U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Special Report

National Crime Victimization Survey


Juvenile Victimization and Offending, 1993-2003


August 2005, NCJ 209468


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This file is text only without graphics and many of the tables.
A Zip archive of the tables in this report in spreadsheet format
(.wk1) and the full report including tables and graphics in
.pdf format are available from:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/jvo03.htm
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By Katrina Baum, Ph.D.
BJS Statistician

--------------------------------------
Highlights

The number of victimizations by violent crime 
per 1,000 teenagers dropped from about 130 
victimizations in 1993 to about 60 in 2003

*  On average, juveniles (ages 12-17) were more 
than twice as likely as adults (age 18 or older) 
to be the victim of violent crime from 1993 to 
2003.

*  Average annual rates of violent crime from the
beginning (1993-95) to the end (2001-03) of the 
11-year period declined for all age groups across 
all types of crime measured, but the strongest 
declines were among younger teens (12-14).

*  Older teens (15-17) were about 3 times more 
likely than younger teens (12-14) to be the 
victim of a violent crime involving a firearm.

*  Among victims of violent crimes, younger teens
(12-14) were less likely than older teens (15-17) 
to have been victimized by a stranger (32% versus 
41%).

*  Among juveniles age 17 or younger, blacks were 
5 times as likely as whites to be the victim of a 
homicide.

*  Juveniles were involved as victims or offenders 
in 38% of all violent crimes in which the victim 
could estimate the age of the offender(s),1993-2003.

*  4 in 5 violent victimizations of younger teens 
(12-14)involved offender(s) perceived to be juvenile(s).
----------------------------------------------

During the period 1993-2003, juveniles ages 12-14 and
juveniles ages 15-17 experienced average annual rates
of nonfatal violence that were about 2 times higher
than the rate for adults (83 and 84 per 1,000 versus 
32 per 1,000). Juveniles under 15 had average annual
victimization rates of homicide that were less than 
a third of those for adults.

Four in five victims of nonfatal violent crime, ages 
12-14, perceived the offender to be a juvenile. By 
comparison, 1 in 10 adult victims of violent crime 
perceived the offender to be a juvenile. 

Juveniles experienced declines for all nonfatal 
crimes measured -- rape/ sexual assault, robbery, 
aggravated assault, and simple assault -- based on 
a comparison of average annual rates for 1993-95 to 
those for 2001-03. Victimization rates for overall 
violence declined more for younger teens than for 
older teens.

These findings come from either the National Crime
Victimization Survey (NCVS) or the Supplementary
Homicide Reports, a part of the FBI's Uniform Crime
Reporting Program.

Definitions and data

The nonfatal violent crimes examined in this report 
are rape/sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, 
and simple assault. Serious violent crime includes all
nonfatal violent crimes except simple assault. Because
the NCVS does not measure crime against children
younger than 12, the term juvenile refers to persons
between ages 12 and 17. (For homicides, juveniles 
refer to persons age 17 or younger.) Younger teens 
are between ages 12 and 14 and older teens are 
between ages 15 and 17. Unless otherwise noted, 
adults are persons age 18 or older.

This report analyzes nonfatal violent crimes using 
data from the National Crime Victimization Survey 
(NCVS)collected by the U.S. Census Bureau for the 
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Homicide data 
are from the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports
(SHR)of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR).

Nonfatal victimization (NCVS)

Overall violence

On average, juveniles are more than twice as likely 
as adults to be a victim of a violent crime. During 
the period from 1993 to 2003, juveniles ages 12-17 
comprised 11% of the population age 12 or older but 
were the victims of 24% of all violent crimes and 
21% of the serious violent crimes.

-----------------------------------------
Child abuse

Child abuse is not a crime specifically measured in 
this report. The NCVS interviews children age 12 years 
or older. As a result, nonfatal violent acts against 
children under 12 are not included. Data on child abuse 
are available from the National Clearinghouse on Child
Abuse and Neglect Information at the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services <http://nccanch.acf.hhs.
gov>.
--------------------------------------------

Younger teens (ages 12 to 14) and older teens (ages 
15 to 17) had similar average annual rates of overall
violence during the 11-year period; these rates were
about 2 times higher than the average annual rate for
adults (83 and 84 per 1,000 versus 32 per 1,000). Rates
of serious violence -- rape/sexual assault, robbery, 
and aggravated assault -- were higher for older teens 
than younger teens (30 per 1,000 versus 23 per 1,000).
Rates for younger teens were about twice as high as
average annual rates of serious violence for adults 
(12 per 1,000).

