Chapter 13 notes

1. Juvenile Justice: An Introduction, 7th ed.
Chapter 13
THE VICTIMIZATION OF
JUVENILES

2. Chapter 13
What You Need to Know
• Victimization of youths is a very common occurrence and a
problem that needs to be addressed by the juvenile justice
system.
• According to the NCVS, roughly 4 percent of all youths are victims
of a violent crime each year, with a very large portion of that crime
taking place at school.
• Counter to popular belief, the killing of students at school is an
extremely rare event.
• Youths are also victimized within family settings. Child
maltreatment, either as abuse or neglect, is a major problem.
• Youths may adopt an array of responses to victimization, ranging
from fear, to avoidance, to carrying weapons and joining a gang.
• Formal agencies that respond to child maltreatment include child
protective services, the juvenile court, family court, and the adult
criminal justice system.

3. Chapter 13
Extent of Victimization
• Gauging the extent of victimization can be accomplished
through the use of various data collection techniques.
• Most attention is on surveys that ask respondents about
their experiences as a victim.
• Victim surveys are only about 40 years old and were
developed in response to criticisms that official measures
underreport the level of crime.
• Most well-known source of victimization data is the
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)
– descendant of early work in the 1960s and 1970s
– early surveys indicated that, on the average, there was
twice as much crime occurring as reflected in police
records

4. Chapter 13
Victimization in the Community
NCVS data
• Estimated victimization rates for 2008: approximately 44
personal crimes per 1,000 youths ages 12-15 and 37 per
1,000 youths ages 16-19.
• Roughly 4 percent of all youths ages 12-19 are victims of a
personal crime in a single year.
• Personal crime victimization rates are 23.8 per 1,000 for
persons 25-34; 17.1 for person 35-49 years of age; 11.1 for
50-64 years of age; and only 3.5 for those 65 and over.
• Youths are more likely to be victimized by offenders of the
same age, race, and sex as the victim.
• Juveniles are less likely to report their victimization
experience.

5. Chapter 13
Victimization in Schools
• Youths spend more than one-third of their waking
hours at school
• Victimization at school has only been a major
concern over the past 20 years
• United States Departments of Education and Justice
issue an annual report on school crime and safety
• Students ages 12 through 18 reported over 1.2
million victimizations (thefts and violent crimes) at
school in 2005
• 47 victimizations per 1,000 youths at school
• Larger than student reports of victimization away
from school

6. Chapter 13
Victimization in Schools
Table 3.2. Victimization at Schools, 2008
Number Rate*
Theft 619,000 24
Violence 629,800 24
Serious Violence 113,300 4
Total 1,248,800 47
*Rate per 1,000 students

7. Chapter 13
Victimization in Schools
• Relative uniformity in the results across almost every
student characteristic
– level of victimization reported by males and females is
almost identical
– level of victimization reported by different racial/ethnic
groups is also almost identical
– grade level (a good proxy for age) results are also very
similar for all victimization categories
• One attention-grabbing form of victimization at school
has been killings
– reality is that such actions are rare
– number of homicides at school is very low, both in terms of
absolute levels and relative to the numbers occurring away
from school

8. Chapter 13
Victimization in Schools
Victimization at school raises a number of perplexing
problems
• Schools are failing to protect the youths who are legally
required to attend school.
• Victimization at school may have a direct impact on the
quality of education received:
– resulting from students missing days of school because
of the offense or fear of being victimized
– school officials must spend time trying to establish
discipline and control
– crime and victimization may replace educating as the
primary concern of the school

9. Chapter 13
Bullying
• Bullying has received a great deal of attention over
the past decade.
• Blame/explanation for violent behavior such as at
Columbine.
• Four types:
1. Verbal - teasing and name calling
2. Physical - hitting, shoving and punching (criminal acts)
3. Social - starting rumors about someone or ostracizing
them
4. Cyberbullying - the use of the Internet and other
technologies to attack the victim

10. Chapter 13
Bullying
Student Reports of Bullying, 2007
Bullying at School
Total 31.7%
Made fun of/called names/insulted 21.0
Subject of rumors 18.1
Threatened with harm 5.8
Pushed/shoved/tripped/spit on 11.0
Tried to make do things they did not want to do 4.1
Excluded from activities on purpose 5.2
Property destroyed on purpose 4.2
Cyberbullying Anywhere
Total 3.7
Harmful info on internet 1.6
Unwanted contact on internet 2.1

