[Childhood and violence: perpetrator and victim perspectives from the viewpoint of criminology].
Police crime statistics show a significant increase in the rates of violent crimes committed by children during the last two years. However, since in Germany children under the age of 14 are not accountable for criminal offences, these statistics are highly selective. On the other hand, police crime statistics also show a huge increase of violent crimes committed by juveniles and young adults which cannot be explained by changes of police intervention strategies. It seems reasonable to attribute this mainly to changed living conditions of young people, particularly the increase proportion of children and adolescents living below the thresholds of poverty. To put the issue of violence and children in perspective, the victimization of children should not be overlooked. Criminological as well as psychological research show the devastating consequences of physical and sexual abuse experiences during childhood. Results of a representative german survey concerning the prevalence of violent victimization experiences during childhood are presented. 13.5% of the male and 16.1% of the female respondents had been victims of severe physical or sexual abuse during childhood. If repeatedly witnessing parental violence is additionally taken into consideration, these rates are 18.3% for male and 20.5% for female respondents. A comparison of age groups failed to identify significant differences of victimization rates, except the rates of minor violence committed by parents. Thus it can be assumed tentatively, that the proportion of children subjected to severe violent acts committed by closely related adults as well as the rate of those witnessing parental violence has remained constant over time.
Wetzels
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Kriminologisches Forschungsinstitut, Hannover.
Pfeiffer
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C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000523:psychology / Q000639:trends; D008297:Male; D010553:Personality Development; D012926:Social Control, Formal; D012951:Socialization; D014754:Violence / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000523:psychology / Q000639:trends