NCJ Number
214527
Date Published
2006
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This study examined differences and similarities in levels, trends, and correlates of nonlethal violence among Black, White, and Latina women in the United States to determine whether their sources of risk were similar.
Abstract
The findings suggest that the trends, levels, and correlates of nonlethal violence are similar for women of different races and ethnicities, at least in terms of the three groups studied here. As such, the authors recommend that theories of violence against women should remain race neutral and future research should focus on other correlates of victimization risk such as socioeconomic disadvantage and social isolation. Overall, the results indicated that almost all factors that influenced risk of nonlethal violence did so in similar ways for Black, White, and Latina women. Differences were observed, however, for the variable measuring time spent at home and traditional theories of victimization risk were unable to explain this difference. Traditional theories such as routine-activities and lifestyle theories contend that greater victimization risk occurs outside the home, but the findings of this study indicated that Black and White women who spent more time at home experienced greater risk of nonlethal violence. Latina women, on the other hand, who spent more time at home were less likely than other Latina women to be victimized by nonlethal violence. Data were drawn from the 1992 through 2001 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which obtained information about crime victimization through personal and telephone interviews. Multivariate data analysis focused on the individual, family, and community correlates of victimization among 98,101 Black, White, and Latina women. Statistical analysis involved a series of logistic regression models and compared coefficients across the three groups of women. Figures, tables, notes