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Fighting Fire With Fire: The Effects of Victim Resistance in Intimate Versus Stranger Perpetrated Assaults Against Females

NCJ Number
152593
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 9 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1994) Pages: 317-331
Author(s)
R Bachman; D C Carmody
Date Published
1994
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Using the National Crime Victimization Survey for 1987-90, this research focused on the factors that may increase the probability that a woman will sustain an injury during a domestic assault or another assault, with emphasis on the role of victim resistance.
Abstract
The analysis focused on the 647 women who had experienced assaults perpetrated by intimates and 257 women who had experienced assaults perpetrated by strangers. The research compared the extent to which victim resistance during an assault affected the injuries involved in assaults committed by intimates and those committed by strangers. The analysis focused on both physical resistance and verbal/passive resistance. Results revealed that female victims of assaults perpetrated by intimates were nearly twice as likely to sustain injury if they used either physical or verbal self-protective behavior. However, the only significant predictor of injury sustained by female victims of assaults perpetrated by strangers was the presence of a weapon. Tables and 18 references (Author abstract modified)