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EpidemiolOgy,Victimization Patterns by Age, Gender, Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status
FurtherReadings
FederalBureau of Investigation. (2004). Crime in the United
States.Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm
NationalCommittee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse.
(2003). What is elder abuse? Retrieved from
http://www.preventelderabuse.org/index.html
U.S.Department of Health and Human Services,
Administration for Children and Families. (2004). Child
maltreatment 2004. Retrieved from http://www
.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm04/index .htm
EPIDEMIOLOGY,VICTIMIZATION
PATTERNSBY AGE, GENDER,
ETHNICITY, SOCIOECONOMIC
STATUS
In trying to determine the extent of the interpersonal
violenceproblem, it is important to supplement selfreportand arrest data on perpetration with information
on victimization. Hospital emergency room and
policedata have been used to estimate victimization
through surveillance systems that collect data on
intentional injuries from national samples. Because
victimsmay fail to report interpersonal violence victimization, particularly when injuries are minor and
do not require medical attention or when there is fear
ofretaliation, large-scale national surveys can provide
an additional perspective on victimization rates.
In the United States, the most widely referenced
assessment of interpersonal violence victimization is
the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS),
administered since 1972 by the Bureau of Justice
Statistics.Yearly data are obtained from a representative sample of 42,000 households comprising approximately 76,000 respondents. Survey data are used to
estimate the number of victimizations and rate per
1,000persons or households for the interpersonal violence offenses of rape/sexual assault, robbery, and
assault.Assault information is further broken down by
the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator.Victimization estimates are categorized by gender,
ethnicity,and annual family income. A number of federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) use these surveys combined
with other sources of information-for example,
Uniform Crime Reporting Program data on homicides
and Department of Health and Human Services data
on child maltreatment-to develop summary profiles
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of victimization patterns for different types of interpersonal violence in the United States. Building on
these multiple sources of information,patterns of interpersonal violence victimization data for 2003-2004
can be examined for several types of interpersonal
violence, including homicide, rape/sexual assault,
robbery, assault/intimate partner violence, and child
maltreatment.
Homicide
Homicide victimization rates in the United States
have been found to be several times higher than rates
in all other industrialized countries. A recent international collaborative effort compared homicide rates of
11 industrialized nations. U.S. rates averaged about
8.5 per 100,000, with rates from all other countries at
or below 2.3 per 100,000. Homicide rates for children
and young adults are particularly high. According to
the CDC, homicide is the second leading cause of
death for male and female adolescents and young
adults ages 15 to 24, and the fourth leading cause of
death for boys and girls ages 5 to 9. Interestingly,
looking at homicide rates for very young children
ages 1 to 4, homicide is the fourth leading cause of
death for boys but the third leading cause of death for
girls. This pattern reverses in early adulthood, with
homicide being the third leading cause of death for
males and the fifth leading cause of death for females.
In addition, of significant concern is the fact that for
Blacks, homicide is the first leading cause of death for
individuals ages 15 to 34, the second leading cause of
death for children ages 1 to 4, and the third leading
cause of death for children ages 5 to 14. The risk of
homicide victimization is higher in poor, urban areas.
The reasons for such elevated homicide rates in the
United States compared to other countries and for
younger Blacks within the United States likely
include a combination of risk factors. These include
easy availability of firearms, escalation of gun and
drug markets, poverty, income disparities, and patterns of racism and discrimination that disproportionately affect young Blacks in the United States.
Rape/sexual Assault
Sexual violence is a serious problem that affects millions of individuals in the United States and worldwide. According to a recent national survey of
violence and threats of violence against men and
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Epidemiology, Victimization Patterns by Age, Gender, Ethnicitv, Socioeconomic Status
women in the United States conducted by Patricia
Tjaden and colleagues, 17% of women and 3% of men
reported experiencing an attempted or completed rape
at some time in their lives. Young people and females
are at particular risk of victimization-78% of victims
of rape/sexual assault are female and 22% are male.
More than half of all rapes of females (54%) occur
before age 18, with 22% of rapes occurring before age
12. Although sexual violence against males is less
prevalent, it occurs at even younger ages, with 75% of
all male rapes occurring before age 18 and 48%
occurring before age 12. For both males and females,
the perpetrator of sexual violence is almost exclusively male. Information from the NCVS shows that
victimization rates for rape/sexual assault do not vary
between Whites and Blacks, although reported victimization is lowest among Hispanics. The NCVS
also reports that rape/sexual assault victimization is
associated with lower socioeconomic status. Low
income individuals reported rates three times as high
as rates reported by high income individuals.
Robbery
The NCVS estimates the robbery victimization rate
overall to be 2.5 per 1,000 persons. Males, young
people, and Blacks are at particular risk. Males are
almost twice as likely as females to be the victims of
robbery, with rates at 3.2 per 1,000 for males and 1.9
per 1,000 for females. Individuals under age 24 are
more than four times as likely to be victims of robbery
as individuals age 35 and above. What is striking is
the fact that victimization rates are quite high for all
youth and young adults, with rates for the 12 to 15 age
group at 5.2 per 1,000 and for the 20 to 24 age group
at 6.4 per 1,000. Robbery victimization rates are also
highest for Blacks, with a rate of 5.9 per 1,000. The
highest risk group for robbery victimization is young
Black males (ages 12-15), with a rate of 20.8 per
1,000. Although lower socioeconomic status is also
associated with increased victimization risk, individuals in the lowest income strata report robbery victimization rates that are less than half of those reported by
the young Black male group. The reasons for such an
elevated robbery victimization rate for this particular
demographic group likely are similar to patterns seen
in homicide victimization, including the particular
economic and social circumstances experienced by
young Black males in the United States.
