Polyvictimization: Children’s Exposure to Multiple Types of Violence, Crime, and Abuse
Date
2011
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Volume Title
Publisher
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
Abstract
This bulletin summarizes some of the key findings on polyvictimized youth, based on NatSCEV (see “History of the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence”) and the closely related Developmental Victimization Survey (DVS) (see “Methodology”). Among the key findings: 8 percent of all youth in the nationally representative NatSCEV sample had seven or more different kinds of victimization or exposures to violence, crime, and abuse in the past year. These polyvictimized youth had a disproportionate share of the most serious kinds of victimizations, such as sexual victimization and parental maltreatment. They also had more life adversities and were more likely to manifest symptoms of psychological distress. Polyvictimization tended to persist over time. It was most likely to start near the beginning of grade school and the beginning of high school, and was associated with a cluster of four prior circumstances or pathways: living in a violent family, living in a distressed and chaotic family, living in a violent neighborhood, and having preexisting psychological symptoms. (Author text)
Description
Research Brief
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Other
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Keywords
Survey Results, Child Maltreatment, Witness to Violence, Children Exposed to Violence, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Outcomes, Family Violence, Mental Health, Adolescents
Citation
Finkelhor, David; Turner, Heather; Hamby, Sherry; Ormrod, Richard. (2011). Polyvictimization: Children’s Exposure to Multiple Types of Violence, Crime, and Abuse. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Juvenile Justice Bulletin, 11 pgs.