7 Offence codes, survey statistics and crime groups
The offence coding process assigns offence codes to each victim form completed by a respondent (see section 6.1). This chapter examines the offence codes which are used in the analysis and reporting of the survey, and how they are grouped and defined. It also provides information on comparing the SCJS crime statistics to Scottish police recorded crime statistics and the BCS.
7.1 Crime types covered by the survey
7.1.1 Offence codes
The offence coding manual for SCJS 2008-09 contained 63 offence codes. These can be split into three groups: in-scope, out-of-scope codes and non-valid codes.
- In-scope codes: these offence codes were used in the calculation of 'all SCJS crime' (see sections 7.1.4 and 7.3.1);
- Out-of-scope codes: 13 offence codes related to sexual offences or threats, and so were not included in the 'all SCJS crime' statistics produced by the survey (see section 7.1.2);
- Non-valid codes: the offence coding manual also contained 18 codes for classifying incidents recorded in the victim form which were not within the scope of the survey, or where not enough information was collected to make an accurate classification. These 18 codes - termed non-valid - were not used in the calculation of 'all SCJS crime'.
7.1.2 A note on crime types not covered
The SCJS only collects information about incidents which occurred within Scotland (or, if an incident happened online, if the respondent was living in Scotland at the time) and within the reference period (see section 5.1).
In addition, the SCJS does not aim to provide data about all types of crime occurring in Scotland and has notable exclusions:
- Crimes against adults living in circumstances other than private households (for example, adults living in institutions, such as prisons or hospitals, or other accommodation, such as military bases and student accommodation - section 2.3);
- Crimes against children and young people; 55
- Crimes against businesses; 56
- 'Victimless' crimes, such as speeding, or crime where the victim cannot be interviewed, such as homicide.
7.1.3 Sexual offences and threats
The SCJS 2008-09 collected information on threats and, where reported, sexual offences, and coders assigned offence codes to incidents of these crimes in the normal way. However, the 'all SCJS crime' statistics produced from the survey, including the estimates of incidence and prevalence, do not include these crimes for the reasons below
Very small numbers of sexual offences were recorded in the victim form in past Scottish crime surveys. It is accepted that victims are reluctant to disclose information on these sensitive crimes in a face-to-face interview. Any survey estimates for sexual offences produced from the victim form in past surveys have not been sufficiently reliable to report.
Recognising the unreliability of face-to-face interviewing for collecting information about sexual victimisation, the SCJS 2008-09 estimates of crime did not include data on any sexual offences that were recorded in the victim form. Instead, a separate self-completion section was developed for the SCJS 2008-09 (see section 3.1.11). The statistics and analysis from the self-completion survey are reported separately and a separate data file is available on the UK Data Archive. 57
Following established practice in previous crime surveys in Scotland, threats, although assigned an offence code, were not included in the estimates of crime due to the difficulty of establishing whether or not a crime actually occurred (Anderson and Leitch, 1996).
7.1.4 List of in-scope offence codes
The list of the 32 in-scope SCJS offence codes (crimes) which were included in the 'all SCJS crime' incidence and prevalence statistics produced from the survey is shown in Table 8. It also shows the crime groups used in the 2008-09 SCJS First Findings report into which each in-scope offence code is grouped.
