NCJ Number
243622
Date Published
2004
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This paper discusses the rates of interpersonal violence and victimization of 12-to-17-year-olds in the United States.
Abstract
Although most researchers and practitioners acknowledge that no single risk factor or experience is necessarily the cause of delinquent and violent behavior, the risk for offending clearly increases when a child or youth is a victim of or witness to violence, particularly when this experience is repetitive. Prevention and early intervention are critical in reducing and mitigating this victimization and the potential for subsequent maladaptive and aggressive behavior. One recommendation for this effort is to focus interventions on groups at higher risk for violent victimization. These at-risk groups include minority adolescents, children in single-parent families, adolescents living in urban areas, children who have previously been victimized, children with disabilities, and children living in disadvantaged communities. A second recommendation is to improve the reporting of the victimization of children and youth. This requires that communities provide incentives for reporting such victimization, such as encouraging youth in developing strategies to protect themselves from repetitive victimization and retaliation. Other recommendations are to intervene early with juvenile victims; screen youth in substance abuse and delinquency programs for violence and trauma exposure; increase awareness that various kinds of juvenile victimization are crimes; and publicize the availability of crime compensation funds for juvenile victims. 35 references