U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

New Zealand National Survey of Crime Victims 2001

NCJ Number
200529
Author(s)
Allison Morris; James Reilly; Sheila Berry; Robin Ransom
Date Published
May 2003
Length
351 pages
Annotation
This document presents the results of the New Zealand National Survey of Crime Victims (NZNSCV) for 2001.
Abstract
A random sample of the population aged 15 and over was interviewed. There were two ‘booster’ samples of Maori and Pacific people respectively. Around 5,300 people were interviewed in total. Participants were asked about the extent to which they had been the victims of offenses, the circumstances and impact of those offenses, and their response to them. The results show that there was very little change in New Zealand between 1995 and 2000 in the estimated number of victimizations, despite a slight increase in the population aged 15 or more. There were an estimated 1,779,657 household and individual victimizations during the 2000 calendar year compared to an estimated 1,786,127 household and individual victimizations during the calendar year 1995. Assaults and threats taken together made up half of all victimizations reported in the 2001 survey. Those most at risk of victimization were young people, Maori (especially women), students, beneficiaries, solo parents, those households whose main income earner had no occupation, and those living with roommates. The groups most likely to be repeat victims were women, young people, Maori, students, beneficiaries, solo parents, those households whose main income earner had no occupation, those living with roommates, and those living in rented property. The incidence rates of Pacific people were reasonably high and were noticeably higher than those for New Zealand European/European victims and victims of other ethnicities. About two-fifths of victimizations were reported to the police. The main reasons given by victims for reporting their victimization to the police were to catch or punish the offender and because a crime had been committed. The main reason given by victims for not reporting their victimization to the police was its lack of seriousness. Results suggest that most New Zealanders see their local areas as relatively safe. 7 figures, 103 tables, 2 appendices, 172 references