40 Million Yearly Crime Victimizations-Millions Experience Emotional Distress

Highlights

Author

Leonard Adam Sipes, Jr.

Former Senior Specialist for Crime Prevention and Statistics for the Department of Justice’s clearinghouse. Former Director of Information Services, National Crime Prevention Council. Former Adjunct Associate Professor of Criminology and Public Affairs-University of Maryland, University College. Former police officer. Retired federal senior spokesperson.

Former advisor to presidential and gubernatorial campaigns. Former advisor to the “McGruff-Take a Bite Out of Crime” national media campaign. Produced successful state anti-crime media campaigns.

Thirty-five years of directing award-winning (50+) public relations for national and state criminal justice agencies. Interviewed thousands of times by every national news outlet, often with a focus on crime statistics and research. Created the first state and federal podcasting series. Produced a unique and emulated style of government proactive public relations. 

Certificate of Advanced Study-The Johns Hopkins University. 

Author of ”Success With The Media: Everything You Need To Survive Reporters and Your Organization” available at Amazon and additional booksellers.

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A comprehensive overview of crime for recent years is available at Violent and Property Crime Rates In The U.S. 

Article

As a police officer, I responded to a call for an active burglary. When I arrived, I was greeted outside by a frantic mother and children who claimed that someone was in the basement. Upon investigation, no one was there and there were no signs of a breaking and entering.

However, the woman and children were distraught (understatement). They begged me to stay. The problem was that my calls were backing up; I had the woman call my supervisor to get permission to remain. After about 30 minutes, they were calm enough to leave.

One of the impressions of police work is how powerful all types of victimizations are to those affected. People move because of crime. I knew of a new television executive moving out of Baltimore City because his garage was broken into three times to steal bikes. He wanted to experience life in the city but moved his family close to the Pennslyvania line in northern Baltimore County. 

The findings below from the National Crime Victimization Survey of the USDOJ underplay the impact of crime by focusing on crimes of violence when the reality is that many are devastated by property crimes; victims often believe the offender will return. They spend thousands of dollars on security devices. They purchase firearms. The stories of identity theft victims losing their life savings are heartbreaking.

Readers should understand that all criminal activity (or perceptions of criminal activity) have the potential to significantly alter (destroy?) communities.

What puzzles me and others is that the plight of crime victims is routinely ignored by policymakers and the media. It’s as if victimization is something they need to get over and move on with their lives.

We wouldn’t do that to people experiencing severe medical or mental health issues or members of marginalized groups experiencing attacks; we’re ready to march in the streets for everyone except victims of crime.

Why is that?

National Crime Victimization Survey

Violent victimization is known to have consequences on victims’ lives, including negatively impacting their social and emotional well-being, see Socio-Emotional Impact of Violent Crime. In the National Crime Victimization Survey, socio-emotional consequences of crime include moderate to severe emotional distress, significant problems with friends or family, and significant problems with one’s job or schoolwork. Victimizations reflect the total number of times that persons were victims of crime.

Key Findings

• Overall, 68% of victims of serious violence experienced socio-emotional problems as a result of their victimization
• Nearly half of all violent victimizations (47%) resulted in moderate to severe distress to the victim. About 22% of violent victimizations resulted in the victim experiencing significant problems with family or friends, and 18% caused significant problems with their job or schoolwork. 
• More than half of rape or sexual assault (63%), robbery (59%), and aggravated assault (52%) victimizations resulted in moderate to severe distress to the victim, compared to less than half of simple assault (40%) victimizations. 
• The victim reported significant problems with family or friends following 18% of simple assault victimizations, which was lower than the percentages for rape or sexual assault (34%), robbery (30%), and aggravated assault victimizations (26%).
• The victim reported significant problems with their job or schoolwork after 13% of robbery victimizations and 15% of simple assault victimizations, both lower than the percentages reported after rape or sexual assault (29%) and aggravated assault (22%) victimizations.
• A greater percentage of female than male victims experienced socio-emotional problems, regardless of the type of violence or victim–offender relationship.
• The majority (91%) of violent crime victims with socioemotional problems experienced one or more emotional symptoms for a month or more. Most (61%) experienced one or more physical symptoms for a month or more.
• About 9 in 10 IPV victims who lived in households headed by single females experienced socioemotional problems

Percent of violent victimizations where the victim reported experiencing a socio-emotional consequence, by type of crime, 2022