Key terms & definitions

An action or omission that breaks the law and can be punished by the state.

A failure to obey the law. In Great Expectations, legal wrongdoing does not always correspond neatly to a person’s moral worth.

An action that breaks the law.

An act that breaks the law.

An act or omission that breaks criminal law and can be punished by the state.

An offence that challenges the state or public order, such as treason or rioting.

An offence involving someone’s possessions or assets, such as theft, fraud or criminal damage.

An offence that harms or threatens an individual, such as murder or assault.

A recurring difference or distribution in crime data, such as differences between age groups or types of offence.

Action intended to stop crime happening by addressing its causes or reducing opportunities to offend.

The number of crimes in a period relative to the size of the population, rather than simply the total number of offences.

The number of incidents of a particular crime per specified number of adults over a stated period, such as robberies per 1,000 adults in a year.

The number of crimes within a specified population and period, often expressed per a set number of people.

A survey asking people living in households in England and Wales about their experiences of crime, including offences not reported to the police. It estimates trends for the population and offences it covers, not all crime.

A survey asking people living in households in England and Wales about their experiences of crime, including incidents not reported to the police.

A survey asking people resident in households in England and Wales about their experiences of crime, including experiences not reported to the police.

The direction of change in crime figures over time, such as an increase, decrease or relatively stable level.

The study of criminals’ physical characteristics, associated in the nineteenth century with Cesare Lombroso’s claim that some people were born criminals whose bodies showed supposedly primitive traits.

Behaviour that breaks the law.

Proceedings concerning an alleged criminal offence, in which the prosecution seeks to establish the defendant’s guilt.

Criminal behaviour, including the types of offences committed and patterns of offending in society.

The agencies involved in enforcing criminal law and dealing with offenders, including the police, courts, prison service and probation service.

Law concerned with offences treated as wrongs against the state, which can lead to punishment following conviction.

The legal process through which an alleged criminal offence is dealt with, potentially involving a trial and a sentence.

A group within wider society whose distinctive norms and values support criminal behaviour.

Crime-generating: describing conditions or a system that encourage criminal behaviour.

The natural waviness or curl of a fibre. In wool, the arrangement of internal cells and their unequal expansion produce this curved shape.

Pressing or pinching pastry edges together to seal a filled pastry and create a finished edge.

Uncertainty or anxiety experienced by some men about their identity and role as traditional expectations of men are challenged by social and economic change.

The angle of incidence in the higher-refractive-index material for which the angle of refraction is 90°.