Violent Crime Decline in England and Wales

• In Event: Violent Victimization in the United States and Great Britain: New Findings from Victimization Surveys

Abstract

This paper presents findings on physical assault trends using data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, with a particular focus on stranger and acquaintance violence occurring in the night-time economy (the collection of businesses, commercial premises and public services operating after 6pm and primarily during weekends): a space routinely linked to high levels of interpersonal violence. In the context of the international crime drop phenomenon, physical assault in England and Wales has more than halved between 1995 and 2013/14. However, trends differ according to offender-victim relationship, assault seriousness and victim’s gender and age group. The objective of the present paper is to explore whether changes in the population’s engagement with the night-time economy are associated with this decline in assault using a data signatures methodological approach. Underpinning the research is an opportunity-theory–based understanding of violence - and the retrospective examination of trends over time offers potential insight into the cause of assault’s dramatic decline.

Authors

• Laura Garius, Nottingham Trent University

• Soenita Ganpat, University of Derby

• Andromachi Tseloni, Nottingham Trent University