Dynamics of Violence Between Strangers - Victim Resistance and Outcomes in Rape, Assault, and Robbery - Final Report

• NCJ Number: 102916
• Author(s): R Block; W G Skogan
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 124 pages
• Grant Number(s): 81-IJ-CX-0069
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: Northwestern University
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Data from the National Crime Survey formed the basis of an analysis of how effective various forms of victim resistance may be in averting injury or avoiding financial loss in potentially violent confrontations between strangers.

Abstract

The study considered all of the more than 13,000 rapes, robberies, and assaults occurring between strangers as identified in the surveys conducted between 1973 and 1979. Resistance was grouped into four categories; forceful, nonforceful, a combination of the two, and no resistance at all. The likelihood of various forms of resistance and the relationship of the resistance to injury and financial loss varied with the offender and victim characteristics, the setting, and the offender's use of a weapon. In general, nonforceful resistance was related to more favorable outcomes for the victim. Targets who resisted by screaming, running away, attempting to reason with their attackers, or other nonforceful means were less likely to be harmed. The survey's exclusion of crimes in which the victim dies limits the results. Further research should focus on the time sequencing of victim and offender actions. Figures, data tables, appended tables, 44 references.