AC 1.3 Write Up – The consequences of
unreported crime
Always Relate to the brief.
The ripple effect
The ripple effect is a consequence of unreported crime. This is the idea that unreported crime
can cause an effect which affects the whole community or more than just the victim. Crimes like
domestic violence, honour-based crimes, and prostitution can create pockets of people who are
affected and therefore create commotion amongst the public. Using domestic violence as my
study, abusers are often abused as children or witness the abuse of parents as children. If this
goes unreported it can appear that it is acceptable, or that children are socialised into this
behaviour which goes unpunished and then repeats as adults. It also effects other family
members and neighbours who witness or hear incidents or friends who may be distressed at
the violence, or even work colleagues who will be affected if the victim is absent from work. A
positive of the ripple effect is that it increases the awareness for this type of crime. With more
people being witness to the crime, more people that will be aware of what can happen. A case
study for the ripple effect is the psychological study after the murder of Matthew Shepard.
There were 9 individuals that were interviewed and all of them said that they felt deeply
affected by his murder.
Cultural Consequences
Different cultures have different rules about what makes actions criminal. Cultural differences
may mean that crimes are under-reported or not recognised. It can be difficult to understand
cultures that are different to our own. Often people will choose to turn blind eye to crimes
committed within a culture that is not their own. Some cultural traditions and ideologies go
against UK laws. For example, Female Genital Mutation is illegal in the UK. However, it is still
practiced within some cultures that believe it is acceptable. Similarly, honour killings some
cultures see these as acceptable to take such drastic action. A case study for this is Kristy Bamu.
Kristy was a 15-year-old boy who was accused of being involved with witchcraft. He was then
killed by members of his own family. The family was originally from the Democratic Republic of
Congo, where witchcraft or Kindoki is practiced, and exorcisms are carried out in churches.
Kristy was tortured over the course of several days before he was drowned in a bath during an
exorcism.
Decriminalisation and Legal Change
unreported crime
Always Relate to the brief.
The ripple effect
The ripple effect is a consequence of unreported crime. This is the idea that unreported crime
can cause an effect which affects the whole community or more than just the victim. Crimes like
domestic violence, honour-based crimes, and prostitution can create pockets of people who are
affected and therefore create commotion amongst the public. Using domestic violence as my
study, abusers are often abused as children or witness the abuse of parents as children. If this
goes unreported it can appear that it is acceptable, or that children are socialised into this
behaviour which goes unpunished and then repeats as adults. It also effects other family
members and neighbours who witness or hear incidents or friends who may be distressed at
the violence, or even work colleagues who will be affected if the victim is absent from work. A
positive of the ripple effect is that it increases the awareness for this type of crime. With more
people being witness to the crime, more people that will be aware of what can happen. A case
study for the ripple effect is the psychological study after the murder of Matthew Shepard.
There were 9 individuals that were interviewed and all of them said that they felt deeply
affected by his murder.
Cultural Consequences
Different cultures have different rules about what makes actions criminal. Cultural differences
may mean that crimes are under-reported or not recognised. It can be difficult to understand
cultures that are different to our own. Often people will choose to turn blind eye to crimes
committed within a culture that is not their own. Some cultural traditions and ideologies go
against UK laws. For example, Female Genital Mutation is illegal in the UK. However, it is still
practiced within some cultures that believe it is acceptable. Similarly, honour killings some
cultures see these as acceptable to take such drastic action. A case study for this is Kristy Bamu.
Kristy was a 15-year-old boy who was accused of being involved with witchcraft. He was then
killed by members of his own family. The family was originally from the Democratic Republic of
Congo, where witchcraft or Kindoki is practiced, and exorcisms are carried out in churches.
Kristy was tortured over the course of several days before he was drowned in a bath during an
exorcism.
Decriminalisation and Legal Change
