Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS)
About the study
The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) is a large-scale social survey which asks people about their experiences and perceptions of crime in Scotland. It is an annual survey of around 5,000 people living all across Scotland. Addresses invited to take part in the survey are selected at random and will receive a letter informing them of their selection. It is carried out for the Scottish Government by the Scottish Centre for Social Research (ScotCen) and Ipsos.
Why take part?
Findings from crime surveys in Scotland have been used by policy makers across the public sector, academia and third sector to help measure and understand the nature of crime in Scotland, target resources and monitor the impact of initiatives since the 1980s.
The main aims of the SCJS are to:
- provide a valid and reliable measure of crime, providing a complementary measure of crime to police recorded crime statistics
- enable people in Scotland to tell us about their experiences of, and attitudes to, a range of issues related to crime, policing and the justice system, including crime not reported to the police
- examine trends over time in the number and nature of crimes in Scotland
- examine the varying risk and characteristics of crime for different groups of Scotland’s population
What will taking part involve?
An interviewer from ScotCen carrying a photo ID will call at your doorstep. The interviewer will randomly select an adult in your household (aged 16 or over) to take part in the study and will then arrange a convenient time for interview.
The interview itself will take place face to face, and will last around 40 minutes. You do not need to do anything to prepare for the interview. The interview will ask about your views on crime and your experiences of crime in the past year. There are also some questions about your opinions on organisations like the police, courts and prisons. You will be asked to complete some of the questions on your own.
Call freephone 0800 652 3751 or email scottishcrime@scotcen.org.uk quoting the serial number at the top of the letter you have received if you would like to arrange a convenient time for the interviewer to visit. We would appreciate it if you could make others in your household aware that they may be selected for interview.
Why have I been selected to take part?
Your address was chosen at random from the Postcode Address File, a list of every address held by the Post Office and available to the public. Only the addresses chosen have the opportunity to take part.
What will happen to any information I give?
Once all the responses have been collated, the information is used by the Scottish Government and organisations like the police to help make important decisions which affect us all. This information is collected in the public interest to help us to understand who is most likely to experience crime, how crime affects victims and to check if current policies are working.
We will treat the information you give in accordance with data protection legislation. All responses are anonymised and stored securely only for research purposes by the Scottish Government and other authorised research institutes.
No one looking at the findings will be able to identify you in any way. Personal details, like your name and address, will only be known to the survey team processing the survey results at ScotCen, Ipsos and the Scottish Government.
Contact us
For more information, please see https://www.gov.scot/collections/scottish-crime-and-justice-survey/. Alternatively, please email scottishcrime@scotcen.org.uk or call us free on 0800 652 3751.
You can also contact the survey team at Scottish Government on 0131 244 3012 or email scjs@gov.scot.
Help and support
The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey asks questions about victimisation and a range of other crime and justice related issues. At the Scottish Centre for Social Research we’re not able to provide guidance on these issues. However, if you do have any queries or would like advice on crime and justice related issues you may have experienced, you can contact the relevant organisation using the contact information provided below. These organisations have the necessary knowledge and expertise to deal with queries and provide further assistance.
Victim Support Scotland
0800 160 1985
victimsupport.scot
Police Scotland (non-emergency)
101 or 0300 426 0101
scotland.police.uk
Crimestoppers
0800 555 111
crimestoppers-uk.org
SupportLine
01708 765200
supportline.org.uk
Samaritans
116123
samaritans.org
Scottish Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline
0800 027 1234
sdafmh.org.uk
Rape Crisis Scotland
0808 801 0302
rapecrisisscotland.org.uk
Shakti Women’s Aid
0131 475 2399
shaktiedinburgh.co.uk
Scottish Women’s Aid
0800 027 1234
womensaid.scot
Men’s Advice Line
0808 801 0327
mensadviceline.org.uk
Mankind
0808 800 1170
mankind.org.uk
Childline
0800 11 11
childline.org.uk
LGBT Helpline Scotland
0800 464 7000
lgbthealth.org.uk