Nature and Extent of repeat victimisation
| The extent of repeat victimisation
Domestic burglary:: one study showed that once a house had been burgled
its chance of repeat victimization was four times the rate of houses that had not
been burgled before.
(Forrester D et al (1988) The Kirkholt Burglary Prevention Project Rochdale
Crime prevention Unit Paper 13. London: Home Office)
Domestic violence: estimates are that only 10% of domestic violence
to women involves an isolated event, and that the other 90% involves systematic beatings
often with escalating violence.
(Hanmer J. and Stanko E A (1985) 'Stripping away the rhetoric of protection: violence
to women law and the state in Britain and the USA' International Journal of the
Sociology of Law 13 (p.357-74).
Motor Vehicle theft: : a quarter of respondents experienced more than
one incident. 8% of victims accounted for 22% of the incidents measured in the three
surveys.
(Mayhew P., Aye-Maung N., & Mirrlees-Black C (1993) The 1992 British Crime
Survey. Home Office Research Study 132. London: HMSO.
Racial attacks: 67% of families in one estate in East London were
repeat victims
(Sampson, A. & Phillips, C. (1992) Multiple Racial Attacks on an East London
Estate. Crime Prevention Unit Paper 36. London. Home Office.
Crime on industrial estates: work in Trafford found that a quarter
of premises on industrial estates accounted for three quarters of all burglaries on
these estates
(Johnson S D Bowers K and Hirschfield A (1997) 'New Insights into the Spatial
and Temporal Distribution of Repeat Victimisation' in British Journal of Criminology
37 (p.224-241).
School burglary and property crime: 98% of the total crimes recorded
by 33 schools on Merseyside were repeat crimes
Burquest, R, et al. (1992) 'Lessons from Schools'. Policing, 8. P148-155.)
Bullying: a study in a comprehensive school in Sussex showed that
9-10% of pupils had been bullied weekly or more
Assaults: a study in an A&E department showed that 43% of victims
of violence reported at least one previous assault, 27% reported involvement in more
than two previous assaults, 7% of males reported more than ten previous assaults.
Shepherd JP (1990) Violent crime in Bristol: An Accident and Emergency Department
Perspective. British Journal of Criminology 30: 289-305
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(Adapted from Cressida Bridgeman & Louise Hobbs (1997) Preventing Repeat Victimisation:
the police officer’s guide . Police Research Group. London. Home Office.
For a number of reasons the extent and nature of repeat victimisation have tended
to remain hidden, although many practitioners at a local level have been aware of
repeatedly victimised people and places. However, a pattern has emerged from various
research studies carried out in the UK, as well as the British Crime Survey.
The British Crime Survey
The recorded crime figures represent those offences recorded by the police. Not
all offences are reported and not all reported offences are recorded. For that reason,
the Home Office conduct the British Crime Survey.
The British Crime Survey (BCS) is a very important source of information about
levels of crime and public attitudes to crime. The BCS measures the amount of crime
in England and Wales by asking people about crimes they have experienced in the previous
year. The BCS includes crimes, which are not reported to the police, so it
is an important alternative to police records.
The British Crime Survey (2000) highlighted that 4% of victims account for between
38 and 44% of all crime reported to the survey. The link below is to a table from the BCS 2000
gives figures for the number of times victims were victimised in 1999:
Click here for a types of crime table
figures taken from Kershaw et al. The 2000 British Crime Survey for England
& Wales. Home Office Statistical Bulletin 18/00. London. Home Office. Table
A2.9. p68.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hosb1800.pdf
The figures indicate that preventing repeat victimisation to zero will, for
example, reduce burglary by 25% and domestic violence by 47%.
The BCS 2000 also shows that if a person has been the victim of crime during the
previous year, they have a much higher perception of risk of being the victim of various
types of crime, than if they have not been a victim. See link below.
Click here for a table
demonstrating the perceived risk of crime.
(figures taken from Kershaw et al. The 2000 British Crime Survey for England
& Wales. Home Office Statistical Bulletin 18/00. London. Home Office. Table
A7.5. p98.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hosb1800.pdf
There is also similar data indicating that a higher percentage of people who
have been the victim of crime are very worried about crime.
These types of finding are backed up by evidence from the Scottish Crime Survey
carried out in 1996. This showed that 35-40% of all property crimes were committed
against 3-4% of respondents, and 1.2% of respondents suffered 40% of personal crime.
(MVA Consultancy (1998) Main Findings from the 1996 Scottish Crime Survey. Edinburgh:
HMSO)
Research & Development
There is now a substantial and growing body of research as evidence for the repeat
victimisation pattern. The research has also started to address the issue of why repeat
victimisation occurs. A full list of publications is given in the publications section
but key projects include:
Click here for a summary of research findings
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