Transcript 10 Things You Might Be Surprised to Know About Youth

Key Findings from the
National Survey of
Children’s Exposure to
Violence & Implications for
Assessment
Sherry Hamby
Sewanee, the University of the South
David Finkelhor, & Heather Turner
Crimes Against Children Research Center, UNH
Presented at the Defending Childhood Initiative Grantee Meeting,
Washington, DC, January 25-27, 2011
For more info contact [email protected]
1
National Survey of Children’s Exposure to
Violence (NatSCEV, Finkelhor, Turner,
Ormrod, & Hamby, 2009)
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Telephone survey conducted January 2008- May 2008
National RDD sample of 4549 children age 1 month-17
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2454 caregivers of children age 0-9
2095 youth age 10-17
Respondents promised confidentiality and paid $20
Oversample of African American, Hispanic, & low income
Interviews completed with 71% of eligible respondents
contacted (63% with oversample of minorities and low
income)
More than 40 types of victimization assessed.
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Victimization in Last Year
Total and Selected Aggregates
(Children 0-17, N=4549)
61
46
25
6
10
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#1: Children’s Lives
Aren’t Organized by
Research Disciplines,
Institutional Mandates, or
Professional Roles
4
The “Stovepipes”
of
Child
Victimization
Graphic
prepared by
Kelly Foster
Assessment, Prevention, & Intervention
Tend to Focus On a Single Problem….
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But many children are victimized in
multiple ways…
3.3
Sexual
4.2
1.8
1.8
Physical
Lifetime
Past year
2.4
2.5
Witness
If Maltreated,
OR (adjusted) for Risk of
2.1
Property
Other Victimization Type
1.8
0
1
2
3
4
5
7
..and, across violence subdisciplines,
we are largely studying the same kids
6.2
Sexual
5
5.3
Maltreatment
4.1
Lifetime
Past year
2.9
Witness
2.5
If Physically Assaulted,
OR (adjusted) for Risk of
2.5
2.7
Property
0
1
2
3
Other Victimization Type
4
5
6
7
8
Even polyvictims (>10 unique
victimizations) comprise a high % of any
particular victimization category
Percent of Victims.
60
50
40
30
50
20
10
38
16
37
21
15
0
Assault
Maltreatment
Peer/Sib
Sexual
Witness Family
viol
Expos Comm
Viol
9
#2: Children’s families
aren’t defined by
current adult romantic
relationships
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A Well-Known Decline in 2-parent
Households…
11
..but even this can mask the large
numbers of children experiencing the
end of parental unions
100
90
80
70
60
% 50
Cohabiting couples
Marital couples
40
30
20
10
0
1 year
5 years
Child’s Age
10 years
Based on 1995 NSFG
data; from Manning et
al., 2004
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Children Are Exposed to Multiple
Parental and Caregiver Relationships
Others: Parents’ exboyfriends, ex-girlfriends,
foster parents, in-home
relatives, other caregivers
Grandparents or other inhome caregivers who
supervise child 50+
hours/week while parent
works
Dad, stepmother, half-sibling
Mom, boyfriend, half-siblings
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Many Parents, Intimate Partners, &
Relatives Perpetrate Partner Violence in
Front of Children
Other females
7%
Other males
8%
Boyfriend of
mother
11%
Mothers
12%
Fathers
62%
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#3 Witnessing Partner
Violence is Not Only
Associated with Child
Physical Abuse, but All
Forms of Maltreatment
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Witnessing Partner Violence (WPV):
Common & co-occurs w/ child abuse
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WPV Youth
13
Review by Appel & Holden, 1998
12
10
8
6
4
Adults
who
remember
WPV
41%
Also
abused
Not
abused
2
0
%
From Straus, 1992 (1985 NFVR)
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% abused
Physical Abuse & WPV
All odds ratios control for several demographics and have Zhang & Yu correction applied
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% abused
Psychological Abuse & WPV
From Hamby, Finkelhor, Turner, & Ormrod, 2010
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% abused
Sexual Abuse by Known Adult
& WPV
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% neglected
Neglect & WPV
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% custodial interference
Custodial Interference & WPV
72% of family abductions occurred in WPV homes!
