Comparative Analyses of Crime by Means of Victim Surveys - The Scandinavian Experience (From Victim in International Perspective, P 209-219, 1982, Hans Joachim Schneider, ed. - See NCJ-86192)

• NCJ Number: 86204
• Author(s): K Sveri
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 11 pages
• Sale Source: Walter de Gruyter & Co
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: West Germany (Former)

Annotation

Experience from the victim surveys in the Scandinavian countries indicates the usefulness of this method in comparing crime levels in these countries.

Abstract

The Scandinavian victim surveys show a considerable difference in the crime levels of both violence and theft between the countries, a difference which can be considered as differences in real criminality between the countries. Further, these differences are shown to correspond fairly closely with the differences found when police statistics are used for comparative studies. There are primarily two areas of research which can gain from the extended use of victim surveys. One area is the purely descriptive analysis of the crime picture of a country -- the basis for both practical policy and theoretical criminological analysis. One important use of the technique is to use its information to check the trends of crime portrayed in official police statistics. For the method to be used in comparative research, however, the studies should be conducted with precisely the same methodology. As can be seen from the Scandinavian studies, even the slightest deviation in the formulation of the questions of the survey or the definition of the sample will produce artificial differences in the results. Eighteen notes, 29 references, and tabular data are provided. (Author summary modified)