Violent Victimization of Youth Versus Adults in the National Crime Victimization Survey

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Abstract
To understand the characteristics of juvenile victimization, explicit comparisons between the victimization of juveniles and adults need to be made. In this article, rates of violent victimizations of youth aged 12 to 17 years and adults were compared, using the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), an annual survey of 50,000 American households administered by the U.S. Bureau of the Census on behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice. Analyses with 1994 data revealed that juveniles were substantially more likely than adults to be victims of violent crimes and suffer from a crime-related injury. Large disparities between juveniles and adults were present for males and females, Whites and Blacks, and persons from different types of localities. Moreover, juvenile victims were more likely than adult victims to know their offenders. Some characteristics of the NCVS may result in an underestimation of the disproportionate youth victimizations.