NCJ Number
80829
Journal
Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin Dated: (April 1982) Pages: complete issue
Date Published
1982
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This bulletin uses statistics from the first 7 years (1973-79) of the National Crime Survey (NCS) to examine crimes of violence committed by persons not known to their victims.
Abstract
A study of NCS data for the crimes of rape, robbery, and assault shows that three out of five violent crimes are committed by persons who are strangers to their victims. An estimated 23.4 million of these crimes were committed during the 7-year period, an average of more than 3 million a year. Americans aged 12 years and over were victims of violent crimes by strangers at an average rate of 20 victimizations per 1,000 people over the 1973-79 period. This compares with a nonstranger victimization rate of 12 per 1,000 people. Robbery and rape were the two violent crimes most often committed by strangers. The rate of violent crime committed by strangers was stable in the 7-year period for both whites and blacks. Men were victimized by violent strangers at a rate almost triple that of women, with the average for men from 1973 to 1979 at 29 per 1,000 and for women, at 11 per 1,000. In rapes and assaults by strangers, the assailant was often a lone white male over age 21. In contrast, persons robbed by strangers were more likely to be confronted by a pair or a group of black males who were as likely to be under age 21 as over 21 years. Whites were the offenders in two-thirds of all assaults, more than half of all rapes, and only a third of all robberies. Less than 1 out of every 10 violent strangers was female. The highest hourly rate for violent crimes by strangers occurred from 6 p.m. to midnight. Weapons were used in 4 out of every 10 violent crimes committed by strangers. Only 1 out of very 20 victims received a serious injury, such as a knife or gunshot wound. Two tables, one graph, and six notes are given.