Older teens had the highest average annual rates of
rape/sexual assault and aggravated assault, while
younger teens had highest rates of simple assault. 
The average annual simple assault rate for younger 
teens was 3 times that for adults (60 per 1,000 
versus 20 per 1,000). The average annual rate of 
robbery for adults (4 per 1,000) was half the rate 
for both younger(8)and older(8)teens.

For both younger and older teens, males had higher
average annual rates of violent crime victimization 
than females. Male teens had rates that were about 
2 times the average annual rates for adult males; 
female teens had rates that were about twice as high 
as adult females.

Among all racial and ethnic groups examined, older
teens experienced violent crime at similar average
annual rates as younger teens and at higher rates 
than adults. Younger and older non-Hispanic white 
teens had somewhat higher average annual rates of 
violence than Hispanics of similar age. White and 
black younger and older teens had similar average 
annual rates of violence.

Urban youth were about twice as likely as urban 
adults to be victims of a violent crime, while 
suburban youth were more than 2 times as likely 
as suburban and rural adults to be victimized. 
For younger and older teens, urban youth had 
higher average annual rates of violence than 
their suburban or rural peers.

Juvenile and adult victimization trends 
by type of crime, 1993-2003
 
Although this section includes comparisons of rates
across demographic groups from individual years,
analysis of trends within a demographic group 
compares annual averages for 1993-95 and 2001-03. 
(See the box on this page.)

Overall violence

Younger teens accounted for the largest decrease 
in overall violent crime from the beginning to the 
end of the period. In 1993-95 younger teens had 
rates of violent crime that were similar to the 
rates of older teens but almost 3 times the rate 
for adults (124 per 1,000 versus 116 and 44 per 
1,000, respectively). For 2001-03 older teens had 
higher violent crime rates than younger teens, and 
both had rates more than twice as high as the adult 
rate.  

Robbery

Younger and older juveniles experienced robbery at
higher rates than adults from 1993 to 1998 and in
2003. In 1999 and 2002 older teens and adults had
similar rates of robbery; in 2000-01, younger teens
and adults had similar rates. Both younger (12-14)
and older (15-17) teens had declining average annual
rates of robbery from 1993-95 to 2001-03(-66% and
-53%).

----------------------------------------------
Estimating changes in crime 
victimization rates

Since 1995 the NCVS has undergone sample reductions 
because of the escalating costs of data collection.  
At the same time, the rate of violent crime has 
declined. The combination of the two -- fewer 
survey respondents and less crime -- has resulted 
in a diminished ability to detect statistically 
significant year-to-year rate changes.

Comparing 3-year average rates gives readers a 
picture of the changes while smoothing year-to-year
fluctuations. This approach enables a clearer, more
meaningful comparison of the changes in crime rates
across the 11 years from 1993 to 2003. Therefore,
percent changes discussed in this report refer to
changes from the average rates for 1993-95 to those 
for 2001-03. 
-----------------------------------------------

Aggravated assault

Older teens had higher rates of aggravated assault
than adults during the 1993-2003 period. Younger
teens had significantly higher rates than adults 
in every year except 2001 and 2002. When the 3-year
average annual rates are compared for the period's
beginning and end, the younger teens were less likely
than older teens to be victims of aggravated assault,
but their declines were not statistically different. 
The drops in aggravated assault rates for teens 
(-69% and -61%) were larger than that for adults
(-55%). 

Simple assault

Both younger and older teens experienced simple
assault at higher rates than adults for all years
examined. At the beginning of the period (1993-95),
younger teens were more likely than older teens to 
be victims of simple assault (88 per 1,000 versus 
72 per 1,000). By the end of the period (2001-03), 
younger and older teens had similar rates of simple 
assault. The decline in the rate of simple assault 
for younger teens was larger than that for older 
teens (-57% versus-46%).

-------------------------------------------------
Rape/sexual assault

Because the rape/sexual assault rates for young teens
are low, insufficient sample cases were available to
analyze annual rates for younger and older teens
separately. In addition, rapes/sexual assaults are
crimes that disproportionately affect young adults. 
As a result, the age groups compared for these 
crimes  juveniles (ages 12-17), young adults (ages 
18-24), and adults (age 25 or older) -- differ from 
the groups compared elsewhere in this report.  

