One in six recorded crimes involve violence or the threat of it, a new study shows. The violence includes being pushed, dragged, kicked or punched, yet only 3 per cent of victims of reported crime are left with physical problems such as back pain or headaches.
The study, the first of its kind, examined the experiences of nearly 1,000 victims of recorded crime in 10 categories, ranging from theft of a vehicle to vandalism.
Victims of Recorded Crime in Ireland covers crimes reported to gardai between late 1994 and late 1995. The research was carried out by Dr Dorothy Watson from the Economic and Social Research Institute and funded by the Garda Research Unit.
Dr Watson said the purpose of the research was to look in detail at the reality behind criminal statistics.
"We rely a lot on published Garda statistics without knowing much about who the victims are, how satisfied are they with the Garda service and what other services they need. We were also hoping to get information useful to crime prevention," she said.
On the impact of crime generally, the study shows that it is "often inconvenient rather than traumatic".
One fifth of assault victims suffered recurring physical problems, according to the study. In almost a quarter of assault cases at least one other person besides the main victim was injured.
Most crime victims did not experience lasting psychological distress such as increased anxiety or trouble sleeping or concentrating.
But at the time of the interview, more than two fifths of the victims of violent crime said they still experienced distress. About half the victims said they had become more suspicious following the crime.
Crime victims generally perceived the risk of future victimisation as quite high. Almost half of those burgled and less than half of those who were mugged or had their pockets picked felt they were likely to be crime victims again within 12 months. Feelings of insecurity following a crime were highest among victims of violent crime.
Property was stolen in four out of five incidents, and the typical cost to the victims was less than £300 after insurance.
The incidence of repeat victimisation was high, with four out of five organisations surveyed and half the individuals experiencing at least one other criminal incident within a three-year period.
The study says crime prevention strategies aimed at helping victims of reported crime could be a very good use of Garda resources.
"Combining follow-up information with information on crime prevention could have payoffs in terms of reducing crime and increasing victim satisfaction," said Dr Watson.
Dr Watson said Ireland's crime rate was lower than most European industrialised countries.
"It's still true that the levels of fear about crime and concern about it in Ireland are quite high and maybe these findings might help us to put the problems of crime in perspective," she said.
"We need to move away from looking at the big numbers, the overall figures and associating them with the headline images of individuals who have been severely traumatised or injured."