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| In 1996, 1,182 adult residents of the former Strathclyde Region of Scotland were interviewed face to face in their homes to assess the degree to which they had been victimised the previous year, and to understand more about their general concerns about crime and attitudes towards the police. This was the first time that a crime survey has been conducted in Scotland to see if there were any ethnic differences in crime victimisation and in perceptions of crime and of the police. This Research Findings paper is being published under section 306 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 which places a duty on the Secretary of State to publish information to assist criminal justice practitioners to avoid discrimination on the basis of race or gender. |
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| Main Findings |
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- Ethnic minority respondents were no more likely than white respondents to think that "racial prejudice" was a problem in Scotland. Indian respondents were less likely even than white respondents to think it a problem.
- Ethnic minority respondents were far less likely than white respondents to say that they go out alone at night, although not because they would feel unsafe if they did.
- Ethnic minority respondents were no more likely to be worried about becoming a victim of housebreaking, vehicle crime, assault or vandalism than were white respondents.
- White respondents were more likely to have been victims of housebreaking and vandalism than ethnic minority respondents.
- Although there was a similar number of white and ethnic minority assault victims, ethnic minority respondents suffered more repeat assaults.
- Ethnic minority respondents were more positive than white respondents about the police in Scotland, but were less likely to think that they would help the police if they witnessed a crime.
- It is the similarities, rather than differences, between white respondents and ethnic minority respondents which is the most noticeable feature of this survey.
- Where differences between the white and the ethnic minority respondents existed, it was generally the case that white respondents were more concerned about crime, more victimised by it, and more critical of the police than were ethnic minority respondents.
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| Limitations of the data |
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| Crime surveys of this sort, although now much more commonly conducted since the early 1980s, have various limitations. For example, surveys can only seek information on a restricted range of types of victimisation, and they can only pose questions in the type of language with which respondents are familiar. This precludes investigation of, among others, "white collar" and "corporate" crimes, and makes legally precise classification of victimisations difficult. As with other crime surveys, the attitudes and experiences of those aged 15 or younger, and those who live in institutions, were excluded from the survey reported here. The survey instrument was a conventional crime survey which was not designed to probe the nature of any specifically racially motivated experiences or feelings. |
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| Some problems were encountered when designing and implementing the survey. Ethnic minority communities generated higher than expected non-response and refusal rates and ethnic minority respondents had a greater propensity to answer "don't know" or "can't say" than white respondents. This may be a consequence of cultural diversity, language difficulties or a combination of both. It is also important that surveys of this type should not ignore differing characteristics between separate ethnic minority sub-groups. |
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| Nevertheless, surveys such as this can provide much valuable information relating to concerns about crime, the nature and experience of victimisation, and general attitudes towards the police. |
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| The sample |
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| Out of the total of 1,182 respondents, slightly fewer than half (555) of those interviewed were white, and slightly more than half drawn equally from the three most common ordinarily resident non-white Scottish groups: Indians (219), Pakistanis (213) and Chinese (195). |
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| General attitudes towards "racial prejudice" as "a problem" |
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| Overall, 17% of the white respondents and 28% of the ethnic minority respondents thought that "racial prejudice" is "a problem" in Scotland. However, 67% of the white respondents, and 68% of the ethnic minority respondents, did not define it as "a problem". The difference is accounted for by the fact that 16% of the white respondents, but only 6% of ethnic minority respondents, reported that they "could not say". This is shown in Figure 1. |
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| Looking at the different ethnic minority sub-groups in terms of perceptions of "racial prejudice", a third of the Pakistani and Chinese sub-groups saw "racial prejudice" as "a problem", although respondents in the Pakistani sub-group were slightly more likely to see it as "a problem". |
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| The respondents in the Indian sub-group were less concerned about "racial prejudice" even than the white respondents. Only 17% of the respondents in the Indian sub-group, but 21% of the white respondents, defined it as "serious". Defining "racial prejudice" as a "serious problem" increased slightly with age, particularly for ethnic minority respondents. Older ethnic minority females were the group most likely to define it as "serious". This is shown in Figure 2. |
