THE STRUCTURE OF FAMILY VIOLENCE:

AN ANALYSIS OF SELECTED INCIDENTS

This report was prepared using actual data supplied

by law enforcement agencies to the Uniform Crime

Reporting Program under its new National IncidentBased Reporting System (NIBRS). Its purpose is to

demonstrate a potential utility of the NIBRS data,

and its content should not be viewed as a reliable

indicator of the family violence experience. The

current volume of data in the NIBRS is too small to

produce any reliable national statements on this

topic. This report, however, is an example of the

national analysis that will be possible as the database

grows.

BACKGROUND

Violent crimes reported to law enforcement in the infancy in terms of nationally representative

United States during 1995 approached 1.8 million information, the data submitted during 1995 provide a

offenses. During 1995, aggravated assault accounted base to use in beginning exploration of topical studies.

for 61 percent of the violent crimes reported. Robbery This prototype family violence report represents the

comprised 32 percent; forcible rape, 5 percent; and first step in the development of procedures and

murder, 1 percent. While these statistics provide some methodology by which to analyze and publish the

information on the composition of violence in the NIBRS information.

United States, many details regarding the incidents in

which these crimes occur remain elusive. In

particular, excepting murder offenses, the involvement

of family members, friends, and acquaintances is not The definition of family violence often varies in

delineated for these crimes. When crimes involve terms of the types of offenses included and the

family members as victims and offenders, they are relationships that are considered to be family. In this

generally considered incidents involving family study, family violence is defined as a crime against a

violence. person or a robbery where the relationship of the

An empirical examination of family violence is More specifically, the offenses included here are

particularly relevant due to recent crime legislation murder and nonnegligent homicide, forcible rape,

regarding stalking, intimidation, and violence against robbery, aggravated assault, simple assault,

women. This study focuses on such family violence intimidation, and other offenses including forcible

incidents as reported to the National Incident-Based sodomy, sexual assault with an object, forcible

The aim is to explore the details of these incidents fondling, and kidnaping/abduction. These offenses are

including but not limited to victim and offender selected and analyzed to determine the relationship of

profiles, the degree of injury suffered, weapon the victim to the offender. A family violence incident

involvement, and the influence of substance abuse. is distinguished by the presence of a target offense, as

The focus on family violence in this study relationship between the victim and offender that is

represents a departure from recent efforts to examine within family. Within family is defined as including

such crimes. Previously, much of the information the following relationships: spouse, common-law

known about crime was derived from one of two spouse, parent, sibling, child, grandparent,

sources: the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) or the

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). While

each of these has contributed to an understanding of

the crime that occurs throughout the country, the

analysis of family violence incidents has suffered from

both methodological and reporting difficulties

associated with such crimes. This study, in contrast,

relies upon the revised Uniform Crime Reports known

as the NIBRS. This data collection program represents

an enhancement to the traditional summary UCR

statistics by including attributes of the incident beyond

the most serious offense. Emphasis on incident

characteristics permits analysis of victim, offender,

and offense interactions in the same time and place.

While the data from this system are still in their

SCOPE

victim to the offender is identified as within family.

noted above, and the existence of at least one

grandchild, in-law, stepparent, stepchild, stepbrother
2

or stepsister, or other family member. This definition of presents significant challenges to efficient analyses.

family violence does not include boyfriend, However, care in management of both the data and the

girlfriend, ex-spouse, ex-boyfriend, or ex-girlfriend. structuralrelationships among the variables provides an

Therefore, a family violence incident is distinguished avenue for meaningful analyses to be conducted.

by the relationship of a violent offense victim to at

least one of the offenders in that incident. According to the data submitted, these 836,846

These incidents are then analyzed to determine the 925,812 offenses, and 936,828 offenders. The

structure of family violence. The analysis is organized information pertaining to these aspects of the incidents

into two sections: 1) an overall analysis of family reported serve as the basis for the statistical

violence incidents and 2) offense-specific subsections information presented herein. The results, however,

including analyses of incidents involving murder, may not be generalized to criminality across the

rape, aggravated assault, simple assault, intimidation, country due to the limited reporting of the NIBRS

and all other family violence offenses including data to date. Nonetheless, this work is undertaken to

forcible sodomy, sexual assault with an object, illustrate the potential applications of the NIBRS data

forcible fondling, and kidnaping/abduction. to understanding family violence and to suggest some

of the crime-analytic uses of such data. Before

DATA

Criminal incidents that became known to law is reported.

enforcement during 1995 through submission to the

FBI's NIBRS are the source of data for this study.

