This article examines developmental trends in the rates of different kinds of victimization across the span of childhood. The Developmental Victimization Survey was a national telephone survey of the victimization experiences of 2,030 children from ages 2 to 17. The overall mean number of victimizations during a single year increased with age, as did the percentage of children with polyvictimizations (4 or more different kinds of victimization). However, some specific types of victimization, physical bullying and sibling assaults, were highest prior to adolescence and then declined. Other types had different developmental patterns by gender. Peer assaults increased in adolescence for boys but not for girls. Child maltreatment and sexual victimization increased in adolescence for girls but not for boys. The complex and diverse patterns of developmental vulnerability to different kinds of victimization at different ages need more exploration and explanation in order to better target prevention and intervention policies.
American Association for Public Opinion Research. (2004). Standard definitions: Final dispositions of case codes and outcome rates for surveys (3rd ed.). Lenexa, KS: Author.
2.
Buka, S.L., Stichick, T.L., Birdthistle, I., & Earls, F.J. (2001). Youth exposure to violence: Prevalence, risks, and consequences. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 71(3), 298-310.
3.
Cohen, L., & Felson, M. (1979). Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activity approach. American Sociological Review, 44, 505-524.
4.
Fantuzzo, J., Boruch, R., Beriama, A., Atkins, M., & Marcus, S. (1997). Domestic violence and children: Prevalence and risk in five major U.S. cities. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36(1), 116-122.
5.
Finkelhor, D., & Asdigian, N.L. (1996). Risk factors for youth victimization: Beyond a lifestyles theoretical approach. Violence & Victims, 11(1), 3-20.
6.
Finkelhor, D., Hamby, S.L., Ormrod, R.K., & Turner, H.A. (2005). The JVQ: Reliability, validity, and national norms . Child Abuse & Neglect, 29(4), 383-412.
7.
Finkelhor, D., & Ormrod, R.K. (1999). Reporting crimes against juveniles (Juvenile Justice Bulletin No. NCJ178887). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention .
8.
Finkelhor, D., & Ormrod, R.K. (2000a). Characteristics of crimes against juveniles (Juvenile Justice Bulletin No. NCJ 179034). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention .
9.
Finkelhor, D., & Ormrod, R.K. (2000b). Juvenile victims of property crimes (Juvenile Justice Bulletin No. NCJ184740). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention .
10.
Finkelhor, D., Ormrod, R.K., & Turner, H.A. (2007a). Poly-victimization and trauma in a national longitudinal cohort. Development and Psychopathology, 19(1), 149-166.
11.
Finkelhor, D., Ormrod, R.K., & Turner, H.A. (2007b). Poly-victimization: A neglected component in child victimization trauma. Child Abuse & Neglect, 31, 7-26.
12.
Finkelhor, D., Ormrod, R.K., & Turner, H.A. (2007c). Revictimization patterns in a national longitudinal sample of children and youth. Child Abuse & Neglect, 31(5), 479-502.
13.
Finkelhor, D., Ormrod, R.K., Turner, H.A., & Hamby, S.L. (2005). Measuring poly-victimization using the JVQ. Child Abuse & Neglect, 29(11), 1297-1312.
14.
Finkelhor, D., Turner, H.A., & Ormrod, R.K. (2006). Kid's stuff: The nature and impact of peer and sibling violence. Child Abuse & Neglect, 30(12), 1401-1421.
15.
Fitzpatrick, K.M., & Boldizar, J.P. (1993). The prevalence and consequences of exposure to violence among African-American youth. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32(2), 424-430.
16.
Greenberg, D.F. (1985). Age, crime, and social explanation. American Journal of Sociology, 91, 1-21.
17.
Hughes, H. (1988). Psychological and behavioral correlates of family violence in child witnesses and victims. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 58, 77-90.
18.
Hughes, H.M., & Barad, S.J. (1983). Psychological functioning of children in a battered women's shelter: A preliminary investigation. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 53, 525-531.
19.
Hutchinson, J., & Langlykke, K. (1997). Adolescent maltreatment: Youth as victims of abuse and neglect (Maternal and Child Health Technical Information Bulletin). Arlington, VA: National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health.
20.
Lauritsen, J.L., Sampson, R.J., & Laub, J.H. (1991). The link between offending and victimization among adolescents. Criminology, 29, 265-292.
21.
Miethe, T.D., & Meier, R.F. (1994). Crime and its social context: Toward an integrated theory of offenders, victims, and situations. Albany: State University of New York Press.
22.
Nansel, T.R., Overpeck, M., Pilla, R.S., Ruan, W.J., Simons-Morton, B., & Scheidt, P.C. (2001). Bullying behaviors among US youth: Prevalence and association with psychosocial adjustment. JAMA, 285(16), 2094-2100.
23.
Richters, J.E., & Martinez, P. (1993). The NIMH Community Violence Project: 1. Children as victims of and witnesses to violence. Psychiatry, 56, 7-21.
24.
Ross, D.M. (2003). Childhood bullying, teasing, and violence: What school personnel, other professionals, and parents can do (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.
25.
Schwab-Stone, M.E., Ayers, T., Kasprow, W., Voyce, C., Barone, C., Shriver, T., et al. (1995). No safe haven: A study of violence exposure in an urban community. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 34, 1343-1352.
26.
Sedlak, A.J., & Broadhurst, D.D. (1996). Third national incidence study of child abuse and neglect. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
27.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. (2000). (NP-D1-A) Projections of the resident population by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin: 1999-2100. Washington, DC: Population Projections Program-Population Division.
28.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Administration on Children Youth and Families. (2006). Child Maltreatment 2004. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
