C&D - Victim surveys conducted by sociologists

• Realist sociologist such as Young and Lea - BCS tell us very little about the day to day experience of living in high crime areas such as the inner city or problem council estates.
• Realists and feminists - structured interviews end up imposing the priorities of government sociologists on those taking part in the interview.
• Responses restricted by the closed nature of the questions and the limited choice of answers.
• Little insight into how people interpret and experience crime in their everyday environment.

Non-official victim surveys:

• Left Realists - BCS has tended to neglect the concentration of crime found in inner city areas and on deprived council estates.

The Islington Crime Survey:

• Islington Crime Survey carried out by the Left Realist sociologists Lea and Young used sympathetic unstructured interviewing techniques.
• Victims in inner London…