Crime Victims’ Demographics Inconsistently Relate to Self-Reported Vulnerability

N Aihio, Daniel Frings, R Wilcock, Phillip Burrell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

© 2016 The Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and LawPrevious research has found a discrepancy between the number of individuals who self-report as being vulnerable and official prevalence estimations. Both this discrepancy and victims’ views about their vulnerability need addressing in order to identify further training needs for criminal justice system agencies and to that ensure victims receive the appropriate support. Using data from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) User Satisfaction Survey (USS) (n = 47,560), the present study explores 1) crime victims’ self-reported vulnerability and its association with demographics; 2) police identification of vulnerability; and 3) whether the needs of vulnerable victims are catered for. The results indicate that 38% of the sample self-identified as being vulnerable, a considerably higher percentage than estimated in previous literature. Although associations have been found between vulnerability and demographics, these have been negligible or have had weak effect sizes. The findings are discussed in relation to the current definition of a vulnerable victim, and the role of personal circumstances in self-identification are highlighted.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)379-391
JournalPsychiatry, Psychology and Law
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2016

Keywords

  • 1801 Law
  • Criminology
  • 1702 Cognitive Science
  • 1701 Psychology

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