NCJ Number
147468
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1994) Pages: 45-74
Date Published
1994
Length
30 pages
Annotation
Using data from the National Crime Survey, this study describes differences between three groups of victims: those who fire a gun, those who use other weapons, and those who fight back in other ways.
Abstract
Five sets of factors are identified that may determine which type of physical action victims are likely to take for self-protection. These include ascriptive factors, achievement factors, victim insecurity factors, incident environmental factors, and offender environmental factors. Using a weapon in self-defense is a relatively rare occurrence. This research suggested that victims who use guns against their assailants differ from the other two groups in several ways. They were less likely to be young poorly educated, or of low income status; they tended to have lived in the same residence for a longer time; and they were more often assaulted by an armed white stranger. Clusters of achievement, victim insecurity, and incident environmental factors were relatively insignificant in determining type of physical victim response. However, the analysis suggested some kind of interaction between race of both victim and offender, sex of victim, presence of weapon, prior relationship between victim and offender, and type of physical victim response. 3 tables, 3 notes, 19 references, and 1 appendix