No. XLII/2 (2020)
Articles

‘It’s not worth it, it’s just a bike’. Reporting property crimes in South-eastern European countries

„Nie warto, to tylko rower” – zgłaszanie przestępstw przeciwko mieniu w krajach Europy Południowo-Wschodniej

Valentina Pavlović Vinogradac
Business Security Academy

Published 2023-02-15

Keywords

  • reporting crimes,
  • dark figure,
  • property crimes,
  • South-eastern Europe

How to Cite

Pavlović Vinogradac, V. (2023). ‘It’s not worth it, it’s just a bike’. Reporting property crimes in South-eastern European countries: „Nie warto, to tylko rower” – zgłaszanie przestępstw przeciwko mieniu w krajach Europy Południowo-Wschodniej. Archives of Criminology, (XLII/2), 9–25. https://doi.org/10.7420/AK2020J

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine South-eastern European students’ experiences being victims of criminal offences against property or being witnesses to criminal offences against property; to compare the extent to which students reported the crimes they were victims of or had witnessed; and to examine their willingness to report a theft of property of minor value (bicycle theft) in a hypothetical victimization situation, considering their country of residence and previous experience of reporting. The survey was conducted by an online survey in seven countries of South-eastern Europe (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Hungary, Northern Macedonia, Slovenia, and Serbia) on a sample of 1,419 students. The results indicate that a large proportion of property crimes go unreported, although most students are willing to report them.

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