National Crime Victimization Survey Research Articles

The differential effects of identity theft victimization: how demographics predict suffering out-of-pocket losses

Research consistently finds that individuals with higher incomes have increased rates of identity theft victimization. Although the majority of these victims are able to recuperate losses by contacting various institutions, including credit card companies and banks, many victims still suffer out-of-pocket financial losses. Using logistic regression analyses, the effect of demographic predictors on suffering personal financial losses as a result of identity theft is examined. Drawing on the 2016 National Crime Victimization Survey—Identity Theft Supplement, this study finds that those with lower incomes, lower educational attainment, and those who are unmarried are at an increased risk of suffering out-of-pocket losses. The implications of these differential effects are discussed in the context of past research and victim support.

Forecasting Identity Theft Victims: Analyzing Characteristics and Preventive Actions through Machine Learning Approaches

ABSTRACT Researchers in criminology and criminal justice have been making increasing use of the machine learning approach to investigate questions involving large amounts of digital data. We make use here of survey data on over 220,000 respondents drawn from three waves of the National Crime Victimization Survey Identity Theft Supplement (NCVS-ITS) conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in 2012, 2014, and in 2016. We use three distinct machine learning algorithms to analyze these data: 1) logistic regression; 2) decision tree; and, 3) random forest. We assess the efficacy of these approaches against these evaluative criteria: the overall percentage of correct classification, receiver operating characteristics (ROC), the area under the ROC curve (AUC), and feature criticality. Our findings indicate that the logistic regression algorithm performs best in predicting overall identity theft victimization, misuse of credit cards, misuse of financial accounts of other types, and the opening of new accounts; the random forest algorithm performs best in predicting misuse of checking/saving accounts. Our findings suggest that the respondent’s age, educational level, and online shopping frequency are significantly related to identity theft victimization. Additionally, frequently checking credit reports and changing passwords of financial accounts are strong predictors of identity theft victimization. We draw out the implications of our work for our collective understanding of identity theft, and for informing our judgment as to the potential utility of the use of machine learning approaches in criminology and criminal justice.

Rural Isolation, Small Towns, and the Risk of Intimate Partner Violence.

Ethnographic research from the United States on gender-based violence showing that rural isolation exacerbates intimate partner violence (IPV) is at odds with estimates from nationally representative victimization surveys which indicate that the incidence of IPV in settlements conventionally characterized as rural is similar to or less than the incidence for urban settlements. One possible reason for this discrepancy-that the conventional metropolitan statistical area-based measure of settlement type fails to distinguish isolated rural areas from other nonmetropolitan places-is put to test in this study. Pooled data from 578,471 women interviewed a total of 1,672,999 times in the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) between 1994 and 2015 were used in this study to consider the risk of IPV across a measure of settlement type that differentiates nonmetropolitan settlements into dispersed rural areas or residentially concentrated small towns. Logistic regression estimates of semiannual IPV prevalence were modeled using generalized estimating equations and robust standard errors to compensate for repeated measures and for the complex sample design of the NCVS. After adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, year, and time in sample, these analyses indicated that women from dispersed rural settlements had a lower semiannual risk of IPV (2.31 per 1,000 [95% confidence interval [CI] = [2.02, 2.64]]) than women from small towns (3.30 per 1,000 women [95% CI = [2.82, 3.87]]) or women from the urban core (2.60 per 1,000 [95% CI = [2.44, 2.77]]). Contrary to the ethnographic record, the results of this study indicate that women living in rural isolation are at a lower risk of IPV victimization relative to other American women and that women from small towns-the urbanized portions of nonmetropolitan counties-have been most at risk of suffering physical violence committed by an intimate partner.

The Contextual Influences of Police and Social Service Providers on Formal Help-Seeking After Incidents of Intimate Partner Violence.

Police notification and social service acquisition are two forms of formal help-seeking linked to improved outcomes among survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), including better socio-emotional health, improved physical health, and, importantly, increased safety. The majority of research devoted to the study of formal help-seeking among survivors of IPV focuses on incident- and individual-level factors and their relationship with formal resource utilization. Much less is known about community-level factors. Using a nationally representative sample of incidents of IPV from the National Crime Victimization Survey (2006-2016), this work explores how law enforcement and social service resources in a community are related to police notification and survivor acquisition of a victim service after an incident of IPV, net of incident- and individual-level factors. Logistic regression models indicate that the number of law enforcement personnel per 1,000 residents in a county is positively associated with police notification after an incident of IPV, and it exerts an indirect effect on survivor service acquisition through police notification. Additional analyses reveal that the race/ethnicity of the survivor of IPV is a key demographic in the explanation of this relationship, as incidents of IPV involving White and Hispanic survivors of IPV are more likely to come to the attention of police as the number of law enforcement personnel increases. The reverse is true for incidents involving Black survivors of IPV. No differences across survivor sex emerged. Potential reasons to account for varying effects across race/ethnicity are discussed as well as the importance of additional funding for police and social service agencies to serve survivors of IPV and meet the dual goals of offender accountability and survivor safety and well-being.