During 1995, nine states submitted a total of 836,846

Group A incident reports to the FBI. Of all the violent incidents reported to the NIBRS

1

The NIBRS data collection contains information on all individual victims reported to have been associated

each incident and arrest within 22 crime categories. with a criminal incident, 37 percent, or 214,464, were

For each offense known to police within these reported to have suffered a violent offense. As shown

categories, incident, victim, property, offender, and in Table 1, 56 percent of violent offenses were simple

arrestee information is reported. A full description of assault, 21 percent aggravated assault, 12 percent

the NIBRS is contained in four volumes published by intimidation, 4 percent robbery, and 2 percent rape.

the UCR Program. Again, since the NIBRS is an Four percent were other offenses.

incident-level reporting program rather than a

summarized offense-level data collection system, there

are provisions for multiple attributes within given

incidents. For example, an incident may contain

multiple victims, multiple offenders, multiple

offenses, and there may be multiple attributes of a

given incident (i.e., weapons, substance abuse, property

loss, etc.). In the NIBRS, the attributes of up

to 99 offenders, 999 victims, 10 offenses, and 99

arrestees may be reported for a single incident. While

incidents infrequently involve such multiple attributes,

the NIBRS provides for a complete description of such

characteristics in these instances. The multiplicity of

both individuals and attributes within a single incident

S))))))))))))))))))))

1. Group A incident reports relate to offenses within 22 crime categories that are deemed

appropriate indicators of the dimensions and trends in crime. The criteria for designation

of a Group A offense are:1) the seriousness of the offense; 2) the frequency or volume of

its occurrence; 3) how widespread the offense occurs in the U.S.; and 4) whether the

offense will come to the attention to law enforcement. Other factors influencing the

definition of offenses included in Group A the NIBRS incident reports are further outlined

in the NIBRS edition of the Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook. 

incidents contained information on 889,573 victims,

focusing on family violence, some general information

relative to the overall violence picture from the NIBRS

OVERALL VIOLENCE

in 1995, 88 percent involved only a single victim. Of

Table 1. Number of Violent Offenses and

Percent Distribution, 1995

Offense Number Percent

Murder 458 0.21

Forcible Rape 3,924 1.81

Robbery 9082 4.19

Aggravated Assault 46,391 21.40

Simple Assault 121,774 56.17

Intimidation 26,154 12.06

Other Offenses 9,023 4.16

Total 216,806 100.00

Focusing on the relationships of the violent crime

victims to their offenders reveals family relationships

accounted for 23 percent. Specifically, 11 percent

were spouses; 2 percent, common-law spouses; 2

percent, parents; 2 percent, siblings; 2 percent,

children; and the remainder, otherwise related. (See

Table 2.)
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Among relationships identified in overall violence, juveniles aged 12-17, and 6 percent to be children

48 percent involved acquaintances of the victims; 15 underthe age of 12. Males accounted for 42 percent of

percent strangers; and 5 percent persons involved in the victims, and females, 57 percent. Whites were

mutual violence where victims could not be victimized more frequently than nonwhites (70 percent

distinguished from offenders, such as in bar fights or compared to 29 percent). (See Table 3.)

family fights where husband and wife are both

charged. Relationships were unknown for 8 percent. Again, caution should be used in interpreting these

(See Table 2.) findings since some of this information may reflect

Table 2. Number of Victim to Offender Relationships

and Percent Distribution, All Violent Crimes, 1995

Relationship Number Percent violence.

