Investigating Repeated Victimization With the NCVS, Executive Summary

• NCJ Number: 193414
• Date Published: 1998
• Author(s): James P. Lynch; Michael L. Berbaum; Mike Planty
• Length: 19 pages
• Grant Number(s): 97-IJ-CX-0027
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)

Annotation

This is the executive summary of a study that examined both repeated burglary victimization and repeated assault victimization with data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS).

Abstract

The study attempted to confirm both the assumption that prior burglary victimization was the best predictor of subsequent burglary and that the findings on repeated assaults held true for the broader population of repeated assault victims. The NCVS was selected as the source for data analysis because of its distinctive advantages in exploring repeat victimization. The NCVS collects data at 6-month intervals over as much as a 3-year period. The survey also has repeated measurement of independent or predictor variables, so as to permit the assessment of the effects of change in various attributes on the risk of victimization. Further, the NCVS introduced a procedure in 1992 to collect information on high-volume repeated victimization reported in the survey. The analysis of repeated burglary victimization examined the risk of burglary in housing units over a 3-year period. The victimization experience of persons in these units was assessed at 6-month intervals. The analysis confirmed that prior burglary victimization was positively related to subsequent burglary victimization, but other attributes of housing units and their occupants were much stronger predictors of burglary risk than prior burglary victimization. Regarding assault, the fact that repeat assaults are prevalent in schools, intimate relationships, and work, the study focused on these domains. The study concludes that the understanding of repeat assault would benefit from a more systematic questioning of victims about the inter-relationship among events and repeated events. Currently, the NCVS asks about the relationship of events only for very high-volume repeat victimizations. 21 references