Stranger and Acquaintance Violence: Practice Messages From the British Crime Survey

• NCJ Number: 196966
• Author(s): Joanna Mattinson
• Date Published: July 2001
• Length: 6 pages
• Sale Source: Great Britain Home Office, Policing and Reducing Crime Unit
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom
• Note: Home Office Briefing Note 7/01

Annotation

This document describes national patterns of stranger and acquaintance violence.

Abstract

Stranger violence is defined as assaults and attempts in which the victim did not know any of the offenders. Acquaintance violence includes assaults and attempts in which the victim knew one or more of the offenders at least by sight, but not involving partners, ex-partners, household members, and other relatives. Data were obtained from the 2000 British Crime Survey (BCS). Typically, stranger and acquaintance violence is not reported to the police but the BCS is a household survey that provides a more complete picture of violent crime than police statistics alone. Results of the survey show that the average risk of being a victim of violent crime was comparatively low, with only 3 percent of adults being a victim of stranger and/or acquaintance violence once or more during 1999. Nationally, 1.5 percent of those aged 16 or more were victims of stranger violence in 1999. The figure was slightly higher (1.7 percent) for acquaintance violence. About one in four victims of acquaintance violence (28 percent) were victimized more than once during 1999. Repeat victimization was less common for victims of stranger violence. The estimated number of incidents of acquaintance violence in 1999 was 52 percent higher than in 1981. Although the level of stranger violence has fluctuated over the years, the number of incidents in 1999 was only slightly higher than in 1981. Young men were around five times more likely to be a victim than the national average. Violent crimes do not necessarily take place in the victim’s neighborhood. Two-thirds of incidents of stranger violence happened further than a 15-minute walk of the victim’s house. The equivalent figure for acquaintance violence was 53 percent. Acquaintance and stranger violence was most likely to take place during the evening or at night. There is a need to target hotspots associated with crime and disorder, and pay special attention to protecting those in vulnerable occupations. 2 figures, 2 tables, 12 footnotes