Spouse 27,068 10.64

Common-law spouse 6,058 2.38

Parent 4,944 1.94

Sibling 5,709 2.25

Child 5,631 2.21

Grandparent 265 .10

Grandchild 341 .13

In-law 2,120 .83

Stepparent 878 .35

Stepchild 1,485 .58

Stepsibling 302 .12

Other family member 4,530 1.78

Offender* 12,949 5.09

Otherwise known 122,691 48.25

Stranger 39,006 15.34

Unknown 20,308 7.99

Total 254,285 100.00

* Cases where a participant in the incident is a victim and offender, such

as bar fights or family disputes where both husband and wife are charged

with assault.

Table 3. Number of Victims and Percent Distribution, 

by Age, Sex, and Race, All Violent Crimes, 1995

Number Percent

Age:

 0-11 12,389 5.78

 12-17 33,049 15.41

 18 and over 165,223 77.04

 Unknown 3,803 1.77

 Total 214,464 100.00

Sex:

 Male 91,098 42.48

 Female 123,052 57.38

 Unknown 314 0.15

 Total 214,464 100.00

Race:

 White 149,895 69.89

 Nonwhite 61,230 28.55

 Unknown 3,339 1.56

 Total 214,464 100.00

The distribution of victims of general violent crime

by age, race, and sex may also be important. In terms

of age, 77 percent of the violent crime victims were

reported to be age 18 and over, 15 percent to be

more the demographic composition of the jurisdictions

reporting the NIBRS information than an accurate

picture of the demographic composition of victims of

In terms of injuries suffered, 49 percent of the

victims of violent crime reported no injuries associated

with the incident. Yet, 43 percent reported some

minor injuries, and 8 percent suffered major injuries.

(See Table 4.) Major injury includes but is not limited

to the following: apparent broken bones, possible

internal injury, severe laceration, loss of teeth, and

unconsciousness.

Table 4. Number of Victims and Percent Distribution,

All Violent Crimes, 1995

Injury Number Percent

Major 14,563 7.72

Minor 81,347 43.12

None 92,763 49.17

Total 188,673 100.00

Note: Murder and intimidation are not included in this table.

To summarize, 24 percent of the offenses in the

NIBRS database for 1995 involve a violent crime.

Based on victims where injury was provided, 51

percent sustained an injury as a result of the incident.

The age, sex, and race data show that victims of

violence in the NIBRS jurisdictions are predominately

adults, white, and female. Twenty-three percent of all

the violent crime victims recorded have family

relationships to the offenders.

While this information provides an overall

description of the victims of violence and is useful for

describing the general demographics of victims of

violence, an examination of the structure of particular

crimes that contribute to this overall picture may also

be insightful. An analysis of particular types of crimes

and comparisons and contrasts to this general picture

of violence may suggest some facets of these crimes

that are amenable to prevention efforts by law

enforcement and the community. Further, law

enforcement practice and policy may profit from a 
4

closer examination of the structure of particular crimes of overall crimes of violence. In the jurisdictions

in terms of the victims, the typical offender, and the understudy, the victim race information shows that 71

situational characteristics such as weapon use, injuries percent of family violence victims are white. (See

sustained, and substance abuse that may be involved in Tables 3 and 7.)

such crimes. With this in mind, a more in-depth

analysis of the family violence incidents in the NIBRS

data for 1995 was undertaken.

FAMILY VIOLENCE

Of the 214,464 victims of violent offenses, 57,985,

or about 27 percent, were reported to have been

related to one or more of their offenders. Incidents

that involved this type of victimization (involving a

violent offense perpetrated toward an individual by a

relative) comprise the universe of incidents that were

available for analysis. That is, a family violence

incident must include a victim that can be identified as

being related to one or more of the offenders involved

in the incident.

The distribution of types of offenses against family

violence victims are shown in Table 5. The majority,

94 percent, suffered assault offenses (i.e., either

intimidation, simple assault, or aggravated assault).

This percentage is about 5 points higher than the

frequency of assault offenses in overall crimes of

violence.

Table 5. Number of Offenses and Percent Distribution,

Family Violence, 1995

Offense Number Percent

Murder 102 0.17

Forcible Rape 646 1.10

Robbery 110 0.19

Aggravated Assault 11,032 18.85

Simple Assault 39,717 67.85

Intimidation 4,184 7.15

Other Offenses 2,747 4.69

Total 58,538 100.00

Considering the relevance of the relationship

between the victim and the offender, Table 6 also

shows that of all relatives involved in family violence,

a spouse/common-law spouse is the most frequent at

46 percent.

In terms of demographics, the victims of family

violence vary from those of overall crimes of

violence. The victims of family violence are slightly

older (83 percent over the age of 18) and

overwhelmingly female (73 percent). The race of

victims does not appear to differ from that of victims

Table 6. Number of Victim to Offender Relationships 

and Percent Distribution, Family Violence, 1995

Relationship Number Percent

Spouse 27,068 37.45

Common-law spouse 6,058 8.38

Parent 4,944 6.84

Sibling 5,709 7.90

Child 5,631 7.79

Grandparent 265 0.37

Grandchild 341 0.47

In-law 2,120 2.93

Stepparent 878 1.21

Stepchild 1,485 2.05

Stepsibling 302 0.42

Other family member 4,530 6.27

Offender* 12,949 17.92

Total 72,280 100.00

* Cases where a participant in the incident is a victim and offender, such 

as bar fights or family disputes where both husband and wife are charged

with assault.

Table 7. Number of Victims and Percent Distribution, 

by Age, Sex, and Race, Family Violence, 1995

Number Percent

Age:

 0-11 3,910 6.74

 12-17 5,557 9.58

 18 and over 48,023 82.82

 Unknown 495 0.85

 Total 57,985 100.00

Sex:

 Male 15,402 26.56

 Female 42,553 73.39

 Unknown 30 0.05

 Total 57,985 100.00

Race:

 White 41,110 70.90

 Nonwhite 16,304 28.12

 Unknown 571 0.98

 Total 57,985 100.00

The degree of injury varies somewhat from that

suffered by victims of overall crimes of violence as

well. Victims of family violence suffered some injury

in 54 percent of the cases. (See Table 8.) This statistic

compares with 51 percent in overall crimes of

violence. There was a slight difference in the

frequency of major injuries being sustained with 2

percent more in overall violent crimes and a 5 percent

difference in minor injuries for family violence versus

overall violent crime. Victims of family violence only

slightly more frequently suffer any injury than do

victims of overall crimes of violence. However,

generalizations from this information on victim injury
5

could be limited by either the strict definitions of accounted for a lesser proportion of family-related

minor and major injury used in the NIBRS or by the murders. (See Table 9.)

likelihood that such injuries go unreported at the time

of the incident.

Table 8. Number of Victims and Percent Distribution,

Family Violence, 1995

Injury Number Percent

Major 3,045 5.65

Minor 25,857 47.99

None 24,983 46.36

Total 53,885 100.00

While the general picture of family violence is

useful to contrast with that presented by overall crimes White 52.62 58.82

of violence, more fine-grained analyses of particular

offenses may yield information about the structure of

specific types of family situations that involve such

crimes. Such analyses are presented below.

MURDER

Murder accounts for only about one-fifth of one

percent (.21 percent) of all violent offenses.

Considering family violence, murder occurs at about

the same general frequency as overall violence occurs,

0.17 percent. However, there are some differences

in the composition of these crimes relative to

demographics, substance abuse, weapon use, and

offender characteristics.

In the jurisdictions studied, children aged 0-11,

females, and whites accounted for larger proportions of

family murder victims than of all victims of

murder. Conversely, adults, males, and nonwhites

Table 9. Percent Distribution of Victims by Age, Sex, 

and Race, Murder, 1995

Overall Family

Age:

 0-11 5.46 12.75

 12-17 4.80 0.98

 18 and over 88.43 82.35

 Unknown 1.31 3.92

Sex:

 Male 68.12 48.04

 Female 31.88 51.96

 Unknown 0.00 0.00

Race:

 Nonwhite 46.07 40.20

 Unknown 1.31 0.98

Table 10. Percent Distribution of Offenses where Offenders

were Suspected of Substance Use, Murder, 1995

Suspected Use Overall Family

Alcohol 13.32 15.69

Drugs 2.18 3.92

Multiple 1.75 1.96

None 82.75 78.43

Table 11. Percent Distribution of Weapons Used,

Murder, 1995

Weapon Overall Family

Firearm 56.33 53.92

Knife 14.85 14.71

Blunt Object 5.24 3.92

Personal Weapons 9.17 15.69

Other 5.46 3.92

Multiple 5.90 5.88

None/unknown 3.06 1.96

Table 12. Number and Percent Distribution of Confrontations by Victim and Offender Age, Murder, 1995

Offender Age*

Victim Age* 0-11 12-17 18 and over Total

All murder:

0-11 0 (0.00%) 1 (3.85%) 25 (96.15%) 26 (100.00%)

(0.00%) (1.23%) (4.82%) (4.33%)

12-17 0 (0.00%) 12 (35.29%) 22 (64.71%) 34 (100.00%)

(0.00%) (14.81%) (4.24%) (5.66%)

18 and over 1 (0.18%) 68 (12.57%) 472 (87.25%) 541 (100.00%)

(100.00%) (83.95%) (90.94%) (90.02%)

Total 1 (0.17%) 81 (13.48%) 519 (86.36%) 601 (100.00%)

(100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%)

Family murder:

0-11 0 (0%) 1 (6.25%) 15 (93.75%) 16 (100.00%)

NA (20.00%) (14.15%) (14.41%)

12-17 0 (0%) 0 (0.00%) 1 (100.00%) 1 (100.00%)

NA (0.00%) (0.94%) (0.90%)

18 and over 0 (0%) 4 (4.26%) 90 (95.74%) 94 (100.00%)

NA (80.00%) (84.91%) (84.68%)

Total 0 (0%) 5 (4.50%) 106 (95.50%) 111 (100.00%)

NA (100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%)

* Does not include unknown ages.
6

Turning to substance abuse, family murder appears In particular, children under 12 are nearly three times

to involve only slightly more substance abuse on the more often victims of family rape compared to

part of the offender (22 percent versus 17 percent) all victims of rape (31 percent versus 11 percent).

than in the general case. No substance abuse was There are no gender differences between victims of

reported to be involved in 78 percent of the family family rape as compared to the gender composition of

murders and 83 percent of all murders. (See Table ll victims of rape. White individuals show similar

10.) resultsin both family and overall rape in the jurisdictions

Firearms were reported to be involved in over 50

percent of the cases of both family and all murders. Turning to substance abuse, family rape appears to

Comparing family cases to the overall picture of involve less substance abuse on the part of the

murder shows that personal weapons (hands, fists, offender than it does in the overall case (12 percent

feet, etc.) are more prevalently involved in family versus 17 percent). At the same time, it is important

murders (16 percent versus 9 percent). Other weapon to note that no substance abuse was reported to be

types (blunt objects, knives, etc.) are about equally involved in 88 percent of the family rapes and 83

represented in both the family cases and the overall percent of all rapes. (See Table 14.)

murder picture. (See Table 11.)

Finally, focusing on the age of offenders and their

victims shows that, proportionally, individuals aged

12-17 less frequently kill adults in family situations

than they do in overall murder incidents (80 percent

versus 84 percent). When adults are the offenders in

either family or general murder, they most often

murder other adults (85 percent, family and 91 percent,

overall). (See Table 12.)

FORCIBLE RAPE

Rape accounts for only about 2 percent of all

violent offenses. Considering family violence, rape

occurs with less frequency than overall violence at 1

percent. (See Tables 1 and 5.) However, there are

some differences in the composition of rape relative to

demographics, substance abuse, weapon use, and

offender characteristics.

Table 13. Percent Distribution of Victims by Age, Sex, 

and Race, Forcible Rape, 1995

Overall Family

Age:

 0-11 10.65 30.96

 12-17 35.37 35.45

 18 and over 52.62 32.51

 Unknown 1.35 1.08

Sex:

 Male 1.04 1.08

 Female 98.96 98.92

 Unknown 0.00 0.00

Race:

 White 72.20 73.99

 Nonwhite 25.87 24.77

 Unknown 1.94 1.24

studied. (See Table 13.)

