Youth

What can contribute to young people’s fear of crime?

Personal experience of crime

Young people are more likely to be the victims of many types of crime than the general population, including violent crime, property theft and vandalism. The 2002 Youth Survey conducted by MORI for the Youth Justice Board found that respondents aged between 11-16 years old were on average twice as likely to have been a victim of crime in the previous year than the over 16s. What’s more, each year, nearly half of secondary school children experience some sort of victimisation.

Particular groups of young people are also particularly at risk from certain crimes. For example, young men are more at risk of physical violence than young women, young women are more at risk of sexual violence than young men, and young disabled people are more at risk of being physically and verbally abused than young non-disabled people, as are young people from BME backgrounds.

The Youth Justice Board 2004 Youth survey conducted by MORI reported that 49% of young people in mainstream school reported being a victim of an offence in the last year. The most commonly reported types of victimisation among those in mainstream schooling included being threatened (26%), being bullied at school (23%), having something stolen excluding mobile phones (15%) and having personal belongings destroyed or damaged on purpose (14%). The most commonly expressed fears by young people in mainstream schooling were being physically assaulted (47%), being the victim of theft (45%), bullied in school (35%) and being the victim of racism (28%). 27% of young people in mainstream schooling feel very safe whilst at school, 49% feel fairly safe, 11% feel a bit unsafe and 3% feel very unsafe whilst at school.

Parental attitudes

Over-protective parents who are continually warning their offspring about the dangers of the outside world can also contribute to a sense of vulnerability and fearfulness in their children. This tends to happen particularly with young women, young disabled people and young people from BME communities.

Bullying

Bullying can be dismissed as an inevitable and generally harmless rite of passage. In truth, prolonged or vicious bullying can have a serious impact on the victim. If left unchecked, bullying can lead to a culture of intimidation and fear in the classroom, which can be a breeding ground for criminal behaviour. Victims of bullying can also feel as though their complaints aren’t taken seriously by those in authority, which could have severe repercussions on their future willingness to report actual crime. According to a survey in 2002 by Communities that Care (CtC), 45% of 11-16 year olds said that they had been bullied by other students in the last year, although the majority said this had happened rarely or only sometimes. One in 8 (13%) said they had been bullied often or very often in the last year.

Bullying is also closely linked to hate crimes, which is another good reason why tackling it at its roots should – and is – being made a priority by central government and CDRPs. For information, advice and guidance about how to tackle bullying go to the Department for Education and Skills website at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/bullying