International Crime Victimization Survey (ICVS), 1989-2000 Version 1

The International Crime Victim Survey (ICVS) is a far-reaching program of fully standardized surveys investigating householders' experience of crime in different countries. The data were collected in four waves: 1989, 1992, 1996, and 2000. The main focus of the ICVS is whether the respondent was a victim of theft of or from vehicles, other thefts, vandalism, robbery, pickpocketing, sexual harassment or violence, or assault. The surveys also investigated the frequency of victimization, reasons for not reporting a crime to the police, familiarity with the offender in the case of a sexual offense, physical violence, injuries, fear of crime in the respondent's local area, use of help agencies for victims, satisfaction with police behavior, preferred legal sanctions, punishment, and length of detention for offenders, safety precautions when leaving home, possession of a gun, burglar alarm, or insurance, and frequency of going out. Some of the 2000 surveys were administered nationally and some were restricted to a main city within a given country. The ICVS National Survey Data cover the following countries: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Catalonia, Denmark, England and Wales, Finland, France, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. The ICVS City Survey Data cover the following countries: Albania, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Botswana, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lesotho, Lithuania, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, Ukraine, and Zambia. Samples of 1,000 to 2,000 cases were drawn from the population of each country's largest city. In a few countries, the surveys covered several cities by random dialing. In some countries, there was an additional sample of 200 cases from rural areas, or a national sample was taken. Sampling was generally hierarchical. It began with identifying administrative areas within the city, followed by a step-by-step procedure aiming at identifying areas, streets, blocks, households, and, finally, household members aged 16 and over. No substitution of the selected respondent was allowed. There were some exceptions to this procedure. In Finland, a random selection of individuals was drawn from the population register. In Northern Ireland and some rural parts of Spain, telephone penetration was low and interviews were taken face-to-face with some computer assistance. Datasets: DS0: Study-Level Files DS1: ICVS National Survey Data DS2: ICVS City Survey Data Persons aged 16 and over living in Albania, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Botswana, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Catalonia, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England and Wales, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lesotho, Lithuania, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Slovenia, South Africa, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Uganda, Ukraine, the United States, and Zambia. The principal investigators request that any publications using ICVS data be sent to John van Kesteren, UNICRI, Viale Maestri del Lavoro, 10, 10127 Torino, Italy.Researchers are to note that some of the surveys were administered nationally and some were restricted to a main city in the country. The principal investigators request that all users of datasets be careful in selecting and comparing data. Data users are to consult the identification variables I001 through I009 and the weighting variables in the database and the codebook.