Group Home Environments and Victimization of Resident Juveniles

Abstract

This research is an outgrowth of a previous study that examined the extent of victimization of juveniles who reside in group homes. The earlier research attempted to answer the question: "Are the individual attributes of the incarcerated juvenile related to the probability of becoming a victim of assault within the juvenile correctional facility?" This research shifts the level of analysis from the previous focus of the attributes of the individual residents to that of a broader systems analysis that examines the group home environments. It appears from the data analyzed that certain group homes, due to their organizational and management structure, provide an environment more conducive to victimization. Those group homes that were characterized as organized around a security orientation were more likely to have their residents report that they were victims of assault than were those juveniles housed in group homes structured around a rehabilitation orientation.