NCJ Number
228613
Date Published
2008
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This paper describes the content and methodology of the new Swedish Crime Survey (NTU), which was first used in 2006, with a second sweep collected in 2007.
Abstract
One of the primary aims of NTU is to supplement information on crimes reported to police. Other survey objectives are to assess public perceptions of insecurity (fear of crime), to determine victims' experiences with the criminal justice system, and to measure respondents' attitudes toward components of the criminal justice system. The NTU contains questions on four main topics: criminal victimization, fear of crime, confidence in the criminal justice system, and crime victims' experiences with the criminal justice system. The types of crimes included in the survey pertain to threat, assault, mugging, sexual crime, harassment, housebreaking, fraud, automobile theft, bicycle theft, and theft from vehicles. These types of crime cover approximately 40 percent of the total types of crimes defined under the Penal Code. In addition to the specified types of crimes, however, there are also questions related to victimization by some other crime. For the crimes reported, follow-up questions are asked, such as the victim's relationship to the perpetrator, the time and location of the crime, whether the crime was reported to police, and the consequences of the crime for the victim. Telephone interviews constitute the primary method of data collection. Mailed questionnaires are used as a supplement. The sample is drawn from a register that contains every person registered in Sweden. The sample consists of individuals between the ages of 16 and 79 years. In 2005, 26 percent of the population (16-79 years old) were victims of crime, with threats and harassment being the most common crimes experienced (5 percent of the victimizations). 2 tables