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YOUNG PEOPLE AND CRIME IN SCOTLAND: FINDINGS FROM THE 2000 SCOTTISH CRIME SURVEY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Scottish Crime Survey (SCS) measures crimes directly experienced by people living in private households. The 2000 SCS is the fifth survey of its kind to be carried out in Scotland since the early 1980s. Since the early 1990s, the SCS has included a self-completion questionnaire for young people aged 12 to 15. This report presents the findings for the young person's component of the 2000 SCS.
MAIN FINDINGS
- Half of the young people surveyed (50%) had been a victim of at least one unpleasant incident or crime since the beginning of the previous summer holidays. The most common offence experienced was harassment (22%), followed by bullying (19%), assault (19%) and theft of personal property (15%). Five per cent of respondents said they had had something stolen that they were carrying or had been victims of sexual harassment.
- One third of young people (34%) said they had committed an offence since the beginning of the last summer holidays, a steady increase from 22% in 1993 and 28% in 1996. However, the offences were minor in nature. The most common were fighting (19% of respondents), travelling on public transport with an incorrect fare (15%) and vandalism (8%).
- Young people who admitted to committing offences were more likely than those who did not to be a victim of crime, to play truant or to be excluded from school. They also spent more evenings away from home, were out later at night and their parents were less likely to know where they were and who they were with.
- One in three young people (36%) had experienced recent, adversarial, police contact. Offenders, males and people aged 14-15 were more likely to have experienced such contact.
- The issue young people were most worried about was 'doing badly at school' (59%), followed by 'finding a job when leaving school' (47%). In respect of crime, young people were most concerned about being sexually molested (49%) and being attacked in a public place (47%).
- One in ten young people (9%) said they did not go out alone after dark. Of those who did 64% said they felt 'very' or 'fairly' safe. Females and those from social classes D and E were more likely to feel unsafe when out alone after dark.
- Five per cent of young people said they had received no information about illegal drugs at school. About half (55%) thought their school provided an adequate amount of information. The main sources of information about illegal drugs were teachers (57% said they had learned a lot from them), police officers (44%) and TV programmes (41%).
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