Helping children with disabilities combat negative socio-emotional outcomes caused by bullying through extracurricular activities

ABSTRACT Past studies have indicated students who have disabilities are at a higher risk of experiencing bullying victimization in comparison to other student groups. Extracurricular activity participation has shown to establish better social outcomes for students. These positive social outcomes indirectly decrease the amount of times a student is bullied. The following study uses the National Crime Victimization Survey—School Crime Supplement (NCVS/SCS) to analyze the bullying occurrence rates experienced among students, with disabilities being a focal variable. To explore the relationship between extracurricular involvement and bullying occurrence rates, this study employs a binary logistic regression to determine if athletic and non-athletic extracurricular activities have an impact on the number of times a student with disabilities experiences bullying. Implications for future social work practice and research are discussed.

Firearms and Injuries during Home Robberies in Mexico, 2010–2017

According to data from Mexico’s National Crime Victimization and Public Security Surveys (ENVIPE), from 2010 through 2017, home robberies involving an interaction between a victim and an aggressor occurred every two minutes and resulted in more than 257,000 injuries. The objective of this study is to explore whether victims of home robberies in Mexico are more likely to report an injury if perpetrators are armed with a gun. This analysis compiles data from ENVIPE and runs a binary logistic regression. In contrast to literature on robberies in the United States and studies on street robberies in Mexico, results show that when perpetrators are armed with guns, victims of home robberies in Mexico are more likely to report an injury, even though these injuries are rarely caused by a gunshot. These discrepancies may be explained by different factors. Unlike in the United States, most gun-related crimes in Mexico are perpetrated by organized criminal groups that obtain firearms through illegal channels. Members of these groups are prepared to engage on physical violence against their victims. Additionally, unlike street robberies, the enclosed setting of home robberies might facilitate the use of physical violence as a strategy to coerce victims and successfully obtain profits without generating public attention. Overall, perpetrators use guns as a tool to exert control and avoid resistance. These findings suggest that policies to address organized crime and halt easy access to guns should be prioritized on Mexico’s national security agenda.

Hate at school: victimization and disorder associated with school avoidance

Previous research indicates that victimization at school and school disorder are associated with school avoidance. The appearance of hateful words and symbols at schools and verbal hateful attacks at schools are prompting additional concerns about students’ perceived safety. The current study provides evidence that observing and being victimized by hate at school are additional contributors to school avoidance that is enacted over concerns of being attacked at school. This includes avoidance of the school itself as well as specific places at the school such as the school entrance, school cafeteria, and parking lots. Data analyzed from the 2013 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey provide this evidence. The findings point to recommendations for identifying and reducing hate in schools while maintaining efforts to reduce bullying and provide a positive school climate.

The Direct Relationship between Bullying Rates and Extracurricular Activities among Adolescents and Teenagers with Disabilities

ABSTRACTPast studies have indicated students who have disabilities are at a higher risk of experiencing bullying victimization in comparison to other student groups. Extracurricular activity participation has shown to establish better social outcomes for students. These positive social outcomes indirectly decrease the amount of times a student is bullied. The following study uses the National Crime Victimization Survey – School Crime Supplement (NCVS/SCS) to analyze the bullying occurrence rates experienced among students, with disabilities being a focal variable. To explore the relationship between extracurricular involvement and bullying occurrence rates, this study employs a binary logistic regression to determine if athletic and non-athletic extracurricular activities have an impact on the number of times a student with disabilities experiences bullying. Implications for future social welfare practice and research are discussed.

