Young People and Crime
Findings from the 2006 Offending, Crime & Justice Survey
This report presents the headline findings from the 2006 Offending, Crime and Justice Survey (OCJS). It describes levels and trends in youth offending, anti-social behaviour (ASB) and victimisation among young people aged from 10 to 25 living in private households in England and Wales. The focus of the survey is on the 20 core offences that are covered in the most detail. Although all of these core offences are legally defined offences, many of the cases identified by the OCJS will not have been serious enough to come to police attention.
Title: Young People and Crime - Findings from the 2006 Offending, Crime & Justice Survey
Authors: Stephen Roe and Jane Ashe
Series: Home Office Statistical Bulleting 09/08
Number of pages: 34
Date published: July 2008
Availability: Download full report 
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The findings from the 2006 OCJS showed that the majority of young people were law-abiding.
- Over three-quarters (78%) of young people aged from 10 to 25 had not committed any of the 20 core offences covered by the survey in the last 12 months.
Amongst those that did break the law, many did so only occasionally or committed relatively trivial offences.
- Just over a fifth (22%) of young people aged from 10 to 25 reported that they had committed at least one of the 20 core offences in the previous 12 months.
- 6% of 10- to 25-year-olds had committed an offence six or more times in the past 12 months and were classified as frequent offenders.
- 10% of 10- to 25-year-olds had committed at least one of the serious offences measured in the survey.
- These groups of serious and frequent offenders overlapped so that 4% of 10- to 25-year-olds were both frequent and serious offenders while 1% had committed serious offences frequently.
- The most commonly reported offence categories were assault (committed by 12% overall within which assault with injury and without injury were each committed by 8%) and other thefts (10%). Criminal damage (4%), drug selling offences (3%) and vehicle-related thefts (2%) were less common while only 1% or less had committed burglary or robbery in the last 12 months.
There has been no change in levels of offending (including serious and frequent offending) since the survey started in 2003.
Just over a fifth (22%) of young people aged from 10 to 25 had committed at least one of the four anti-social behaviours measured in the OCJS in the last 12 months.
Those who offended were also likely to commit anti-social behaviour.
- Just over half of both offenders (52%) and frequent offenders (53%) and 58% of serious offenders (in the 10 to 25 age group) had committed at least one of the four anti-social behaviours measured in the OCJS in the previous 12 months compared to 15% of non-offenders.
Offenders were also more likely to be victims.
- Half (50%) of those who had committed any offence in the previous 12 months had also been victims of a personal crime in the same time period compared to about a fifth (19%) of those who had not committed any offence.
Other offences (including carrying weapons) are also included in the survey but are asked about in less detail. Only a small minority (3%) of young people reported carrying a knife with them in the previous 12 months.
Being noisy or rude in public (13%) and behaving in a way that caused a neighbour to complain (11%) were the most common anti-social behaviours committed. Graffiti and racial/religious motivated abuse were relatively rare (4% and 2% respectively).
The peak age of offending was 14 to 17 and the peak age for committing ASB was 14 to 15. Males were more likely than females to have offended and to have committed ASB in the previous 12 months.
Younger respondents aged from 10 to 15 were more likely than those aged 16 to 25 to report being a victim of a personal crime. Many of the incidents experienced by younger respondents took place at school or college and would be unlikely to come to the attention of the police.
- Just over a quarter (26%) of young people aged from 10 to 25 had been a victim of either personal theft or of assault in the last 12 months.
- 10- to 15-year-olds were more likely to have been a victim of a personal crime in the past 12 months than 16- to 25-year-olds.
- The most common location for victimisation incidents amongst 10- to 15-year-olds was in school or college. For 16- to 25-year-olds incidents were generally most likely to take place at a pub, bar or nightclub or in the street.
- Victims of assault aged from 10 to 15 were more likely to know their perpetrators than those aged from 16 to 25. For incidents where the perpetrator was known, the most common perpetrators of assault against 10- to 15-year-olds were other pupils or friends, while for 16- to 25-year-olds the most common perpetrators were someone who the respondent had seen around or friends.
Last update: Wednesday, July 23, 2008