Results

Prevalence of Victimization

Table 1 shows the prevalence of victimization for both sites. A striking percentage of youth and young adults had been seriously injured as a result of assaults or robberies. Among males, 11 percent in Pittsburgh and 20 percent in Denver reported having been a victim, as did 10 percent of the females in Denver. Prevalence rates were higher among minorities at both sites, particularly for African American males.

Risk Factors for Victimization

Because victimization is not evenly distributed across the youth population, the Denver and Pittsburgh studies used control groups that matched the victims’ demographics (age, ethnicity, and, in Denver, gender) to compare risk factors for victims and nonvictims.

Table 2 shows the relation of victimization to individual risk factors. It also shows the odds ratio (the increased likelihood of victimization given the presence of a particular risk factor compared with its absence), statistical significance, and percent injured in the risk-present and risk-absent groups.

Because many of the family and individual characteristics were not statistically significant in Pittsburgh and often were only significant for one gender in Denver, only the significant risk variables are included in table 2. The lack of significance of the family and some individual characteristics in Pittsburgh may reflect the somewhat older ages of the Pittsburgh sample when they were asked about victimization.

Several risk factors were significantly related to victimization at both sites and for both genders. These included participating in gang/group fights, carrying a weapon, committing serious assault, selling drugs, and associating with delinquent peers. The group of youth characterized by any one of these risk factors was generally two to four times more likely to have included victims than the group of youth who did not have the risk factor (see figure 1).

As shown in table 2, between 24 and 40 percent of males involved in gang/group fights had themselves been seriously injured, while approximately 12 percent of those who had not been involved in such fights had been seriously injured. Among females, 27 percent of those involved in gang/group fights had been seriously injured, while 8 percent of those who had not been involved in such fights had been seriously injured. Males who carried weapons were approximately three times more likely to be victimized than those who did not carry weapons—27 to 33 percent of the weapons carriers became victims, as opposed to only 10 percent who did not carry weapons. Among females, the results were similar. Of those who carried weapons, 21 percent had been victims, and of those who did not carry weapons, only 6 percent had been victims. Similarly, both males and females who committed aggravated assault, sold drugs, had delinquent peers, or committed violent acts against others were much more likely to become victims than those who did not engage in such activities.

Several family and other risk factors were associated with elevated levels of victimization, but only in the Denver sample. This most likely reflects the age range and the concurrent measurement of risk and victimization used in analyses for that site. Among boys and girls, these risk factors included coming from a single-parent household, being oppositional and hyperactive, and using drugs. Among males, risk factors also included having poor school grades, being impulsive, and having parents involved in criminal activities.

The relation of various combinations of risk factors to victimization was examined using the five risk factors that were closely associated with such victimization at both sites (participating in gang/group fights, carrying a weapon, committing serious assault, selling drugs, and having delinquent peers). Figure 2 shows clearly that for males the number of risk factors a youth has and his chances of becoming a victim are related. Among males overall, as the number of risk factors increased, so did the prevalence of victimization. While only 6 to 8 percent of males with no risk factors were victimized, 50 to 70 percent who had four or more risk factors had been victimized (see figure 2). Similar findings held for females. Among females with none of the five risk factors mentioned above, 5 percent had become victims; among those with one risk factor, 10 percent had become victims; and among those with two or more risk factors, 42 percent had become victims. Although the number of females with four or more risk factors was small, 100 percent of these females had become victims.

Across both studies and for each gender, the combination of committing assaults and carrying a weapon was particularly associated with elevated levels of victimization (see table 3). Among males, 40 to 46 percent of those individuals who carried weapons and were assaultive were themselves victims. Among females who carried weapons and were assaultive, 30 percent were victims. Examining all victims as a group, among males in Pittsburgh, 27 percent had this combination of risk factors and 49 percent had at least one of these risk factors. Among male victims in Denver, 62 percent had this combination of risk factors and 84 percent had at least one of these risk factors. Among female victims in Denver, 26 percent had this combination of risk factors and 65 percent had at least one of these risk factors. Thus, in Pittsburgh, about half the victims carried weapons or were involved in assaults, and in Denver, roughly three-quarters of male victims and two-thirds of female victims carried a weapon or were involved in assaults.

Juvenile Delinquency and Serious Injury Victimization	Juvenile Justice Bulletin • August 2001