Scottish Crime and Justice Survey

Introduction

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. Findings from crime surveys in Scotland have been used by policy makers across the public sector, academia and third sector to help understand the nature of crime in Scotland, target resources and monitor the impact of initiatives since the 1980s. The results of this survey provide evidence to inform progress against the Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework and a range of other metrics used across the justice system.

The main aims of the SCJS are to:

• 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
• provide a valid and reliable measure of adults' experience of crime, including services provided to victims of crime
• examine trends over time in the number and nature of crimes in Scotland, providing a complementary measure of crime to police recorded crime statistics
• examine the varying risk and characteristics of crime for different groups of adults in the population

The latest results are based on a sample of around 5,500 interviews that were conducted across Scotland. The sample is designed to be nationally representative of all private residential households.

• View all crime and justice statistics

Latest findings

The latest Scottish Crime and Justice Survey findings below are for 2021/22.

• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2021/22: Main Findings
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2021/22: Associated Data Tables
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2021/22: Supporting Documents

Previous findings

Please note that you can find older results from 2014/15 and earlier in our archive of older publications.

Our SCJS Interactive Data Tool provides data for some key survey questions at Police Division level. The tool is updated biennially, with the latest figures covering 2018/19 - 2019/20.

• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2019/20: main findings
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2019/20: supplementary documents
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2019/20: associated data tables
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2018/19: main findings
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2018/19: supplementary documents
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2018/19: associated data tables
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2017/18: main findings
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2017/18: supplementary documents
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2017/18: associated data tables
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2016/17: main findings
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2016/17: supplementary documents
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2016/17: associated data tables

Interviewee information

If you have been selected to take part in the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey you can find out more information, and answers to frequently asked questions, on our interviewee information page.

Re-procurement of survey

The latest information relating to the re-procurement of the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey.

• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey: re-procurement 2022
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey: consultation
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey: consultation analysis
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey: user workshops - summary

Other resources

• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey: data protection impact assessment
• Coronavirus (COVID-19): Scottish Crime and Justice Survey - return to interviewing
• Coronavirus (COVID-19): Scottish Crime and Justice Survey suspension and alternative data collection
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey: methodological papers on response rate and survey bias
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey: victim support
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey: data access
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey: revisions and corrections
• Scottish Crime and Justice Survey: get involved and keep up to date