Crime surveys and victims of crime

The book examines the use and misuse of `official' statistics on crime and victimisation, and looks at the representation of these statistics in contemporary political debate. A further introductory chapter deals with the changing attitudes to victims within the criminal justice and penal systems. It considers the political, academic and practical reasons for these developments, in addition to describing practical measures for assisting and compensating victims. The book deals in detail with the development and progress of crime/victimisation surveys, providing a clear account of the rationale, content and methodology of such surveys. In addition to focusing on the British Crime Survey programme at a national level, the book also assesses the achievements and criticisms of some of the leading local crime surveys: The Manchester Survey of Female Victims (1986); Merseyside Crime Survey (1984); Islington Crime Survey (1985) , and looks at the problems of surveying crime in rural areas, with particular reference to the Aberystwyth Crime Survey carried out in mid-Wales in 1993.