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EFFECTS OF PERSONAL VICTIMISATION ON PERCEPTIONS OF SOCIAL DISORDER

Persons that experienced at least one incident of assault (physical, threatened, or sexual) or robbery in the 12 months preceding the survey perceived significantly higher levels of social disorder in their local area than persons not experiencing these offences.

A significantly larger proportion of victims of selected personal crimes perceived at least one social disorder issue in their local area (81.3%), compared to persons who did not report experiencing an incident of selected personal crimes (59.6%). Persons who experienced an incident of personal crime in the 12 months preceding the survey were significantly more likely than persons not experiencing an incident of personal crime to report all of the social disorder issues. Specifically, victims were more than three times as likely to identify people being insulted, pestered, or intimidated in the street (37.1% compared to 11.1%) and people using or dealing drugs (25.2% compared to 7.0%) as issues in their local area. Furthermore, victims were also over twice as likely to perceive the issues listed in the following table.

Social disorder issues	Percentage of respondents identifying the issue (%)
	Persons experiencing selected personal crime	Persons not experiencing selected personal crime
Public drunkenness	38.3%	15.7%
Rowdy behaviour	40.5%	18.7%
Offensive language or behaviour	42.8%	18.0%
People hanging in groups	38.8%	16.7%
Intentional damage to property	31.5%	12.8%

PROPORTION OF RESPONDENTS IDENTIFYING EACH SOCIAL DISORDER ISSUE by PERSONAL CRIME VICTIMISATION(a)(b)


Victims of crime may experience heightened levels of fear of crime and sensitivity towards potential threats to their safety and security, leading to an increased vigilance and awareness of the environment around them (Endnote 12). Victims may also be more likely to reside in high-risk crime-prone areas with a greater incidence of social disorder, or it is possible that experiences of social disorder preceded or were a part of their experience of victimisation (Endnote 8).

The largest percentage difference in the reporting of at least one issue was between persons experiencing and not experiencing an incident of robbery (88.3% compared to 60.7%), followed by threatened assault (83.3% compared to 60.0%), physical assault (80.1% compared to 60.2%), and sexual assault (79.9% compared to 60.7%).

PROPORTION OF RESPONDENTS IDENTIFYING AT LEAST ONE SOCIAL DISORDER ISSUE by SELECTED PERSONAL CRIMES


Victims of personal crime are significantly more likely to consider social disorder issues in their local area to be large problems.

Just over half (53.2%) of all victims of personal crime that identified one or more social disorder issues in their local area, considered at least one issue to be a large problem, compared to less than a third of respondents who did not report experiencing an incident of personal crime (31.2%). Respondents who reported an incident of personal crime victimisation were significantly more likely than respondents reporting no incident of personal crime victimisation to rate all of the social disorder issues as large problems, with the exception of graffiti. In particular, personal crime victims were around twice as likely to rate the following issues as large problems: noisy neighbours (31.1% compared to 16.3%), people hanging in groups (27.9% compared to 14.0%), and offensive language or behaviour (30.5% compared to 17.2%). They were also significantly more likely to rate dangerous driving (35.4% compared to 22.0%), and people using or dealing drugs (44.5% compared to 31.5%) as large problems. Higher levels of fear of crime and apprehension of repeated victimisation in some victims of crime may increase both the likelihood that social disorder issues will be interpreted as problematic, and the severity with which they are viewed (Endnote 12).

PROPORTION OF RESPONDENTS RATING EACH SOCIAL DISORDER ISSUE AS A LARGE PROBLEM by PERSONAL CRIME VICTIMISATION(a)(b)


Victims of personal crime are significantly more likely to be influenced by someone they know in the formation of their opinions about social disorder issues.

Just over a third (34.4%) of all personal crime victims identifying one or more moderate or large social disorder issues in their local area were influenced by someone they knew in the formation of their opinion about at least one issue, compared to 21.9% of respondents who did not report experiencing a personal crime. Victims of these selected personal crimes were significantly more likely to be influenced by someone they knew in the formation of their opinion about noisy neighbours (24.6% compared to 12.7%), people hanging around in groups (25.1% compared to 16.6%) and public drunkenness (27.1% compared to 19.3%). Moreover, a significantly larger proportion of victims of personal crime were influenced by personal experience or observation in the formation of their opinion about people being insulted, pestered, or intimidated in the street (95.0% compared to 87.2%) and people using or dealing drugs, (87.0% compared to 74.6%).

PERCEIVED SOCIAL DISORDER ISSUES – PROPORTION OF RESPONDENTS INFLUENCED BY SOMEONE KNOWN TO THEM by PERSONAL CRIME VICTIMISATION(a)(b)