BackgroundConsiderable research shows that crime is concentrated among a few victims. However, no one has systematically compared these studies to determine the level of concentration and its variation across studies. To address this void in our knowledge of repeat victimization, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the evidence that crime is concentrated among victims.MethodsWe distinguished between studies of victimization prevalence, which examine both victims and non-victims, and studies of victimization frequency, which only examine subjects that were victimized once or more. We identified 20 prevalence studies and 20 frequency studies that provided quantitative information sufficient for analysis. We organized data using visual binning and fitted logarithmic curves to the median values of the bins.ResultsWe found that crime is concentrated within a small proportion of the subjects in both the prevalence studies and frequency studies, but also that it is more concentrated in the former. When we compared studies of business victimization to studies of household victimization, we found that victimization is more concentrated among households than among businesses in prevalence studies, but that the reverse is true for frequency studies. A comparison between personal and property victimizations shows that the patterns of re-victimizations are similar. Crime is more concentrated in the United States compared to the United Kingdom in prevalence studies, but the opposite is true when frequency studies are examined. Finally, the concentration of victimization changes over time for both the US and the UK, but the nature of that change depends on whether one is examining prevalence or frequency studies.ConclusionsNot surprisingly, our systemic review supports the notion that a large proportion of victimizations are of a relatively small portion of the population and of a small portion of all those victimized at least once. There is no question that crime is concentrated among a few victims. However, there is also variation in concentration that we also explored.

中文翻译：

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犯罪在受害者中的集中程度如何？1977年至2014年的系统评价

背景大量研究表明，犯罪集中在少数受害者中。但是，没有人系统地比较这些研究来确定研究中的浓度水平及其变化。为了解决我们反复遭受伤害的知识中的空白，我们对犯罪集中在受害者中的证据进行了系统的回顾和荟萃分析。受害频率，仅检查一次或多次受害的对象。我们确定了20个患病率研究和20个频率研究，这些研究提供了足以进行分析的定量信息。我们使用视觉装箱组织数据，并将对数曲线拟合到装箱的中值。结果我们发现，在患病率研究和频率研究中，犯罪集中在一小部分受试者中，但犯罪集中在前者中。当我们将商业受害的研究与家庭受害的研究进行比较时，我们发现在患病率研究中，受害更集中于家庭而不是企业，而频率研究则相反。对个人和财产受害的比较表明，重新受害的模式是相似的。在患病率研究中，与英国相比，犯罪更多地集中在美国，但是在频率研究中，情况恰恰相反。最后，美国和英国的受害程度随时间而变化，结论不足为奇的是，我们的系统评价支持以下观点：很大一部分受害人群是人口的一小部分，而在所有受害人群中的一小部分至少一次。毫无疑问，犯罪集中在少数受害者中。但是，我们也探索了浓度的变化。