The International Crime (Victim) Survey: Issues of Comparative Advantages and Disadvantages

Abstract

Difficulties in making international comparisons based on official national and international criminal justice statistics (United Nations Crime Surveys, INTERPOL) prompted the launching of the International Crime (Victim) Survey, which used a standard methodology and involved in two sweeps (1989 and 1992-1994) more than 30 industrialized and developing countries and countries in transition. Selected key findings are presented, and these basically highlight that, on an international comparative level, the developing world and countries in transition exhibit higher victimization rates for almost all selected types of crime, less satisfaction with law enforcement, and a more punitive orientation. The main advantages of the IC(V)S lie in the higher level of data comparability as well as in the comparative evaluation of police-community relations, attitudes toward punishment, and various crime prevention mechanisms. However, with its focus on households and individuals and selected crime types, the IC(V)S presents only a partial picture of the crime story. Other problems faced by the IC(V)S are discussed, such as what constitutes a proper sampling in countries that lack reliable population and other statistical information. Particular emphasis is placed on the tension between standardization to increase comparability on the one hand and cultural specificity on the other. Although the IC(V)S will prove to be instrumental in promoting alternative criminal justice information, particularly in the less advanced parts of the world, and in providing for more internationally comparable information, the limits of the study with respect to cultural interpretation should be clearly recognized.