Children as victims of violence: a national survey.
OBJECTIVE
The goal of this study was to gain a more comprehensive perspective on the scope, variety, and consequences of child victimization, which has been obscured by a fragmentation into specific problems like sexual abuse or kidnapping.


METHODS
Two thousand children aged 10 to 16 years were interviewed in a national telephone survey of children.


RESULTS
In the previous year, a quarter of the children had experienced a completed victimization, one in eight had experienced an injury, and one in a hundred required medical attention as a result. Nonfamily physical assaults were the most numerous. Contact sexual abuse occurred to 3.2% of girls and 0.6% of boys. There were also substantial numbers of incidents of attempted kidnappings and violence directed to children's genitals.


CONCLUSIONS
The victimization of children occurs to a greater extent than has been previously reported and is poorly represented in official statistics.


CONCLUSIONS
The authors argue for a more comprehensive interest in children's victimization including better national statistics about the problem.
Finkelhor
D
D
Family Research Laboratory, University of New Hampshire, Durham 03824.
Dziuba-Leatherman
J
J
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014342:Truth Disclosure; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*