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YOUNG PEOPLE AND CRIME IN SCOTLAND: FINDINGS FROM THE 2000 SCOTTISH CRIME SURVEY

CHAPTER THREE: YOUNG PEOPLE AS VICTIMS OF CRIME

The survey has established that young people are generally more worried about crime (particularly street crime) than adults, but how does this relate to their experience of crime? Respondents were asked whether any of the following things had happened to them outside the home, while they were out or at school and since the beginning of the previous year's summer holidays:

• Bullying¹⁷they had been a victim of 'bullying', committed by other young people who they know through school
• Theft someone had stolen something which they had left somewhere, or someone had stolen or attempted to steal, something they had been carrying
• Violence someone had deliberately used force or violence upon them (e.g. kicked, slapped or scratched them, or hit them)
• Harassment they had been frightened by someone threatening them, staring at them, following them or shouting at them
• Sexual They were asked if they had had been frightened by anyone

Harassment touching or attempting to touch them, trying to get them to go somewhere or exposing themselves.

Half (50%) of the young people said that they had been a victim of at least one of these types of incident. If bullying is excluded from this calculation in order to make the offences comparable with those in the 1993 and 1996 SCS, this figure is reduced to 43%. This is very similar to the 45% reported in 1993 and 1996.

Figure 3.1 shows the proportion of respondents who reported being the victim of each type of incident in each survey year.

Figure 3.1: Levels of Victimisation among Young People 1993-2000

Note: Respondents were asked if they were a victim of bullying for the first time in 2000.

BULLYING

One in five (19%, n=76) respondents reported having been bullied by other young people they knew through school. Although there was no notable difference in terms of sex, twelve and thirteen year olds were more likely to report bullying than 14 and 15 year olds (23% compared to 14%).

Of those young people reporting bullying, 37% said that incidents happened at least once a week and 15% reported that incidents occurred most days. The types of bullying experienced by young people are shown in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1: Types of Bullying Experienced by Young People

Notes:
1. More than one response permitted.
2. Source: 2000 SCS (all Scotland, weighted data), Young Person's Self-Completion Questionnaire (n=73).

When asked who bullied them, twenty-five per cent said they were usually bullied by a mixed-sex group, 21% by a group of boys and 20% by a group of girls. The remaining 35% of victims were victims of an individual bully (16% by a girl and 19% by a boy). As Table 3.2 shows, victims were mostly victimised by members of their own sex. However, females were more likely to be bullied by the opposite sex (17%) than were males (3%) ¹⁸.

Table 3.2: Sex of Bullies by Sex of Victim

Note: Source: 2000 SCS (all Scotland, weighted data), Young Person's Self-Completion Questionnaire (n=73).

THEFT

Overall, one in five young people (19%, n=77) reported having been a victim of theft. Incidents of theft and attempted theft consisted of two types. Firstly, respondents were asked whether anyone had stolen any possessions that they had left somewhere (e.g. at school or in a cloakroom). Fifteen per cent (n=62) indicated this had happened to them, very similar to 1996 (17%) and 1993 (15%). Secondly, they were asked if someone had stolen or tried to steal something they had with them. Five per cent (n=19) said this had happened to them, again very similar to in 1996 and 1993 (both 6%). There were no age, sex or class differences between victims and non-victims. Sixty-eight per cent of theft victims and 70% of theft from the person victims reported this to have happened only once.

Eight out of ten (81%, n=57) respondents who indicated that something had been stolen from where they left it provided further details of the incident. Money was most frequently taken (42%), followed by stationery (34%) and bicycles, clothing, jewellery or sports kit/equipment (each 7%).

All young people who said someone had stolen or attempted to steal something that they were carrying provided further details of the incident. In over half of the cases (54%) nothing was actually stolen. Seven out of ten incidents (70%) occurred at school and most incidents were perpetrated by two or more persons (55%), who were usually males (89%) and known to the victim (50%). The majority of incidents (73%) did not involve the use or threat of force. Again, money was most commonly indicated as the object of theft/attempted theft (34%), followed by a diary/organiser (18%) and sports equipment (13%).

VIOLENCE

Violent incidents were reported by a fifth of young people (19%, n=74). This represents a significant drop from both 24% in 1996 and 26% in 1993 ¹⁹. Boys were more likely to report being victims of violence (24%) than girls (14%). There were no age or class differences.

Table 3.3: Types of Violence Experienced by Young People

Notes:
1. More than one response permitted.
2. Source: 2000 SCS (all Scotland, weighted data), Young Person's Self-Completion Questionnaire (n=68).

Further details about violent incidents were provided in 92% of cases (n=68). The types of incident covered by the survey are shown in Table 3.3. There were differences in the types of violence used; males were more likely to be hit or punched than females (72% and 47% respectively), while females were more likely to be slapped or scratched (62% compared to 24% of males). While only a fifth of young people had suffered some form of violence, 45% of victims had been victimised more than once, and almost half (46%) indicated that they had suffered more than one type of violence.

Violent incidents most commonly occurred in school (47%), 'near home' (20%) or 'near school' (7%). Three quarters of respondents (74%) reported that there was only one assailant. In the majority of cases (64%), assailants were males only. Males were more likely to be assaulted by other males (88%) and females by other females (72%). However, over a fifth (22%) of female victims had been assaulted by males ²⁰.

In four out of five cases (80%) the victim knew the assailant and in 16% of cases they had seen them before. In only 11% of cases were victims assaulted by strangers ²¹. In general, assailants were around the same age as their victims. These findings, along with those on the location of violent incidents, suggest fellow school pupils carry out the majority of assaults.

One in three victims (32%) said that violent incidents occurred because their assailant did not like them, 24% said there was no reason for the assault and 20% acknowledged that blame was mutual.

HARASSMENT

Incidents of harassment were reported by 22% (n=89) of respondents. This continues a decline from 24% in the 1996 SCS and 27% in 1993. The decrease from 1993 to 2000 is significant. Girls were more likely to report harassment (26%) than boys (17%). Many (42%) of the victims reported having experienced more than one type of harassment and over half (53%) said it had occurred on two or more occasions.

Table 3.4 shows the types of harassment reported by young people. There was some evidence of different modes of intimidation being used according to the age of the victim. Twelve and thirteen year olds were more likely to be followed than older respondents (28% compared to 11%) but less likely to be threatened (26% compared to 49%).

Table 3.4: Types of Harassment Experienced by Victims

Notes:
1. More than one response permitted.
2. Source: 2000 SCS (all Scotland, weighted data), Young Person's Self-Completion Questionnaire (N=78).

Incidents of harassment most commonly occurred 'somewhere else' ²² (29%), near the victim's home (26%), at school (26%) or near school (19%).

In almost two thirds of cases (63%), victims reported being harassed by two or more people. In most cases they were male (60%), although almost a third of cases (30%) involved only female offenders. Male victims were usually harassed by other males (87%). However, females were more likely to be harassed by the opposite sex, suffering equal harassment by other females (44%) and males (42%).

Victims were most likely to be harassed by those in their own age group or those in the age group above them. For example, 12-13 year olds were harassed most by 14-15 year olds (42%), followed by 12-13 year olds (39%). Respondents aged 14-15 years were most likely to be harassed by those in their own age group (67%) followed by those aged 16-17 (34%). In all, 41% of offenders were thought to be aged 16 or over.

Victims were most likely to be harassed by people they knew (44%) or people they had seen before (41%). Harassment by strangers accounted for only 19% of incidents ²³. Victims were quite likely to know the perpetrator in incidents involving threats (60%), whereas when someone had been followed, the offender was more likely to be just 'someone the victim had seen before' (64%) or a stranger (36%).