Table 8: Offence codes included in the estimates of 'all SCJS crime' by crime group used in 2008-09 SCJS First Findings report
Code | Description | Crime group |
|---|
11 | Serious assault | Assault |
|---|
12 | Minor assault | |
|---|
14 | Serious assault and fire raising | |
|---|
15 | Serious assault and housebreaking | |
|---|
21 | Attempted assault | |
|---|
41 | Robbery | Robbery |
|---|
42 | Attempted robbery | |
|---|
43 | Snatch theft from the person | Other personal theft (excluding robbery) |
|---|
44 | Other theft from the person | |
|---|
45 | Attempted theft from the person | |
|---|
67 | Other theft | |
|---|
73 | Other attempted theft | |
|---|
51 | Housebreaking in a dwelling (nothing taken) | Housebreaking |
|---|
52 | Housebreaking in a dwelling (something taken) | |
|---|
53 | Attempted housebreaking in a dwelling | |
|---|
50 | Attempted housebreaking to non-connected domestic garage / outhouse | Other attempted theft (including bicycle theft) |
|---|
55 | Theft in a dwelling | |
|---|
56 | Theft from a meter | |
|---|
57 | Housebreaking from non-connected domestic garage / outhouse - nothing taken | |
|---|
58 | Housebreaking from non-connected domestic garage / outhouse - something taken | |
|---|
64 | Theft of pedal cycle | |
|---|
65 | Theft from outside dwelling (excluding theft of milk bottles) | |
|---|
60 | Theft of car / van | All motor vehicle theft |
|---|
61 | Theft from car / van | |
|---|
62 | Theft of motorbike, motor scooter or moped | |
|---|
63 | Theft from motorbike, motor scooter or moped | |
|---|
71 | Attempted theft of / from car / van | |
|---|
72 | Attempted theft of / from motorcycle, motor scooter or moped | |
|---|
80 | Fire raising | Vandalism |
|---|
82 | Vandalism to a motor vehicle | |
|---|
84 | Vandalism to the home | |
|---|
86 | Other vandalism | |
|---|
7.2 Incidence, prevalence and repeat victimisation
The SCJS produces two key measures of crime: incidence and prevalence. It also provides data on repeat victimisation. 58
7.2.1 Incidence and incidence rate
Incidence is defined as:
The number of crimes experienced per household or adult.
To calculate incidence, the number of crimes experienced by respondents or their household was aggregated together for each offence code, based on up to five separate victim forms, and on the number of incidents in a 'series' (capped at 5) recorded in those victim forms (section 3.1.5).
The overall incidence was estimated for Scotland using population estimates for the household and adult populations supplied by General Register Office for Scotland ( GROS). In the SCJS the number of crimes identified in 2008-09 was grossed by the following 2008 population estimates: 2,331,250 households for household crimes and 4,254,966 adults for personal crimes. 59
The incidence rate has also been calculated for key crime groups. This is calculated as the gross number of incidents divided by 10,000 to give an incidence rate per 10,000 households (for household crimes) or per 10,000 adults (for personal crimes). The incidence rate enables comparison between areas with differing populations. It is used in the report to compare results obtained from the SCJS 2008-09 and from the BCS 2008-09.
7.2.2 Prevalence rate
Prevalence is defined as:
The proportion of the population who were victims of an offence once or more in the specified period.
Prevalence takes account of whether a household or person was a victim of a specific crime once or more, not the number of times they were victimised. These figures were based on information from the victim form, where respondents and their households are designated as victims. The percentage of households or individuals in the population that is a victim provides the prevalence rate. This equates to the risk of being a victim of crime and is also referred to as the rate of victimisation.
The prevalence rate was calculated according to the nature of the crime. For a crime or group of crimes where respondents were asked whether it had happened to the household or not, the prevalence rate was calculated as a percentage of the population of households. Of the groups used in the 2008-09 SCJS First Findings report, this included all motor vehicle crime, vandalism, housebreaking and other household theft (including bicycle theft) (see section 7.3 for further details on these crime groups). For a crime or groups of crimes where respondents were personally the victim (rather than the household), the prevalence rate was calculated based on the population of adults. Of the groups used in the 2008-09 SCJS First Findings report, this includes property theft (excluding robbery), assault, robbery and violence.
Where crimes are grouped together in a way that includes both household and personal crime, the prevalence rate was calculated as a percentage of the population of adults. This follows the practice adopted by the BCS and includes the prevalence of crime overall ('all SCJS crime') and the prevalence of property crime.
7.2.3 Repeat victimisation
A household or adult is classed as a repeat victim if they are the victim of the same crime more than once in the 12 month reference period. If everyone had only been the victim of one crime in the reference period, incidence and prevalence rates would be the same. Repeat victimisation accounts for differences between incidence and prevalence rates. Higher levels of repeat victimisation mean there is a relatively lower prevalence rate compared with incidence and the average number of crimes per victim (the concentration rate) is relatively high.
The repeat victimisation rate is calculated as a percentage of household or adult victims according to the crime group. Where both household and personal crimes are grouped together, the repeat victimisation rate is calculated as a percentage of the population of adult victims.
7.3 Crime groups
Offence codes were categorised into seven groups which are used in the 2008-09 SCJS First Findings report. These seven groups were further grouped into property crime and violent crime and are shown in Figure 3. This is followed by a more detailed description of the crime groups, corresponding to the order in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Crime groups used: 2008-09 SCJS First Findings report
7.3.1 'All SCJS crime'
This category of crime includes all property crime and all violent crime, and excludes the out-of-scope crimes of threats and sexual offences (see section 7.1).
