scotPHO introduction:
  Community Wellbeing
  Crime
Key points
  Introduction
  Policy context
  Data
  Key data sources
  Key references and evidence
  Useful links
  Deprivation
  Education
  Income & Economy
  Physical Environment
  Social Environment
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Crime: key points

Overall Crime

The findings below are taken from the results of the Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey (SCVS) 2006, a household survey which measured personal and household crimes that occurred between April 2005 and March 2006.

  • Around 1 in 5 people (22 per cent) had been the victim of at least one household or personal crime.
  • Crime against households appears to have fallen between 2003-04 and 2005-06, specifically housebreaking and theft from motor vehicles; while, crime against people has increased, mainly driven by the number of minor assaults recorded.
  • Violence (robbery and minor/serious assaults) had increased between 2003-04 and 2005-06, mainly driven by the rise in minor assault.
  • Where victims were able to say anything about the person or people who committed the crime against them, 45 per cent said that the person/people were under the influence of alcohol. This proportion was higher for victims of personal crime and highest for incidents of assault (67 per cent).
  • Findings from a separate SCVS based report focussed on drugs showed that around 37 per cent of 16-59 year olds had taken one or more illicit drugs in their lifetime, while 17 per cent had used one or more Class A drug.

  • The experience of crime is strongly related to the type of area people live in. Households in areas classified as most deprived using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation experience more crime and anti-social behaviour than the least deprived areas.

Violence

Violence is an important public health issue in Scotland. The following points are derived from a number of Scottish Government publications (Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2007/08, Domestic Abuse recorded by the police in Scotland, 2007-08, Homicide in Scotland, 2007-08, Recorded Crimes and Offences Involving Firearms, Scotland, 2007-08).

  • There were 114 victims of homicide recorded in 2007-08, compared with 119 in 2006-07.
  • The homicide rate for males - 36 victims per million population - was four times the rate for females - 9 victims per million population.
  • The most common method of killing was with a sharp instrument, occurring in 55 cases (48 per cent).
  • Forty-five per cent of the 148 persons accused in homicide cases were reported to have been drunk or on drugs at the time of the incident.
  • There were 49,655 incidents of domestic abuse recorded in 2007-08, equating to just under a two per cent increase on 2006-07 and continuing the steady increase in incidents reported since 1999-00, the first year for which data are available.
  • The number of offences in which a firearm was fired and killed or caused injury to a person decreased, from 248 in 2006-07 to 211 in 2007-08.

Section Updates:

  • The last major update of this section was completed in June 2009.
  • The next major update is due to be carried out by end February 2010.