Crime Reduction - Helping to Reduce Crime in Your Area

The Australian Institute of Criminology has recently published a report which investigates repeat victimisation and why it happens.

Title: Preventing Repeat Victimisation
Author: Australian Institute of Criminology
Series: AIC Crime Reduction Matters 12
Number of pages: 1
Date published: October 2003

The main finding of the report was that the bulk of repeat offences against the same target are attributed to the same offender. Because patterns of repeat offending and victimisation are so closely linked, research is showing that there are a number of advantages to using prior victimisation to prioritise crime prevention action.

Key findings

• Repeat victimisation happens across many areas of crime. It is particularly common for victims of domestic violence and property crimes such as burglary.

• Repeat offences tend to happen fairly quickly after the first offence, therefore if prevention measures are to be put in place, they should be installed quickly if they are to be effective.

• Because repeat victimisation covers many different types of crime, there is no overarching strategy for tackling it. Any measures introduced should be tailored to the individual circumstances.

• To effectively tackle repeat victimisation you need access to accurate crime data to look for developing patterns of crime.

Download "Preventing Repeat Victimisation" PDF 94KB