Den ojämlika utsattheten. Utsatthet för brott bland fattiga och rika 1984-2001

The article studies inequalities in exposure to crime. The central question examined is that of whether increased differences in living conditions are reflected in an increased inequality in the area of victimisation. The study shows that exposure to violent and theft crimes have followed different trends over the past twenty years for poorly-resourced and well-resourced groups respectively. The proportion experiencing victimisation, first and foremost in the form of violence and threats, but also to some extent in the form of residential burglaries, is significantly greater among the poor than among the rich. Furthermore, the difference between these two groups has become greater. While both those with mid-range and particularly high-incomes have experienced a stabilisation and even a reduction in levels of violence and residential thefts since the beginning of the 1990s, levels of victimisation have continued to rise among the poor. This increased concentration of crime to the more poorly-resourced segments of society is in part explained by changes in the composition of the different groups. During the period covered by the study, the poor have come increasingly to be comprised of demographic groups at high risk of victimisation. The principal pattern, i.e. that of an increase in the victimisation risk among the poor and of stable or reduced risk levels among the rich, remains however even when controls are included for group-composition. The analyses are based on data from Statistics Sweden's (SCB) surveys of living conditions, which ask a representative sample of the population about their living conditions and exposure to crime over the course of the past year.