British Crime Survey Research Articles

It Depends What You Mean by 'Confident': Operationalizing Measures of Public Confidence and the Role of Performance Indicators

Centralized performance frameworks for the police in England and Wales have been the subject of considerable debate. Evidence from both the British Crime Survey and local force surveys shows that setting performance targets for public confidence in the police based on single indicator survey measures can have conceptual and practical difficulties. Specifically, such measures can misrepresent the views of some respondents and might underestimate public support for the police. We argue in favour of local public attitudes surveys reconfigured to measure aspects of procedural fairness, police legitimacy, and public intentions to co-operate.

In Search of the Fear of Crime: Using Interdisciplinary Insights to Improve the Conceptualisation and Measurement of Everyday Insecurities

The body of work on the ‘fear of crime’ is vast, spans several decades and continents, and attracts continuing interest from politicians and academ-ics alike. Most of this work focuses on negative emotional responses (fear, worry or anxiety) to the threat of common crime categories (burglary, theft, assault, etc.). Surveys suggest that the fear of crime is widespread amongst members of many contemporary westernised societies. Since 2000 the British Crime Survey has found that around one-sixth of the population have reported high levels of worry about burglary, car theft and vio-lent crime (Nicholas et al., 2007). Studies under-taken in the US (Skogan and Maxfield, 1981), Australia (Enders and Jennett, 2009), Europe (Holland [van der Wurff et al., 1989]; Switzerland [Killias and Clerici, 2000]; Germany [Kury and Obergfell-Fuchs, 2008]; Sweden [Heber, 2007]; and Spain [Serrano-Maillo and Kury, 2008]), and newly industrialised economies like China (Zhang et al., 2009) and Brazil (Dammert and Malone, 2006) also testify to heightened public insecurities about falling victim to crime.Fear of crime is often seen to constitute a social problem in and of itself (Hale, 1996), reducing quality of life and public health (Jackson and Stafford, 2009; Stafford et al.,2007), restricting movements (Ferraro, 1995), eroding social and neighbourhood bonds (Lavrakas, 1981), and shap-ing the very organisation and zoning of a city. Yet while reducing fear and providing reassurance to the community has, at times, become

Ethnicity and the British Crime Survey: Issues, Obstacles and Solutions

British Crime Survey (BCS) data have been used to examine a broad range of criminological questions. Yet, few studies employ them to examine ethnic variation in criminological experiences (or the factors influencing them), particularly between black and minority ethnicities (BMEs). Perhaps this is because there are several methodological obstacles associated with doing so. This article outlines a number of issues encountered in attempts to assess how BCS‐reported experiences and perceptions vary by respondent ethnicity, describing some analytical solutions as well as their limitations. Suggestions for more usefully capturing ethnicity without adding to BCS length are discussed.

Convergence, Not Divergence?: Trends and Trajectories in Public Contact and Confidence in the Police

Public trust and confidence are vital to the police function. There has been much comment and debate about the apparent decline in confidence in the British police since the 1950s, most frequently evidenced by data from the British Crime Survey (BCS). Yet, there has been relatively little in-depth interrogation of the data at the heart of the discussion. Pooling data from 11 sweeps of the BCS (1984 to 2005/06), this paper shows a homogenization over time in trends in trust and confidence and experiences of encounters with the police. This pattern is found across both age and ethnicity, and can also be identified in other variables. The story that emerges therefore differs from analyses that emphasize the increasingly diffuse and variable nature of public experiences of the police.

Workplace Assaults in Britain: Understanding the Influence of Individual and Workplace Characteristics

Studies based on British Crime Survey (BCS) data suggest that the overall incidence of workplace assault is relatively low. However, these data have a number of limitations. They include only assaults carried out by clients or the public, provide limited information about the individuals involved and their workplaces, and tell us little about perceived causes of violence at work. The 2008 Workplace Behaviour Survey (WBS) presents a more detailed picture than has hitherto been available about the extent and nature of interpersonal assaults at work. This paper discusses in detail the WBS findings regarding the prevalence, frequency and patterns of workplace assaults in Britain.

Crime Control and Due Process in Confidence-Building Strategies: A Governmentality Perspective

This article employs a governmentality framework to make sense of approaches to building public confidence, based upon a performance management regime that includes the British Crime Survey and a range of communicative technologies intended to raise public confidence. Whilst there are two discursive threads running throughout that broadly correspond with models of crime control and due process, priority has been afforded at the level of governmental 'talk' to the crime control model. Reflecting upon the strengths and limitations of the governmentality framework, the article questions the likelihood of the crime control discourse being enacted in practice, as well as the appropriateness of such a policy emphasis.

