Epidemiology, Victimization Patterns by Age, Gender, Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status

In trying to determine the extent of the interpersonal violence problem, it is important to supplement self-report and arrest data on perpetration with information on victimization. Hospital emergency room and police data have been used to estimate victimization through surveillance systems that collect data on intentional injuries from national samples. Because victims may fail to report interpersonal violence victimization, particularly when injuries are minor and do not require medical attention or when there is fear of retaliation, large-scale national surveys can provide an additional perspective on victimization rates.

In the United States, the most widely referenced assessment of interpersonal violence victimization is the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), administered since 1972 by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Yearly data are obtained from a representative sample of 42,000 households comprising approximately 76,000 respondents. Survey data are used to estimate the number of victimizations and rate per 1,000 persons or households for the interpersonal violence offenses of rape/sexual assault, robbery, and assault. Assault information is further broken down by the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator. Victimization estimates are categorized by gender, ethnicity, and annual family income. A number of federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) use these surveys combined with other sources of information-for example, Uniform Crime Reporting Program data on homicides and Department of Health and Human Services data on child maltreatment-to develop summary profiles of victimization patterns for different types of interpersonal violence in the United States. Building on these multiple sources of information, patterns of interpersonal violence victimization data for 2003-2004 can be examined for several types of interpersonal violence, including homicide, rape/sexual assault, robbery, assault/intimate partner violence, and child maltreatment.