Violent Victimization As a Risk Factor For
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U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention J. Robert Flores, Administrator December 2002 Violent Victimization as a Risk Factor for Violent A Message From OJJDP Compared with adults, juveniles are disproportionately affected by high Offending Among Juveniles rates of violence as both offenders and victims. Understanding the rela- tionship between victimization and offending is therefore of critical Jennifer N. Shaffer and R. Barry Ruback importance. As a group, juveniles have high rates of vi- and many of these risk factors suggest Examining data from the National olent victimization and violent offending, a opportunities for intervention. Longitudinal Study of Adolescent pattern suggesting that some juveniles are Health, the authors of this Bulletin The Bulletin includes background informa- both victims and perpetrators of violence. found that victims of violence were tion, a brief theoretical discussion, study To explore that hypothesis, this Bulletin significantly more likely than nonvic- methods and findings, conclusions, policy analyzes the relationships between violent tims to become violent offenders. implications, and suggestions for future victimization and violent offending across They also found that violent victim- research. a 2-year period, using data for 5,003 juve- ization and violent offending share niles who participated in the National Lon- many of the same risk factors, such gitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The Background as previous violent victimization and Bulletin looks at victimization and offend- offending, drug and alcohol use, and ing experiences in subgroups of juveniles Statistical evidence suggests dispropor- depression. These findings are partic- classified by age, gender, race, and level tionately high rates of violence by and ularly important because they sug- gest that interventions directed at of physical development. It also identifies against juveniles. This evidence comes preventing victimization could also risk and protective factors for victimiza- both from surveys that ask about behav- reduce offending, and vice versa. tion and offending. Key conclusions and iors and victimization experiences and policy implications include the following: from official records. The analysis presented in this Bul- letin provides evidence that peers and ◆ Violent victimization is indeed a warn- Surveys of self-reported behaviors of ado- lescents and young adults indicate high adults can and do play important roles ing signal for future violent offending in the lives of juveniles. Juveniles who among juveniles. Protecting juveniles rates of offending among these age groups (Elliott et al., 1983; Lauritsen, Sampson, said that they had support from friends, against violent victimization may, there- parents, teachers, and others were and Laub, 1991). Similarly, surveys of vic- fore, reduce overall levels of juvenile less likely to commit a violent offense. tims’ perceptions of offender characteris- violence. These findings underscore the need tics indicate that the most common age for and value of mentoring, parenting, ◆ Because some groups are at higher risk group for offenders committing rape, rob- than others for violent victimization, and anger management programs bery, and assault is youth ages 18–20, fol- that provide opportunities for juveniles policies and programs aimed at prevent- lowed by juveniles ages 15–17 (Hindelang, to interact with caring adults. By iden- ing victimization may be most effective 1981). Furthermore, Uniform Crime Report tifying youth who are most at risk and if they are focused on these groups. data show that arrest rates for murder, examining the links between victim- ◆ Violent victimization and violent offend- forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated ization and offending, we can improve ing share many of the same risk factors, assault are higher for older teens than for our ability to intervene positively in these juveniles’ lives. Access OJJDP publications online at ojjdp.ncjrs.org any other age group (Federal Bureau of victimization to the police (Finkelhor and Data Source Investigation, 2000). Ormrod, 1999). The findings reported in this Bulletin When asked about their victimization Research findings are consistent with these are based on statistical analyses of the experiences in the previous year, 18 per- theoretical reasons for expecting that the restricted-access contractual dataset from cent of a large national sample of 8th, 10th, same individuals are often both victims the first two waves of the National Longi- and 12th grade students said they had and offenders. Studies using British Crime tudinal Study of Adolescent Health (known been injured by an attacker who did not Survey data have found a strong positive as the Add Health Study), which is a longi- use a weapon, and 5 percent said they had association between offending and person- tudinal study of a representative national been injured by an attacker with a weapon al victimization among adults (Hough and sample of juveniles in grades 7 through (Johnston, Bachman, and O’Malley, 2001). Mayhew, 1983; Sampson and Lauritsen, 12.1 The study used a clustered sampling Rates of serious violent victimization are 1990). Studies of juveniles in the United design based on a stratified sample of twice as high for juveniles ages 12–17 as States also show that the individuals most 80 high schools and 52 paired middle for adults age 18 or older, and rates of sim- likely to be victims of personal crime are schools.2 Students in these 132 schools ple assault victimization are three times those who report the greatest involvement were asked to complete an in-school ques- higher (Snyder and Sickmund, 1999). in delinquent activities (Lauritsen, Samp- tionnaire. In addition, a subsample, strati- son, and Laub, 1991). In addition, the fied by grade and gender, was selected for greater the variety of delinquent activities, in-home interviews, which included infor- Theoretical Perspective the greater the risk of victimization (e.g., mation about family composition and According to both lifestyle exposure theory Jensen and Brownfield, 1986; Esbensen dynamics, substance use, criminal and and routine activities theory (Hindelang, and Huizinga, 1991; Lauritsen, Sampson, delinquent activities, and violent victim- Gottfredson, and Garofalo, 1978; Cohen and Laub, 1991). ization. The in-home interviews, which and Felson, 1979), individuals’ risk of were conducted in 1995 (year 1) and again criminal victimization depends on their in 1996 (year 2), are the basis for the analy- exposure or proximity to offender popula- Data and Methods ses in this Bulletin. tions, and exposure, in turn, depends on Although earlier studies suggest that crim- The analyses reflect interview data for individuals’ lifestyles and routine activi- inal victimization and criminal offending 5,003 juveniles: 2,402 males and 2,601 ties. Because individuals are most likely are related, the nature of the relationship females; 2,768 non-Hispanic white juve- to interact with those who are similar to is ambiguous. The present study investi- niles and 2,235 minority juveniles;3 1,147 themselves, individuals’ victimization risk gates the nature of the relationship in a juveniles ages 11–14 and 3,856 ages 15–17 is directly proportional to the number of sample of juveniles ages 11–17, addressing at the time of the second interview. The characteristics they share with offenders three issues: analyses exclude respondents who did not (Hindelang, Gottfredson, and Garofalo, ◆ How are violent victimization and vio- have complete data for all of the variables 1978). That is, offenders are more likely lent offending related over time? Does included in the analyses, those whose sec- than nonoffenders to become victims, prior victimization predict subsequent ond interview was conducted less than because their lifestyles frequently bring offending, does prior offending predict 11 months after their first interview,4 and them in contact with other offenders. subsequent victimization, or do they those who were age 18 or older at the Offenders are also more likely than non- both predict each other? In particular, time of the second interview.5 offenders to use alcohol or illegal drugs, is victimization a significant risk factor which lowers their ability to protect them- for subsequent offending? selves and their property, and to live in Analytical Approach neighborhoods characterized by high lev- ◆ What individual-level factors might First, the sample is described in terms of els of population mobility, heterogeneity, explain the relationship between vic- the percentages who reported violent vic- and social disadvantage (e.g., poverty and timization and offending? Do the same timization, violent offending, and both vic- unemployment), which increases their factors predict both violent victimiza- timization and offending, in year 1, year 2, exposure to other offenders (Sampson tion and violent offending? and both years; and the links between vic- timization and offending within each year and Lauritsen, 1994). ◆ Does drug use affect the relationship are summarized. Next, relationships be- between victimization and offending? Offenders are also likely to be attractive tween violent victimization and violent targets for crime because they can be vic- The study focuses on violence among juve- offending over time are examined—i.e., timized with little chance of legal conse- niles for three reasons. First, from a policy between