NCJ Number
173572
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 13 Issue: 3 Dated: June 1998 Pages: 362-382
Date Published
1998
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This article compares the responses of preadolescents and adolescents in a survey concerning victimization and victimization-prevention education.
Abstract
The article compares the responses of 10- and 11-year-olds with those of 12- to 16-year-olds in a national telephone survey of 2,000 young persons concerning victimization and victimization-prevention education. Although the overall participation rate was quite good for both groups, parents were slightly more likely to bar the younger children from participating in the survey. The younger children also disclosed fewer of the most sensitive kinds of victimization, such as sexual abuse. They did not give any more problematic responses to the key questions dealing with victimization and its details, and their rates for both family and nonfamily assaults were equivalent to those of older children. The younger children did not report any greater level of distress in response to the survey. The few difficulties in interviewing the 10- and 11-year-old children and the quantity of valuable information they can provide suggests they should be included in victimization surveys. Notes, tables, appendix, references