Victims of Violence: The Case of Homeless Youth

Abstract

Espeeially in the media, young homeless people are frequently presented as posing a violent threat to other members of the publie. However, the eeonomie eircumstanees, living situation and age of homeless youth are eonsistent with faetors identified in vietim research with vulnerability to violent erime. The present researcb explored the nature and extent of violent victimisation of homeless young people after they had left home. Intensive interviews were eondueted with 51 homeless youth who were under the age of 18. Almost two-thirds of these young people had been physieally assaulted and halfhad been sexually assaulted in the previous 12 months. The perpetrators of this violence were predominantly male. There were major differenees in the nature of the violent experienees of the young men and the young women in terms of the relationship to the perpetrator, the loeation of the assault and the motivation. The demand for sex was a faetor throughout the experienees of the young women.

Street Youth Violence And Victimization

“…• Victimization is increased by violent offending abuse range from 5% to 50% (Alder, 1991;Booth & Zhang, 1996;Cauce et al, 2000;Craig & Hodson, 1998;Famularo et al, 1990;Farber et al, 1984;Feital et al, 1992;Janus et al, 1987Janus et al, , 1995Kufeldt & Nimmo, 1987a, 1987bKurtz et al, 1991;McCormack et al, 1986;Powers et al, 1989Powers et al, , 1990Ringwalt et al, 1998;Rotheram-Borus et al, 1996;Russell, 1998;Schaffner, 1998;Shane, 1989;Simons & Whitbeck, 1991;Stiffman, 1989;Terrell, 1997;Whitbeck, Hoyt, Yoder, Cauce, & Paradise, 2001;Whitbeck & Simons, 1990). Although there is a fluctuation in the numbers reported across studies, reflecting differences in sampling, recruitment, and data collection procedures (see Russell, 1998), a growing number of studies report that at least half of the youth in their samples have experienced some form of abuse (Alder, 1991;Booth & Zhang, 1996;Craig & Hodson, 1998;Farber et al, 1984;Janus et al, 1987Janus et al, , 1995Kurtz et al, 1991;McCormack et al, 1986;Powers et al, 1989Powers et al, , 1990<...>…”

“…found that youth were expected to intervene in disputes where peers were outnumbered (see Baron, 1997a;Kennedy & Baron, 1993) and were required to participate in retaliatory efforts where a member of the group had been victimized (see Baron, 1997a). Furthermore, group rivalries, including territorial and turf disputes, provided the impetus for further avenues of violence (Alder, 1991;Baron, 1997a;. Altogether, these norms provide guidelines for violence, and the violence provides members with the opportunity to display their worthiness to the rest of the group (Baron, 1997a).…”

Giving Everyone a “Fair Go”

“…In ''Victims of violence: The case of homeless youth'' (Alder 1991a), she challenged depictions of young homeless people as potential perpetrators of violence, indicating that their circumstances were such that they were particularly vulnerable as victims of violent crime. Young women, in particular, were frequently the victims of violence from men who had offered them shelter.…”

Enhancing Risk Detection Among Homeless Youth: A Randomized Clinical Trial of a Promising Pilot Intervention

“…Although many youth report leaving home to escape such victimization, they often face additional dangers on the streets (Coates & McKenzie-Mohr, 2010) where they are 5 times more likely to be physically attacked and 2.5 times more likely to witness a violent attack when compared with their housed peers (Ensign & Santelli, 1998). While experiences of sexual assault are relatively less prevalent, they are still quite common; among samples of homeless youth, at least 15% of homeless youth reported having been sexually assaulted, with rates ranging as high as 52% in some samples (Alder, 1991;Kipke, Simon, Montgomery, Unger, & Iversen, 1997;Whitbeck, Hoyt, & Ackley, 1997). Youth at greatest risk for victimization include those who move frequently (Ferguson, Bender, Thompson, Xie, & Pollio, 2012), engage in criminal acts (Tyler & Johnson, 2004), spend time with delinquent peers, remain on the streets for longer periods of time (Yoder, Whitbeck, & Hoyt, 2003), abuse substances (Bender, Ferguson, Thompson, Komlo, & Pollio, 2010), or engage in survival behaviors as a means of earning money or obtaining resources on the streets (Tyler, Hoyt, Whitbeck, & Cauce, 2001a, 2001bWhitbeck, Hoyt, & Bao, 2000;Whitbeck, Hoyt, & Yoder, 1999).…”