3 questions, 10 marks. Write your answers on paper, then check them.
Age and crime
Cambridge IGCSE Sociology 0495 · 10 marks · papermunch.org
Name ______________________________ Date ______________
What is meant by the term "status frustration"?[2]
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The frustration felt by people who are denied status in society, for example through failure at school, which may lead them to seek status through deviance.
Explain two reasons why young people may commit crime.[4]
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Any two, each explained: gang culture offers status and belonging in return for breaking rules; lack of opportunity, such as unemployment, leaves few legal routes to money; status frustration leads those who fail at school to seek status through deviance; weaker social control, as they have fewer responsibilities to lose.
Explain why official statistics may exaggerate the amount of crime committed by young people.[4]
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The police target young people and stop and search them more often, so more of their offences are discovered. Young people commit visible crimes in public places. The crimes of adults, such as fraud or domestic violence, are hidden and less likely to be recorded.
Answers: Age and crime
- 1. The frustration felt by people who are denied status in society, for example through failure at school, which may lead them to seek status through deviance.
- 2. Any two, each explained: gang culture offers status and belonging in return for breaking rules; lack of opportunity, such as unemployment, leaves few legal routes to money; status frustration leads those who fail at school to seek status through deviance; weaker social control, as they have fewer responsibilities to lose.
- 3. The police target young people and stop and search them more often, so more of their offences are discovered. Young people commit visible crimes in public places. The crimes of adults, such as fraud or domestic violence, are hidden and less likely to be recorded.