Crime reduction publicity material

National crime reduction publicity material is often available in translation for local Partnership use. This includes the Home Office’s ‘Practical Guide to Crime Prevention’. 

he availability of translated information shows that the message itself is important, and has relevance for individual communities. However, research suggests that literature is very much a support medium for direct community and face-to-face contacts.

Practical considerations

If you need to supplement national publicity material with local Partnership information, the following may be helpful:

·        National research has highlighted the importance of clear presentation, both for text and for visual design.

·        Reasonably large print is always helpful, but particularly if many of the readers are elders; but remember that translated texts will be typically 15-20% longer than the English original. Design layouts need to take account of this.

·        Languages using the Arabic script (Arabic, Urdu) run from right to left, so the entire layout of a leaflet has to be reversed.

·        Complex characters - many non-Roman scripts have complex characters that may 'fill in' if printed very small; or they may become unreadable against the background.

·        Pictures and diagrams are also practical ways of conveying information, regardless of literacy and language considerations. A visual image of crime prevention advice helps to pinpoint the issues in a literal and direct way, engaging more immediate attention. Culturally appropriate illustrations will also help.

·        Foreign language typesetting is best left to experts.

·        Translations should always be carried out by mother-tongue speakers of the target language who have professional translation experience. The process of back-translation provides an additional check on the accuracy and usage (the translation is translated back into English by a second translator and the two English versions are analysed for inconsistencies and clarity).

·        Distribution - make full use of the suggested community contacts and other relevant outlets such as community centres, local authority enquiry points, libraries, GP surgeries and health centres, and citizens' advice bureaux. A wide distribution of an initial quantity of material should be accompanied by your contact details to enable follow-up queries,re-ordering and feedback. Tell community contacts what information is available. In this way you can begin to build a more meaningful distribution database, based on regular personal contact.