Illegal drug use in the age of ageing

Both historically and currently, UK policies on illegal drug use have been largely focused towards younger people, but there is growing evidence of a shift in the demographic profile of people who use illegal drugs, with an increasing substantial number of drug users aged over 40 years. There is limited evidence for a change in the age profile of drug users from the British Crime Survey which documents drug use in the general population of England and Wales.1 This survey reports that the prevalence of illegal drug use (predominantly cannabis, cocaine powder, ecstasy, amyl nitrate, and amphetamines) in the previous year has fallen significantly between 1996 and 2008/2009 for those aged 16 to 29 years, while the prevalence has increased among those aged 30 to 59 years.1 Unfortunately, the British Crime Survey does not collect information about illegal drug use by those aged 60 years and over, so identifying population level data on drug use for the oldest age groups presents a challenge. Further evidence of this demographic change among people accessing drug treatment services (primarily users of opiates and/or crack cocaine),2 is available from surveillance data. Using data from established monitoring systems (including the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System [NDTMS] which currently records data on people accessing structured treatment interventions in England), Beynon et al 3 demonstrate that the percentage of people in drug treatment in Cheshire and Merseyside aged 40 years and over increased from 9.8% in 1998 to 23.1% in 2004/2005 (with 1.7% of these aged 50 years and over in …

Rape – myth and reality: a clinician's perspective

Rape – myth and reality: a clinician's perspective

A Comparison of the British Crime Survey and Police Statistics for a Southern English County

The purpose of this research was to examine whether it was possible to use the British Crime Survey (BCS) data on Stop and Search for a southern English police force area (PFA) and to compare the findings from the BCS with those from police records. The local-level analysis of the BCS by PFA and recorded police statistics was an attempt to identify the similarities and differences, if any, between the two data sources. The research compares recorded police and BCS statistics for the same geographical police force area of a southern English county, for the period 2003 to 2006. The analysis looks at the number of stops and searches in each data source and presents a comparison of the ratio of persons arrested following a Stop and Search. The distribution of vehicle and pedestrian stops and searches in the two data sources is examined, as well as the demographic characteristics of suspects. The findings show that the BCS is a more accurate measure of stops than police statistics, although both data sources produced a similar pattern in the proportion of searches and arrests. The BCS showed that motor vehicle encounters were the most common form of contact, whereas police statistics showed that it was pedestrian encounters. However, a limited analysis was conducted using the BCS when the data were subdivided to consider age and ethnicity. Above all, the research has drawn attention to the gulf that exists between the two data sources.

Diversity or Disadvantage? Putnam, Goodhart, Ethnic Heterogeneity, and Collective Efficacy

Recent debates have suggested that increasing social diversity within Western economies is associated with adverse social consequences such as loss of community and decline of civic society, including an erosion of collective efficacy (ie shared expectations of and mutual engagement by residents in social control). In the UK and US, these debates have been given impetus by concerns about the effects of growing ethnic heterogeneity on community life. Here there is an assumption that heterogeneity undermines social cohesion and makes the established population less willing to share resources, trust fellow citizens, so that it eventually ‘hunkers down’ and withdraws from collective life. To date there are few studies that have examined this in detail across England at the small-area level. The research presented here explores this terrain by exploiting information from the British Crime Survey on two recognised dimensions of collective efficacy: namely, social cohesion and trust, and informal social control. Multivariate, multilevel models were used to determine the importance of individual and area characteristics in the possible explanation of these outcomes, and particular attention was paid to the relative importance of neighbourhood disadvantage over and above neighbourhood diversity. Results suggest that both diversity and disadvantage are statistically associated with reduced levels of social cohesion and trust, and informal social control, but greater substantive importance is attached to neighbourhood disadvantage.

Risk Factors for Violent Victimisation and Injury from Six Years of the British Crime Survey

Identifying factors that increase the likelihood of victimisation and injury reveals the considerable variability across groups and between incidents. It also allows the efficient allocation of prevention resources to protect those at greatest risk of harm. In this study, three statistical models were developed to identify risk factors for violent victimisation, violent injury and assault-related treatment at an Emergency Department (ED). The cross-sectional sample included all respondents in successive sweeps of the British Crime Survey between 2002/03 and 2007/08 (n = 261,238). Based on logistic regression, risk factors for violent victimisation included male gender, younger age, being divorced or separated, lower household income, living in an urban area and frequency of visiting a licensed premises. Among victims of violence, sustaining an injury was associated with weapon use and degree of alcohol intoxication. Among those injured in violence, weapon use, alcohol intoxication and being black increased risk of treatment at an ED. While sociodemographic factors can be used to predict incidence of victimisation, offence-specific factors offer greater predictive validity in predicting harm outcomes.

