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Crime Risks in Finland 2000: Finnish Results of the 2000 Sweep of the International Crime Victims Survey

NCJ Number
188124
Author(s)
Kauko Aromaa; Markku Heiskanen
Date Published
2000
Length
40 pages
Annotation
This report presents the main results from Finland's 2000 International Crime Victims Survey, the fourth of its kind in Finland, and compares these with previous results.
Abstract
The objective of the survey was to provide crime information that was independent of authority registers and that may also be used for international comparisons. The data presented were based on 1,818 completed interviews conducted by telephone. Compared to 1996, the percentage of respondents who had been crime victims increased slightly. Over 5 years, 46 percent of the respondents or their households had been victims of crimes. The increase from the 1996 survey was 1.1 percentage units. Small increases were found for robberies, sexual incidents, and violence and threats. Reporting crime to the police varied across types of crime; motorcycle and car thefts were reported to the police almost without exception; approximately 70 percent of house burglaries were reported; 26 percent of the incidents of violence and threats were reported; and less than 1 percent of sexual offenses against women were reported. The rate of crime reporting to the police was the same as in 1996, although robberies were reported more often and sexual offenses less often. Nearly one out of five Finns reported they felt "rather" or "very unsafe" when going out alone in their neighborhood after dark; this was the same percentage as in the previous surveys. Respondents generally favored community service for a recidivist burglar; however, the popularity of community service has decreased slightly over time, while support for conditional and unconditional imprisonment has increased. 13 tables, 4 figures, 12 references, and appended survey questionnaire