'All SCJS crime' is used throughout the 2008-09 SCJS First Findings report and all of the other crime groups used in the report are sub-groups of 'all SCJS crime'. Estimates of overall incidence and prevalence are calculated using 'all SCJS crime'.
7.3.2 Property crime
This SCJS 2008-09 crime grouping includes vandalism, other household theft (including bicycle theft), all motor vehicle theft, housebreaking and personal theft (excluding robbery).
Property crime is one of the main crime groups used in reporting the SCJS 2008-09 data (together with violent crime). As property crime includes both household and personal crime, estimates of incidence and prevalence rates are calculated based on the adult population.
7.3.3 Vandalism
Vandalism involves intentional and malicious damage to property (including dwellings and vehicles). In the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980, vandalism became a separate offence defined as wilful or reckless destruction or damage to property belonging to another person. Cases which involve only nuisance without actual damage (for example, letting down car tyres) are not included. Where criminal damage occurs in combination with housebreaking, robbery or violent offences it is these latter that take precedence.
Vandalism is a sub-group within property crime and forms part of the group known as comparable crime which is comparable to police recorded crime (for further details see section 11.1).
7.3.4 Motor vehicle vandalism
This SCJS 2008-09 crime group includes any intentional and malicious damage to a vehicle such as scratching a coin down the side of a car, or denting a car roof. It does not, however, include causing deliberate damage to a car by fire. These incidents are recorded as fire-raising and therefore are included in vandalism to other property. The SCJS 2008-09 only covers vandalism against vehicles belonging to private households; that is, cars, vans, motor cycles, scooters and mopeds which are either owned or regularly used by anyone in the household. Lorries, heavy vans, tractors, trailers and towed caravans were generally excluded from the coverage of the SCJS 2008-09 as these are usually the property of an employer and not for personal use.
Motor vehicle vandalism, together with property vandalism, is collectively known as vandalism.
7.3.5 Property vandalism
Vandalism to the home and other property involves intentional or malicious damage to doors, windows, fences, plants and shrubs etc. Vandalism to other property also includes arson where there is any deliberate damage to property belonging to the respondent or their household (including vehicles) caused by fire, regardless of the property involved.
Property vandalism and vehicle vandalism together are classed as vandalism.
7.3.6 Other household theft (including bicycle theft)
This term refers to actual and attempted thefts from domestic garages, outhouses and sheds etc. that are not directly linked to the dwelling. The term also includes thefts from gas and electricity prepayment meters and thefts from outside the dwelling (excluding thefts of milk bottles etc. from the doorstep). 'Thefts in a dwelling' are also included in this category; these are thefts committed inside a home by somebody who did not force their way into the home, and who entered through a normal entrance (examples include guests at parties, workmen with legitimate access, people who get in using false pretences, or through a door left open or unlocked). Theft of a bicycle is also included.
Other household theft (including bicycle theft) is a sub-group of property crime. Bicycle theft, one of the crimes within this group, is a component of acquisitive crime used to compare with police recorded crime.
7.3.7 Bicycle theft
This term applies to the theft of bicycles from outside a dwelling. Almost all bicycles were stolen in this way. Bicycle thefts which take place inside the house by someone who is not trespassing at the time are counted as theft in a dwelling (a sub-category of other household theft); and thefts of bicycles from inside the house by a trespasser are counted as housebreaking.
7.3.8 All motor vehicle theft
The SCJS 2008-09 covers three main categories of vehicle theft: 'theft of motor vehicles' referring to the theft or unauthorised taking of a vehicle, where the vehicle is driven away illegally (whether or not it is recovered); 'theft from motor vehicles' which includes the theft of vehicle parts, accessories or contents; and 'attempted thefts of or from motor vehicles', where there is clear evidence that an attempt was made to steal the vehicle or something from it ( e.g. damage to locks). If parts or contents of the motor vehicle are stolen in addition to the vehicle being moved, the incident is classified as theft of a motor vehicle. Included in this category are cars, vans, motor cycles, scooters and mopeds which are either owned or regularly used by anyone in the household. Lorries, heavy vans, tractors, trailers and towed caravans were generally excluded from the coverage of the SCJS 2008-09 as these are usually the property of an employer and not for personal use.
