Young Runaways
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059404100114 |
| Published date | 01 March 1994 |
| Date | 01 March 1994 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
39
Motivated
Crime:
A
British
Crime
Survey
Analysis (Paper
82,1994).
Natahe
Aye
Maung
and
Catnona
Mirlees-Black
for
the
Home
Office
Research
and
Planning
Unit
conducted
a
detailed
analysis
of
BCS
data
1988-92
to
gam
a
better
picture
of
racial
attacks
and
harassment.
Among
their
conclusions:
.
The
BCS
suggests
that
of
nearly
17
million
incidents
of
crimmal
victimisation
m
1991,
730,000
(4.4%)
were
against
Asians
and
Afro-Caribbeans
-
more
than
would
be
expected
from
the
number
of
adult
Asians
and
Afro-
Canbbeans
in
the
population.
Of
these,
around
130,000
(nearly
one
in
six)
were
felt
to
have
involved
a
racial
element.
Around
89,000
incidents
were
estimated
against
Asians
and
41,000
against
Afro-
Canbbeans.
0
Around
a
quarter
of
the
130,000
estimated
racist
incidents
were
assaults
(most
being
common
assaults
rather
than
more
serious
woundings)
and
two-fifths
were
threats.
Vandalism
comprised
a
further
fifth.
0
Asians
living
m
inner
city
areas
were
most
likely
to
cite
racist
attacks
as
a
problem:
18 %
felt
they
were
a
’very
big’
or
’fairly
big’
problem.
0
Most
racially
motivated
violence
was
committed
by
strangers
(close
to
7
out
of
10
incidents
for
Asians),
predominantly
by
males
aged
16
to
25.
Three-quarters
of
Asian
victims
of
racially
motivated
violence
had
experienced
incidents
where
more
than
one
offender
was
involved;
two-fifths
had
been
subject
to
incidents
involvmg
groups
of four
or
more.
0
The
indications
are
that
Afro-
Caribbeans
report
racially
motivated
incidents
less
often
than
other
offences
but
Asians
are
more
likely
to
report
incidents
where
a
racist
element
is
involved.
0
Though
the
BCS
does
not
provide
evidence
of
an
increase
between
1987
and
1991
in
the
proportion
of
incidents
in
which
there
was
thought
to
be
a
racial
element,
this
conclusion
should
be
treated
cautiously.
These
findings
are
published
at
the
same
time
as
reports
of
’an
unprecedented
wave
of
extreme
racist
violence
has
swept
the
East
End
of
London,
with
a
sudden
spate
of
organised,
armed
attacks
by
white
men
on
young
Asians’
(The
Observer
13
February
1994,
as
instanced
by
the
vicious
beating
and
attempted
murder
inflicted
on
a
19
year
old
student
m
Tower
Hamlets).
Young
Runaways
To
gain
a
better
understanding
of
the
experiences
and
problems
of
teenage
runaways,
The
Children’s
Society’s
Leeds
’Safe
Home’
refuge
surveyed
1,234
young
people
under
16.
Nearly
a
third
(31%)
had
run
away,
almost
a
half
(14 % )
staying
away
overnight.
Over
a
half
of
the
sample
(54%)
had
a
friend
who
had
run
away
and
almost
a
half
(47%)
of
those
who
had
never
run
away
said
that
they
had wanted
to.
On
this
evidence,
the
Society
estimates
that
one
in
seven
young
people
aged
14-16,
a
much
higher
number
than
previously
estimated,
has
run
away
overnight,
amounting
to
seven
incidents
a
day
in
Leeds
alone.
A
key
finding
was
the
difference
in
the
running
away
rate
by
gender:
17 %
of
females
surveyed
had
run
away
overnight
compared
to
11 %
of
the
males,
though
a
higher
percentage
of
males
ran
away
during
the
day.
It
is
estimated
that
61 %
of
young
people
running
away
overnight
are
females.
On
average,
males
start
to
run
away
from
home
at
a
younger
age,
are
more
likely
to
have
slept
rough
and
to
have
travelled
further
afield.
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