A new book examined the relationship between criminal identities and consumer culture, highlighting the links between the lived identities of active criminals and the socio-economic climate of instability and anxiety.
Source: Steve Hall, Simon Winlow and Craig Ancrum, Criminal Identities and Consumer Culture: Crime, exclusion and the new culture of narcissism, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Sep
A report examined disabled people's experiences of hate crime. Widespread casual and institutional 'disablism' created the conditions where disability hate crime could flourish without being recognized or challenged.
Source: Katharine Quarmby, Getting Away with Murder: Disabled people's experiences of hate crime in the UK, Scope (020 7619 7341)
Links: Report | Scope press release
Date: 2008-Aug
An article examined official homicide statistics from England and Wales between 1946 and 2004. In the most recent period (1981-2004), homicides due to mental disorder had declined, and were negatively correlated with the rate of homicide by people without mental disorder: in other words, there had been a reversal in the rate of homicides attributed to mental disorder, which declined to historically low levels, while other homicides continued to rise. Improvements in psychiatric treatments were cited as a likely reason for the decline.
Source: Glen Smith, Nicola Swinson and Olav Nielssen, 'Homicide due to mental disorder in England and Wales over 50 years', British Journal of Psychiatry, Volume 193 Issue 2
Links: Abstract | RCPsych press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Aug
An article said that 'worry about crime' was often best seen as a diffuse anxiety about risk, rather than any pattern of everyday concerns over personal safety.
Source: Emily Gray, Jonathan Jackson and Stephen Farrall, 'Reassessing the fear of crime', European Journal of Criminology, Volume 5 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Jul
A report presented the results for crime in England and Wales in 2007-08 from the British Crime Survey (BCS) and crimes recorded by the police. All BCS crime had fallen by 10 per cent, and recorded crime by 9 per cent, compared with 2006-07; and most crime types had shown decreases.
Source: Chris Kershaw, Sian Nicholas and Alison Walker (eds.)., Crime in England and Wales 2007/08: Findings from the British Crime Survey and police recorded crime, Statistical Bulletin 07/08, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Bulletin | Home Office press release | ACPO press release | Liberal Democrats press release | BBC report | FT report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Jul
A think-tank report examined the factors influencing offending, and put forward alternatives designed to reduce the chances of re-offending.
Source: Rob Allen (ed.), Routes In and Out of Criminal Justice, Smith Institute (020 7592 3618)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Jul
A report said that crime cost the United Kingdom (excluding Scotland) nearly £15 billion – or £275 for every person – in 2007. Violence against the person, including murder and serious assault, was responsible for the highest economic and social costs, at around £155 per person. There were wide variations between police forces in different regions.
Source: Matthew Sinclair and Corin Taylor, The Cost of Crime, TaxPayers' Alliance (0845 330 9554)
Links: Report | TPA press release | ACPO press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Telegraph report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jul
A report examined the problems of gun and knife violence. The average age of victims and perpetrators of street violence involving weapons was falling, and the number of children and young people carrying knives was increasing. Tackling the problem should be an urgent national priority: this would need co-ordinated and strategic leadership from the centre; effective enforcement to help reduce the attraction of knife and gang culture; and effective intervention and youth services on the ground to divert those young people most at risk.
Source: Cherie Booth et al., The Street Weapons Commission Report, Channel 4 (0845 076 0191)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Jul
A new book examined key relationships between material circumstances and crime, and analyzed the areas of social policy – in particular social security and labour market policy – that were most important in terms of dealing with inequality at the lower end of the income hierarchy. It sought to explain why inequality was linked to offending behaviour, and the evidence underpinning explanations for this, and looked in detail at the relationship between offending and anti-social behaviour and its management through social policy interventions.
Source: Chris Grover, Crime and Inequality, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Jul
A new book examined hate crime as a social problem, using a victim-centred approach. Many offenders were ordinary people who offended in the context of their everyday lives.
Source: Paul Iganski, 'Hate Crime' and the City, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Jun
A survey found that 1 in 5 lesbian and gay people had been the victim of a homophobic hate crime or incident in the previous three years.
Source: Sam Dick, Homophobic Hate Crime: The Gay British Crime Survey 2008, Stonewall (020 7881 9440)
Links: Report | Stonewall press release | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Jun
A study found that fear of crime was much less common than previously thought. Many people who said that they were worried about becoming victims of crime were actually expressing an awareness of risk, and also vaguer fears about the breakdown of society and looser moral standards. This 'diffuse' anxiety was especially common among middle-class people.
