NCJ Number
197768
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 42 Issue: 4 Dated: Autumn 2002 Pages: 782-797
Date Published
2002
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This paper reviews the key research on crimes against businesses.
Abstract
Business premises have a higher risk than households of experiencing crime types such as burglary and criminal damage. However, there has been little criticism of the methodological approaches used by the key research and the lack of attention to understanding and explaining the crime patterns that emerge. This paper reviews previous research and considers directions for future research. It considers the key research and what it tells about the nature and extent of business victimization and highlights some methodological problems with this research: surveys employ different methodologies, making it difficult to compare findings; surveys record crime types in different ways; and replication of surveys is needed for comparison purposes. Further research is needed into: (1) patterns of crime against business at the national and local level; (2) answering the question of why some business types appear to experience higher rates of victimization than others; (3) the impact of crime on businesses and their employees; and (4) measures that can be taken to reduce crimes against businesses. Notes, tables, figures, references