Criminal Victimization in the Industrialized World: Key Findings of the 1989 and 1992 International Crime Surveys

• NCJ Number: 139741
• Author(s): J J M van Dijk; P Mayhew
• Date Published: 1992
• Length: 85 pages
• Sale Source: Netherlands Ministerie Van Justice
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: Netherlands
• Note: Report to the conference on "Understanding Crime: Experiences of Crime and Control," organized by the United Nations Interregional Criminal Justice Research Institute, 1992, Rome

Annotation

An international crime survey was conducted in 1989 and 1992 that involved 20 industrialized countries.

Abstract

Nine countries participated in the 1989 survey, five in 1992, and six in both years. Data were obtained on victimization rates for car theft and vandalism, motorcycle and bicycle theft, burglary, robbery, other personal theft, sexual incidents, and assaults and threats. Data were also collected to assess overall victimization prevalence rates, crime-specific rates, and trends between 1988 and 1991. The survey also examined fear of crime, public attitudes and opinions toward punishment and the police, crime prevention, and victim assistance. It was found that property crime rates seemed to be partly determined by crime-specific opportunity structures. Comparatively high property crime rates in North America, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, England, Sweden, Italy, and West Germany were seen as the downside of economic prosperity. Aggressive crime was more prevalent in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Poland than in Western Europe and Japan. Policy implications of international crime comparisons, particularly in industrial and urban contexts, are discussed. Annexes contain information on the survey methods and weighting procedures, statistical significance data, an overview of the 1992 crime survey questionnaire, and supplemental tables. Tables and figures