Why would you not call the police? A research on the role of social and individual factors in the choice of citizens to not report a crime to the police.

Abstract

Various studies have explored factors that influence the choice of citizens to report a crime to the police. However, research into factors that influence non-reporting is limited. This study therefore explores the role of social and individual factors in the choice of citizens to not report a crime to the police. The factors included in this study are social economic disadvantage and social cohesion on the social level and gender, age and fear of reprisal on the individual level. This study examines the previous factors by using data from the Longitudinal Internet Studies for Social Sciences (LISS), with as main questionnaire the Guardianship Survey (N = 1721). A binary logistic regression was used to estimate the log odds of the different factors on the dichotomous dependent variable non-reporting. The results show that the social factor social cohesion is an explanatory factor in the choice of citizens to not report a criminal offense to the police. People living in a neighbourhood with a high degree of social cohesion show a higher probability of non-reporting than people who live in a neighbourhood with a low degree of social cohesion.