Children as Victims

• NCJ Number: 81815
• Author(s): M J McDermott; J Stanley; M A Zimmerman-McKinney
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 78 pages
• Grant Number(s): 79-JN-AX-0012
• Sponsoring Agency: US Securities and Exchange Cmssn
• Corporate Author: National Council on Crime and Delinquency
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This monograph uses a conceptual framework which emphasizes the varying degrees of visibility of different types of victimization and examines the extent and nature of the victimization of children and youths in our society.

Abstract

Traditional crimes such as murder, rape, assault, robbery, and personal larceny are relatively high in visibility, although some serious crimes against children and youths may not always be highly visible. Although the general public tends to associate youths with high rates of criminal offending rather than with high rates of criminal victimization, young people have generally high risks of being crime victims. The rates of criminal victimization among young people vary with race, sex, and family income. Child abuse and neglect have emerged as a recognized form of victimization in recent years. Conceptually, child abuse and neglect lie between traditional crime, which has high visibility, and victimization by social systems and institutions, which has moderate visibility. Institutional abuse and neglect refer to abuse and neglect by the systems of education, juvenile justice, and mental health care, although direct parallels exist in such other systems as the child welfare system. The victimization of children and youths is the least visible but the most widespread in the educational system. Much of this victimization is done with avowed benevolent intentions. Children who are forced to leave by school policies or who are partially excluded through misclassification or other deficiencies are among the victims of the educational system. The type of victimization with the lowest visibility is the victimization resulting from profound social and economic inequities which have become incorporated into society's values and practices. Factors which affect the visibility of victimization include the geographic area in which it takes place, laws, the general social climate, the enforcement of penalties, and social barriers that discourage intervention. Research should focus on the measurement of victimization, especially that by social systems and institutions. Footnotes and a list of 116 references are provided.