11. Chapter 13
Child Maltreatment
• A variety of actions in which children are harmed,
either intentionally or unintentionally.
• Commonly used terms are child abuse and child
neglect.
– Abuse is the intentional commission of an act upon a child.
• Physical abuse - shaking, punching, biting, kicking, burning, and a
host of other actions
• Sexual abuse - any form of sexual contact by a parent or caregiver
– Neglect is the omission of a caretaker to provide what a
child needs.
• Can be physical (e.g., failing to provide food or shelter), medical
(i.e., failing to provide medical care), emotional, or educational
• Offender is typically a parent or other relative

12. Chapter 13
Child Maltreatment
• Measuring child abuse and neglect is difficult due to
the nature of the actions and the victim–offender
relationship.
– Does not take place in public.
– There are no witnesses besides the victim, offender, and
other family members.
– The victim may not recognize the action by the parent as
wrong.
– Children often still express love and affection for the
parent/relative and may not want to do something that
will get the offender into trouble.
• National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System
– Data on child abuse and neglect is child protective services
(CPS) agencies in each state.

13. Chapter 13
Child Maltreatment
Number and Percent of Child Maltreatment, 2009
Type Number %
Physical Abuse 123,599 17.8
Neglect 543,035 78.3
Medical Neglect 16,837 2.4
Sex Abuse 65,964 9.5
Psychological Maltreatment 52,532 7.6
Other Abuse 66,487 9.6
Unknown 1,928 0.3
Fatalities 1,676

14. Chapter 13
Child Maltreatment
• Measure of Extent
– Figures for the extent of abuse and neglect are
only estimates.
– No accurate count for this type of victimization.
– The fact that most such acts occur behind closed
doors between relatives means that we may
never have a complete picture of the problem.
– These are baseline figures, and the real extent of
abuse and neglect is probably much higher.

15. Chapter 13
Explaining Juvenile Victimization
From Victim-Blaming to Lifestyle
• Early underlying theme that individuals became victims
because of something they did, did not do, or could not do.
• Some people cannot physically ward off an attack; others
do not recognize they are being victimized; and others see
themselves outside the societal mainstream and accept
the victimization.
• Victim precipitation posits that the victim is actively
involved in the offense.
• Early idea of victim culpability has been referred to as
victim-blaming.

16. Chapter 13
Explaining Juvenile Victimization
Lifestyle Explanations and Routine Activities Theory
• These theories argue that where individuals go, who they go
with, and when they go all define their lifestyle and their
chances of victimization.
• Other youths are available to victimize at school, out-of-doors
in the neighborhood, in play groups, and as acquaintances.
• Juvenile offenders will view other youths as more physically
vulnerable.
• Interaction with other youths provides knowledge and
opportunities for offending.
• Individuals who engage in deviant behavior are themselves at
higher risk of being a victim.

17. Chapter 13
Explanations of Child Abuse and Neglect
• Explanations of child maltreatment focus exclusively on
the offender and society.
– victim is not considered culpable
• Three categories:
1. Intra-individual theories - View child maltreatment as an
internal flaw or defect of the abuser.
2. Socio-cultural explanations - Abuser may be stressed by any
number of factors, such as unemployment, conflicts at work or
home, family size, social isolation, and economic problems.
3. Social learning theories - Individual has learned to be abusive
by observing past abusive behavior.
• Cycle of violence = someone who is abused or who
witnesses abuse will grow up to be an abuser

18. Chapter 13
Responses to Victimization
Victimization has the potential of eliciting a
number of responses from the victim
• Immediate Responses
– Victim takes action at the time of the offense.
– More than half of the youthful victims invoke
some self-protective action.

19. Chapter 13
Responses to Victimization
• Fear of Crime as a Response
– Relatively little research that assesses fear among
juveniles.
– Fear among kids is not a minor concern.
– NCVS reports that more than 5 percent of youths are
fearful of being attacked at school, and 3.5 percent are
fearful of attack or harm away from school.
– Fear leads some students to avoid other persons and
places.
– Others decide to carry a weapon for protection.
– Others join groups (e.g., gangs) to fight crime

20. Chapter 13
Responses to Victimization
• Avoidance
– Common reaction to actual or potential victimization and fear is
avoidance.
– Avoidance behavior for a youth may include staying away from a
playground where gang members are known to hang out or
refraining from walking alone at night in an area with a high
crime rate.
– There are some instances in which avoidance is not a viable
alternative.
– Avoidance at school means missed work, distraction, and/or
avoiding important parts of the school (such as a restroom or
the cafeteria).
– NCVS data reveal that just over 7 percent of students age 12-18
avoided activities or places at school (or school entirely) due to
fear of attack or harm.

