Prevalence of Victims of Violence Among Ethnically Diverse Asian/Pacific Islanders

• NCJ Number: 212065
• Journal: Violence and Victims Volume: 20 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2005 Pages: 561-575
• Author(s): Earl S. Hishinuma Ph.D.; Janice Y. Chang M.A.; Deborah A. Goebert DrPH; Iwalani R. N. Else Ph.D.; Stephanie T. Nishimura MSW; SooJean Choi-Misailidis Ph.D.; Naleen N. Andrade M.D.; David T. Mayeda M.A.; Lillian M. Jones M.D.
• Date Published: October 2005
• Length: 15 pages
• Grant Number(s): RR0361-06S1; R24 MH5015-01; R24 MH57079-A1; R49/CCR918619-01
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health; Ctr's for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); National Ctr on Minority Health and Health Disparities
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the prevalence of violence victims for an ethnically diverse Asian/Pacific Islander sample (n=5,051).

Abstract

Data were obtained from a large-scale, longitudinal (1992-1996), cross-sectional study conducted by the Native Hawaiian Mental Health Research Development Program. The instrument used was based on the Sequoia High School Health Survey. The sample included students from grades 9 through 12. For the entire sample, 3.33 percent had been victims of violence, i.e., physically harmed by someone, within the past 6 months. Over twice this rate was reported for family members (6.97 percent), and over three times the rate was found for close friends (10.75 percent). The hypothesis that the Polynesian, African-American, Hispanic, and Native-American Indian/Alaska Native ethnic groups would have the highest victimization rates, while the Asian and White ethnic groups would have the lowest rates, was only partially supported. With the exception of White and Portuguese respondents, all statistically significant results were in the predicted direction. Overall, adolescents of mixed ethnicity, their family members, and their close friends had higher rates of victimization, except for male adolescent respondents themselves. Contrary to the hypothesis, the demographic variables included in the model did not attenuate the ethnic differences linked to victimization rates. The relatively consistent lower victimization rates for Asians suggests that there may be protective attributes associated with these groups, particularly for Japanese adolescents, their families, and close friends. The differences in victimization rates as distinguished by ethnic groups suggests targeting prevention efforts toward higher risk ethnic groups. Further, in the event that the violence toward some ethnic groups may be racially based, there should be general instruction in tolerance for differences in culture and ethnicity. 2 tables and 37 references