NCJ Number
92642
Date Published
1983
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Less than 42 percent of the personal and household victimizations which occurred in seven urban centers in Canada in 1981 were reported to the police.
Abstract
Study data came from telephone interviews of over 61,000 residents aged 16 and over. The respondents reported on their victimization experiences which occurred between January 1 and December 31, 1981. The survey focused on eight categories of crime: sexual assault, robbery, assault, breaking and entering, motor vehicle theft, theft of household property, theft of personal property, and vandalism. An estimated 700,000 personal victimizations and almost 900,000 household victimizations occurred in the 7 cities during 1981. Despite the public view that crime is associated with violence, crime in Canada was rarely violent. Victims were most often young, unmarried males who were living alone, who were students or were looking for work, and who had an active life outside the home. These characteristics were similar to those of offenders. Extensive tabular data provides information about the victims of certain crimes, the risks and impact of victimization, the extent and distribution of reported and unreported crime, and information about public awareness and participation in crime compensation and prevention programs.