U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Resistance and Nonfatal Outcomes in Stranger-to-Stranger Predatory Crime

NCJ Number
106804
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 1 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1986) Pages: 241-253
Author(s)
R Block; W G Skogan
Date Published
1986
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Based on data for the National Crime Survey, this article examines the consequences of encounters between strangers that might have resulted in robbery or rape and explores how the eventual outcomes of those incidents were related to the resistance offered by their potential victims.
Abstract
Although the conclusions necessarily are tentative, it appears that forceful resistance was related to less frequent success by robbers, but robbery victims resisting forcefully had a greater risk of being physically attacked. Forceful resistance in potential rape incidents was related to higher risk of attack and bodily injury with no apparent reduction in risk of rape. On the other hand, victims who were able to offer nonforceful resistance reported a reduced risk of being robbed and suffered less frequent attack and injury. 18 references and 6 tables. (Author abstract modified)