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The Victimization of Children and Youth: a Comprehensive, National Survey

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10.1177/1077559504271287FinkelhorCHILD MALTREATMENT et al. / Victimization / FEBRUARY of Children 2005 and Youth The Victimization of Children and Youth: A Comprehensive, National Survey David Finkelhor, Ph.D. Richard Ormrod, Ph.D. Heather Turner, Ph.D. University of New Hampshire Sherry L. Hamby, Ph.D. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill This study examined a large spectrum of violence, crime, and and the witnessing of domestic violence (Wolak & victimization experiences in a nationally representative sam- Finkelhor, 1998). Studies typically document the fre- ple of children and youth ages 2 to 17 years. More than one quency of such victimizations and the association of half (530 per 1,000) of the children and youth had experi- such experiences with adverse physical, psychologi- enced a physical assault in the study year, more than 1 in 4 cal, and social outcomes (DuRant, Getts, Cadenhead, (273 per 1,000) a property offense, more than 1 in 8 (136 per Emans, & Woods, 1995; Fantuzzo et al., 1991; 1,000) a form of child maltreatment, 1 in 12 (82 per 1,000) Martinez & Richters, 1993; Singer, Anglin, Song, & a sexual victimization, and more than 1 in 3 (357 per Lunghofer, 1995). 1,000) had been a witness to violence or experienced another However, a problem endemic to this literature is form of indirect victimization. Only a minority (29%) had that studies usually focus on only one or a few forms of no direct or indirect victimization. The mean number of vic- victimization out of the large spectrum of victimi- timizations for a child or youth with any victimization was zations that young people experience (Hamby & 3.0, and a child or youth with one victimization had a 69% Finkelhor, 2000; Saunders, 2003). Thus, there are chance of experiencing another during a single year. many studies confined only to sexual abuse, bullying, parental violence, community violence, or the wit- nessing of domestic violence. This creates a variety of Keywords: violence; victims; crime; assault; sexual problems. assault; juveniles; incidence First, it underestimates the burden of victimization that young people experience. For example, studies of community violence often exclude the various Considerable research and clinical attention have forms of child maltreatment children suffer at the been paid in recent years to various forms of child and hands of caretakers, including neglect and emotional youth victimization such as physical and sexual abuse abuse. Property crimes against children (such as theft (Brown & Bzostek, 2003; Finkelhor & Hashima, or vandalism) are also rarely included, even though 2001), bullying (Nansel, Overpeck, Pilla, et al., 2001; these crimes occur against children at high rates and Nansel, Overpeck, Haynie, Ruan, & Scheidt, 2003), have been shown to have negative psychological sexual harassment (American Association of Univer- impacts (Finkelhor & Ormrod, 2000; Norris & sity Women Educational Foundation, 2001), expo- sure to community violence (Bell & Jenkins, 1993; Gorman-Smith & Tolan, 1998; Hill & Jones, 1997), Authors’ Note: For the purposes of compliance with Section 511 of P.L. 101-166 (The Steven’s Amendment), readers are advised that CHILD MALTREATMENT, Vol. 10, No. 1, February 2005 5-25 this publication was supported by a portion (U.S. $459,398) of DOI: 10.1177/1077559504271287 funds from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Preven- © 2005 Sage Publications tion grant (1999-JP-FX-1101). 5 6 Finkelhor et al. / Victimization of Children and Youth Kaniasty, 1994). Certain other kinds of distinctive victimization as they are for diseases or other kinds of forms of child victimization are routinely neglected in injuries. studies and therefore underestimated because they These fragmentations have a number of unfortu- are not specifically asked about, including assaults by nate consequences for practice, research, and policy. siblings (Duncan, 1999; Goodwin & Roscoe, 1990; At the clinical level, asking about only limited types of Straus, Gelles, & Steinmetz, 1980; Wiehe, 1997), non- victimization, such as child abuse alone or exposure sexual assaults to the genitals (Finkelhor & Wolak, to community violence alone, may result in a failure to 1995), dating violence and bias (hate) crimes. Even identify children who experience other kinds of still the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) serious victimization. It may also result in clinicians only inquires about the conventional crime experi- targeting a problem that is not necessarily the most ences of sexual assault, robbery, and physical assault important one, or at least missing a considerable part (Finkelhor & Wells, 2003; U.S. Department of Justice, of the full clinical picture. The child who is being bul- Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2000) while failing to lied at school and abused at home may be poorly inventory the serious, nonforcible sex crimes that served by a clinician who simply intervenes with the juveniles experience because of their dependent sta- bullying. It may also result in a failure to identify the tus (e.g., nonviolent sexual abuse of a child by a family children who are at the highest risk and who are member). In all these ways the full extent and variety chronically victimized (Kochenderfer Ladd & Ladd, of child victimization is not encompassed. 