Reporting Crime to the Police

This paper examines how crime reporting has changed over time by comparing findings from the 2007/08 British Crime Survey with the results obtained from the last major enquiry reported in 1994. International research conducted since that date is also reviewed. The paper finds that seriousness of the offence is still the most important factor influencing victims’ decisions. But reporting rates have changed: broadly, property crime is less likely to be reported whereas violent crime is more likely to be reported. As property crime predominates, the overall trend has been downward. There has been a very notable shift in that crimes committed by family members and others well known to the victim are much more likely to be reported than previously.

Do the public want more or fewer police community support officers?

The delivery of neighbourhood policing across England and Wales relies heavily on the increasing number of police community support officers (PCSOs). This study focused on the residents' perceptions of PCSOs and on their views of the impact these officers had on the level of crime and antisocial behaviour (ASB) within the Halton Borough Council area, a unitary local authority in the northwest of England. It used a self‐completion postal questionnaire, which was distributed to 2,100 randomly selected, residential addresses across the borough. In the main, the residents who responded did not know their local PCSO, and felt that locally, crime was not as big an issue as that identified in the British Crime Survey (BCS) 2007‐08 (Kershaw et al, 2008:10). They did feel, however, that six of the seven quality of life issues surveyed by this local survey were worse in Halton than the national picture portrayed by the BCS. The residents did not know that PCSOs impacted on the issues concerning them locally, or perceived that they did not. Despite these perceptions, the vast majority of the respondents would welcome greater numbers of PCSOs.

Overview of Amphetamine-Type Stimulant Mortality Data – UK, 1997–2007

Background/Aims: Despite being amphetamine derivatives, MDMA and its analogues show a number of clinical pharmacological differences with respect to both amphetamine (AMP) and methylamphetamine (METH). We aimed here at reporting and analysing information relating to the socio-demographics and clinical circumstances of the AMP-type stimulant-related deaths for the whole of the UK. Methods: Data (1997–2007) were taken from the National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths (np-SAD) database, collecting information from UK coroners/procurators fiscal. To calculate rates of fatalities per 100,000 users, appropriate AMP/METH and ecstasy users’ numbers were taken from the 2001–2007 British Crime Survey. Results: Overall, 832 AMP/METH- and 605 ecstasy (mostly MDMA and methylenedioxyamphetamine/MDA)-related deaths were respectively identified. In comparison with AMP/METH victims, the ecstasy ones were more likely to be younger (28.3 vs. 32.7 years; p < 0.0001) and less likely to be known as drug users (PR = 1.9; CI 1.5–2.6). Ecstasy was more likely to be identified on its own than AMP/METH (p = 0.0192). Contributory factors were more frequently mentioned by coroners in the ‘AMP/METH-only’ (106 cases) group than in the ‘ecstasy-only’ (104 cases) one (p = 0.0043). Both poly- and monodrug AMP/METH fatalities per 100,000 16- to 59-year-old users were significantly more represented than ecstasy fatalities (respectively 17.87 ± 4.77 deaths vs. 10.89 ± 1.27; p = 0.000; 2.09 ± 0.88 vs. 1.75 ± 0.56; p = 0.0096). However, mono-intoxication ecstasy fatalities per 100,000 16- to 24-year-old users were significantly more represented than AMP/METH fatalities (1.67 ± 0.52 vs. 0.8 ± 0.65; p = 0.0007). Conclusion: With respect to AMP/METH, ecstasy was here more typically identified in victims who were young, healthy, and less likely to be known as drug users. AMP/METH high mortality rates may be explained by users’ high levels of physical co-morbidity; excess ecstasy-related fatality rates in young users may be a reason for concern. Although the coroners’ response rate was of 90–95%, study limitations include both reporting inconsistency over time and lack of routine information on drug intake levels prior to death.

Editorial: Domestic violence – time for a rethink?

Editorial: Domestic violence – time for a rethink?

Crime Reporting Decisions and the Costs of Crime

The paper develops a model of crime reporting based on an economic approach. It identifies the principal costs and benefits of reporting from the victim’s perspective, taking account of insurance provision and the risk of intimidation by an offender. It shows how a victim might use backward induction to infer a rational reporting strategy. The recording of crime by the police is a process that relies on victim reports, and is thus influenced by the reporting decisions made by victims. The paper uses empirical evidence from the British Crime Survey and from the International Crime Victims Survey to explore the hypotheses generated by the model. It finds support for the suggestion that the propensity to report a crime increases with the size of the loss entailed. The paper also explores the implications of the findings for the estimation of the costs of crime. Reporting and intimidation costs are generally excluded from bottom-up estimates of costs, an omission that may be quite serious in the context of offences such as domestic violence.

