NCJ Number
216396
Date Published
October 2006
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This paper presents findings from a face-to-face survey in Sydney, Australia on the nature and extent of crime perpetrated against non-English speaking businesses in Australia or whether crimes may differ by ethnicity, or what characteristics of the businesses might be associated with greater risk.
Abstract
Patterns of victimization of ethnic businesses differ from English speaking businesses: overall rates of vandalism and/or graffiti, verbal abuse, and check and credit card fraud were higher for English speaking businesses. When the effects of other variables were held constant and business ethnicity was further broken down, the risks of shoplifting were higher for Chinese businesses and the risks of other property crime, including burglary, were higher for Vietnamese businesses compared with English speaking businesses. Yet, the risks of robbery and/or physical assault were greater for English speaking businesses. Australia is an immigrant society. Approximately 60 percent of overseas-born migrants were born in countries where English is either not an official language or is not the main language spoken by most of the population. Research suggests that language and cultural barriers can foster environments in which crime can be committed. This paper reports on a face-to-face survey conducted with 337 small businesses in 2 ethnically-concentrated communities investigating the nature and extent of crimes perpetrated against non-English speaking businesses in Australia. Figures, tables, references