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Asking young people whether or not they have been pestered sexually is likely to be subject to under-reporting in a survey questionnaire. Only 5% (n=20) of respondents reported having been sexually harassed. This is similar to previous sweeps, with 6% reporting sexual harassment in 1993 and 1996. Girls were more than twice as likely to have been sexually harassed (7%) as boys (3%) ²⁴. Not surprisingly, over a third of victims (36%) did not provide further details of the incident (n=7). The small number of victims and the high proportion of those not providing further information makes any analysis speculative at best.

From the information available, the most common type of sexual harassment reported by young people was someone touching or trying to touch them (85% of victims). The next most common responses were someone exposing themselves (31% of victims), trying to get them to go somewhere (15% of victims) or being asked to touch the offender (7% of victims).

Most victims (83%) experienced offences on two or more occasions, though most (77%) had only experienced one type of sexual harassment. Over half of offences (59%) occurred 'somewhere else', while one-third (33%) occurred near the home. One incident (7%) was reported to have occurred at school. Three quarters of victims (76%) said that the offender was someone they knew, while the remainder (24%) said the offender was a stranger.

REPORTING VICTIMISATION

Victims of any of the offences listed were asked whether they had told anyone about the incident. Despite the small number of victims for some offences, it is evident that, with regard to certain offences, young people were reluctant to tell adults about their experiences (Table 3.5). The most commonly reported offence, perhaps because of its repetitive nature, was bullying. The offences least commonly reported to an adult were the rarest and arguably the most physically intrusive crimes: violence; theft from the person; and sexual harassment ²⁵. Victims of theft from the person were least likely to tell anyone about the incident (29%), although one in four victims of violence (25%) and sexual harassment (24%) also told no-one. The most common offence to be reported to the police by the respondent was sexual harassment (15%), probably because of its more serious nature, though failure to report directly to the police was high across all offence types.

Table 3.5: Reporting Victimisation to Other People by Incident Type

Notes:

1. More than one response permitted.
2. Source: 2000 SCS (all Scotland, weighted data), Young Person's Self-Completion Questionnaire (N=Bullying: 74, Theft: 57, Theft from the person: 21, Violence: 67, Harassment: 78, Sexual harassment: 13).

As Table 3.6 shows, overall, the most common reasons for not telling an adult about an incident were that the incident was not thought to be important enough or that nothing could be done about it. However, in incidents of harassment and violence a notable proportion of respondents did not tell an adult because they were scared of the offender/s. Fifteen per cent of victims of sexual harassment did not tell an adult for fear of getting into trouble, indicating they feared punishment for being in a situation in which they were victimised.

Table 3.6: Reasons for not Reporting Crime to an Adult by Incident Type

Notes:
1. More than one response permitted.
2. Source: 2000 SCS (all Scotland, weighted data), Young Person's Self-Completion Questionnaire (N=Bullying: 74, Theft: 57, Theft from the person: 21, Violence: 67, Harassment: 78, Sexual harassment: 13).

Table 3.7 presents the results of a number of questions that examined reactions to victimisation. When asked if police found out about the incident it can be seen that, similarly to direct reporting to the police by the respondent (Table 3.5), failure to report incidents was high across all offence types, though the police came to know about one in five incidents of sexual harassment. However, even when young people viewed the incident as a crime or were very/fairly frightened by what happened, reporting remained very low. It appears likely that, overall, the reasons why young people did not inform the police directly or why the police were not informed on their behalf are very similar, and possibly linked, to the reasons and perceptions identified in the adult sample.

Table 3.7: Reporting to the Police and Perceptions of Seriousness by Incident Type²⁶

Notes:

1. Source: 2000 SCS (all Scotland, weighted data), Young Person's Self-Completion Questionnaire (N=Bullying: 74, Theft: 57, Theft from the person: 21, Violence: 67, Harassment: 78, Sexual harassment: 13).
2. Responses indicating that the respondent was unsure of how they perceived the incident were not excluded from analysis.
3. Questions in rows 2, 3 and 4 were not asked of victims of theft or theft from the person. The question in row 5 was not asked of victims of theft.

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