Homophobic hate crime — findings from the Gay British Crime Survey 2008

There is a real paucity of evidence relating to homophobic hate crimes in Britain. This has hampered intelligence‐led approaches by the police and other criminal justice agencies in tackling the issues facing many lesbian, gay and bisexual people. This article reports on evidence generated by Stonewall's Homophobic Hate Crime: The gay British crime survey 2008 (Dick, 2008). In particular, it demonstrates the importance of good quality and up‐to‐date evidence by highlighting the fact that under‐reporting of homophobic hate crimes is caused by far more complex factors than previously assumed. Yet, numerous initiatives to tackle hate crime have been based on outdated assumptions around reasons for under‐reporting. The article also contends that the move towards a ‘cross‐strand’ approach and local priority setting threatens the embryonic work on homophobic hate crimes.

A Comparison of Attitudes to the Police Between Greek Cypriots and Ethnic Minorities Living in Cyprus

The attitudes of 66 ethnic minorities and 152 Cypriots toward the police were examined according to age, experience of criminal victimization, and race. Questions were based on the British Crime Survey (BCS) and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and were translated into Greek. Results showed low levels of experience of possession crime and crime against the person in Cypriots and ethnic minorities, with no difference in these experiences between the two groups. Attitudes to the police were predicted by age and ethnicity with younger participants and Cypriots holding more negative attitudes than older participants and ethnic minorities. Victimization experience did not predict attitudes. Some victims of crime, who had not reported the crime to the police, stated that their reasons for not doing so were because of their lack of trust in the police’s ability to do something about the incident. Discussion centers on reasons why differences in attitudes toward the police might exist and the implications of the findings for the Cypriot police force in terms of public relations.

Investigating perceptions of antisocial behaviour and neighbourhood ethnic heterogeneity in the British Crime Survey

There is much concern in the UK about the effects on community cohesion of anti-social behaviour (ASB) but to date relatively little is known about the geography of such behaviour: for what sort of people, and in what sort of places, are high levels of ASB a problem? What are the links, if any, between such behaviour and local socio-economic conditions, and how do such perceptions relate to local crime rates? Using data from the British Crime Survey and other secondary datasets, we develop and extend previous work which has investigated links between individual socio-economic characteristics, neighbourhood characteristics and individual perceptions of ASB. A multilevel modelling approach is used to ensure that individual and area level effects are not conflated. Secondly we extend the substantive knowledge surrounding the relationship between neighbourhood ethnic heterogeneity and individual perceptions of ASB. In so doing we challenge recent contentions that heterogeneity is associated with declining social cohesion and trust. We conclude that at a small-area scale for England, the primary area-level determinants of high levels of ASB lie in material circumstances, and that ethnic heterogeneity has no discernible effect on perceptions of ASB.

New estimates of the number of children living with substance misusing parents: results from UK national household surveys

BackgroundThe existing estimates of there being 250,000 - 350,000 children of problem drug users in the UK (ACMD, 2003) and 780,000 - 1.3 million children of adults with an alcohol problem (AHRSE, 2004) are extrapolations of treatment data alone or estimates from other countries, hence updated, local and broader estimates are needed.MethodsThe current work identifies profiles where the risk of harm to children could be increased by patterns of parental substance use and generates new estimates following secondary analysis of five UK national household surveys.ResultsThe Health Survey for England (HSfE) and General Household Survey (GHS) (both 2004) generated consistent estimates - around 30% of children under-16 years (3.3 - 3.5 million) in the UK lived with at least one binge drinking parent, 8% with at least two binge drinkers and 4% with a lone (binge drinking) parent. The National Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (NPMS) indicated that in 2000, 22% (2.6 million) lived with a hazardous drinker and 6% (705,000) with a dependent drinker. The British Crime Survey (2004) and NPMS (2000) indicated that 8% (up to 978,000) of children lived with an adult who had used illicit drugs within that year, 2% (up to 256,000) with a class A drug user and 7% (up to 873,000) with a class C drug user. Around 335,000 children lived with a drug dependent user, 72,000 with an injecting drug user, 72,000 with a drug user in treatment and 108,000 with an adult who had overdosed. Elevated or cumulative risk of harm may have existed for the 3.6% (around 430,000) children in the UK who lived with a problem drinker who also used drugs and 4% (half a million) where problem drinking co-existed with mental health problems. Stronger indicators of harm emerged from the Scottish Crime Survey (2000), according to which 1% of children (around 12,000 children) had witnessed force being used against an adult in the household by their partner whilst drinking alcohol and 0.6% (almost 6000 children) whilst using drugs.ConclusionWhilst harm from parental substance use is not inevitable, the number of children living with substance misusing parents exceeds earlier estimates. Widespread patterns of binge drinking and recreational drug use may expose children to sub-optimal care and substance-using role models. Implications for policy, practice and research are discussed.