Source: Jonathan Jackson and Stephen Farrall, Experience and Expression in the Fear of Crime, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: Report | ESRC press release | LSE press release
Date: 2008-May
The government announced proposals to extend the British Crime Survey to include surveys of the experiences of crime of children under 16, in order to improve understanding of young people's concerns about crime and victimization. A linked research report examined methodological issues.
Source: Press release 15 May 2008, Home Office (0870 000 1585) | Kevin Pickering, Patten Smith, Caroline Bryson and Christine Farmer, British Crime Survey: Options for Extending the Coverage to Children and People Living in Communal Establishments, Research Report 6, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Home Office press release | Consultation document | Research report | NCH press release | Nacro press release
Date: 2008-May
A report presented the findings on interventions and outcomes through the New Deal for Communities programme under the theme of crime and community safety. There had been an overall reduction in both crime and fear of crime in NDC areas. There was little evidence that crime had been displaced from NDC areas to surrounding communities: however, where positive change had occurred in outcomes in NDC areas there was also evidence that these benefits had extended to areas surrounding NDC neighbourhoods.
Source: Sarah Pearson et al., Delivering Safer Neighbourhoods: Experiences from the New Deal for Communities programme, Department for Communities and Local Government (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Apr
British Crime Survey interviews in the year to December 2007 showed a decrease in the risk of being a victim of crime compared with the year to December 2006 (23 per cent as against 24 per cent). The risk of being a victim had returned to its lowest ever level since the survey began in 1981. The number of crimes recorded by the police fell by 12 per cent for the period October to December 2007 compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
Source: Crime in England and Wales: Quarterly Update to December 2007, Statistical Bulletin 04/08, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Bulletin | ACPO press release | Telegraph report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Apr
Chief police officers said that although migration had led to new demands being made on the police service, the evidence did not support theories of a large-scale crime wave generated through migration.
Source: Press release 16 April 2008, Association of Chief Police Officers (020 7084 8950)
Links: ACPO press release | TUC press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report (1) | Telegraph report (2) | FT report
Date: 2008-Apr
Researchers analyzed crime data in order to find out what effect crime patterns within New Deal for Communities (NDC) areas had had on crime in surrounding areas. There were many more instances of possible diffusion of benefit than of possible displacement of crime.
Source: David McLennan and Adam Whitworth, Displacement of Crime or Diffusion of Benefit: Evidence from the New Deal for Communities programme, Department for Communities and Local Government (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Apr
A report said that the print media's reporting of violent crime stirred racist tension. It identified clearly different approaches to reporting of crime, dependent on whether the victim or perpetrator were black or white. These approaches served to influence public opinion and policy, and contributed to the reinforcement of racist stereotypes.
Source: Kjartan Pall Sveinsson, A Tale of Two Englands: 'Race' and violent crime in the press, Runnymede Trust (020 7377 9222)
Links: Report | Runnymede Trust press release
Date: 2008-Apr
A survey found that an estimated 322,000 people attended hospital casualty departments in England and Wales in 2007 following assaults – 43,000 fewer than in 2006. The only population group experiencing an increase in violence-related injuries were children aged 0-10, where recorded incidents more than doubled – to 8,067, compared to 3,805 in 2006.
Source: Vaseekaran Sivarajasingam, Simon Moore and Jonathan Shepherd, Violence in England and Wales 2007: An accident and emergency perspective, Violence and Society Research Group/Cardiff University (02920 744215)
Links: Report | Cardiff University press release | NCH press release | Telegraph report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Apr
A report said that honour killings – together with domestic violence, forced marriage, and female genital mutilation – were not isolated practices but were instead part of a 'self-sustaining social system built on ideas of honour and cultural, ethnic and religious superiority'. They had became an indigenous and self-perpetuating phenomenon, carried out by third- and fourth-generation immigrants who had been raised and educated in the United Kingdom.
Source: James Brandon and Salam Hafez, Crimes of the Community: Honour-based violence in the UK, Centre for Social Cohesion (020 7222 8909)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Mar
Statistics were published on the extent of violent crime in England and Wales in 2006-07, including homicides, firearm offences, and intimate violence (partner and family abuse, sexual assault, and stalking). The total number of murders fell from 769 to 757 – the fifth successive yearly fall.
Source: David Povey (ed.), Homicides, Firearm Offences and Intimate Violence 2006/07, Statistical Bulletin 03/08, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Bulletin | Home Office statistical press release | Home Office press release | Fawcett Society press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Jan