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Risk Factors for Violent Victimization of Women in a Major Northeastern City, 1990-1991 and 1996-1997

Metadata Updated: November 28, 2023

This study addressed the question of whether women who were sexually abused as children were at increased risk of either sexual abuse or domestic violence victimization later in life. It also investigated the role of other potential risk factors, including family background, sexual behavior, alcohol problems, and a woman's own aggressive behavior. The investigators sought to answer the following questions: (1) Are victims of child sexual abuse at increased risk of adolescent or adult sexual victimization as compared to nonvictims? (2) Are victims of child sexual abuse at increased risk of physically violent nonsexual victimization as compared to nonvictims? (3) How is the risk of sexual revictimization and physical victimization among abuse survivors affected by their engaging in violent behavior, such as physical fighting, engaging in heavy drinking, and practicing risky sexual behavior, such as having multiple sexual partners? (4) Were women who reported drinking problems and physical fighting in Wave 2 at increased risk of domestic violence victimization at Wave 3, compared to the other child abuse victims in the study? This study consisted of a secondary analysis of selected variables collected during two waves of a three-wave prospective study of the consequences of child abuse and sexual assault for adult, adolescent, and child victims (McCahill, Meyer, and Fischman, 1979). During the first wave of the study, data were gathered on 206 girls ranging in age from 10 months to 12 years who were victims of reported cases of sexual abuse and who were examined at a municipal hospital in 1973-1975. In 1990 and 1991, follow-up interviews (Wave 2) were conducted with 136 of the original 206 girls, then aged 18 to 31. During this wave, a comparison group of girls treated at a hospital for reasons other than child sexual abuse was matched to the 206 victims on the basis of race, age, and date of hospital visit, for purposes of analysis of their official criminal records. The criminal records data are not included in this data collection. Also, none of the women in the comparison group were interviewed during Wave 2. In 1996 and 1997, another wave of follow-up interviews (Wave 3) was conducted. Using the same criteria as in Wave 2, a new matched comparison group was identified, resulting in an additional 85 girls in the sample. Of the 174 women interviewed during Wave 3, 80 were known victims of child sexual abuse who also had been interviewed during Wave 2. The data in Part 2 (Wave 3 Women Also Interviewed at Wave 2) are a subset of Part 1 (All Wave 3 Interviews). Part 1 variables supply information on self-reported family history of substance abuse and criminal activity, parental care and neglect, and family violence when the respondent was a child. Topics focusing on respondents' current (adult) experiences include violence in relationships, injuries as a result of domestic violence, use of a weapon during domestic violence, sexual history, sexual victimization, and parental attachment. Variables in Part 2 cover parental affection and support received by the respondent when she was a teenager, history of fighting, physical abuse by a partner, dating and sexual history, alcohol abuse, and sexual victimization. Demographic variables (found in Part 1 only) include age, marital status, race, and education.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: us-pd

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Dates

Metadata Created Date August 18, 2021
Metadata Updated Date November 28, 2023

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOJ JSON

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date August 18, 2021
Metadata Updated Date November 28, 2023
Publisher National Institute of Justice
Maintainer
Identifier 2969
Data First Published 2000-12-04T00:00:00
Language eng
Data Last Modified 2006-03-30T00:00:00
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 011:21
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://www.justice.gov/data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id a99e857d-928a-49ac-a798-791669667b9f
Harvest Source Id 3290e90a-116f-42fc-86ac-e65521ef3b68
Harvest Source Title DOJ JSON
License http://www.usa.gov/publicdomain/label/1.0/
Program Code 011:060
Publisher Hierarchy Office of Justice Programs > National Institute of Justice
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 9ea9837d95b5c94cdbca40b10ff629f5fa748e847a427d90e47ab5b5242da01a
Source Schema Version 1.1

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