General Child Victimization
Fact Sheet
Assault [click here for a printer-friendly version in pdf]
Juveniles are substantially more likely than adults to be assaulted.
- The assault rate for youth 12 through 17 is 2.7 times (or 167%) greater than for adults, or 50 per 1,000 versus 19 per 1,000, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey for 2000.
CCRC data analysis using NCVS 2000.
- Other self-report surveys suggest the actual assault rate for youth is higher than estimates from the National Crime Victimization Survey. Annual estimates for youth assault victimization from other surveys are as follows:
Study |
% Assaulted in Previous Year |
| National Crime Victimization Survey | 8.0% |
| Monitoring the Future | 25.8% |
| National Youth Survey | 26.7% |
| National Youth Victimization Prevention Study | 15.6% |
Wells, L.E.,& Rankin, J .H. 1995. Juvenile Victimization: Convergent Validation of Alternative Measurements. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 32(3):287-307
Finkelhor, D. & Dziuba-Leatherman, J. 1994. Children as Victims of Violence: A National Survey. Pediatrics, 94(4):413-420.
- Juveniles under age 12 also have high assault victimization rates, according to several national and local studies.
Finkelhor, D. 1998. A comparison of the responses of preadolescents and adolescents in a national victimization survey. Journal of Interpsersonal Violence, 13(3), 362-382.