Table 14. Percent Distribution of Offenses where Offenders

were Suspected of Substance Use, Forcible Rape, 1995

Suspected Use Overall Family

Alcohol 14.40 9.44

Drugs 1.07 0.93

Multiple 2.01 1.55

None 82.52 88.08

Personal weapons (hands, fists, feet, etc.) are the

weapons most frequently used in all forcible rapes

(overall or family-related). Firearms are infrequently

involved in either family or overall rape. Other

weapons such as knives, blunt objects, etc., are also

only occasionally involved in these offenses. No

weapons were used in 24 percent of the family rapes

and in 21 percent of all rapes. (See Table 15.)

Table 15. Percent Distribution of Weapons Used,

Forcible Rape, 1995

Weapon Overall Family

Firearm 1.58 0.31

Knife 2.85 1.08

Blunt Object 0.38 0.31

Personal Weapons 69.16 70.12

Other 2.42 2.32

Multiple 2.45 2.32

None 21.15 23.53

Focusing on the age of offenders and their victims

shows that children under the age of 12 almost always

victimize other children of the same age. Juveniles

aged 12-17 also tend to victimize individuals within

the same age group in overall rape (66 percent), but in

family cases, their victims are disproportionately

children aged 11 or younger (65 percent). When adults

are the victims in overall or family rape, they most
7

often are raped by other adults (97 percent in each victims who are children under 12 is about three times

instance). However, when examining victim age higher in the family setting than in all rape offenses

regardless of offender age, the percentage of rape (31 percent versus 11 percent). (See Table 16.)

Table 16. Number and Percent Distribution of Confrontations by Victim and Offender Age, Forcible Rape, 1995

Offender Age*

Victim Age* 0-11 12-17 18 and over Total

All forcible rape:

0-11 46 (10.43%) 162 (36.73%) 233 (52.83%) 441 (100.00%)

(92.00%) (24.66%) (7.15%) (11.11%)

12-17 4 (0.26%) 435 (28.47%) 1,089 (71.27%) 1,528 (100.00%)

(8.00%) (66.21%) (33.39%) (38.51%)

18 and over 0 (0%) 60 (3.00%) 1,939 (97.00%) 1,999 (100.00%)

(0.00%) (9.13%) (59.46%) (50.38%)

Total 50 (1.25%) 657 (16.56%) 3,261 (82.18%) 3,968 (100.00%)

(100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%)

Family forcible rape:

0-11 18 (8.33%) 66 (30.56%) 132 (61.11%) 216 (100.00%)

(100.00%) (65.35%) (23.28%) (31.49%)

12-17 0 (0%) 28 (11.20%) 222 (88.80%) 250 (100.00%)

(0%) (27.72%) (39.15%) (36.44%)

18 and over 0 (0%) 7 (3.18%) 213 (96.82%) 220 (100.00%)

(0%) (6.93%) (37.57%) (32.07%)

Total 18 (2.62%) 101 (14.72%) 567 (82.65%) 686 (100.00%)

(100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%)

* Does not include unknown ages.

Finally, the injuries suffered by these rape victims offenses in family settings (57 percent versus 38

were reported and analyzed. These violent offenses, percent). (See Table 18.) The racial patterns for

however, were frequently reported as having involved aggravated assault do not appear to differ significantly

no or only minor injuries. These data show no between family offenses and overall offenses.

 substantial difference between family rapes and overall

rapes in major injuries being sustained. (See Table

17.)

Table 17. Number of Victims and Percent Distribution,

Forcible Rape, 1995

Injury Overall Family

Major 4.10 4.02

Minor 24.06 21.05

None 71.82 74.92

AGGRAVATED ASSAULT

Aggravated assault accounts for about 21 percent of

all violent offenses. Considering family violence,

aggravated assault comprises 19 percent of all offenses.

