Victim study - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A victim study (or victimization study) is a survey, such as the British Crime Survey

British Crime Survey

The British Crime Survey or BCS is a systematic victim study, currently carried out by BMRB Limited on behalf of the Home Office. The BCS seeks to measure the amount of crime in England and Wales by asking around 50,000 people aged 16 and over , living in private households, about the crimes they...

, that asks a sample of people which crimes have been committed against them over a fixed period of time and whether or not they have been reported to the police. Victim studies may be carried out at a national or local level.

Victim studies are canvasses of the public which request them to report any crimes which they have experienced, whether or not they have reported them. This is one of the main ways in which the dark figure of crime

Dark figure of crime

The dark figure of crime is a term employed by criminologists and sociologists to describe the amount of unreported or undiscovered crime, which calls into question the reliability of official crime statistics....

is exposed particularly in cases of abuse. Such surveys usually show the level of criminal activity is at least double that which appears in the official crime statistics

Crime statistics

Crime statistics attempt to provide statistical measures of the crime in societies. Given that crime is usually secretive by nature, measurements of it are likely to be inaccurate....

.

Victimisation

Victimisation

Victimisation is the process of being victimised or becoming a victim. Research that studies the process, rates, incidence, and prevalence of victimization falls under the body of victimology.-Peer victimisation:...

surveys are usually of two types:

National survey - of a whole country in which people are asked to provide information on crimes which have been perpetrateagainst them. The British Crime Survey and the United States National Crime Victimization Survey
National Crime Victimization Survey
The National Crime Victimization Survey , administered by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, is a national survey of approximately 49,000 to 77,400 households twice a year in the United States, on the frequency of crime victimization, as well as characteristics and consequences of victimization...

are examples.

Area or neighbourhood surveys - in which a specific, usually inner city, neighbourhood is targeted, and criminologists or sociologists engage in a more detailed study of the same issues. These small scale victim studies have been particularly associated with Left Realist
Left realism
Left Realist Criminology emerged out of Critical Criminology as a reaction against what was perceived to be the Left's failure to take a practical interest in everyday crime, leaving it to the Right Realists to monopolize the political agenda on law and order...

criminology
Criminology
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...

. For example, victim studies have been carried out in Islington in London by Jock Young, revealing a fear of crime amongst local residents that shapes much of their behaviour.

There is a third type of survey; The International Crime Victim Survey (ICVS) is a programme of standardised sample surveys to look at householders’ experience with crime, policing, crime prevention and feelings of unsafety in a large number of countries. International comparison is the main aim for this project.

A criticism of victim surveys is that there is no way of verifying information given by respondents.

See also

Further reading