Assault/Intimate Partner Violence
Assault victimization typically is broken down into
simple and aggravated categories, with aggravated
assault defmed as an unlawful attack with the intent of
inflicting bodily injury. Assault is often further broken
down according to the relationship between victims,
with assaults in the context of intimate partner violence defined as attacks that occur between partners in
dating or marital relationships (although there are
other specific types of intimate partner violence,
including stalking, rape, and homicide). Across all
contexts, most assaults fall within the category of simple assault. For instance, the NCVS reports an overall
assault rate of 19.3 per 1,000 persons, with 14.6 per
1,000 classified as simple assaults and 4.6 per 1,000
classified as aggravated assaults. Consistent with
most other types of victimization, risk is greatest for
males, young people, and ethnic minorities. NCVS
reports an overall assault rate of 23 per 1,000 for
males and 15.7 per 1,000 for females. However, within
the context of intimate partner violence, assault victims are more likely to be female than male. Indeed,
information from multiple sources suggests that
females are approximately 1.5 times as likely as males
to be victims of intimate partner assaults. Assault victimization rates are also highest in the younger age
groups, with rates declining steadily with age.
Looking at ethnicity and race, assault victimizationis
highest for Blacks, with an overall rate of 22.3 per
1,000 persons, followed by Hispanics with a rate of
20.8 per 1,000 and Whites with a rate of 18.4 per
1,000. Aggravated assault rates are highest for young
Black males and females. For Black males, the rateis
highest for the 16 to 19 age group at 26.5 per 1,000,
followed by a rate of 10.2 per 1,000 for the 20 to 24
age group. In contrast, rates for Black females are also
high, but rates are lower for the younger 16 to 19age
group at 10.6 per 1,000 and increase for the 20 to 24
age group at 26.9 per 1,000.
ChildMaltreatment
Victimization rates for child maltreatment are
reported by agencies tasked with gathering data on
child welfare rather than by victimization surveysof
children. In the United States, the Administrationfor
Children and Families (ACF) reported a total of
872,000 incidents of childhood maltreatment in 2004.
However, these figures may reflect underreportingof
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Ethical and LegalIssues, InterviewingChildrenReportedas Abusedor Neglected
.
theproblem, particularly in the case of less visible
forms of maltreatment, including psychological
abuse.The majority of child maltreatment reports
involveneglect (62.4%), followed by physical abuse
(17.6%),sexual abuse (9.7%), and psychological maltreatment(7.0%). States also submit reports to the
National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System
(NCANDS).For 2003, NCANDS reported that victimizationwas approximately evenly split by gender,
althoughslightly more cases were reported involving
females(51.7%) than males (48.3%). Risk was also
greatest for the youngest age group, with rates as high
as 16.4 per 1,000 for children from birth to 3 decreasing steadily to 5.9 per 1,000 for young people ages 16
to 17. Victimization rates were highest for Black,
Pacific Islander, American Indian, and Alaskan Native
children, averaging 21.0 per 1,000; in the mid-range
for White and Hispanic children, averaging 10.5 per
1,000; and lowest for Asian children at 2.7 per 1,000.
Jennifer K. Williams and Nancy G Guerra
See also Assault, Aggravated; Child Physical Abuse; Date
and Acquaintance Rape; Epidemiology, International
Patterns; Intimate Partner Violence
Further Readings
Tjaden, P., & Thoennes, N. (2000). Intimate partner
violence: Fact sheet. Retrieved from http://cdc.gov/ncicp
Trends in the well-being of America s children and youth:
2003. Retrieved from http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/03trends
ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES,
INTERVIEWING CHILDREN REPORTED
AS ABUSED OR NEGLECTED
When a child may be a victim of severe abuse or
neglect, there is a dual imperative: to provide services
to ameliorate suffering and to punish the offender.
To simultaneously achieve both goals may not be
possible, resulting in an ethical dilemma regarding
the obligations of professionals. One of the ways of
reducing this dilemma is for professionals to work as
a team, where joint decision making and collaborative
work may produce the best results for child victims.
This entry not only addresses the ethical conflict and
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professional codes involved with interviewing child
victims but also describes forensic interviews and discusses the role of child advocacy centers.
Ethical Dilemma
Social work and legal ethics may be in conflict when
the matter at hand is interviewing child victims,
because of different goals of the social service and
criminaljustice systems. In 2004, approximately 3 million children were reported to child abuse and neglect
hotlines across the United States. Approximately
87,000 children were determined to be victims of abuse
or neglect.When a report suggests serious injury due to
physical abuse, sexual abuse, or severe neglect, some
states require that a district attorney decide whether a
prosecutor or child protective services worker will
oversee the investigation. Legal and ethical implications follow from this decision, because social workers,
unless they are working for a prosecutor as a forensic
specialist, and law enforcement personnel have different objectives. Social workers are concerned mainly
with providing services to amelioratethe effects of victimization and to rehabilitate families; law enforcement
personnel and forensic social workers are concerned
with acquiring information to aid in the apprehension
and punishment of offenders.
ProfessionalEthics
The ethical codes that guide the practice of social
workers and attorneys create an obligation for each to
serve their clients. When an attorney is serving a prosecutorial function, the attorney's client is his or her
governmental employer. The attorney is charged with
protecting the public by enabling the apprehension and
prosecution of criminals. For social workers the question "Who is the client?" is not as easily answered.
Whether employed in the private or public sector,
social workers have an ethical obligation to their
clients, to the agency that employs them, and, for some
in the private sector, to a unit of government that financially supports the services they provide. For a social
worker, conflict may result because public policy
requires a worker to temporarily set aside his or her
concern for providing treatment-focused services in
favor of the state's interest in prosecuting offenders.As
acknowledged in Ethical Standard 1.01 of the Code of
Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers: