Juvenile victimization from an international perspective

Abstract

Delinquency and victimization are correlated. However, this does not imply that all victims are offenders, or that all offenders become victims of crimes. Elderly people and women especially commit substantially fewer offences, but nonetheless at times may experience victimization. However, among juveniles, the correlation between victimization and delinquency is generally assumed to be stronger, given that (young) offenders often expose themselves to increased risks of victimization. A delinquent lifestyle may indeed be among the strongest predictors of violent victimization. This in itself is one of many good reasons to look more closely at victimization among juveniles. A second motivation is that juveniles are being victimized disproportionately compared to other age groups, and crime is an essential aspect of the quality of life at this age. Many juveniles are obviously not regularly involved in delinquency, but are genuinely affected if violence occurs frequently in the age group they socialize with in everyday contexts. Since minors are notoriously poorly represented in national and international crime victimization surveys, this study offers a good occasion to look more closely at the factors which influence the probability of such experiences at this age, which may not necessarily be the same during later periods in life.