Risk Of Criminal Victimization Research Articles

Physical violence against children with disabilities: A Danish national birth cohort prospective study

ABSTRACT Background: Children with disabilities are at heightened risk of violence compared to their non-disabled peers. However, extant research suffers from several limitations, focusing on child abuse and one or few types of disability, ignoring conventional violent crimes. Objective: The aim was to assess 10 disabilities and to examine whether different disabilities vary in their risk of criminal victimization. Method: Using the Danish Psychiatric Case Register, the Criminal Register, and other population-based registers, we included nine birth cohorts (n = 570,351) and followed them until 18 years of age. We compared children exposed to violence with non-exposed children. We estimated odds ratios (ORs) for the disabilities and adjusted the ORs for several risk factors. Results: We identified 12,830 cases of reported violence (2.25% of the population) towards children and adolescents. Children with disabilities were overrepresented, as were boys and ethnic minorities. After controlling for risk factors, four disabilities had heightened risk for criminal violence: attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), brain injury, speech, and physical disabilities. When we compared risk factors controlling for the various disabilities, parental history of violence, family break-up, out-of-home placement, and parental unemployment contributed especially to the violence, while parental alcohol/drug abuse was no longer a predictor. Having several disabilities increased the risk of violence. Conclusions: Criminal victimization of children and adolescents with specific disabilities was common. However, compared to the previous decade, a considerable reduction of one-third has taken place. Four risk factors contributed particularly to the risk of violence; therefore, precautions should be taken to further reduce the violence.

Turning 75: Why Age Matters for Victims of Assaultive Violence Reported to Police

Americans are able to age in more active and engaged ways than previous generations. These changes bring many positive opportunities, but also might affect the risk of criminal victimization for older adults. In considering these risks, an initial question is how best to identify older adults. One common default is to use age 65 and older, which suggests older individuals are part of a homogenous group. The Census Bureau’s multiple category approach illustrates another option, which captures variations as Americans age. This study explores the risk and characteristics of non-fatal assaultive violence using a multiple-category age definition and uses police data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2016 National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). These data were collected from 34 states and cover a range of crimes including aggravated and simple assaults. NIBRS data are well suited for this study as they collect details about the crime including victim and offender demographics and incident details such as victim-offender relationship, weapons, location and arrest. Preliminary results indicate that 34,689 assault victims were adults over the age of 65. Using a generic measure of older adult (age 65 and above) masks important variations in these assaults. Distinct patterns are observed between those aged 65 to 74, 75 to 84 and 85 and above. Within these age categories, differences also occur across racial and sex groups. The patterns observed can provide more nuanced guidance to challenge traditional assumptions about older adult crime victims and inform policies tailored to support these victims.

Is travel actually risky? A study of situational causes of victimization

ObjectiveWe present a first test using a smartphone time use survey app for whether the risk of criminal victimization is higher while traveling than during other activities, and assess risk heterogeneity between public transport, private transport by car, and private open-air transport.MethodsA sample of 1334 young adults completed a time-use survey on their smartphones with additional items on criminal victimization. Participants reported their time use and victimization experiences (vandalism, theft, threat, or assault) per 10-min timeslot for 4 days. To prevent potential confounders from affecting the results, we analyzed the data with a fixed effects logit model that exclusively relies on within-person variation between timeslots.FindingsA total of 78 victimization situations were reported by 45 participants. Although these numbers are too low to draw definitive conclusions, with respect to the four types of victimization measured, sleeping appeared to be the safest activity. The risk of victimization was considerably larger during travel, but also during many other activities. We found shopping to be the activity with the highest risk of victimization. No victimization was observed during private transport by car, but the risk of victimization was significantly higher in private open-air and public transport than during sleep.ConclusionUsing a state-of-the-art instrument and a rigorous statistical design, we tentatively conclude that the risk of criminal victimization is not higher during travel than during most other activities, only sleeping is safer. Larger samples are needed to assess the robustness of our findings. We discuss practical implications, strengths and weaknesses of the study, and new research challenges.

Gender Perception of Crime and its Reduction amongst White South Africans in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal

Perceptions of crime is constructed on the basis of an individuals’ personal estimation of the nature andincidence of crime in their environment; the perceived risk of becoming a victim of crime and on the basis of perceptions of significant others around them. The likelihood of a person becoming a victim of crime is strongly influenced by, among other things, gender, age, income, place of residence and race. Although the latest crime statistics in South Africa reveal that levels for certain categories of crime have decreased, rising levels of in security have become a key concern in society, posing a threat not only to social order and the economic well-being ofthe country, but also to the quality of life for people. Public perceptions about the risk of criminal victimization and the fear of crime are influential in shaping policy and the priorities of state expenditure on law and order initiatives. If public concern about crime is driven buy an exaggerated assessment ofthe risks of victimization then strategies need to be put in place to address the situation. This paper explores attitudes and public perceptions of crime which were obtainedfrom interview surveys conducted with the White populace in three different localities within the Province of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, viz; Central Durban, the Natal Midlands (Dundee), andthe North Coast (Empangeni). All three localities translate into urban, peri-urban and deep rural forms.

