Rise in violent crime is fuelled by friends

THE RISE in violent crime is being driven by a growing number of assaults and fights between friends, work colleagues and their clients, and schoolchildren, a Home Office study shows.

The number of incidents of so-called "acquaintance violence" - which does not include domestic incidents - rose by 52 per cent from 1981 to 1999, while the number of attacks involving strangers has remained roughly unchanged.

The surprise findings contradict the widely held belief that violent crime is being fuelled by a growing number of unprovoked attacks by gangs of drunken youths, drug addicts, or the mentally unwell.

In 1999, there were 1,182,000 incidents of acquaintance violence, compared with 892,000 assaults by strangers. This has risen from about 800,000 and 850,000 respectively in 1981, according to biennial statistics from the British Crime Survey.

About a quarter of acquaintance incidents involved friends, and a similar number involved clients. Attacks by neighbours, work colleagues, or children each accounted for about 10 per cent.

Acquaintance violence is most likely to occur in the workplace, about a third of the total, followed by a pub or club (22 per cent), around the home and on the street (both 15 per cent), says the Home Office report, Stranger and Acquaintance Violence: Practice Messages from the British Crime Survey.

The most important risk factor for violence while working is a person's occupation, with the risk of assault highest among police officers (25 per cent). Young men remain the most likely victims of all forms of violence, with 15 in every 100 men aged between 16 and 24 being assaulted in 1999.

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