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Violence-Related Injury Data in England and Wales: An Alternative Data Source on Violence

NCJ Number
199317
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 43 Issue: 1 Dated: Winter 2003 Pages: 223-227
Author(s)
Vaseekaran Sivarajasingam; Jonathan P. Shepherd; Kent Matthews; Sally Jones
Date Published
2003
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This research draws attention to local Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments as an alternative source of data on violence in England and Wales.
Abstract
The advantage of A&E data is that case identification depends not on the perception that a crime has been committed, but on the presence of injury deemed to require medical treatment. Further, studies have shown that a significant proportion of offenses that result in hospital treatment are not recorded by the police, a proportion consistent with the findings of successive British Crime Surveys. This research note reports on an alternative data set based on recorded data for patients reporting violence-related injury at major A&E departments in England and Wales over a 5-year period. A sample of 58 of the 226 major A&E departments, stratified in terms of the 9 health regions of England and Wales, were included in the study. Details on patients (age, gender, month of attendance) who were treated for a violence injury between May 1, 1995, and April 30, 2000, were retrieved from computerized A&E records. A total of 353,443 assaults were identified. Data were reported on the gender, age groups, and residence regions for the patients, along with seasonal trends in violence-related injuries. The advantages and disadvantages of such data in research on the volume and patterns of violence are discussed. 2 tables and 15 references

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