Young workers and youth offenders

Abstract

ii To my daughter Malayah, whose free spirit and humor have kept me sane throughout this process.iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to thank my committee members; each providing expert advice throughout the dissertating process. Dr. Peek-Asa played a key role in establishing a relationship with personnel at the Iowa Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning Agency and in the acquisition of the data. Dr. Saftlas meticulously reviewed my methodological and analytical approaches for chapter three, and provided useful feedback that improved the design. Dr. Casteel assisted with redefining the outcome for chapter two that allowed me to continue with my proposed research question. Dr. Torner, who continually stressed the importance of applying new statistical procedures, recommended the inclusion of the propensity score analysis. Dr. Cavanaugh provided statistical guidance and support. Dr. Ramirez, my committee chair, reviewed my entire dissertation in great detail but also provided me with ample opportunities to work on various ongoing research projects which improved my analytical, writing and epidemiologic skills. Thank you all for providing me with the knowledge base to proceed to the next stage of my professional career. I would also like to thank my mother for instilling in me the importance of pursing a college degree. Because of this, I had the confidence to pursue a doctoral degree. I would also like to thank my husband for making this trip to Iowa with me, enduring the tough winters but most importantly supporting me throughout my academic career. Without your support, I would not have completed this program, and this accomplishment is much as yours as it is mine. My motivation and reason for continued drive, my daughter Malayah who without knowing has been my motivation to complete this dissertation and receive my degree. iv ABSTRACT This dissertation focused on the topic of youth violence in two very different populations, young workers and youth offenders. Youth violence at the home, in school and in the community has been well documented in the literature but very little is known about the prevalence of and risk factors for victimization at the workplace in young workers. In chapter two, a retrospective cohort study was conducted using National Crime Victimization Survey data from 2008-2012. We calculated a rate of workplace violence victimization and compared those rates between occupations and demographic characteristics in young workers 16-24 years. Multilevel, weighted Poisson regression models were used to compare rates of workplace victimization across occupations and demographic characteristics. The rate of workplace violence victimization was 1.11 (95% CI: 0.95-1.27) incidents per 1,000 employed person-months. Young workers in retail sales occupations had a higher rate of workplace victimization than workers in health care occupations (RR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.26-1.03) but a lower rate of workplace victimization than workers in protective service occupations (RR = 2.25, 95% CI: 1.34-3.77). Rates of...