Journal Article

Juvenile Victimization in Portugal through the Lens of ISRD-3: Lifetime Prevalence, Predictors, and Implications

Martins, Paula Cristina, Mendes, Sílvia M, Tendais, Iva, Fernández-Pacheco, Glória

2019

Overview

Child and youth victimization is a universal phenomenon, common to all the different social groups, regardless of their condition (UNICEF 2014). Even though it has a lot of characteristics in common with adult victimization, child and youth victimization each have their own specificities (Martins 2016). In fact, child victimization rates are known to be greater than those of adults (Finkelhor 2008, 2011), and this cannot be explained only by the relative size of the child population. On the other hand, children are subject to a greater diversity of violence, insofar as, in addition to being victims of the same types of adult victimization, they are victimized by specific forms of violence (e.g., child abuse, bullying) and in different contexts: at home, school, and in the community, they are exposed to violence perpetrated by relatives and strangers, whether peers or adults (Cater et al. 2016). Also, childhood violence has a high developmental impact, as well as an effect on the present and future functioning of the child, with potentially dramatic consequences (Herrenkohl et al. 2013; Mrug and Windle 2010; Wright et al. 2013) that will influence children’s future paths, as it may interfere in their psychophysiological processes and compromise the child’s health and well-being. In addition to being victim of a single traumatic event or a chronic form of violence or abuse, the co-occurrence of various forms of victimization during childhood is frequent, particularly intra-family and extra-family types of violence, as well as direct and indirect forms of exposure. This corresponds to patterns or combinations of different kinds of abuse, violence, and other complex adversities (Finkelhor et al. 2007). Polyvictimization, combining multiple stressors, leads to more detrimental outcomes than single or repeated victimizations (Finkelhor et al. 2011). Additionally, it impacts several domains of functioning, with a wide range of short- and long-term negative results. The impact of violence on children and young people depends on multiple factors: the age at which the violent condition is experienced, its type, severity, frequency, complexity (single or polyvictimization), the relationship between the people involved (Gilad 2017; Jackson and Deye 2015), and children’s characteristics (gender, socioeconomic status, and emotional skills, amongst others). The quality of the child’s environment and an early and effective intervention also play a protective role, helping to reduce the negative impact of victimization and build resilience (Jackson and Deye 2015). Generally speaking, an empirical body of literature on the impact of violence and abuse on children and youth documents symptoms, such as: 1) developmental and behavioral problems, attention disorders, attachment disorders, developmental delays, poor social behavior, mental health problems, more criminal activity and victimization; 2) risk behaviors, such as drug and alcohol abuse, suicidal behavior, and promiscuous behavior; and 3) finally, serious health conditions, such as cancer, lung, heart, liver and skeletal diseases, and sexually transmitted diseases (Gilad 2017). Moreover, in addition to being a critical phenomenon from a clinical, social, and political perspective, the victimization of children and young people is, as Enzmann et al. (2010) claim, an indirect way of measuring crime. Therefore, as a critical social problem, child victimization is a relevant topic of research (Finkelhor 2008; Hartjen and Priyadarsini 2012). Our knowledge of victimization during childhood is, however, dispersed and fragmented (Finkelhor and Wells 2003). This paper addresses current victimization among Portuguese youth in urban areas, based on ISRD-3 results, conducted in 2015–2016. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to determine lifetime prevalence of juvenile victimization, considering overall and specific types of victimization and gender, age, and city size, and their demographic and socioeconomic correlates.

• Publisher: Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Abused children / Adults / Alcohol abuse / Alcohol related crime / Annual reports / Attachment disorders / Behavior problems / Behaviour disordered children / Bullying / Cancer / Cardiovascular diseases / Child abuse & neglect / Child sexual abuse / Childhood / Children / Children & youth / Comorbidity / Compromises / Crime / Criminal statistics / Demography / Developmentally delayed young children / Domestic violence / Drug abuse / Extortion / Families & family life / Gender / Health problems / Intellectual disabilities / Intervention / Liver / Lung cancer / Mental disorders / Mental health / Multiculturalism & pluralism / Peers / Physiological psychology / Population / Relatives / Resilience / Risk / Risk behavior / Robbery / Sexually transmitted diseases / Skills / Social behavior / Social factors / Social groups / Socioeconomic factors / Socioeconomic status / STD / Stress / Substance abuse / Suicide / Urban areas / Victimization / Victims / Victims of crime / Violence / Youth