.All motor vehicle theft is a sub-group of property crime. Theft of a motor vehicle, one of the crimes within this group, is one of the components of acquisitive crime used to compare with police recorded crime (section 11.1).
7.3.9 Housebreaking
In Scottish law, the term 'burglary' has no meaning, although in popular usage it has come to mean breaking into a house in order to steal the contents. Scottish law refers to this as 'theft by housebreaking'.
Respondents who reported that someone had broken into their home with the intention of committing theft (whether the intention was carried out or not) were classified as victims of housebreaking. Entry must be by forcing a door or via a non-standard entrance. Thus, entry through unlocked doors or by using false pretences, or if the offender had a key, are not housebreaking (these would fall into 'other household theft'). The definition of housebreaking used in SCJS 2008-09 is the same as the definition used in the 2003 and 2006 crime surveys but differs from the definition used in surveys prior to 2003. The definition was changed in 2003 to mirror closely the Scottish police recorded crime definition of domestic housebreaking by including housebreakings to non-dwellings (such as sheds, garages and out-houses which are directly linked to the dwelling).
Housebreaking is a sub-group of property crime and is one of the components of acquisitive crime used to compare with police recorded crime.
7.3.10 Personal theft (excluding robbery)
This group of crime includes snatch theft, actual and attempted 'theft from the person' where the victim's property is stolen directly from the person of the victim, but without physical force or threat of it. It also includes 'actual and attempted other theft' which refers to theft of personal property outside the home where there was no direct contact between the offender and the victim.
Personal theft is included in property crime. It differs from the rest of property crime in that estimates of incidence and prevalence of personal theft are calculated using the adult, rather than the household population.
7.3.11 Violent crime
The coverage of violent crime consists of actual and attempted minor assault, serious assault and robbery. Sexual offences are out-of-scope and not included.
Violent crime is one of the main crime groups used in reporting the SCJS 2008-09 data (together with property crime). It forms part of the group known as comparable crime which is comparable to police recorded crime (for further details see section 11.1). 60
Assault
In the SCJS 2008-09, the term assault refers to two main categories:
- Serious assaults (see below);
- Minor assaults, which are actual or attempted assaults resulting in no or negligible injury.
For the purpose of analysis and comparison with police recorded crime statistics these categories have been grouped together and called assault.
Assault is a sub-group of violent crime.
7.3.12 Serious assault
An assault is classified as serious if the victim sustained an injury which lead to an overnight stay in hospital as an in-patient or any of the following injuries whether or not they were detained in hospital: fractures, internal injuries, severe concussion, loss of consciousness, lacerations requiring sutures which may lead to impairment or disfigurement or any other injury which may lead to impairment or disfigurement.
Serious assault is a sub-group within violent crime.
7.3.13 Robbery
This term refers to actual or attempted theft of personal property or cash directly from the person, accompanied by force or the threat of force. Robbery should be distinguished from other thefts from the person which involve speed or stealth.
Robbery is a sub-group of violent crime.
7.3.14 Acquisitive crime
Acquisitive crime consists of three crime categories: housebreaking, theft of a motor vehicle and bicycle theft.
It forms part of the group known as comparable crime which is comparable to police recorded crime (for further details see section 11.1).
7.3.15 Comparable crime
Only certain categories of crime covered by the SCJS 2008-09 are directly comparable with police recorded crime (section 11.1). These categories are collectively referred to as comparable crime. Comparable crime is broken down at various points into the following three broad classifications:
- Acquisitive crime: comprising housebreaking, theft of a motor vehicle and bicycle theft;
- Vandalism: including both vehicle and household vandalism;
- Violence: comprising assault and robbery.
Comparable crime is used when comparing SCJS 2008-09 results with police recorded crime.
7.3.16 Household crimes
For household offences, all members of the household can be regarded as victims. Therefore, the respondent answers on behalf of the whole household in the offence categories of vandalism (to property and vehicles), other household theft (including bicycle theft), all motor vehicle theft and housebreaking.
Estimates of incidence and prevalence rates are calculated based on the household population for all of the household crimes (unless grouped with personal crimes).
7.3.17 Personal crime
Personal crime relates to crimes against the individual and only to the respondents' own personal experience (not that of other people in the household). This applies to the following offence categories: assault, robbery, theft from the person, and other personal theft.
Estimates of incidence and prevalence rates are calculated based on the adult population for all of the crimes defined as personal crime and for groups of crimes including both personal and household crime.