Average annual rates of rape/sexual assault for all 
three age groups were lower for 2001-03 than they 
were for 1993-95. The drop for juveniles was somewhat 
smaller than it was for adults age 25 or older and 
similar to the decline for young adults (-46% versus 
-56% and -42%). Rates of rape/sexual assault 
victimization were similar for juveniles ages 12-17 
and young adults for all years examined except 1999 
and 2003, when the rates for young adults were higher. 
Juveniles and young adults had higher rates than the 
adults except in 2003 when the rates for juveniles 
and adults converged.
---------------------------------------------

Trends in violent crime against juveniles 
and adults, by victim characteristics, 
1993-2003

Gender

For males, the declines from 1993-95 to 2001-03 
were similar for younger and older teens (-57% 
and -54%, respectively). The decline in the rates 
for younger female teens was greater than that for 
older female teens or female adults(-64% versus-
43% and -48%).

Race/ethnicity

Among whites, older and younger teens had similar
rates of violent crime at the beginning of the 
period (1993-95). By 2001-03 older teens had a 
somewhat higher rate than younger teens, but 
there was no significant difference between 
their declines. Older and younger teens had 
higher rates of violent crime than adults during 
both periods. 

For blacks, younger teens had the highest rates 
of violent crime in 1993-95, but older teens 
had somewhat higher rates than younger teens in 
2001-03. Both groups of juveniles had rates of 
violent crime that were about 2 times the rates 
for adults. Among blacks, the decline in violent 
victimization rates for younger teens was greater
than the decline for older teens and adults(-67% 
versus -40% and -53%, respectively).

During 1993-95 for persons of other races -- American
Indians, Alaska Natives, Asians, and Pacific Islanders
considered together -- older teens had average annual
rates of violent crime that were similar to those for
younger teens and higher than the rate for adults 
(82 per 1,000 versus 73 and 39, respectively). By 
2001-03, rates of violent crime for all three age 
groups fell at least 60%. For persons of other races, 
the average annual rates of violent crime for 2001-03 
were similar for older teens and adults.

Violent victimization rates for Hispanic younger 
teens were similar to those for older teens in 
1993-95 (128 and 112 per 1,000) and 2001-03 (50 per 
1,000). During both 3-year periods, juveniles had 
average annual rates of violent crime that were at 
least twice as high as adults. The declines for all 
age groups from 1993-95 to 2001-03 were similar and 
fell by at least 50%.

Urban, suburban, and rural crime

Younger urban teens had higher average annual rates
of violent crime than their rural peers for 1993-95 
and 2001-03. Older urban teens had higher rates than 
older rural teens at the beginning of the period, but 
there were no differences detected between urban, 
suburban, or rural older teens at the end of the 
period. All age groups in urban and suburban areas 
experienced declines of at least 50% from 1993-95 to 
2001-03.

Characteristics of criminal events 
against juveniles, 1993-2003

The NCVS collects information about the criminal 
event such as whether the offender was armed, 
whether the victim was injured, and where and when 
the crime occurred.

Weapons 

More than 2 in 3 violent crimes against juveniles 
were committed without a weapon. The proportion of 
violent crimes in which a weapon was involved was 
higher for older teens than younger teens (25% 
versus 18%).

Older teens were about 3 times more likely than 
younger teens to be the victim of a violent crime 
involving a firearm (7 versus 2 per 1,000). Both 
age groups were equally likely to be victims of a 
violent crime involving a knife(5 per 1,000).

Injuries

About 3 in 10 violent victimizations against youth 
ages 12 -17 resulted in an injury. For both younger 
and older teens, nearly a quarter of victimizations 
resulted in a minor injury, such as bruises and cuts. 
Older teens were more likely than younger teens to 
experience serious injuries, such as gunshot or 
knife wounds, loss of consciousness, or undetermined 
injuries requiring 2 or more nights in the hospital. 
Older teens were also more likely than younger teens 
to have had victimizations that resulted in rape 
injuries.

Location

School was the most common place for violent
victimizations against teens to occur. A higher
percentage of violent crimes against younger teens 
than those against older teens occurred at or in 
school(53% versus 32%). Older teens(17%)were 
somewhat more likely than younger teens(15%)to 
be victimized at home. 