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| Specific concerns about crime |
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| The majority of the whole sample claimed that they think crime is "a serious problem in Scotland today", with no difference in such views between the white and ethnic minority samples. When it comes to issues of personal safety, ethnic minority respondents were significantly more likely than white respondents to say that they "never" or "rarely" walked around locally alone after dark. |
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| Analysis indicates that there are four groups of respondents in this respect. One group (19% of the total) who mostly stayed in at night, and claimed that they would feel unsafe if they went out; a second group (4% of the total) who went out, but felt unsafe when they did; a third group (20% of the total) who went out and felt quite safe doing so; and a final large group (59% of the total) who stayed in, but claimed that they would feel quite safe if they did go out. Differences in this respect between the white sample and the ethnic minority sample are given in Figure 3. |
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| White respondents were slightly more likely than ethnic minority respondents to feel that various areas were unsafe at night, and more likely to think so because of who else was there. Those ethnic minority respondents who felt that such areas were unsafe at night tended to think so because of the absence of people there. |
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| Overall, about two-fifths of the sample was concerned about housebreaking "some" or "all" of the time, with no difference between the white and ethnic minority respondents. Women, particularly young women, were more concerned. Fewer than a quarter of the total worried at least "a bit" at least "some" of the time, with respondents in all ethnic minority sub-groups appreciably less concerned than white respondents. |
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| White respondents were no more likely than ethnic minority respondents to worry about vehicle crime. Concern about assault was generally lower than concern expressed for both housebreaking and vehicle crime. Levels of concern about assault were generally slightly higher for ethnic minority respondents (29%) than for white respondents (25%). Overall, about a third of all respondents were worried about vandalism to the home "some" or "all" of the time, with ethnic minority respondents, as a whole, no more likely to be so than white respondents. |
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| Actual criminal victimisation |
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| Overall, when victimisation during the calendar year 1995 was considered, white respondents were about twice as likely than ethnic minority respondents to have been victims of housebreaking at least once, and reported suffering about twice as many separate incidents of housebreaking than did ethnic minority respondents. |
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| The numbers of vehicle crime victimisations and vehicle crime victims were roughly similar for whites and for ethnic minorities taken as a whole when account was taken of different levels of vehicle ownership. |
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| There was a similar number of white and ethnic minority assault victims. However, the number of ethnic minority victimisations was much higher. Victims did not worry more than non-victims, but did so significantly in terms of how much (rather than in terms of how often) they worried about being mugged and robbed in the street. |
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| Although there was very little data on vandalism, it was noticeable that there were many more white victims and victimisations than there were ethnic minority victims and victimisations. |
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| The relative victimisation levels, expressed as the number of victimisations recalled by respondents, given as a percentage of the relevant sub-groups, are shown in Figure 4. |
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| Levels of worry about victimisation exceeded actual victimisation levels, but those who were victimised were only slightly more likely to worry overall than those who had not been victimised. |
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| White respondents were more likely to be victimised at home (they were far more likely to be victims of housebreaking) or when out, and ethnic minority respondents were far more likely than white respondents to be victimised at work. |
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| Attitudes towards Policing |
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| In general, attitudes towards the police in Scotland were positive. Less than a third of respondents (and usually fewer) were actually negative about the police, but there were a large number of "don't know's". The responses to one key question (respondents were asked whether or not they agreed with the statement "The majority of police in Scotland do a good job.") are given in Figure 5. |
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| White and ethnic minority beliefs about police behaviour differed in a variety of ways. Although large numbers (particularly from the ethnic minority sample) responded "don't know" to most of the questions posed, white respondents were still less positive about the police than were ethnic minority ones. |
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| When presented with hypothetical scenarios, white respondents said that they would be quite willing to involve themselves after witnessing criminal acts, but ethnic minority respondents were significantly less likely to say so. This is surprising given that ethnic minority respondents were generally more positive about the police. |
