NCJ Number
184251
Journal
Public Health Reports Volume: 114 Issue: 4 Dated: July-August 1999 Pages: 343-352
Date Published
July 1999
Length
10 pages
Annotation
A random-digit-dialed telephone survey conducted in 1994 provided the information used to develop weighted national estimates regarding victimization from nonfatal physical violence in the form of hitting, slapping, pushing, or kicking by another person or an object or weapon within the past 12 months.
Abstract
The survey also asked the 5,238 participants how many times such incidents had occurred and, for the last such episode, their relationship with the perpetrator, whether they had been injured, and whether they had sought medical treatment for an injury. Approximately 15 million people, or 8 percent of the adult population, experienced nonfatal physical violence during a 12-month period. Factors associated with a higher likelihood of being assaulted included male gender, being ages 18-24 years, never having been married, being out or work or a student, and heavy drinking. The perpetrators were a known person in an estimated 75 percent of the assault and a stranger in an estimated 26 percent of the assaults. Women were more likely than men to be assaulted by current or former intimate partners; men were more likely than women to be assaulted by strangers. An estimated 18 percent of incidents resulted in injuries; an estimated 7 percent required medical attention. Findings suggested that nonfatal physical violence is fairly common and may lead to more than 1 million medical encounters each year. Tables and 26 references (Author abstract modified)