Perception of Crime in Germany 2020

The study on perceptions of crime in Germany was conducted by infratest dimap on behalf of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. During the survey period 29.10.2020 to 12.12.2020, 3023 eligible voters were interviewed by telephone (CATI) on the following topics: locus of control, Internet use, problem perception of crime, perception of crime development, sense of security, avoidance/protection behavior, experiences of victimization, measures to combat crime, new investigation methods, trust in institutions, proximity/dislike of political parties, Sunday question. Respondents were selected by stratified random sampling (dual-frame sample) including a regional increase in the regions bordering Poland, the Czech Republic and in large eastern German cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants (excluding Berlin).<br>Locus of Control (little control over things that happen in my life, life course depends on myself); frequency of internet use; party preference (Sunday question); Sunday question second preference; problem perception crime; perception of crime development; feeling of safety and insecurity in various situations (in the flat or house, in the neighbourhood or district, in public places, at stations and stops, in public transport such as buses, trains, trams); individual feeling of insecurity (fear of internet fraud, fear of a violent crime, fear of a house being broken into and of theft); own precautions to protect against crime (avoidance of certain streets, squares or parks after dark, carrying irritant gas, knife or other weapon for defence, securing the flat with an additional lock on the house or flat door, self-defence learned); avoidance and protective behaviour against fraud on the internet (use special software programmes, do not open e-mails from unknown persons, avoid shopping on the internet); fear of a terrorist attack in Germany in the next 12 months; concrete victimisation experience (home burglary, being robbed in public secretly or under threat of violence, being harassed or accosted in public, being cheated on the internet, being beaten or subjected to other forms of physical violence, being physically sexually harassed); frequency of the victimisation experience; positioning on the topic of protection against crime (above all, the state must provide protection against crime vs. each individual must protect themselves from crime; positioning on the topic of European integration (European integration should go further and the countries should grow together even more in the European Union vs. European integration has already gone too far and the countries should remain more for themselves); agreement with various statements (most people can be trusted, immigration opportunities for foreigners should be made more difficult, police must be visible on streets and squares to prevent crime, private security is a good measure to prevent crime, with higher penalties there would be significantly less crime, to protect against crime it is important to me that the state can access private data, everyone who crosses a border into Germany should be checked again, also citizens of the European Union, so that the state can solve crimes, in principle more data should be stored long-term, if people go to a prostitute they should be punished for it); approval of proposed new investigative methods of the police to solve crimes (use of automated facial recognition in public places, train stations and airports, storage of car licence plates on major roads, unrestricted access to connection data of computers, unrestricted access to connection data of telephones, video surveillance of public places); trust in institutions (German Bundestag, German Federal Government, courts, police, Office for the Protection of the Constitution); closeness to or dislike of political parties (CDU, CSU, SPD, FDP, Die Linke, Bündnis90 / Die Grünen, Alternative für Deutschland / AfD).

Demography: sex; age; age grouped; household size; number of persons in the household under 18; employment status; job security; unemployment longer than 6 months; religious denomination; frequency of churchgoing; income of the neighbourhood; perceived proportion of foreigners in the neighbourhood; education; migration background of the respondent and parents; assessment of the household´s income situation; ability to afford short-term purchases.

Additionally coded were: Interview no.; sex of interviewer; weighting factor; region (federal state); place size (political municipality size; district code / district; increase: border areas Czech Republic / Poland; increase (East German) large cities.