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| Most of the whole sample had not themselves contacted the police in the past year (although a majority of those that had, expressed satisfaction with the way that they had been treated); and only a few had been stopped by the police. Even fewer had been annoyed by the police or had wanted to complain about them. |
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| Summary |
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| It is the similarities, rather than differences, between white respondents and ethnic minority respondents which was the most noticeable feature of this survey. Where differences existed, it was generally the case that white respondents were more concerned about crime, more victimised by it, and more critical of the police than were ethnic minority respondents. |
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| This does not, however, indicate that members of ethnic minority groups in Scotland do not experience problems relating to crime, victimisation or the police, nor does it suggest that these problems might be different to those experienced by the white population. |
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| Nevertheless, this survey has not discovered any major differences between whites and members of ethnic minority groups in Scotland in terms of their contact with crime-related matters in general, and with the Scottish police in particular. |
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| Further free copies, or information about the Central Research Unit Programme, can be obtained by contacting: |
The Scottish Office Central Research Unit,
Room J1-0,
Saughton House,
Broomhouse Drive,
EDINBURGH EH11 3XA |
| Tel: 0131 244 2112 or Fax: 0131 244 2109 |
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| or from the publications section of The Scottish Office Website: www.scotland.gov.uk |
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Copies of the full research report are also available, priced £5, from:
The Stationery Office Bookshop,
71 Lothian Road,
EDINBURGH, EH3 9AZ |
| Tel: 0131 228 4181 fax: 0131 622 7017. ISBN No.0 7480 7760 X |
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| Previous Papers in the Crime and Criminal Justice Series |
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| 1 The Scottish Crime Survey 1993: First Results |
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| 2 A Fine on Time: The Monitoring and Evaluation of the Pilot Supervised Attendance Order Schemes |
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| 3 Use of Controlled Drugs in Scotland: Findings from the 1993 Scottish Crime Survey |
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| 4 Live Television Link: An Evaluation of its use by Child Witnesses in Scottish Criminal Trials |
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| 5 Information Needs of Victims |
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| 6 Public Interest and Private Grief: A Study of Fatal Accident Inquiries In Scotland |
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| 7 An Evaluation of The Scottish Office Domestic Violence Media Campaign |
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| 8 Does Closed Circuit Television Prevent Crime? An Evaluation of the use of CCTV Surveillance Cameras in Airdrie Town Centre |
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| 9 Making our Cities Safe: Evaluating the Safer Cities Programme in Scotland |
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| 10 Proactive Policing: An Evaluation of the Central Scotland Police Crime Management Model |
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| 11 Foreign Language Interpreters in the Scottish Criminal Courts |
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| 12 Grounds of Appeal in Criminal Cases |
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| 13 Listening to Victims of Crime: Victimisation Episodes and the Criminal Justice System in Scotland: An Examination of White and Ethnic Minority Crime Victim Experience |
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| 14 The Use of the Compensation Order in Scotland |
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| 15 Examining the Test: An Evaluation of the Police Standard Entrance Test |
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| 16 The 1996 Scottish Crime Survey: First Results |
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| 17 Drug Misuse in Scotland: Findings from the 1993 and 1996 Scottish Crime Surveys |
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| 18 Information Needs of Scottish Jurors: Evaluation of the Scottish Courts Service Booklet |
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| 19 Facing Violence: Assessing the Training and Support Requirements of Police Constables in Scotland |
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| 20 Service Provision to Women Experiencing Domestic Violence in Scotland |
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| 21 Children, Young People and Offending in Scotland |
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| 22 Feasibility Study of Legal Representation Among White and Ethnic Minority Criminal Accused |
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| 23 From Citation to Witness Stand: A Study of Police Witness Duty at Court |
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| 24 Evaluation of the Hamilton Child Safety Initiative |
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| 25 Victim Witness Support in Scotland: An Evaluation of Three Projects |
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| 26 Making it Safe to Speak? A Study of Witness Intimidation and Protection in Strathclyde |
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| 27 Mentally Disordered Offenders and Criminal Proceedings |