21. Chapter 13
Responses to Victimization
• Resorting to Weapons
– Surveys of youths reveal that resorting to weapons is not
an uncommon event.
– More than 17 percent of youths in grades 9-12 report
carrying a weapon at least once in the past 30 days, with
5.6 percent carrying a weapon to school in the past month.
– Carrying weapons is problematic for a number of reasons.
• These items are illegal for youths to possess.
• Possession of weapons on school grounds is illegal.
• A weapon has the potential of escalating any confrontation.
• A weapon may result in the victim being hurt more.

22. Chapter 13
Responses to Victimization
• Gangs as Protection
– It is natural for people to seek out support.
– Victims will turn to family, friends, and peers.
– Friends and peers include gang members.
– If a youth is victimized by gang members, either directly or
by mistake, joining a gang further becomes a self-defense
mechanism.
– Joining gangs as a response to victimization is a double-edged
sword.
– Gangs typically demand participation in illegal behavior
and conflict with other gangs and individuals.
– Gang membership often results in further victimization.

23. Chapter 13
Social Control Agencies
• Social control agencies typically focus on juvenile
victims of abuse and neglect.
• Usually ignore the victim status as it emerges from
other forms of offending.
• The only agency that will have contact with all forms
of youthful victims is the police.
• Law enforcement officers spend little time dealing
with the victim.

24. Chapter 13
Child Protective Services
• Established for the purposes of protecting youths.
• Mandated in every state as a direct result of the
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974
– required states to set up rules for the reporting and
handling of abused children

25. Chapter 13
Child Protective Services
• Services appear under various state agencies such
as Social Services and Departments of Human
Services
• Responsibilities:
– accepting reports of abuse and neglect cases and
undertaking or coordinating the investigation
– the removal of children from suspected (or documented)
abusive situations
– preservation of the family unit

26. Chapter 13
Child Protective Services
• Most child protective agencies do not need court
orders or sanctions to work with families.
• An estimated 6 million children were referred for
preventive measures in 2008.
– two-thirds of these referrals received post-investigative
services
– 24% were victims of crimes
– 211,000 youths were removed from their homes in 2008
as a result of abuse or neglect
• Child protective services personnel work very closely
with different courts.
• Courts also call on these services for assistance.

27. Chapter 13
The Juvenile Court
• Handles cases of dependency, abuse, and neglect.
• Consider the protection and needs of the juvenile victim, the
needs of the entire family unit, and the possible sanctioning
and needs of the (typically adult) offender.
• Many juvenile courts are affiliated with (or even part of) what
are more generally known as family courts.
• May designate certain judges to handle delinquency matters
and others to deal with abuse and neglect cases.
• Other youths in the home also become a focal point along
with the individual victim.
• Court typically appoints a Court-Appointed Special Advocate
(CASA) or a guardian ad litem to be an advocate for the needs
and interests of the child.

28. Chapter 13
The Juvenile Court
Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)
Began in Seattle in the late 1970s and has spread to all states.
– 2010 : More than 75,000 CASA volunteers handling roughly 240,000
children in the United States
– Usually serve in a voluntary capacity
• Role and responsibility of a CASA volunteer and a guardian ad
litem varies across jurisdictions.
• General duty is to protect the interests of the child.
– Typically receive training in the functioning of the juvenile court, the
needs of youths, the availability of resources, and how to investigate
the circumstances of the case.
– Often fulfill some of the same functions as other actors in the
criminal and juvenile justice system.
• A CASA is supposed to argue in the best interests of the child,
even if that conflicts with the desires of the child.

29. Chapter 13
The Criminal Court
• Criminal court holds a difficult position when faced with
youthful victims.
• Victim in the criminal court holds no more stature than
does any witness.
• Court’s only concern for a victim is to protect him or her
from further harm.
• Some jurisdictions provide victim counselors as a means of
minimizing the trauma of a court appearance and assisting
youths with recall problems.
• Courts have relaxed the hearsay rule or allowed in camera
testimony to protect the victim.

30. Chapter 13
Domestic Relations Court
• Civil courts devoted to the issues involved in divorce, child
support, and related matters.
• May be configured as a special court within a larger family
court setting.
• Cases in which allegations of abuse or neglect are made by
one parent against another.
• Child does not have a separate standing in the court.
• Possible that the court will provide a CASA worker or a
guardian ad litem to the child.
• While youthful victimization may emerge in domestic
relations courts, those problems are outside of the court’s
jurisdiction and will be turned over to another court.