Youth Victimization Research Articles

Risk Factors for Youth Victimization: Beyond a Lifestyles/Routine Activities Theory Approach

Past efforts to understand the risks for youth victimization have primarily utilized concepts from lifestyle or routine activity theory, such as the increased exposure and reduced guardianship that are entailed when youth engage in risky or delinquent behavior. In this article, we argue that other personal characteristics put youth at risk, not through any lifestyle or routine activity mechanism, but by making certain youth more "congruent" with the needs, motives, or reactivities of potential offenders. Three specific types of such characteristics are those that increase the potential victim's target vulnerability (e.g., physical weakness or psychological distress), target gratifiability (e.g., female gender for the crime of sexual assault), or target antagonism (e.g., behaviors or ethnic or group identities that may spark hostility or resentment). Using data from a national youth survey, we test variables measuring such aspects of target congruence and show that they make a significant contribution over and above lifestyle variables alone in predicting nonfamily, sexual, and parental assault.

Victimization prevention programs: A national survey of children's exposure and reactions

The National Youth Victimization Prevention Study interviewed a representative sample of 2,000 U.S. children and their caretakers about the children's experience with child abuse and victimization prevention programs. Two-thirds of the children reported being exposed to at least one program at some time, 37% within the last year. Programs that gave children a chance to practice, that prompted discussions with parents, and that included information on dealing with bullies were more likely to result in utilization of the program skills. Although satisfaction levels were generally high for all groups, girls, black children, and children from lower socioeconomic status families, as well as their parents, had more positive reactions and reported more skill utilization. Some children did report, and their parents confirmed, more worry about abuse and fear of adults. However, the children with increased worry and fear were also the children who themselves and their parents reported the most positive feelings about the programs and the most skill utilization. This suggests that the level of worry and fear induced by the programs was appropriate to the subject.

Victimization of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth in community settings

One hundred ninety-four lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth between the ages of 15 and 21 were surveyed about victimization due to their sexual orientation. Three areas were assessed: (1) the prevalence of different kinds of victimization, ranging from verbal abuse to armed assault; (2) the specific social contexts in which anti-lesbian/gay victimization occurred, including family, school, work, and the broader community; and (3) correlates of anti– lesbian/gay victimization, including age-related sexual orientation milestones, concealability of sexual orientation, sex, race/ethnicity, and safety fears. Most respondents had experienced some form of victimization, with no social environment being free from risk of harm. Particularly vulnerable for abuse were youth who self-labeled or self-disclosed at an earlier age and those whose sexual orientation was less concealed or concealable.

A Question of Values

A favorite story of my eighth graders is James Clavell's Children's Story (1963), a little allegory about a classroom filled with third graders who are taken over, their innocent minds and attitudes bent by a beautiful but anonymous young woman called New Teacher. An infiltrator from a foreign land, a sweet-smelling, smiling beauty who from head to toe is dressed in a suspicious shade of drab green, New Teacher sets about applying well-conceived tactics, a master plot designed to overtake her youthful victims. New Teacher, a practitioner of totalitarian politics, ultimately convinces these unsuspecting babes-even Johnny, the skepticthat their mamas and daddies, their flag, their country, and their God are no longer of value. All of this is accomplished in just twenty-five minutes! I thought beyond this tale, so filled with lessons, and directly considered my adolescent students, young people who adamantly insisted that they wouldn't-couldn't possibly-be taken in by such a nameless infiltrator as New Teacher; that they would-in their infinite wisdom and sophistication-certainly recognize evil methods designed to flatter, seduce, infantilize, persuade, brainwash, intimidate, and discredit; that they would know at once if their values and those of their parents were being diminished or dismissed. Surely, these kids approaching young adulthood would be quick to recognize any outside force that denigrated-denied them-their flag, country, and God. My street-wise eighth graders knew for sure that they couldn't possibly become the victims of any ruse perpetrated on them by an insidious power. And yet ....

From Victim to Villain: A ‘Slight’ of Speech? Media Representations of Township Youth

This paper concerns predictions, reported in the press, which have been made by professional bodies and human rights organizations concerning the long-term effects on black youth of exposure to township conditions. It is contended that these predictions lend themselves to secondary victimization of black youth and it is postulated that they are not based on empirical evidence. Furthermore, they reflect several unquestioned assumptions concerning the nature of personality and childhood which permeate the very hegemonic order they intend to oppose. The implications of this for the future are explored. The difficulties of ever freeing oneself from operating within the categories inherent in a particular dominant ideology are highlighted by the author's own inevitable recourse to those very categories of which the validity is questioned in this paper.

Completed Suicides: Correlates of Choice of Method

The relationship between social and psychological correlates of youthful suicide victims and methods of lethality is examined. Data on those who commit suicide are also used to explore the suicide intent hypothesis, and the findings are discussed in light of recent claims that choice of method of lethality is useful for understanding completed suicide. The results suggest that a wide range of factors may be related to youthful intent and suicidal behavior, but only minor differences are observed among a single cohort of committers.

