Victimization and Juvenile Offending

Children of all ages in the United States are increasingly being exposed to violence and victimization. While the types of violence and levels of exposure differ for children of different ages, rates of
interpersonal violence and victimization of 12-to-17-year-olds in the United States are very high. In fact, Department of Justice statistics show that teenagers experience rates of violent crime far higher
than other age groups do. Witnessing violence is even more common than victimization.

Violent victimization can have a number of deleterious and long-lasting affects on how teenagers see the world and the way they function socially, interpersonally, and academically. It can affect their
behavior, their problem solving skills, and their ability to modulate their feelings and reactions, and it can eventually give rise to patterns of conflict and aggression toward others.

While the relationship of child maltreatment to later arrest and offending has been understood for a number of years, researchers are now beginning to better document and understand the significant
connection between other forms of violent victimization and juvenile offending as well.

Judges, teachers, counselors, juvenile justice personnel, and other professionals need to understand the significant effect that victimization has on the behavior, attitudes, and functioning of adolescents, and what they can do to mitigate its effects.