Gender Perception of Crime and its Reduction amongst White South Africans in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal

Perceptions of crime is constructed on the basis of an individuals’ personal estimation of the nature and incidence of crime in their environment; the perceived risk of becoming a victim of crime and on the basis of perceptions of significant others around them. The likelihood of a person becoming a victim of crime is strongly influenced by, among other things, gender, age, income, place of residence and race. Although the latest crime statistics in South Africa reveal that levels for certain categories of crime have decreased, rising levels of insecurity have become a key concern in society, posing a threat not only to social order and the economic well-being of the country, but also to the quality of life for people. Public perceptions about the risk of criminal victimization and the fear of crime are influential in shaping policy and the priorities of state expenditure on law and order initiatives. If public concern about crime is driven by an exaggerated assessment of the risks of victimization then strategies need to be put in place to address the situation. This paper explores attitudes and public perceptions of crime which were obtained from interview surveys conducted with the White populace in three different localities within the Province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, viz., Central Durban, the Natal Midlands (Dundee), and the North Coast (Empangeni). All three localities translate into urban, peri-urban and deep rural forms.

DO NEIGHBORHOODS GENERATE FEAR OF CRIME? AN EMPIRICAL TEST USING THE BRITISH CRIME SURVEY*

For a long time, criminologists have contended that neighborhoods are important determinants of how individuals perceive their risk of criminal victimization. Yet, despite the theoretical importance and policy relevance of these claims, the empirical evidence base is surprisingly thin and inconsistent. Drawing on data from a national probability sample of individuals, linked to independent measures of neighborhood demographic characteristics, visual signs of physical disorder, and reported crime, we test four hypotheses about the mechanisms through which neighborhoods influence fear of crime. Our large sample size, analytical approach, and the independence of our empirical measures enable us to overcome some of the limitations that have hampered much previous research into this question. We find that neighborhood structural characteristics, visual signs of disorder, and recorded crime all have direct and independent effects on individual‐level fear of crime. Additionally, we demonstrate that individual differences in fear of crime are strongly moderated by neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics; between‐group differences in expressed fear of crime are both exacerbated and ameliorated by the characteristics of the areas in which people live.

Estimating Risk

This paper considers the process by which individuals estimate the risk of adverse events, with particular attention to the social context in which risk estimates are formed. We compare subjective probability estimates of crime victimization to actual victimization experiences among respondents from the 1994 to 2002 waves of the Survey of Economic Expectations (Dominitz and Manski 2002). Using zip code identifiers, we then match these survey data to local area characteristics from the census. The results show that: (1) the risk of criminal victimization is significantly overestimated relative to actual rates of victimization or other negative events; (2) neighborhood racial composition is strongly associated with perceived risk of victimization, whereas actual victimization risk is driven by nonracial neighborhood characteristics; and (3) white respondents appear more strongly affected by racial composition than nonwhites in forming their estimates of risk. We argue these results support a model of stereotype amplification in the formation of risk estimates. Implications for persistent racial inequality are considered.

Diurnal Movements and the Ambient Population: An Application to Municipal-Level Crime Rate Calculations

Crime rates are often used to inform the public regarding their risk of criminal victimization. However, these crime rates are themselves at risk of misinforming the public. Recent research has used alternative crime rate calculations to show that these calculations are quite sensitive to the choice of population at risk, but this research has been undertaken only at the neighbourhood level, not at the municipal level. In this paper, municipal-level crime rates are calculated using conventional and alternative means to show the sensitivity of the crime rate. It is shown that because of our diurnal movements throughout metropolitan areas, municipalities gain and lose significant populations. And because of these changing populations, municipal-level crime rates must be calculated, and interpreted, with caution.

