Scottish Crime and Justice Survey
Organisation Responsible: Scottish Government.
Background and purpose: The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) is a household survey of people's experiences and perceptions of crime. The main aims of the SCJS are to:
- provide reliable statistics on people's experiences of crime, including services provided to victims of crime
- assess the varying risk of crime for different groups of people in the population
- examine trends in the level and nature of crime in Scotland over time
- collect information about people's experiences of, and attitudes on, a range of crime and justice related issues (e.g. concern about crime, attitudes towards the police, drug misuse, domestic violence).
The survey has been undertaken under various names over time - see paragraph below for full details - often involving changes to the design and reporting.
Survey years / frequency: To fit in with recorded crime statistics and the British (England and Wales) Crime Survey, the SCJS follows the financial year rather than the calendar year. From 2012/13 onwards the SCJS has been conducted and reported biennially. The report for the 2021/22 sweep was published on 28 November 2023.
The survey used to be conducted on a calendar year basis every two to four years, as the Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey (SCVS) in 2004 and 2006, and as the Scottish Crime Survey (SCS) in 1993, 1996, 2000 and 2003.
In 1982 and 1988 data were collected in central and southern Scotland as part of the British Crime Survey. The 1993 SCS, Scotland's first independent crime survey, extended the BCS design and sample size (5,000) to cover the whole of Scotland. The British Crime Survey, now the Crime Survey for England and Wales, has since covered England and Wales only.
Survey content: Topics covered by the survey include public perceptions of crime, other forms of victimisation, satisfaction with the police and knowledge and use of controlled drugs and solvents.
The questionnaire was recently amended in two key ways: firstly, new modules were introduced and amendments were made to existing questions and modules and, secondly, some existing questions and modules were either removed or rotated out of the survey. The amendments include changes to the cyber crime module, changes to questions pertaining to violence against girls and women, and development of a new partner abuse module.
Target population: Adults (aged 16 and over) resident in a private household in Scotland.
Sample size: Approximately 5,000 adults per survey up to 2006. Following review in 2007 and subsequent relaunch as the SCJS, sample sizes increased considerably to approximately 16,000 adults in 2008/09 and 2009/10 and 13,000 in 2010/11. From 2012/13 onwards, sample size was around 12,000 adults per financial year, until the 2016/17 survey where the target sample was reduced to 6,000 persons. This has since remained in place and in 2021/22, there were 5,517 participants recruited.
The sample is random with some stratification (and clustering prior to 2012/13). Addresses are selected from the small users Postal Address File. One randomly selected adult is interviewed per household.
Response rate: The achieved response rate (based on all eligible addresses) for the 2021/22 survey was 47.3%.
Method of data collection: Face-to-face interview, except in 2004 and in 2020/21 (due to the Covid-19 pandemic) when data were collected by telephone.
Smallest geographical unit reported: From 2012/13, data are available at national, Police Force Area and Community Justice Authority levels, but not at Local Authority level - this is the main difference from previous years.
Availability of results and further information: Reports, results and further information about the survey are available from the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey pages of the Scottish Government website.
The survey data are available from the UK Data Service.