----------------------------------------------
Peak hours for serious violent crime 
against juveniles 

In 1999 the NCVS added more detailed categories to
describe when victimizations occurred. The number 
of hours in each time category can differ. Some
categories have 3 hours; some have 6; and some, 9
hours. To measure the relative risk for each time
period, the number of serious violent victimizations
(rapes/sexual assaults, robberies, and aggravated
assaults) in each category was divided by the number
of hours, producing an hour-adjusted estimate. For
example, if 10 simple assaults occur in each of the
two periods 3 p.m. -- 9 p.m. and 6 p.m.-- 9 p.m., 
then 3 p.m.-- 9 p.m. is the less vulnerable time of 
day when normalized by the hours of exposure.

For victimizations with a reported time of occurrence,
analysis of serious violence unadjusted by the number
of hours appears to show that younger teens were at
higher risk during the school day (6 a.m. -- 3 p.m.).
However, the estimate adjusted for hours of exposure
reveals that the most vulnerable period was after 
school (3 p.m. -- 6 p.m.). Adjusted data also show 
that a lower percentage of younger teens were 
victimized at night than during the day, and that 
older teens had similar levels of serious violent 
victimization in the afternoon and in early and 
late evening.
-----------------------------------------

Time of day 

Although teens in both age groups experienced more
overall violent victimizations during the day (6:00 
a.m. to 6:00 p.m.) than at night (6:00 p.m. to 6:00 
a.m.), a higher percentage of violent crimes against
younger teens (81%) than against older teens (58%) 
occurred during the day. Four out of ten violent 
victimizations against older teens occurred at night. 
This was 2 times higher than the nighttime 
victimizations against younger teens. Five percent 
of younger teens and 3% of older teens did not 
report the time of the violent victimization.

Reporting to police

About a quarter of overall violent victimizations 
against younger teens and about a third of the 
victimizations against older teens were reported 
to the police from 1993 to 2003. On average, 
victimizations against older teens (35%) were 
reported more frequently than victimizations against 
younger teens (23%).

The most common reasons offered by younger teens for
not reporting violent crimes to police were that it 
was reported to another official and that it was a 
minor crime. Younger teens were more likely than 
older teens to have reported the crime to an official 
other than the police (31% versus 17%). About 1 in 6 
younger teens and 1 in 5 older teens did not report 
victimizations because they were considered to be a 
private or personal matter. Less than 5% of 
juveniles did not report victimizations to the police 
because they were afraid of reprisal, but younger
teens (2%) were less likely to be afraid than older 
teens (4%).

When these victimizations were reported to the police
among younger teens, a household member (42%) was
the most common person to report. Among older teens,
a third of all victims reported their own 
victimization to the police. Household members were 
less likely to be the reporters for older teens 
than younger teens (24% versus 42%).

Victim-offender relationship

Younger teen victims of nonfatal violence were less
likely than older teen victims to have been victimized 
by a stranger (32% versus 41%) and more likely to have
been victimized by a person whom they knew but who
was not a relative (58% versus 45%). Older teens were
as likely as younger teens to be victimized by a parent
or by a relative.

Among victims, younger teens were more likely than
older teens to have been victimized by a schoolmate. 

Dating violence is another realm of the victim-
offender relationship that is important for 
describing violence against juveniles offenders. 
The NCVS does not ask the victim directly if the 
victimization occurred while "on a date," but it 
can identify whether offenses were committed by 
a "boyfriend, girlfriend, ex-boyfriend, or ex-
girlfriend." 

Less than 1% of violent victimizations against male
juveniles involved an offender who was an intimate
partner. Among older teens the percentage of violent
crimes involving an intimate partner was 10 times as
high for females as males (9% versus 0.6%). For
younger teens the percentage for females was not
statistically different from that for males. 

Juvenile offenders 
in nonlethal violence, 1993-2003

Age

Juveniles were involved as victims or offenders in 
38% of all violent crimes in which the victim 
could estimate the age of the offender(s), 1993-
2003. Offenders were identified as juveniles 
in a fourth of all nonfatal violent victimizations. 
A tenth of all victimizations involved both
juvenile and adult offenders. These proportions
remained relatively stable over the period.
 
Juvenile offenders were more likely to violently
victimize other juveniles than to victimize adults. 
Four in five violent victimizations against young 
teens involved an offender or group of offenders 
who were all perceived to be juveniles. Older 
teens were less likely than younger teens to be 
involved in a victimization in which any of the 
offenders were perceived to be a juvenile (68% 
versus 91%). Juveniles committed 9% of crimes 
against adults.

