« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: FINDINGS FROM THE 2000 SCOTTISH CRIME SURVEY
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
This report presents data on the prevalence and experience of domestic violence from the 2000 Scottish Crime Survey (SCS) 1. The SCS collects information on people's experiences and perceptions of crime through interviews with people from a sample of approximately 5,000 households throughout Scotland. This was the third sweep of the SCS, the first two having taken place in 1993 and 1996. In 1982 and 1988 similar information on crime in Scotland was collected through the British Crime Survey, which collected data from households in Central and Southern Scotland. When the SCS began in 1993 the sample was extended to include the whole of mainland Scotland and the larger islands.
Questions on domestic violence were asked for the first time in the 1996 SCS through a self-completion questionnaire targeted at people aged between 16 and 59. The results of this exercise provided the first nationally representative picture of the prevalence of domestic violence across Scotland. The self-completion questionnaire was included again in the 2000 survey with some modifications to provide more detailed information. The decision to collect information on domestic violence via a self-completion questionnaire was influenced by the belief that people would be more willing to disclose information about their experiences of domestic violence by filling in a form rather than through a face to face interview. This is especially pertinent given that the interviews are conducted within people's homes where perpetrators of domestic violence may be present. However, it is recognised that even with the use of a self-completion questionnaire, the SCS is likely to underestimate the full extent of domestic violence occurring in Scotland. It should also be borne in mind that raw numbers are small. For example, only 95 respondents said they had had force used against them or had been threatened by a partner in 1999. Care should, therefore, be taken when interpreting figures.
In order to set the survey into a wider context, attention is first given in this report to defining domestic violence, and outlining the main findings that have emerged from other sources. The findings from the main SCS 2000 on violent crime (and the proportion of this that is domestic) are then presented, followed by findings from the self-completion questionnaire on the prevalence of domestic violence both within the previous year (1999) and throughout the respondent's lifetime. Details on the regularity of incidents of domestic violence, the nature of the injuries sustained by victims and the forms that domestic violence took are then considered, as are new questions in the 2000 survey on the presence of children and the involvement of drugs or alcohol in domestic violence incidents. The report concludes with a brief look at trends between 1995 and 1999 in the prevalence of domestic violence, and the Scottish Executive policy response to the problem.
DEFINING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Domestic violence can be defined in a variety of ways. In part this relates to how 'domestic' is defined and in part to how 'violence' is defined. For example, 'domestic' relationships refer to a range of people including family, friends, people we live with and partners. Naturally the more people that are included within definitions of 'domestic' violence, the greater the number of incidents which are likely to be reported.
Defining 'violence' has similar problems. One approach is to include incidents of physical assault and attempted assault, however minor and for whatever reason they are committed. Another approach may be to include incidents where there is a clear intent to cause harm, especially pain or injury. It may also be argued that a definition of violence should take account of whether the victim judges the action to be violent or not, although just because the recipient judges the behaviour to be acceptable, does not mean that society should disregard it. Definitions of domestic 'violence' could also include bullying, psychological controlling and emotionally abusive behaviour as well as physical assault (Mirrlees-Black, 1999).
Within the SCS self-completion questionnaire, 'domestic violence' 2 is defined as being perpetrated by a partner or ex-partner, which means anyone the respondent has been or is having a relationship with, whether they are in this relationship at the time of the survey or not. This definition does not, therefore, exclude those in homosexual relationships or those not currently living with the perpetrator (either now or in the past).
Police definitions of domestic violence differ from those used in crime surveys. In Scotland the definition of domestic violence used by the police is "any form of physical, sexual or emotional abuse which takes place within the context of a close relationship. In most cases this will be between partners (married, cohabiting or otherwise) or ex-partners" (Goodall & McKay 1998; p7). In England incidents are referred to as 'domestic' by the police when they involve "people who are related in any way or who live in the same household. This might include assaults on children by parents and vice versa" (Mirrlees-Black 1999; p1).
MEASURING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
In addition to the various ways of defining domestic violence, there are also debates around how it should be measured. Different methods of data collection give different findings, and provide alternative perspectives on the issue. There is, however, some value in having different data collection methods to gather information on domestic abuse. Different studies can complement one another in terms of gathering both quantitative data on the scale of domestic violence, and qualitative accounts of its nature.
Crime surveys estimate the extent of domestic violence, track trends and describe the relative risks for different population groups. They offer a different picture to the police recorded crime statistics, which only capture domestic violence incidents that are made known to, and recorded by, the police.
Within the Scottish Crime Survey, the extent of domestic violence is measured in two ways. The first is through information collected in the main questionnaire which asks about people's experience of violent crime in general. By looking at the location of incidents and details of the perpetrator of the crime it is possible to identify those which are 'domestic' in nature, i.e. where assaults are perpetrated by members of the respondent's household. The second is through a separate set of questions within the self-completion questionnaire which ask specifically about experience of domestic violence. The focus within the self-completion questionnaire is on collecting information on people's experiences of either threats or force from a partner or ex-partner.
« Previous | Contents | Next »