Identifying repeat
victimisation: different ways of analysing the information
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There are a number of
publications, which can help you to understand the information you have on
repeat victimisation. Broadly the areas to consider include:
- Location driven analysis
– this
focuses on the geographical location of the incident or offence. Analysis
could be undertaken either within or across offence types. As an example of
the former, you may wish to identify instances of repeat domestic burglary.
Here the analysis will concentrate upon the individual location of the
offence.
Alternatively, you may wish to analyse instances of repeat victimization
across offence types but impacting upon a specific location. Identifying
repeat victimization against a school might lead to an interest in a number of
different offences (criminal damage, burglary and arson, for example).
- Object driven analysis
– this
is best seen as a variant of location driven analysis, but where the location
of the object is not fixed, and so cannot serve as the means of identifying
repeat victimization. A good example would be an investigation of crimes
against motor vehicles, which concentrated upon the individual vehicle, rather
than the location of the incident, or the identity of the owner. Again, the
analysis may occur either within or across crime types.
- Victim driven analysis
– some
forms of repeat victimization, for example racially motivated offences, will
focus upon the victim, rather than the location of the offence/incident.
Analysis may take place either across offence types or within a specific
offence type.
- Hot spot driven analysis
––
the term ‘hot spot’ may have a variety of meanings, but at its most basic
refers to a site which accounts for a disproportionate number of crimes or
incidents. It may refer to a single location or site (for example, a public
house or car park) or it may refer to a wider area, such as a street or
particular estate.
The ultimate hot spot, the hot dot, is the individual victim who repeatedly
suffers crime. Therefore, any analysis of hot spots should also consider the
prior victims within the hot spots.