Gender

Offenders were male in 3 out of 4  violent crimes
perceived to be committed by juveniles. This was 
3 times higher than the proportion of crimes that 
victims attributed to females. Victims reported in 
less than 2% of the victimizations that they did 
not know the gender of the juvenile offender or that it 
involved both male and female offenders.

Race

Offenders were perceived to be white in 59% of 
nonfatal violent crimes committed by juveniles. 
This was more than twice the proportion of violent 
crimes committed by black juveniles (25%). 
Offenders of other races and multiple offenders 
from more than racial group comprised about 1 in 
7 juvenile offenders. Victims were unable to 
report the race of the offender in 2% of all
violent victimizations. 

Perceived gang involvement

Among younger teens, 11% of youth on average 
perceived that the offenders were involved in 
a gang. This was lower than the average annual 
percentage of older teen victims of violent 
crime (14%) who believed their offenders were in 
a gang.

Almost half of both younger and older teens 
indicated that the offender was not involved in 
a gang. About 4 in 10 victims could not determine 
whether the offender was a gang member.

Drug and alcohol use

Juveniles using drugs or alcohol committed 1 in 10 
of the nonfatal violent victimizations against older 
teens. This was 2 times higher than the percentage 
of victimizations against younger teens perceived to 
be committed by a juvenile who was using drugs or 
alcohol.
 
Younger teens were more likely than older teens to
report that their juvenile offender was not using 
drugs or alcohol. In about 4 in 10 victimizations 
against younger and older teens committed by 
juveniles, the victim could not ascertain whether 
or not the offender was using drugs or alcohol.

Homicide victims and offenders,
1993-2003, from the Supplementary 
Homicide Reports     
 
The FBI defines murder in its annual Crime in the 
United States as the willful(nonnegligent)killing 
of one human being by another, referred to as 
homicide in this report. Not included are deaths 
caused by negligence, suicide, or accident; 
justifiable homicides; and attempts to murder or 
assaults to murder, which are scored as aggravated 
assaults. The FBI gathers murder statistics from 
over 17,000 city, county, and State law 
enforcement agencies.

Age

All age groups 12 or older had declines in the 
average number and rates of homicides from the 
beginning (1993- 95) to the end (2001-03) of the
period***Footnote: 3--year averages are compared,
consistent with the nonfatal trend analyses.*** The
greatest decline occurred for younger teens whose
rate of homicides fell from 3 per 100,000 to 1 per
100,000 (a 65% decline). The rate of homicide 
against older teens fell 59%. 
 
Children under 15 had average annual victimization
rates of homicide that were less than a third of 
those of adults for both 1993-95 and 2001-03. At 
the beginning of the period, older teens had higher 
rates of homicide than adults (13 per 100,000 versus 
11 per 100,000), but adults had somewhat higher rates 
at the end of the period (7 versus 6 per 100,000).

Older teens had higher rates of committing a 
homicide than all other age groups for all years 
examined. Although all age groups experienced 
declines in homicide offenders from 1993-95 to 
2001-03, the declines for teens were twice that 
for adults (-71% and -68% versus -32%).

Gender

For both males and females the average annual
homicide victimization rate for 2001-03 was a 
third of the rate for 1993-95. For the 11-year 
period, 1993-2003, the average annual rate of 
victimization for juvenile males was 4 times 
higher than that for juvenile females.

Among juvenile males, the rates for committing
homicide were higher than the victimization rate.
Although the offending rates for male and female
juveniles declined over the 11 years, for females 
the decline in offending was smaller than the 
decline in victimization. The average annual rate 
of homicide offending for males was 14 times 
higher than that for females (7 versus 0.5 per 
100,000).

Race

White and black juveniles had similar declines in
homicide victimization from 1993 to 2003. Overall
blacks were 5 times as likely as whites to be a 
victim of a homicide (5 per 100,000 versus 1 per 
100,000). The homicide offending rate for black 
juveniles was 7 times that for white juveniles 
(14 versus 2 per 100,000).

Juveniles of other races had both victimization 
and offending rates that were higher for 2001-03 
than for 1993-95. 

The greatest declines in homicide rates were
experienced by blacks for whom both victimization 
and offending rates fell 71%.

Relationship

For children under age 12, a relative  was 
responsible for more than half of all homicides 
(58%). This was about 3 times the level of 
homicides by relatives or intimates of younger 
teens and about 9 times higher than the percentage 
of homicides against older teens by a relative or 
intimate.   

