2014 general social survey - carleton university

2014 General Social Survey

Canadians’ Safety (Victimization)

(Cycle 28)

by Tamara Knighton

Chief, GSS Program

January 12, 2017

12/01/2017Statistics Canada • Statistique Canada2

Overview of presentation

• Introduction to the General Social Survey

program (GSS)

• 2014 GSS: Canadians’ Safety (Victimization)

• Objectives

• Design and coverage

• Survey content

• Products/Highlights

General Social Survey program (GSS)

Established in 1985

Series of independent, annual, cross-sectional surveys, each

covering one topic in-depth

Objectives:

• to monitor changes in the living conditions and well-being of

Canadians over time by gathering data on social trends and

• to provide information on specific social policy issues of current or

emerging interest

Currently includes 6 survey themes, each repeated at approximately

5-year intervals, with a new theme developed in 2016

3

Cyclical topics monitor changing trends

Collection year (cycle)

Core content 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Health 1985 (1) 1991 (6)

Time use 1986 (2) 1992 (7) 1998 (12) 2005 (19) 2010 (24) 2015 (29)

Victimization 1988 (3) 1993 (8) 1999 (13) 2004 (18) 2009 (23) 2014 (28) 2019 (34)

Education, work,

retirement

1989 (4) 1994 (9) 2002 (16) 2007 (21)

Family 1990 (5) 1995 (10) 2001 (15) 2006 (20) 2011 (25) 2017 (31)

Caregiving and care

receiving

1985 (1) 1990 (5) 1996 (11) 2002 (16) 2007 (21) 2012 (26) 2018 (32)

Access and use of

ICTs

2000 (14)

Social

networks/identity

2003 (17) 2008 (22) 2013 (27)

Giving, volunteering

and participating*

2013 (27) 2018 (33)

Canadians at work

and home

2016 (30)

* Previously CSGVP, conducted every 3 years through Special Surveys Division.



1. Relevance of theme

2. Balancing stakeholder needs

3. Duplication avoidance

4. Respondent burden

5. Releasable data

Considerations in development


2014 GSS

Canadians’ Safety

(Victimization)


6th time topic of victimization undertaken

1988 (Cycle 3)

1993 (Cycle 8) – same year as the Violence Against Women Survey

After VAWS, revisions made to the GSS

1999 (Cycle 13)

– included spousal abuse questions

2004 (Cycle 18)

– included new module on criminal harassment

2009 (Cycle 23)

– included questions on use of Internet, cyber harassment

2014 (Cycle 28)


To better understand how Canadians perceive crime and the justice

system. It also allows collection of information on their experiences

of victimization.

Survey results are used by police departments, all levels of

government, victim and social service agencies, community groups and

researchers not only to better understand the nature and extent of

victimization in Canada, but also to study Canadians' perceptions of

their safety, the levels of crime in their neighbourhoods, and their

attitudes toward the criminal justice system.

2014 GSS – Survey Objectives


• Population aged 15 and older in Canada:1. Only cycle to include residents of the Yukon, Northwest

Territories and Nunavut

2. Excludes full-time residents of institutions

• New telephone frame

• Oversample

• Collection done through computer assisted telephone

interviewing (CATI) in the provinces and done through

CATI and computer assisted personal interviewing

(CAPI) in the territories

• Collection periods

• January to December 2014 (provinces)

• August 2014 to January 2015 (territories)

2014 GSS – Design and Coverage


2014 GSS Core Content

Collecting information on:• Nature and extent of criminal victimization in Canada (incl. spousal violence)

• Risk factors related to victimization

• Fear and perception of crime

• Perceptions of the justice system

• Socio-demographic characteristics and geographic regions

8 offence typesSexual assaults Theft of personal property

Robbery Theft of household property

Physical assault Motor vehicle theft

Vandalism Break and Enter


New topics to the 2014 GSS

Criminal harassment

- use of technologies

- distribution of intimate pictures without the consent

- impacts

- police response

- why incidents were not reported

Childhood victimization

- Physical and sexual abuse

- Relationship to the abuser

- Witnessing spousal violence


Revisions to content

Reasons for not reporting

- Mutually exclusive categories

PTSD scale to measure the impacts of victimization

- Primary Care PTSD

- Use of a standardize scale that would allow comparison between GSS results and

literature

More detailed definition of sexual assault

- new question on sexual assaults to make up for the absence of data on sexual

assault cases where the victim was intoxicated or manipulated in some way other

than physically, meaning that he/she was not in the position to provide consent to

a sexual activity.