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#4 Exposure to Family
Violence is Not Just
About Inter-parental
Violence
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Other Household Members Assault
Each Other at Significant Rates
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15.8
16
14
12
10.3
% 10
7.8
8
6
All youth
14 to 17 yo
4.6
4
2
0
Parent assault of sibling
Teen or grown-up assault
relative
Lifetime rates from Hamby, Finkelhor, Turner, & Ormrod, forthcoming
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Perpetrators & Victims of Other
Household Assault in NatSCEV
Perpetrators
Victims
Adolescent
brother
Father
Adolescent
sister
Mother
Sibling
Mother
Father
Other
Other male
Other
female
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Targets of Household Offenses Resulting
in Law Enforcement Contact
Juveniles Offenders
Adult Offenders
Parent
Child
Boy/girlfr
Other IP
Parent
Child
Boy/girlft
Other IP
Sibling
Other
Sibling
Other
NIBRS data, Snyder & McCurley, 2008
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#5 Current Trauma
Symptoms Are More Tied
to Variety and Number of
Exposures than to
Specific Victimization
Types
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Figure 1. Trauma Symptom Levels by Total
Number of Victimization Types*
* cases with 11+ victimizations aggregated due to smaller Ns.
** mean standardized symptoms scores at different numbers of victimization types, controlling for demographic
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variables
Polyvictimization matters more
than any particular type
Maltreatment, for example, has a
medium-sized association with trauma
symptoms, after controlling for age,
gender, and other demographics but
NOT poly-victimization.
Without PV With PV *
0.32
0.05
Remarkably, this association is close
to zero if you add polyvictimization to the equation—it
explains nearly all of the variability
accounted for by maltreatment.
The strongest predictor gets to
explain as much variance as it
can, leaving only “unique”
variance for other variables. It
turns out there is little “unique”
about maltreatment.
Polyvictimization (PV) Swamps Effects of
Individual Victimizations on Trauma
Without PV With PV *
Assault
Maltreatment
Without PV With PV *
0.05
Sexual
Victzn
0.07
Witness
Fam Viol
0.32
0.35
0.27
0.01
0.35
0.05
Peer/Sibling
Expos to
Comm Viol
0.32
0.28
0.07
-0.03
* Standardized Regression coefficient,
controlling for age, gender, race, ethnicity, SES,
family structure.
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Figure 2: Trauma Symptom Scores across
Victim Groups
Property Victims
Sexual Victims
Maltreatment Victims
Witness Family Viol
Victims
Peer-Sib Victims
Witness Community Viol
Victims
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Using the JVQ-R2, the
Victimization Questionnaire
from NatSCEV
What Does the JVQ Measure?
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The Juvenile Victimization
Questionnaire has 5 modules:
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Conventional crime
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Child maltreatment
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JVQ ref: Hamby, Finkelhor, Ormrod,
& Turner, 2004
(includes bullying)
Sexual Victimizations
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(physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect)
Peer Victimization
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(theft, assault, kidnapping)
(includes sexual harassment, statutory sex
offenses)
Witnessing and Indirect Victimization

(includes witnessing DV, war zone)
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Advantages of the JVQ-R2 Model
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#1 Can track developmental
pathways
#2 Can identify overlap among types
#3 Powerful determinant of
symptoms
#4 Comprehensive; includes violence
across settings and perpetrators
#5 Designed to map more closely
onto common institutional categories
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Challenges of the JVQ-R2 model

Institutional categories do not always
have consistent definitions or clear
boundaries among types of
victimization, and sometimes even
vary across institutions.
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Ex. A: Child protective services typically
examine caregiver perpetrators for physical
abuse & neglect, but others for sexual abuse.
Some degree of scoring overlap is
hard to eliminate across victimization
types.
We have encountered some resistance
at “accepting” the large numbers of
victims id’d through this model
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Help for Conceptual Issues
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Be clear about definitions and how they
overlap (or don’t) with institutional
definitions.
Collect enough incident data to be flexible in
your definitions for different settings/uses.
Provide multiple statistics that identify
different levels of severity.
We have spent a lot of time reviewing the
reports and re-classifying as needed.
The good news: in our earlier study, we
compared numerous scoring alternatives,
including simple counts from screeners, and
found them all quite similar (Finkelhor,
Ormrod, Turner, & Hamby, 2005).
