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VIOLENCE IN SCOTLAND: FINDINGS FROM THE 2000 SCOTTISH CRIME SURVEY

CHAPTER FOUR: PUBLIC REACTIONS TO VIOLENT CRIME

THE EMOTIONAL REACTIONS OF VICTIMS OF VIOLENT CRIME

Victims of violent crime since the beginning of 1999 were asked if they, or anyone else in their household, had an emotional reaction to the incident. In nearly two-thirds of cases (60%) someone in the household did have such a reaction, most commonly the respondent.

The most common reaction that the respondents experienced was anger (77% of incidents), followed by shock and fear.

Table 4.1: Emotional Reactions Experienced by the Respondent at the Time of the Incident

Notes
Base = victim forms relating to violence where respondent had a reaction to incident, n =162.
People were allowed to give more than one reaction. All reactions have been included in this table not just the one which was felt the most.

Later on (at the time of the interview), the majority of those who experienced a reaction at the time still felt some emotion about the incident. The most common lasting emotion was also anger, followed by fear and vulnerability. As might be expected, shock is less lasting.

Those who had been a victim of violence at any time in the past were asked how well they remembered the incident. Half (50%) said that they remembered it very well, another 30% remembered it fairly well and only 14% of victims did not remember it well or not at all well. Forty four percent said they still thought about the incident and 30% felt that it had had a lasting effect on their behaviour and household routines.

For just under half (48%) of those who said they had ever been the victim of violent crime the incident had occurred over 10 years ago. It is clear, however, that being the victim of such a crime has a long lasting impact. Well over three quarters (85%) of those who had been a victim of violent crime over 10 years ago remembered the incident 'very' or 'fairly' well, 18% still felt that it had a long lasting impact on their behaviour and household routines and 35% still thought about the incident.

Only slightly over half (54%) of the violent crimes since the beginning of 1999 were reported to the police. In 52% of cases where the police had been told, the victim had told the police themselves. In another 29% of cases the police had been told by another person.

In 43% of incidents the crime was not reported to the police. The main reasons for not reporting the incidents were 'dealt with matter myself/ourselves' (29%), 'police would not have bothered/been interested' (26%) and 'too trivial' (20%).

The main reasons given for reporting violent crimes to the police were 'in the hope of avoiding repetition of crime' (49%), followed by 'serious/major/upsetting crime' (35%). Interestingly, reporting 'in the hope that the offenders would be caught and punished' (28%) was only the fourth most common reason for reporting the crime.

HOW CONCERNED ARE PEOPLE ABOUT VIOLENCE?

Respondents' general level of worry about crime (whether or not they had been a victim) was gauged by asking whether they worried about becoming a victim of specific crimes.

Concern about crime is likely to be influenced by perceived risk of becoming a victim of crime. This can be a response to a combination of perceived prevalence of a crime and the personal circumstances of the respondent. A further issue is that of impact. For example, while sexual assault may be seen as a rare occurrence, a respondent who sees herself at low risk may conceivably be very worried about becoming a victim of sexual assault due to the nature of the crime.

Although a third of respondents said they were worried about assault or robbery, more people were worried about property theft and vandalism. This possibly reflects the small proportion of people who have experienced violent crime.

Figure 4.1: Percentage of Respondents 'Very' or 'Fairly' Worried about a Range of Crimes

Notes:

1. N = 5,059.
2. When men and women are included in the analysis anxiety about being sexually assaulted or raped drops to 29%.

In 1999, of the three types of violence that were asked about, people were most worried about being sexually assaulted or raped (for women only) and robbed and least worried about being physically assaulted in the street.

The anxiety about all types of violent crime has been dropping over time ¹² (Figure 11).

Figure 4.2: Level of worry about becoming the victim of different types of violent crime over time

Notes 1 Differences significant at the 99% level.

The level of worry about different crimes is gender specific, with women worrying far more about violent crimes than men. In particular, women tend to be far more worried about being sexually assaulted or raped (42%) than men (10%).

WHAT DO PEOPLE DO TO PROTECT THEMSELVES?

Some people take precautions against crime when they are out after dark. The most common precaution taken by those who ever go out after dark was to avoid walking near certain types of people (30%), followed by planning a route to avoid certain streets or areas (24%).

Figure 4.3: Precautions against crime

Respondents were asked if they ever carried a weapon or means of self-defence ¹³. For those that did, a further question asked them what kind of things they carried. The most commonly carried item was keys (32%), followed by a stick/club or hitting item (24%) and then a knife or a sharp object (18%).

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