2001). In addition to underestimating the scope and vari- ety of child victimization, a second problem with the The unknown interrelationships create problems current fragmented approach is that it fails to show at the research level as well. For example, the negative the interrelationships among different kinds of vic- outcomes statistically associated with children’s wit- timization. Such interrelationships occur at several nessing domestic violence may, in reality, be partly or levels. For example, some victimization types char- fully explained by the direct physical assaults children acteristically involve multiple offenses. Bullying fre- also suffer in these households at the hands of the vio- quently entails physical assaults, as well as property lent parents (Wolak & Finkelhor, 1998). Youth who crimes and sexual harassment (Nansel, Overpeck, experience dating violence may be victims of other Haynie, et al., 2003). Other victimizations are pre- kinds of peer assaults as well (Pepler, Craig, Connolly, cursors or catalysts for new victimizations. Children & Henderson, 2002). However, unless the other abused by parents, for example, appear more likely to forms of victimization are assessed and controlled be bullied at school (Perry, Hodges, & Egan, 2001). for, it is easy to overestimate the ostensible impact of Still other victimizations cluster because of high-risk one kind of victimization alone (Boney-McCoy & environments. Violent parents frequently attack mul- Finkelhor, 1995a, 1995b). tiple family members, and this means that children Moreover, without considering interrelationships, exposed to domestic violence are also often victims of it may not be possible to understand fully the problem child abuse (Duncan, 1999; Edleson, 1999; Perry of victimization vulnerability. To explain this vulnera- et al., 2001; Shields & Cicchetti, 2001). Children who bility, we may need to know how different kinds of vic- live in high-crime neighborhoods will likely witness timizations cluster, how some lead to others, and why community violence and themselves be victims of some children experience multiple victimizations violent and property crimes. The interconnections while others do not. among these victimizations have only been super- At the public policy level, the fragmentation inhib- ficially explored. They are not apparent when only a its the development of a fully comprehensive ap- few forms of victimization are assessed. The fragmentation by victimization type in this lit- proach to juvenile victimization. In the absence of erature is compounded by fragmentation according comprehensive developmental epidemiology, cer- to victim age. Studies typically assess the experiences tain forms of victimization may get overemphasized, of only teenagers (Fox & Leavitt, 1995; Hastings & such as stranger abductions (Best, 1990), while other Kelley, 1997; Singer et al., 1995) or, more unusually, more pervasive problems are ignored. only elementary school-age children (Fox & Leavitt, It was to promote a more holistic approach to the 1995; Hill, Levermore, Twaite, & Jones, 1996; understanding of victimization that we developed the Richters, Martinez, & Valla, 1990). This can lead to comprehensive Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire the misperception that crime primarily occurs to (Hamby & Finkelhor, 2004) and undertook to assess teenagers. True developmental trajectories across the these interrelationships in a national sample, the De- span of childhood are not available for most forms of velopmental Victimization Survey. CHILD MALTREATMENT / FEBRUARY 2005 Finkelhor et al. / Victimization of Children and Youth 7 METHOD 1992; Waksberg, 1978), yet such children are still at an age when parents tend to be well informed about Participants their experiences at and away from home. In 68% of This research is based on data from the Develop- these caretaker interviews, the caretaker was the bio- mental Victimization Survey (DVS), designed to logical mother, in 24% the biological father, and in obtain 1-year incidence estimates of a comprehensive 8% some other relative or caretaker. range of childhood victimizations across gender, Up to 13 callbacks were made to select and contact race,anddevelopmentalstage.Thesurvey,con-
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