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JVQ-R2 Steps in Development
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Item Formulation
Expert Review
Focus Groups of Youth and Parents
Cognitive Interviews
National Household Survey
JVQ Modules
 Module A: Conventional Crime
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Robbery
Personal Theft
Vandalism
Assault with Weapon
Assault without Weapon
Attempted Assault
Kidnapping
Bias Attack
 Module D: Sexual Victimization
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Sexual Assault by Known Adult
Sexual Assault by Unknown Adult
Sexual Assault by Peer/Sibling
Forced Sex (including attempts)
Flashing/Sexual Exposure
Verbal Sexual Harassment
Statutory Rape & Sexual Misconduct
 Module B: Child Maltreatment
–
–
–
–
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Physical Abuse by Caregiver
Psychological/Emotional Abuse
Neglect
Custodial Interference/Family Abduction
 Module C: Peer & Sibling Victimization
–
–
–
–
–
–
Gang or Group Assault
Peer or Sibling Assault
Nonsexual Genital Assault
Physical Intimidation
Relational Aggression
Dating Violence
Module E: Witnessing & Indirect Victimization
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Witness to Domestic Violence
Witness to Parent Assault of Sibling
Witness to Assault with Weapon
Witness to Assault without Weapon
Burglary of Family Household
Murder of Family Member or Friend
Exposure to Random Shootings, Terrorism or Riots
Exposure to War or Ethnic Conflict
JVQ-R2 Supplemental Items
 Exposure to Family Violence & Abuse
–
–
–
–
–
–
Parent Verbally Threatened
Parental Displaced Aggression
Parent Pushed
Parent Hit or Slapped
Parent Severely Physically Assault
Other Family Violence Exposure
 Electronic Victimization
–
–
–
Internet Harassment
Cell Phone Harassment
Unwanted Internet Sex Talk
 School Violence & Threat
–
–
School Threat of Bomb or Attack
School Vandalism
 Other Severe Assaults
–
–
Assault by Adult
Assault with Injury
 Exposure to Community Violence
–
–
–
Exposure to Sexual Assault
Exposure to Robbery
Exposure to Threatened Assault with Weapon
 Supplemental Peer Relational
Aggression Items
–
–
Social Discrediting by Peers
Social Exclusion by Peers
 Supplemental Neglect Items
–
–
–
–
–
Neglect from Parental Incapacitation
Neglect from Parental Absence
Neglect from Inappropriate Adults in
Home
Neglect from Unsafe Environment
Neglect from Lack of Hygiene
Supervision
JVQ-R2: Choices
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Gold standard: Full JVQ
(www.unh.edu/ccrc/jvq)
Silver: JVQ short form, screener, or
abbreviated interview
Bronze: A brief screen, much in the
same way many of you routinely ask
about SI or HI:
“Have you been hurt by someone in
the last year, or do you ever feel
scared or unsafe at home, school, in
your neighborhood?”
Ask in private setting!!
Body map
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JVQ-R2 Formats
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Full JVQ, including all supplemental screeners
and all follow-ups
More than 50 forms of victimization
 39 follow-ups, some asked of all or most screeners,
some specific to certain victimizations
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Screener only version
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Abbreviated interview
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No follow-up items
34 core JVQ items, with limited follow-ups
Reduced item version
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12 items that include at least one screener from each
major victimization domain.
Sample Items
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In the last year, did anyone steal something from
you and never give it back? Things like a
backpack, money, watch, clothing, bike, stereo,
or anything else?
In the last year, did any kid, even a brother or
sister, hit you? Somewhere like: at home, at
school, out playing, in a store, or anywhere else?
Building a Child-Centered
Approach into Assessment
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Although some exemplary programs exist, many
programs, including the important gateways of CPS
& schools, seldom ask about victimizations aside
from those related to initial report.
We’d like to see all children who receive CPS
referrals asked about bullying, nonfamily assault,
and exposure to community violence.
We’d like to see all school children referred for
bullying or depression asked about family violence.
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All the Victims in a Family Need
Services
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Assess parents as well as children. Parents
can’t implement treatment plans if they
can’t freely choose their actions.
Assess children as well as parents. What
must it be like for a child in a shelter, a fulltime residential program, to either not
receive any services at all or to get perhaps
an hour of week of group therapy?
Use tools like the VIGOR (Hamby 2009) to
formally incorporate children’s needs into
safety planning.
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Bigger Implications?
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Need to re-think service delivery and consider
alternative models.
Zero-to-3 programs offer one model that might be
extended across the span of childhood.
Developmental focus
 Integrate as many services as possible
 Family-centered
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Big brother/big sister/coaches/ministers. Trusted
adults are one key aspect of resilience, but these
natural helpers don’t limit themselves to one
domain of a child’s life.
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