Crime surveys have revealed that crime does not occur at random. Around 90% of the people who responded to the surveys said that they had no experience of crime. However, out of the remaining 10%, some people did say that they had been the victims of two or more crimes and had been involved in a string of incidents. Some surveys have revealed that burglaries are most common to occur in inner city areas. If you have parked your car in a dark street at night, then it is most likely to be stolen or broken into. The most likely victims of assault are young men who have naturally assaulted other people themselves.
In 1988 the BCS (British Crime Survey) sampled almost 14,000 addresses that were simply based upon legislative districts and a small sample of adults from each household. Each individual who was sampled filled in four different questionnaires.
It has also been highlighted by the BCS that many victims do not report crime. This is because sometimes they feel that:
The police are not interested,
The matter is too trivial to report,
They dealt with matters themselves,
They can’t trust the police etc.
In 1996 the BCS asked a number of victims why they reported crime to the police. They said it was because
They had an obligation to report the crime
The crime was serious enough to report
Reporting stops repetition of crime to others
Reporting stops re-victimization by the same criminal
They desperately needed police assistance
The police would then catch the offender and punish them
A demographic profile was produced by the 1998 BCS, which acknowledged who were most at risk from various crimes.
For example:
The Risk factors in victims of burglary
Young unemployed head of household
Living in rented accommodation
Home is empty for three hours or more a day
Living up north
Low income
Lone adults
Multi-ethnic area
Flat/end of terrace houses
Dwelling in inner city/council house
The Risk factors for repeated victims of burglary
Single parents
Living in inner city area
Living in rented accommodation
Living in area with high physical chaos
The risk factors in victims of violence
Single and living alone
Living in rented accommodation
Living in London/Northern England
Low income or unemployed
Living in a flat or terrace house
They often go out
The risk factors for repeated victims of violence
25-44 year old female
Living in rented accommodation
Single parents
As mentioned above that females are more likely to be a victim of violence, the worst kind of violence that they suffer is domestic violence.
Straus and Gelles (1990) analysed 500 reports of domestic violence. They found that women had been subjected to an average of 7.2% physical assaults per year from their husbands. However, there are some men who also suffer as victims of violence but it is husbands who tend to repeat the violence on their wives more often and cause grievous bodily harm (else known as GBH in legal terminology)
Dowd analysed the experiences of violent criminal victimization for both men and women and found that both genders experience six main types of violence.
Violence that female victims experience:
Domestic violence – assaulted at home by partner/ex partner
Leisure-related – occurs where victim spends leisure time i.e. the local pub
Occupational hazard – at work i.e. nurses assaulted by patients
Friend/neighbour disagreements
Provocation – provokes own fight, responsible for violence herself
Defended/chased – self-defence against attack
Violence that male victims experience:
Pub fights
Fights between friends
Occupational hazard
Minor disputes
Serious unprovoked wounding
Domestic violence
Female victims tend to act in self-defence but it is known that they are capable of acting violently towards others.
The advantages regarding victim surveys is that they tell you about:
The type of crime committed
The amount of crime committed
However, there are a few problems with these surveys, for instance:
The figures produced will tend to miscalculate the amount of crime committed
They tend to focus on offences against a person and their property
Overlooking the whole section of ‘white- collar crime’ i.e. fraud and embezzlement
The responses given may not be accurate
The amount of crime reported may be linked to the respondent’s level of educational achievement.
Even so, the figures produced by the surveys can help influence social and political policies towards supervising and controlling crime. Farrell and Pease (1995) suggested that by analysing repeat victimisation, we would be able to provide tactics for crime prevention. These tactics will not only help to reduce crime but they will also be able to help protect the most vulnerable groups of people.
Therefore, surveys are a good thing to use to measure criminal activity but the problem is that people may not always be honest when answering questions which could make the results unreliable.
Word Count: 996
