Abstract
The article presents the results of the few victimisation surveys carried out in Poland. They reveal relatively low levels of crime in Poland, but which are not correlated with the official criminal statistics. The article criticises the method for compiling criminal statistics adopted by the Polish police, a method which enables enforcement agencies to manipulate the statistics on the dynamics of crime. Despite the low fear of being victimised, the results of socio-logical and legal empirical studies show that Polish society is rigorous as far as controlling crime is concerned. The article argues that the main cause of this stems from a mass media information policy which is not based on objective facts nor on scientific findings, and which did not change following the destruction of so-called ‘real socialism’.
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