Criminal Victimization of Young Children

• NCJ Number: 161781
• Author(s): H N Snyder
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 10 pages
• Grant Number(s): 90-JN-CX-K003
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Corporate Author: National Ctr for Juvenile Justice
• Sale Source: National Ctr for Juvenile Justice
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, November 1994.

Annotation

This paper reports the nature of juvenile victimization as indicated by the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).

Abstract

The FBI provided the National Center for Juvenile Justice with a data file that contained information on all incidents reported to law enforcement agencies in South Carolina from the beginning of 1991 through mid-1993. From this master base, incidents were selected in which the most serious charge was either a murder, a violent sexual offense, a robbery, an aggravated assault, or a simple assault. A total of 196,000 incidents met this criteria. In South Carolina during this time period, juveniles (persons under 18 years old) were the victims in 17.3 percent of all violent incidents reported to law enforcement agencies. A young juvenile (below the age of 12) was the victim in 4.8 percent of all violent incidents. The juvenile portion of violent victimizations varied substantially within offense categories. Juveniles were the victims in more than half (55 percent) of all violent sex offenses. Persons below the age of 12 were the victims in more than one-quarter (27.9 percent) of all violent sex offenses. These young juveniles were rarely victims in robbery incidents. Overall, females were 58 percent of victims in violent incidents reported to law enforcement. Overall, 88 percent of violent victimizations were committed by persons aged 18 or older. Fifty-seven percent of the persons who victimized juveniles were adults. Overall, 27 percent of violent victimizations were committed by family members, 53 percent by acquaintances, and 20 percent by strangers. Children below the age of 6 were the least likely to be victimized by strangers and the most likely to be victimized by family members. Regarding the data source (NIBRS), the report concludes that it can provide critical information on the criminal victimization of young children. Researchers and policymakers are encouraged to access incident-based reporting systems and to advocate their installation. 7 tables, 2 figures, and a 3-item bibliography