Reporting Racist Hate Crime Victimization to the Police in the United States and the United Kingdom: A Cross-National Comparison

Abstract Hate is a global phenomenon as evidenced by recent increases in hate crimes in both the United States and the United Kingdom; unfortunately, these crimes are also substantially underreported in both nations. Following this, this research presents an examination of racially motivated hate crimes and victim reporting to the police in both nations using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey and the Crime Survey of England and Wales from 2003 to 2015. Results indicate that, overall, victim reporting has been increasing in the United Kingdom and decreasing in the United States. Disaggregating by victim and offender race, however, reveals divergent trends such that anti-black hate crime victim reporting is increasing in the United States and decreasing in the United Kingdom. Policy and research implications are discussed.

Gender Interaction Effects on Reporting Assaults to the Police.

This study used two theoretical perspectives-coercive power and gender norms-to examine how gender affects victims' decisions to report physical assaults to the police. The coercive power perspective attributes gender differences in reporting to sex-linked physical coercive power differences that affect the harm of the crime and victims' personal safety. The gender norm perspective attributes gender differences in reporting to specific gender norms that influence crime reporting decisions. Using a sample of 18,627 nonintimate partner physical assaults from the National Crime Victimization Survey (1993-2015), crime reporting models demonstrated significantly better fit when they included the interaction between the victim's gender and the offender's gender than when they included only the main effects. In the sample, (a) female victims were 21.9% more likely to report to the police when the offender was male (vs. female) and (b) male victims were 45.8% more likely to report to the police when the offender was female (vs. male). Victims' tendency to report an opposite-sex offender to the police was strongest in simple assaults and absent in aggravated assaults. We conclude that male and female victims' reporting behaviors were most consistent with gender norms that encourage the use of self-help violence and discourage police reporting in intragender assaults. Consistent with this explanation, self-help violence was negatively related to crime reporting in assaults. Victims were more likely to use self-help violence and avoid reporting to the police against a same-sex offender than an opposite-sex offender. Finally, the offender's gender had a relatively stronger influence on assault victims' decisions to use self-help violence than on victims' decisions to take no action against the offender (i.e., not reporting to the police or using self-help violence).

Health consequences and help-seeking among victims of crime: An examination of sex differences

This study examines whether sex differences in level of distress and help-seeking for physical and emotional problems as a result of criminal victimization can be explained by injury, type of crime, and the victim–offender relationship. The study uses data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) from 2008–2014. Analyses utilize multivariate logistic regression and interaction terms to address possible differences between males and females. Consistent with the existing literature, females reported elevated distress and were more likely to seek help for emotional and physical problems. However, being a victim of intimate and family violence contributed to heightened distress and increased help-seeking for both males and females. Male distress was elevated when the offender was a friend or acquaintance and when the attack was a robbery. Victims services should address crimes males are more likely to experience, including robbery and victimizations by known, but not necessarily intimate, relationships.

Capable guardianship against identity theft

PurposeThis paper aims to examine demographic differences between individuals who do not take measures to protect themselves from identity theft victimization and those who do. A majority of the research on identity theft has focused on predictors of victimization, reporting behaviors of the victims and their health and mental outcomes. However, little remains known about the individuals who choose to take any identity-theft measures despite concerns over this fast-growing breed of crime.Design/methodology/approachGuided by Felson and Cohen’s routine activities theoretical framework (1979), this study uses the 2014 Identity Theft Supplement of the National Crime Victimization Survey to identify the demographic characteristics that influence the use of self-protection measures among individuals in the general population.FindingsThis study finds that these individuals are much more likely to be white, older, female and highly educated. The decision to undertake protection against identity theft is also influenced by the following factors: prior experience of misuse, possession of a bank account in the prior 12 months, current possession of at least one credit card and awareness that one is entitled to a free copy of one’s credit report.Originality/valueThis study addresses the gap in scholarship on identity theft prevention by applying the concept of guardianship in Cohen and Felson’s routine activity theory (1979) to the usage of self-protection measures in a general population. Future findings will identify the areas which agencies and researchers can focus on to inform policies that foster individuals’ own initiatives to take self-protection measures against potential identity theft.

The impact of collective efficacy on criminal victimization

거시적인 관점에서 지역과 범죄와의 관계는 오랫동안 많은 관심을 받아왔으며 범죄피해가 단순히 개인적인 요인에 의해 발 생되는 현상이 아니라 주변 환경에 따른 결과라는 주장도 끊임없이 나오고 있다. 따라서 이 연구는 지역수준에서 범죄피해에 영향을 미치는 것으로 거론되는 집합효능감(collective efficacy)의 관계를 설명하는데 그 목적이 있다. 이를 위해, 주변환경이 범죄 피해에 미치는 영향을 검증하기 위해 한국형사정책연구원에서 조사한 「한국범죄피해조사 2016」자료를 사용하여경로분석(path analysis)을 실시하였다. 그 결과, 개인수준의 변수와 주변환경 요인은 피해경험에 직접적인 영향을 주는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 주변환경이 안 좋을수록 집합효능감은 높아지는 반면, 공식통제는 약해지는 것으로 나타나 상반된 결과를 보여주고 있다. 하지만, 이 연구의 주요 변인인 집합효능감과 공식통제는 일반적인 연구와는 반대로 피해경험에 영향을 미치지 않는 것으로 나타났다.In a macro perspective, the relationship between the environment and crime has long been of great interest, and it is constantly being argued that crime victimization is not just an individual phenomenon but a result of the surrounding environment. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explain the relationship of collective efficacy that is explained to affect crime victimization was analyzed through path analysis on the effect of the surrounding environment on crime victimization. Especially, this study examined the impact on the surrounding environment on crime victimization using ‘the National Crime Victimization Survey 2016 data’, which was investigated by the Korean Institute of Criminology. As a result of using the path analysis, individual-level variables and the environmental factors have a direct influence on the criminal victimization. Besides, the collective efficacy was found to the relationship between the environment and the formal social control was shown to be weak, showing the opposite result. However, the main variables of this study, collective efficacy, and formal social control did not appear to affect the criminal victimization, as opposed to previous studies.

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Police Reporting for Partner Violence in the National Crime Victimization Survey and Survivor-Led Interpretation.

Despite compromising women's health and safety, intimate partner violence (IPV) is among the most underreported crimes, and our understanding of factors that drive police reporting by race/ethnicity is underdeveloped. The purpose of this study is to examine racial/ethnic differences in self-reporting IPV to police. Race/ethnicity-stratified models identified predictors of reporting IPV to police among recent, female survivors (n = 898) in the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS; 2011-15). Focus groups (n = 3) with recent survivors (n = 19) in Baltimore, MD (2018), contextualized results. Black women in the NCVS were twice as likely to report IPV to police relative to White women (AOR = 2.05, 95% CI: 1.01-4.15). In race/ethnicity-stratified models, police reporting significantly increased with increasing age between 18 and < 35 years (AOR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.05-1.33) for Black women, and with IPV-related injury for Black (AOR = 2.51, 95% CI: 1.10-5.71) and Hispanic women (AOR = 2.87, 95% CI: 1.22-6.71); Hispanics with less than a high school education were least likely to report (AOR = 0.24, 95% CI: 0.07-0.91). Focus groups explained racial/ethnic influences on reporting including a culture of silence and discrimination, socioeconomic status, and social desirability. We identified influences on reporting IPV to police that vary by race/ethnicity using national data in context to an urban environment. Results demonstrate the need to enhance equity in survivors' health and public safety through training and organizational change.

Distress level and daily functioning problems attributed to firearm victimization: sociodemographic-specific responses

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to estimate the effect of firearm involvement during violent victimization on the level of distress experienced and daily functioning within sociodemographic subgroups. MethodsWe used cross-sectional data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (n = 5698) and Targeted Maximum Likelihood Estimation. Sociodemographic subgroups were defined by age, race, sex, and socioeconomic position. Outcomes included experiencing the victimization as severely distressing and problems in the workplace or at school, or with peers or family. ResultsAmong people victimized with a firearm, nearly 40% experienced the victimization as severely distressing and 28% reported daily functioning problems as a result of the victimization, compared with 25% and 27% of those victimized without a firearm. In most of the subgroups examined, a greater proportion of people described the event as severely distressing when a firearm was involved in the victimization, ranging up to 19 percentage points higher among women and among black respondents (95% CI for women = 10%–28%; for blacks = 6%–31%). ConclusionsOur findings suggest an almost universal negative response to firearm involvement during a violent victimization as compared with violent victimizations involving other or no weapons. These findings highlight the need for efforts by medical and mental health practitioners to address the potential sequelae of experiencing severe distress during a firearm victimization.

Factors for Formal Help-Seeking among Female Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) results in numerous negative physical and mental health consequences. Research shows that many factors affect survivors’ help-seeking decisions. Previous studies were limited by small samples, and by excluding multiple forms of IPV consequences and multiple types of help sources. This study attempted to fill this gap by using a nationally representative dataset that collected data on multiple consequences of violence and formal sources of help. This study used the National Crime Victimization Survey to examine factors for female survivors’ help-seeking (n = 474). The main variables were formal help-seeking (medical, legal), types of victimization and consequences, and demographics. All were examined through logistic regression analyses. Black/African American survivors sought more formal help than their White counterparts. Sexually victimized survivors used less legal help than those victimized by physical violence. These results suggest that survivors’ formal help-seeking should be viewed in a broad health context, including their experienced victimization, subsequent medical needs, and the circumstances and conditions underlying their decision to seek a particular type of help. Future research needs to examine the circumstances and outcomes of both formal and informal help-seeking by racial/ethnic minorities. Law enforcement officers may be able to collaborate with medical care systems to ensure that survivors receive proper treatment. Future research is needed to better understand survivors’ help-seeking as navigating through complicated webs of their experienced victimization, subsequent medical needs, and the circumstances and conditions underlying their decision to seek which type of help.

Measuring Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the National Crime Victimization Survey

Abstract The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) collects information on nonfatal personal and property crimes both reported and not reported to police. As part of the ongoing redesign efforts for the NCVS, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) added sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) questions to the survey’s demographic section in July 2016. The inclusion of these measures will provide important national-level estimates of victimization among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and allow researchers to understand victimization risk and access to victim services. This article includes a discussion of the sexual orientation and gender identity measures that were added to the NCVS, and findings from the monitoring activities conducted during the first six months of data collection. In addition, population counts by sexual orientation and gender identity are estimated using July through December 2016 NCVS data.

Examining the Paradox of Crime Reporting: Are Disadvantaged Victims More Likely to Report to the Police?

This study uses an intersectional approach to examine the “paradox” that disadvantaged victims often mobilize the police, despite their distrust and lack of confidence in the law. Data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (1994–2016) were analyzed using logistic regression to model the predicted probabilities of police notification by victims of crime. Economic disadvantage, as measured by family poverty and lack of a high school education, increased the probability that females reported their victimization to the police, but decreased the likelihood that males did so. Economically disadvantaged black females had the highest probability of reporting, while economically disadvantaged black and Hispanic males had the lowest. Examining the intersectional differences across social groups shows that reporting behavior is not just a function of one attribute but rather is a function of multiple identities and structural inequalities.

Will I be victimized at school today? How schools influence the victimization experiences of Asian American teenagers.

Author(s): Gee, Kevin A; Cooc, North | Abstract: Schools can play an influential role in the victimization experiences of Asian American youth. We investigated the extent to which characteristics of schools—their disciplinary structure, guardianship role, and the opportunities for exposure to victimization they provide—related to whether Asian American adolescents were physically or socially victimized. Our sample included 1,303 adolescents (M age = 14.8 years) from six waves of the School Crime Supplement of the National Crime Victimization Survey. Results from logistic regression models show that disciplinary structure and guardianship, in the form of school security measures, were unrelated to victimization. Asian American adolescents with supportive peers had lower odds of physical victimization (odds ratio [OR] = 0.16; p l .01) while those exposed to school gangs and physical fights had higher odds of social victimization (OR = 2.90; p l .001 and OR = 4.97; p l .01, respectively). Our findings underscore the need for schools to consider strategies beyond commonplace school disciplinary structures and security measures to protect Asian American adolescents from victimization.

Symptom Sequelae Following Violence Against Youth With Disabilities.

The objective of this study was to examine the physical and mental health impact of violence against youth with and without disabilities. We analyzed data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (2008-2016), a nationally representative survey on crime in the United States. Respondents included 729 adolescents (12-17 years) and 953 young adults (18-24 years) who experienced violence in the previous 6 months. Disability status was determined using a six-item screener. Outcome measures included several physical and mental health symptoms experienced for at least one month following violence. Data were analyzed using multivariable logistic, Poisson, and negative binomial regression models. The results indicated that, for at least one month following a violent incident, adolescents and young adults with disabilities were more likely to experience headaches, sleep difficulty, changes in eating or drinking habits, fatigue, muscle pain, and severe distress compared to peers without disabilities. Young adults with disabilities were also more likely to experience stomach problems, depression, and anxiety. Adolescents and young adults with disabilities experienced a greater number of concurrent physical and mental health symptoms compared to peers without disabilities. The results suggest that the health effects of violence are worse for youth with disabilities compared to their nondisabled peers. These findings emphasize the importance of screening young people with disabilities for violence exposure and ensuring that trauma and health services are universally accessible.