Less than 5% of homicide victims under 12 were 
killed by a stranger. Younger and older teen 
victims of homicide were equally likely to be 
killed by a stranger, but 3 times more likely than 
the youngest juveniles (14% and 16% versus 5%). 
Older teen homicide victims were more likely than 
murdered younger teens or children under 12 to be 
killed by someone whose identity was not known by 
the police.

Weapons

Firearms were used in about 8 of 10 homicides against 
older teens and 7 of 10 homicides against younger 
teens. A teenager was about 4 times more likely 
than a child under age 12 to be killed by a firearm. 
By comparison, younger juveniles were more than 
twice as likely as younger or older teens to be 
killed by a blunt object. Fifty-seven percent of
homicide victims under 12 were killed by a means or
weapon other than a firearm, knife, blunt object, or
strangulation; such means include being beaten with
fists, kicked, poisoned, or drowned.

Survey methodology

This report presents data on rape, sexual assault,
robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault
against juveniles (ages 12-17) as measured by the
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The
NCVS gathers data on crimes against persons age 12
or older, reported and not reported to the police, 
from a nationally representative sample of U.S.
households. The NCVS provides information about
victims (age, gender, race, ethnicity, marital 
status, income, and educational level), offenders 
(gender, race, approximate age, and victim-offender 
relations) and the nature of the crime (time and 
place of occurrence, use of weapons, nature of 
injury, and economic consequences).  Homicide data 
are from the Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) 
to the Uniform Crime Reporting Program collected 
by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Between 1993 and 2003, 1,761,125 individuals age 
12 or older were interviewed. For the overall 
population, for the years measured, response rates 
varied between 86% and 94% of eligible individuals.

Standard error computations

Comparisons of percentages and rates made in this
report were tested to determine if observed 
differences were statistically significant. 
Differences described as higher, lower, or different 
passed a hypothesis test at the .05 level of 
statistical significance (95% confidence level). The 
tested difference was greater than twice the standard 
error of that difference. For comparisons that
were statistically significant at the 0.10 level
(90% confidence level), "somewhat," "slightly,
" or "marginally" is used to note the nature of 
the difference.

Significance testing calculations were conducted 
at the Bureau of Justice Statistics using 
statistical programs developed specifically for 
the NCVS by the U.S. Census Bureau. These programs 
take into consideration many aspects of the complex 
NCVS sample design when calculating generalized 
variance estimates.

Estimates based on 10 or fewer sample cases have
high relative standard errors so that care should 
be taken when comparing such estimates to other
estimates when both are based on 10 or fewer sample
cases. Asterisks mark estimates based on 10 or 
fewer sample cases in this report.

Definitions

Homicide includes murder and nonnegligent
manslaughter and is defined as the willful 
killing of one human being by another.

Rape is forced sexual intercourse, including both
psychological coercion and physical force. Forced
sexual intercourse means vaginal, anal, or oral
penetration by the offender(s). This category 
includes incidents in which the penetration is 
by a foreign object, attempted rapes, male and 
female victims, and heterosexual and homosexual 
rape.

Sexual assault covers a wide range of victimizations
distinct from rape or attempted rape. These crimes
include completed or attempted attacks generally
involving unwanted sexual contact between the 
victim and offender. Sexual assaults may or may not
involve force and include such things as grabbing 
or fondling. Sexual assault also includes verbal 
threats.  

Robbery is a completed or attempted theft directly 
from a person, of property or cash by force or 
threat of force, with or without a weapon, and with 
or without an injury.

Aggravated assault is defined as a completed or
attempted attack with a weapon, regardless of 
whether an injury occurred, and an attack without 
a weapon in which the victim is seriously injured.

Simple assault is an attack without a weapon 
resulting either in no injury, minor injury (such 
as bruises, black eyes, cuts, scratches, or 
swelling) or an undetermined injury requiring less 
than 2 days of hospitalization. Simple assaults
also include attempted assaults without a weapon.

-------------------------------------------
The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the 
statistical agency of the U.S. Department 
of Justice. Lawrence A. Greenfeld is 
director. 

Katrina Baum, BJS Statistician, wrote this 
report under the direction of Michael Rand. 
Patsy Klaus verified the report, and Thomas 
H. Cohen provided comments. Karen Paul 
provided statistical assistance. Tom Hester
produced and edited the report.

August 2005,  NCJ 209468
----------------------------------------------


End of file
08/17/05 ih