NCJ Number
98046
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 25 Issue: 6 Dated: (April 1985) Pages: 148-159
Date Published
1985
Length
12 pages
Annotation
The British Crime Surveys, which present victimization data, present a different picture of crime in England and Wales in comparison to Scotland, when compared with the official statistics based on crimes reported to the police.
Abstract
Survey information is based on information from 11,000 respondents in England and Wales and 5,000 in Scotland in 1982. Whereas official statistics show Scotland to have higher crime rates than England and Wales, the victimization data show little difference in the level of 10 of the 13 offense categories. Scotland is higher in thefts from motor vehicles, while England and Wales are higher in woundings and thefts in a dwelling. The Scots tended to report more offenses to the police, perhaps accounting in part for the differences in the official statistics. Differences in policing levels may be a more important factor in this result than differences in attitudes toward the police. In addition, the Scottish police may simply record more of the crimes they know about, perhaps because Scotland has higher levels of police personnel. However, further analysis indicates that the Scottish police do not record higher proportions of the offenses reported to them. Further use of crime surveys for cross-national comparisons is attractive, although numerous methodological problems need to be addressed if data are to be comparable. Data tables and 14 references are supplied.