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Summary of Findings on Young Black Men as Victims of Crime

Full Report on Young Black Men as Victims of Crime

New Report on Young Black Men as Victims of Crime

23 Feb 2005

The Criminal Justice System Race Unit and Victims and Confidence Unit have published a report of research into the experiences of young Black Men as victims of crime. The report found scope for making services for victims of crime more accessible to young Black men and makes recommendations to organisations both inside and outside the CJS as to how to achieve this.

New research into the experiences of young Black men who had been victims of crime has found that they infrequently had any contact with formal agencies that could help victims of crime. None received help from Victim Support and awareness of Victim Support was very low. There was considerable potential demand for using Victim Support or other support services.

Interviews and focus groups were carried out with Black men aged from16 to 24 in Birmingham and London in March 2004. The young men had all been victims of crimes such as mobile phone theft, thefts from vehicles, assaults and burglaries in the last 18 months. The research aimed to identify how services could better meet the needs of young Black men and to explore factors associated with their confidence in the CJS.

The report also found that:

  • Support from friends and family was very important and highly valued by the young men.
  • The young men generally lacked confidence in the police's ability to deal effectively with crime. The views of some reflected a belief in police racism. Lack of confidence in the police and the CJS was an important reason for not reporting crime to the police. Some of the young men responded to the crime by trying to retaliate directly against the perpetrators.
  • While the young men who reported the crime held fairly positive views on the initial response of the police, there was much more dissatisfaction with the follow-up.

The report highlights the need to make services to victims more accessible for young Black men and to improve the service provided by the police. The recommendations include

  • Publicising Victim Support and other services for victims more effectively to young Black men
  • Promoting alternative means of access to Victim Support (other than through the police)
  • Using CJS community engagement initiatives to inform young Black men about services
  • Involving schools and colleges, the NHS, local authorities and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships
  • encouraging alternative methods of resolving disputes such as restorative justice to deter victims from resorting to retaliation.

The research was sponsored by the Criminal Justice System Race Unit and the Victims and Confidence Unit.

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