Citation

Peterson J, DeHart D, Wright E. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019; 16(11): e16111873.

Affiliation

School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE 68182, USA. emwright@unomaha.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph16111873

PMID

31141877

Abstract

Previous research has acknowledged that there is a relationship between victimization and later delinquency, but the specific attributes of this relationship are unclear because measures of both direct and indirect victimization are rarely explored in a single study. We included both indirect and direct victimization to examine which form of victimization was a stronger predictor of substance use, fighting, running away, and sex work among girls committed to a juvenile justice facility.

FINDINGS indicated that direct victimization was typically a more salient predictor of delinquency than indirect forms of victimization. Further, running away and sex work appear to be unique outcomes that are particularly likely when girls experience direct rather than indirect victimization.

FINDINGS are summarized with implications for health and public policy.

Language: en

Keywords

delinquency; girls; poly-victimization; witnessing violence