The Swedish Crime Survey 2007

Crime and the fear of crime are social issues that are attracting an increasing amount of attention, and the demands being made on society’s capacity to prevent these problems are increasing. There is also a growing need to monitor and analyze crime and the fear of crime.

In 2005, the Swedish Government commissioned the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå) and other criminal justice agencies to plan and implement an annual survey of exposure to crime and levels of public safety (the Swedish Crime Survey) in Sweden. The first wave of data collection took place in 2006 and the principal findings were presented in a report in 2007.

This publication is a summary of the second report of principal findings, based on the second wave of data collection which was conducted in 2007. The Swedish Crime Survey covers a very broad range of issues, and this report presents the overall results relating to victimization, fear of crime and public confidence in the criminal justice system. The report contains few detailed analyses or explanations of the findings presented. Research of this kind based on the survey is instead presented separately in the form of special studies. Several such studies are underway or are being planned, including for example work focusing on reporting propensities and the significance of segregation for public perceptions of safety.

This year’s report includes for the first time results relating to crime victims’ contacts with the justice system, levels of confidence in the justice system among people who have been exposed to various types of crime, and region by region presentations of the survey’s central findings.

Knowledge of victimization, fear of crime and public confidence provides an important basis for developing and improving the criminal justice system and other agencies, and may help to reduce crime and increase perceptions of safety.