Robert Cormier

Robert Cormier Deanna Zitterkopf Like Jerry Renault, a character in one of his stories, Robert Cormier has dared to disturb the universe—not, of course, by refusing to sell chocolate, but by writing novels which do not conform to the conventional standards of juvenile fiction. Cormier's literary products, which routinely have been honored as best books by the American Library Association and The New York Times, do not evoke a cheery, secure world where good triumphs over evil and adolescents' main problems are acne, sibling rivalry and Saturday night dates. In stark, economical prose, he has instead created shockingly realistic narratives of contemporary life which typically climax in murder, suicide or insanity. Of course, Cormier's works do share some traditional elements of young adult fiction. His main characters are adolescents, and all of them are embarked, either literally or metaphorically, on the familiar quest for identity. But as Cormier presents it, the journey to selfhood is not of the common garden variety so often encountered in juvenile novels. His young people are alone, physically and emotionally. Many are orphans whose identities and origins are blurred by past tragedies. And all find that their seemingly benign middle-class environments are in reality Orwellian landscapes where life is illogical, betrayal is commonplace and decent people, including children, are victims. By placing his young heroes and heroines in such grim circumstances, Cormier not only creates powerful, suspense-filled narratives which unfold like detective novels—he also encourages his youthful readers to confront some of the major moral and ethical issues of our age. All of Cormier's novels deal in some fashion with the source and abuse of power, but this theme is most pronounced in The Chocohte War (1970), in which fourteen year old Jerry Renault refuses to participate in the school's fundraising chocolate sale. His refusal to conform places him on a collision course with a sadistic headmaster and the Vigils, a secret society which controls the school via psychological terrorism. The book ends with Jerry's being brutally beaten before an approving mob of Trinity students. Cormier's exploration of institutional corruption, the consequences of passivity, and the dangers of being different are continued in his most recent novel, Beyond the Chocohte War (1985). In this sequel (which includes a suicide, a bungled rape, and a near-guillotining) Jerry Renault makes a comeback of sorts. But the story's main interest lies in the cat-and-mouse conflict which develops between Archie and Obie, two Vigil members. Obie's coming to understand himself and the nature of his free will clearly suggests that man is in a fallen state and that evil still walks upon the earth. Elsewhere in his fiction, Cormier indicts political fanaticism, the numbing, depersonalization of government intitutions and the insidious dangers of mind-control techniques. Adam Farmer, the youthful protagonist of I Am the Cheese, (1977) is the victim of a secret government agency designed to fight organized crime. Unfortunately, the agency's values and methods are as inhumane as those of the adversary; by the end of the novel, which is stylistically Cormier's most innovative, Adam's mind is destroyed and his death is highly probable. In After the First Death (1979) a schoolbus full of children are the innocent pawns in a confrontation between a political terrorist group and a secret military research center. Because of misplaced loyalties, a sixteen-year-old bus driver is killed, a general's son commits suicide, and a young terrorist is driven to murder. Finally, in The Bumblebee Flies Anyway, (1983) Cormier explores the ethics of medical research on terminally-ill children. Once again, the narrative is littered with the bodies of youthful victims, and on the last page, Barney Snow, the subject of a mind-manipulation experiment, is dying a hideously-painful death. Such are the events and themes of Cormier's work. Cormier's biography doesn't suggest a scenario for violence, terrorism and death. By his own admission, he is a gentle, sentimental man who is kind to animals, loves young people, enjoys sunsets and old Beatles songs, and is deeply attached to his wife and four children. (This side of...

Identifying determinants of risk of sexual victimization of youth: A multivariate approach

The present study argues that a greater understanding of the factors which contribute to a youth's sexual victimization is likely to not only be based on what we know about the youths who are victimized but also on comparative information on youths who are not. Selected social background variables from a sample of young victims ( n = 20) and nonvictims ( n = 21) respresenting a population of youths with histories of antisocial behavior were compared. Using stepwise discriminant analysis several factors relating to youths' home environment significantly discriminated victims from nonvictims. The results suggest that the probability of being sexually victimized is increased when the home environment is unstable and lacks adequate control over youths' activities. The need for improved research methodologies to achieve better identification of determinants of risk is discussed Multivariate assessment of social, situational. and personal factors of victims and nonvictims is recommended as a potentially promising approach for improving current rape prevention efforts.

Towards a Theory of Suicide: The Case for Modern Fatalism

This paper explores the empirical relationship between fatalism and suicide in a population of youthful victims. Content analysis of case histories and suicide notes was conducted for 132 individuals between the ages of twelve and thirty-four. Almost one-third (N = 43) of the youthful suicide victims were found to have experienced fatalistic thought-ways prior to their death. A model of fatalistic suicide based upon salient interdisciplinary observations consistent with a fatalistic explanation of youthful suicide is presented. Results are discussed relative to a specific population of victims in the light of a theoretical statement promulgating the relationship between a fatalistic social condition and youthful suicide.

CITIZEN REPORTING OF CRIME Some National Panel Data

Abstract The decision to report criminal victimizations to the police is an important determinant of the capacity of the criminal justice system to fulfill its mandate. This report analyzes the individual‐level determinants of crime reporting, using data generated by the 1973 National Crime Survey conducted by the Bureau of the Census. It examines the impact of three characteristics of victimizations upon their reporting probability: the attributes of their victims, the nature of victim‐offender relationships, and the seriousness of the offense. Only the latter appears to be of major significance, although youthful victims are substantially less likely than their elders to report their experiences to the police. The reasons that nonreporters give for their inaction appear to be quite rational, reflecting the probability that anything will come of their cooperation.