The Potential for Racial and Ethnic Change in the US

We inquire into the possibilities for racial and ethnic change during the next quarter century in the US. The argument proceeds in three stages. First, we review the accounts of past racial and ethnic shifts and argue that they are incomplete. Based on social-boundary theory, we claim that non-zero-sum mobility combined with the ability to convert socioeconomic mobility into social proximity to mainstream whites were essential to the successful assimilation of previous racial/ethnic outsiders such as Irish Catholics. Next, we ask whether the condition of non-zero-sum mobility might exist in the present and near future. Our positive answer relies on data that show increasing minority penetration into the top tiers of occupations in the US and the prospects that diversity will grow there as the largely white baby-boom cohorts retire. In the final stage, we ask what contingencies that might affect the extent to which these opportunities for change are fulfilled.Social scientists take for granted that racial and ethnic origins play a critical, though hardly the exclusive, role in determining the life chances of Americans, whether these are a matter of where they live, how much education they get, what kinds of jobs they do, or whom they marry. An enormous literature establishes that this assumption is generally warranted. For some of the most salient racial divides in the US, such as that between blacks and whites, that literature also demonstrates that numerous differentials in life chances have remained stable for decades. A salient instance concerns residential life chances, which not only involve who the neighbors will be, but what the “quality” of the neighborhood is, where this may be reflected in the risk of criminal victimization, the adequacy of the schools, or other ways. The research on segregation reveals the stability of black-white differences in these respects for at least half a century (Massey and Denton, 1993; Logan et al. 2004). In this sense, one can say that there exists in the US a crystallized racial/ethnic order, with whites occupying the top position and African Americans at the bottom, with others somewhere in between.There are sound reasons to think that this order influences the chances for success of the second generation. The segmented-assimilation theory about the incorporation of new immigrant groups asserts as much (Portes and Zhou, 1993); and empirical research sustains the view that the children of immigrants find themselves in a society where their options are constrained by the way other Americans view their racial/ethnic membership, even when this does not coincide with the perceptions and beliefs their parents have brought from their societies of origin. Thus, Mary Waters's (1999) research on the West Indian second generation reveals how its members struggle against the racist views that white Americans generally have of individuals with visible African ancestry. The results from the New York second-generation project also demonstrate the importance of group memberships for the trajectories of individuals through early adulthood (Kasinitz et al., forthcoming).Yet, looking at the past, we also know that the emergence of a massive second generation can unsettle racial and ethnic relations and lead to a reshuffling of the hierarchical order among groups. Enormous literatures, on assimilation and on whiteness, address these changes in the past. They suggest that we ought at least to entertain the notion of some degree of racial and ethnic change in the next few decades, with the arrival of a large and upwardly striving second generation on the scene (see also Alba and Nee, 2003; Bean and Stevens, 2003). This is what we would like to do in this paper on the basis of some results concerning racial and ethnic shifts among the incumbents of highly ranking occupations. We will argue that the shifts already evident, resulting probably from demography and affirmative action, combined with those that can be anticipated as a result of the departure of the baby boom cohorts of whites from the labor market, indicate an opportunity for important changes to the racial/ethnic order in the next two decades. If this opportunity is realized, something that is certainly not assured, it will likely usher in a period of unsettlement, when established assumptions about relations between individuals derived from their categorical memberships lose their certainty. This is the justification for the appearance of the word “liminality” in the title, for it refers to a period of transition, when previously fixed identities are suspended. In the final part of the paper, We will consider some contingencies that, based on our knowledge about the incorporation of earlier immigrant groups, will affect whether this opportunity is realized or not.

Perceived community cohesion and perceived risk of victimization: A cross-national analysis*

Prior research illustrates that community characteristics may be associated with the perceived risk of victimization. In our analysis, we suggest that cognitive evaluations of the risk of victimization within one's neighborhood may be shaped by cognitive assessments of the willingness of community members to help each other. We test this link using data for 11 countries from the 1992 wave of the International Crime Survey. The data provide substantial support for the hypothesis that individuals who perceive their communities to be cohesive express lower levels of perceived risk of criminal victimization in their neighborhoods.

Lifestyle and routine activity theories of crime: Empirical studies of victimization, delinquency, and offender decision-making

The papers in this special issue of the Journal of Quantitative Criminology focus on lifestyle or routine activity theories of crime. Most examine victimization, although two authors apply the lifestyle perspective to offending. The general nature of this evolving body of theory will be familiar to most readers. But for the record, and for the benefit of those less familiar, this introductory essay briefly discusses the meaning of lifestyle and routine activity theories and sets the stage for the substantive contribu tions. Readers interested in an exhaustive and definitive exposition or in a detailed critique of various formulations and tests of lifestyle theories will have to look elsewhere [see Garofalo (1987) for an excellent summary]. What people do, how they behave, places them at more or less risk of criminal victimization. Stated so directly this seems like little more than common sense. In much the same way, routine behavior "explains" how people avoid or suffer many other misfortunes. Careful drivers are at less risk of auto accidents, careless smokers stand a greater chance of setting fire to the house, coal miners suffer disproportionately from pulmonary disease, and mariners are more likely to drown than, say, mountain climbers. The next section tries to impose some order on the various names and terms that have attached themselves to the lifestyle theory of personal victimization developed by Hindelang et al. (1978). Discussion then turns to certain themes that have emerged in previous empirical studies. The final section describes how the papers presented in this issue contribute to lifestyle theory and introduces James Lynch's concept of activity domains.

Changes in the Victimization of Women: Is There A “New Female Victim”?

A debate emerging during the past decade considered the possible development of a “new female criminal.” Involved in this discussion is whether sex-role changes associated with the women's movement have contributed to this development. Lost in the debate is the possibility that these changes, regardless of their influence on female crime, may have affected women's risk of criminal victimization. To explore this possibility, data from the period 1973-1982 are reviewed for the crimes of robbery, personal larceny, assault, and homicide. A substantial increase in the proportion of female victimizations is found for robbery, along with a more modest gain for personal larceny. In contrast, the proportion of female victimizations involving violent crime is shown to be relatively stable. Reasons for this differential are discussed in terms of the dynamics of the two types of crimes (property/violent) and specific components of victimization theory.

Juvenile Victim Assistance Programs: A Proposal

Teenagers face the greatest risk of criminal victimization, yet they are ignored as a target group by current victim assistance programs. The authors propose the provision of such services to juvenile victims as a means of reinforcing conventional standards of behavior. Attention to the victim's needs instead of the offender's transgressions may break the cycle whereby the exploited becomes the exploiter.