Date of birth, marital status, household members

Main activity

Education

Housing

Health and well-being

Disability

Birthplace, immigration, ethnic origin, religion,

language, income

GSS Common Content


Products

Data

• Analytical File, accessible through approved RDC proposals

• PUMF

• Custom tabulations available for purchase

For information or data, contact our Client services:

statcan.sasdclientservices-dsseaserviceaclientele.statcan@canada.ca

Survey documentation

• Definitions, data sources, methods – available on www.statcan.gc.ca/gsssafety

Tables

• CANSIM—perception of job being done by local police, by province

mailto:statcan.sasdclientservices-dsseaserviceaclientele.statcan@canada.ca

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/gsssafety


Main differences between analytical file and PUMF

Main differences Analytical PUMF

Nb records 33,127 (main file)

7,928 (incident file)

33,109 (main file)

7,919 (incident file)

Geography Detailed – postal code

included

Aggregated to urban/rural

Age Detailed Aggregated – group of 10

Spousal violence Included Excluded


Products

Analytical articles released since November 2015 in STC publications

• Juristat – 85-002-X• Criminal Victimization in Canada, 2014

• Criminal Victimization in the territories

• Family violence in Canada: Statistical Profile, 2014

• Victimization of Aboriginal people in Canada, 2014

• Spotlight on Canadians: Results from the General Social Survey – 89-652-X• Canadians’ perceptions of neighbourhood disorder, 2014

• Public confidence in Canadian institutions

• Insights on Canadian Society – 75-006-X• Hidden homelessness in Canada

• Cyberbullying and cyberstalking among Internet users aged 15 to 29 in Canada

Themes in upcoming products

• Self-reported sexual victimization

• Victimization profiles of sub-populations

• Child maltreatment and children witnessing violence in

Family violence report

• Perceptions of crime



For more information, please contact:

Julie Sauvé

Survey Manager,

General Social Survey on Canadians’ Safety

(Victimization)

(613) 854-8281

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Criminal victimization in the provinces:

Highlights from the 2014 survey

Victimization rates for all crimes measured by the 2014 GSS were lower

than those reported 10 years earlier, with the exception of sexual assault,

which remained stable.

From 2004, the violent victimization rate fell by 28%, while the household

victimization rate decreased by 42% and the rate of theft of personal

property declined by 21%.

Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec recorded the lowest rates of

violent victimization among the provinces, while Manitoba posted the

highest rate in 2014.

According to the GSS, just under one-third (31%) of criminal incidents were

brought to the attention of the police in 2014, a proportion slightly lower than

10 years earlier, when 34% of incidents were reported. The proportions of

incidents reported to the police ranged from 50% for break-ins to as little as

5% for sexual assaults.


Risk factors to victimization: Highlights

Being young was the main contributing factor to the risk of violent

victimization. The rate of violent victimization was highest among

persons aged 20 to 24 years and then decreased gradually with

age.

Mental health was the second most influential factor associated with

the risk of violent victimization in 2014. About 1 in 10 Canadians

reported a mental health-related disability, a developmental or

learning disability, or self-assessed their mental health as poor or

fair. These individuals combined reported a rate of violent

victimization more than four times that of people who self-assessed

their mental health as excellent or very good.


Criminal victimization in the territories:

Highlights from the 2014 survey

More than one-quarter of residents of the territories (28%) reported

being the victim of at least one crime in 2014.

• Down from 2009 (34%), but higher than reported in the provinces (18%).

Both violent victimization (-29%) and household victimization (-34%)

decreased from 2009.

• However, the rate of theft of personal property remained stable.

Nunavut recorded the highest rates of both violent victimization

(241E per 1,000 population) and household victimization

(313 per 1,000 population) among the territories.

• On the other hand, this territory also reported the lowest rate of theft of personal

property (68E per 1,000 population).


2014 general social survey - carleton university

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