This study assesses rates of victimization for youth in custody across a range of domains: theft, robbery, physical assault, and sexual assault. Results indicate that 46 percent of youth had their property stolen in their absence, 10 percent were directly robbed, 29 percent were threatened or beaten, 9 percent were beaten and injured, and 4 percent were forced to engage in sexual activity. These results signal the need for policy initiatives and programs that will reduce victimization risk and improve protections for youth held in juvenile justice custody. Also indicated is how different types of victimization experiences often occur to the same youth. The analyses show that this clustering of violent events can be explained by the fact that the different forms of violence have very similar risk factors, so all forms of violence are more prevalent among youth and in facility environments that possess these risk factors. Furthermore, factors that affect violent victimization risk for youth in custody have been found to affect the risk of victimization in other contexts as well. Tables, figures, endnotes, and references
Nature and Risk of Victimization: Findings From the Survey of Youth in Residential Placement
NCJ Number
240703
Date Published
June 2013
Length
16 pages
Publication Series
Annotation
This bulletin offers several insights into ways that juvenile facilities can prevent the victimization of youth in custody.
Abstract
Date Published: June 1, 2013