This bulletin discusses the second National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV II), which was conducted in 2011 as a followup to the original NatSCEV I survey. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sponsored both surveys. The Crimes against Children Research Center of the…

This national household telephone survey of youth and parents assessed exposure to a broad range of at-school victimizations among a representative sample of 3,391 children and youth ages 5 to 17. Nearly half the sample (48%) had been exposed to at least one form of victimization at school during the past year (in 2011), most of which was…

Objective: The goal of this study was to document the prevalence and correlates of any past year sibling victimization, including physical, property, and psychological victimization, by a co-residing juvenile sibling across the spectrum of childhood from one month to 17 years of age. Methods: The National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence…

Considerable efforts have been made during the last generation to encourage children and their families to report victimization to authorities. Nonetheless, concern persists that most childhood victimization remains hidden. The 2008 inventory of childhood victimization--the National Study of Children's Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV)--allowed an…

This Bulletin discusses the National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV), the most comprehensive nationwide survey of the incidence and prevalence of children's exposure to violence to date, sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…

Objective: The goal of this study is to examine the role of psychological distress in predicting child re-victimization across various forms including conventional crime, peer/sibling violence, maltreatment, sexual violence, and witnessed violence. Methods: Longitudinal data from the Developmental Victimization Survey, which surveyed children…

This bulletin, part of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's "Crimes against Children Series," draws on the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System to provide data on the frequency and nature of crimes against children committed by babysitters. According to the bulletin, babysitters account for approximately 4 percent…

Objective: It is widely presumed that when children are hit by peers or siblings, it is not as serious as similar acts between adults or older youth, which would be termed, "assaults" and "violent crimes". The goal of this study was to compare the violent peer and sibling episodes of younger children to those of older youth in terms of their…

In this national telephone survey 1,011 boys and girls between 10 and 16 were questioned about how they responded to threatened assaults. Boys, especially teens, used more aggressive forms of resistance. Children advised by their fathers to stand up and fight also felt more successful using aggressive resistance. Findings suggest different…

Objective: To understand to the degree to which a broad variety of victimizations, including child maltreatment, conventional crime, peer, and sexual victimizations, persist for children from 1 year to the next. Design: A national sample of 1467 children aged 2-17 recruited through random digit dialing and assessed via telephone interviews (with…

Survey information shows that sexual abuse of children is widespread, being reported by 19% of the females and 9% of the males in the sample. Most sexual victimization took place within the child's family, not with strangers, as "child molesters" have traditionally been stereotyped. While the problem cuts across social and economic lines, it seems…

Outlines a general theory of childhood victimology, with a typology that characterizes abuse as extraordinary, acute, or pandemic. Efforts to prevent childhood victimization must recognize its differential character and the importance of the child's stage of development in recognizing and dealing with victimization. (SLD)

In a national telephone survey of youths 10-16 years (n=2,000), over one-third reported having been the victims of assault. Victimized respondents displayed significantly more psychological and behavioral symptomology than nonvictims, even after controlling for other possible sources of distress. Findings suggest substantial mental health…