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Teens Targeted by Crime - Frightening news report -
WASHINGTON, July 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- Teenagers are twice as likely as any other age group to be victims of violent crime, and one in five teenagers reported being the victim of a violent crime according to a new report. The single greatest factor in predicting criminal behavior on the part of teenagers, the report also found, was not teenage pregnancy, drug use, or truancy, but whether they had been a victim of crime. These and other alarming findings are highlighted in Our Vulnerable Teenagers: Their Victimization, Its Consequences, and Directions for Prevention and Intervention, a new and comprehensive analysis of existing - but largely unnoticed - research and data on the crime experiences of American teenagers, ages 12-19, who make up about 14 percent of the general population, but represent 25 percent of victims of violent crime. |
"This report serves as a wake up call to all of us that teenagers are particularly vulnerable to crime, and affirms that teenage victimization can profoundly alter the course of lives," said Susan Herman, executive director of the National Center for Victims of Crime. "We must now take the necessary steps to protect our young people as they make the transition to adulthood. The Teen Victim Project moves us in the right direction."
Established by the National Center for Victims of Crime and the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, the Teen Victim Project will focus on developing a coordinated, national response to teen victimization. The Project's two major components include:
- Sponsoring a nationwide educational campaign to build public and political awareness about the pervasiveness and impact of teen victimization, and
- Building the capacity of national youth-serving and victim service organizations to serve teenage victims of crime through formal partnerships and hands-on training and technical assistance.
"The Teen Victim Project is not only designed to help the astounding numbers of teens who are victimized in this country," said Dr. Barry Krisberg, president of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. "With what we now know about the relationship between victimization and future delinquent behavior, this initiative may also turn out to be one of the most effective ways to prevent further crime and violence."
Other Key Report Findings
- Past victimization is the best predictor of future victimization, with women who reported being raped before the age of 18 significantly more likely to report being raped as adults. Thirty-eight percent of women who were sexually victimized in college said that they had first been victims prior to entering college.
- One in six women has been the victim of rape or attempted rape - the majority (54 percent) of these occurred before the age of 18.
- Almost as many girls reported being raped as boys reported being robbed. Girls were approximately seven times more likely to be a victim of rape.
Violent Victimization Significantly Affected by Race
- African-American youths were twice as likely as White youths to be victimized by aggravated assault in 1999.
- African American girls ages 12-18 are more likely than all other youths to be victims of violence and the violent victimization for young African American girls ages 12-15 was more than 30 percent greater than the rate for African American girls ages 16-19.
- The juvenile homicide rate for African Americans was five times the White rate in 1998.
- American Indians are more likely than other minority groups to be the victims of violent crime.
- Twenty-eight percent of Hispanic and 25 percent of African American high school students reported being a victim of violent crime, compared to 11 percent of Asians and 16 percent of Whites.
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