Violence in England and Wales: does media reporting match the data?

Humphreys, David K.; Esposti, Michelle Degli; Gardner, Frances; Shepherd, Jonathan

doi:10.1136/bmj.l6040

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Nevertheless, two urban locations, surveyed because of high levels of violence and gang activity, did show exceptional levels. This is of major concern and supports the notion that a small number of urban areas with high concentrations of young men with multiple problems could be vulnerable to epidemic spread, leading to high levels of knife crime and requiring targeted interventions in these areas [3]. Our cross-sectional method also meant we could not demonstrate epidemics of knife crime related to gang activity.…”

Section: Ecological Modelsupporting

confidence: 63%

“…The British Medical Association has called for knife crime to be tackled as a public health concern [ 1 ] and politicians have proposed that healthcare professionals be legally responsible for identifying and reporting perpetrators of knife crime [ 2 ]. However, disproportionate media reporting of a “violence epidemic” may have over-estimated the increase in violence [ 3 ]. Furthermore, serious violence, including murder, declined internationally over the past 2 decades [ 4 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If these recent, modest increases in national rates are due to isolated pockets of violence in one region or city, this would be of concern. It would suggest a more targeted public health approach is needed in certain localities rather than nationwide campaigns or criminal justice actions [ 3 ]. A controversial response to knife carrying has been police stop-and-search policy, with black people in the UK nine times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people [ 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Epidemiology of knife carrying among young British men

Coid

Zhang

et al. 2021

Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol

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Purpose Knife carrying has caused considerable public concern in the UK. But little is known of the epidemiology and characteristics of men who carry knives. We investigated associations with socioeconomic deprivation, area-level factors, and psychiatric morbidity. Methods Cross-sectional surveys of 5005 British men, 18–34 years, oversampling Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) men, lower social grades, and in London Borough of Hackney and Glasgow East. Participants completed questionnaires covering violent behaviour and psychiatric morbidity using standardised self-report instruments. Socioeconomic deprivation measured at small area level. Results Prevalence of knife carrying was 5.5% (4.8–6.9) and similar among white and BME subgroups. However, prevalence was twice the national rate in Glasgow East, and four times higher among Black men in Hackney, both areas with high levels of background violence and gang activity. Knife carrying was associated with multiple social problems, attitudes encouraging violence, and psychiatric morbidity, including antisocial personality disorder (AOR 9.94 95% CI 7.28–13.56), drug dependence (AOR 2.96 95% CI 1.90–4.66), and paranoid ideation (AOR 6.05 95% CI 4.47–8.19). There was no evidence of a linear relationship with socioeconomic deprivation. Conclusion Men who carry knives represent an important public health problem with high levels of health service use. It is not solely a criminal justice issue. Rates are increased in areas where street gangs are active. Contact with the criminal justice system provides opportunity for targeted violence prevention interventions involving engagement with integrated psychiatric, substance misuse, and criminal justice agencies.

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Section: Ecological Modelsupporting

confidence: 63%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Epidemiology of knife carrying among young British men

Coid

Zhang

et al. 2021

Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol

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“…The media has always had a profound effect on how the public perceives and understands societal issues, which may create a distorted image of the reality of knife carrying and crime (Humphreys et al, 2019). An explanation for this can be drawn by Cultivation Theory (Gerbner et al, 1994), which proposes that an individual's perception of the world's social realities is a reflection of the frequency and type of media they consume.…”

Section: Crime In the Mediamentioning

confidence: 99%

Are images of seized knives an effective crime deterrent? A comparative thematic analysis of young people’s views within the Scottish context

Cogan¹,

Chau²,

Russell³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The urgency to reduce knife carrying has been recognised by police services within Scotland and has been addressed by initiatives such as the sharing of knife seizure images on media outlets. This study sought to explore young peoples’ views on the use of knife seizure images as a deterrent to carrying knives by using comparative individual interviews (N = 20) with photo elicitation. Three themes were discovered: (1) negative reactions towards images of seized knives, (2) images of knives may encourage rather than deter knife carrying, and (3) reinforcement of existing beliefs, stereotypes and stigma. These findings highlight the limitations of using knife seizure images as a deterrent and the importance of involving young people in developing preventative and non-discriminatory approaches to tackling knife crime.

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“…Based on police records, knife crime occurred in less than 3.3% of all violent and weapon crime in 2019, which makes it a rare event [11]. Regardless of its statistical rarity, knife crimes are serious events where those involved may be seriously harmed.…”

Section: Difficulties In Quantifying Knife Crime In the Ukmentioning

confidence: 99%

Victims, offenders and victim-offender overlaps of knife crime: A social network analysis approach using police records

2020

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Knife crime is a source of concern for the police in England and Wales, however little published research exists on this crime type. Who are the offenders who use knives to commit crime, when and why? Who are their victims, and is there a victim-offender overlap? What is the social network formation for people who are exposed to knife crime? Using a multidimensional approach, our aim is to answer these questions about one of England and Wales’ largest jurisdictions: Thames Valley. We first provide a state-of-the-art narrative review of the knife crime literature, followed by an analysis of population-level data on central tendency and dispersion of knife crimes reported to the police (2015–2019), on offences, offenders, victims, victim-offender overlaps and gang-related assaults. Social network analysis was used to explore the formations of offender-victim networks. Our findings show that knife crime represents a small proportion of crime (1.86%) and is associated largely with violence offenses. 16–34 year-old white males are at greatest risk of being the victims, offenders or victim-offenders of knife crime, with similar relative risks between these three categories. Both knife offenders and victims are likely to have a criminal record. Knife crimes are usually not gang-related (less than 20%), and experienced mostly between strangers, with the altercation often a non-retaliatory ‘one-off event’. Even gang-related knife crimes do not follow ‘tit-for-tat’ relationships—except when the individuals involved have extensive offending histories and then are likely to retaliate instantaneously. We conclude that while rare, an incident of knife crime remains predicable, as a substantial ratio of offenders and victims of future knife crime can be found in police records. Prevention strategies should not be focused on gang-related criminals, but on either prolific violent offenders or repeat victims who are known to the police—and therefore more susceptible to knife crime exposure.

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Violence in England and Wales: does media reporting match the data?

Cited by 7 publications

References 19 publications

Epidemiology of knife carrying among young British men

Epidemiology of knife carrying among young British men

Are images of seized knives an effective crime deterrent? A comparative thematic analysis of young people’s views within the Scottish context

Victims, offenders and victim-offender overlaps of knife crime: A social network analysis approach using police records

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