Children under 12 comprise 5 percent of victims of

family aggravated assault and overall aggravated

assault. Females, however, make up a considerably

greater portion of family aggravated assault victims

than they do overall aggravated assault victims (62

percent versus 43 percent). Conversely, males

represent a greater portion of overall aggravated

assault victims than they do as victims of similar

Table 18. Percent Distribution of Victims by Age, 

Sex, and Race, Aggravated Assault, 1995

Overall Family

Age:

 0-11 4.68 5.30

 12-17 14.14 9.01

 18 and over 79.66 85.07

 Unknown 1.53 0.62

Sex:

 Male 56.53 37.67

 Female 43.35 62.29

 Unknown 0.13 0.04

Race:

 White 61.78 59.42

 Nonwhite 37.65 39.69

 Unknown 1.50 0.89

Turning to substance abuse, family aggravated

assault involves more suspected substance abuse on the

part of the offender (27 percent versus 20 percent)

than it does in the overall case. At the same time, it is

important to note that no substance abuse was reported

in 73 percent of the family incidents and 80 percent of

overall aggravated assault. (See Table 19.)
8

Table 19. Percent Distribution of Offenses where Offender

was Suspected of Substance Use, Aggravated Assault, 1995

Suspected Use Overall Family weapon involvement was rarely reported in either

Alcohol 18.48 24.97

Drugs 0.82 0.99

Multiple 1.09 1.35

None 79.60 72.70

Firearms, while not the predominant weapons used

in this offense, still are involved in 18 percent of all

aggravated assaults, as compared to only 11 percent of

the family cases. Personal weapons (hands, fists, feet,

etc.) are used with the same frequency, whether

family or overall aggravated assault. Likewise, knives,

blunt objects, and other types of weapons also are

used with equal frequency in either case. Because of

the nature of aggravated assault, no or unknown

instance. (See Table 20.)

Table 20. Percent Distribution of Weapons Used,

Aggravated Assault, 1995

Weapon Overall Family

Firearm 17.66 10.71

Knife 16.19 18.53

Blunt Object 16.92 17.37

Personal Weapons 23.00 24.42

Other 10.15 8.38

Multiple 12.16 17.01

None/unknown 3.91 3.56

Table 21. Number and Percent Distribution of Confrontations of Victim and Offender Age, Aggravated Assault, 1995

Offender Age*

Victim Age* 0-11 12-17 18 and over Total

All Aggravated Assault:

0-11 596 (23.99%) 747 (30.07%) 1,141 (45.93%) 2,484 (100.00%)

(67.57%) (7.48%) (2.58%) (4.51%)

12-17 165 (1.88%) 4,793 (54.48%) 3,839 (43.64%) 8,797 (100.00%)

(18.71%) (47.96%) (8.69%) (15.97%)

18 and over 121 (0.28%) 4,453 (10.17%) 39,213 (89.55%) 43,787 (100.00%)

(13.72%) (44.56%) (88.73%) (79.51%)

Total 882 (1.60%) 9,993 (18.15%) 44,193 (80.25%) 55,068 (100.00%)

(100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%)

Family Aggravated Assault:

0-11 23 (3.41%) 68 (10.09%) 583 (86.50%) 674 (100.00%)

(29.87%) (4.85%) (5.06%) (5.19%)

12-17 15 (1.19%) 420 (33.31%) 826 (65.50%) 1,261 (100.00%)

(19.48%) (29.96%) (7.17%) (9.70%)

18 and over 39 (0.35%) 914 (8.26%) 10,107 (91.38%) 11,060 (100.00%)

(50.65%) (65.19%) (87.76%) (85.11%)

Total 77 (0.59%) 1,402 (10.79%) 11,516 (88.62%) 12,995 (100.00%)

(100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%)

* Does not include unknown ages.

Focusing on the age of offenders and their victims

shows that children under the age of 12 most

frequently victimize other children of the same age in

overall aggravated assault, but tend to victimize older

persons in family violence situations. Juveniles aged

12-17 proportionally victimize individuals within their

own age group (48 percent) and adults (45 percent) in

overall aggravated assault, but in family cases

juveniles disproportionately victimize adults (65

percent). When adults are the offenders, however, the

predominant victims in both the family and overall

aggravated assaults are adults. (See Table 21.)

The analysis of injuries incurred by aggravated assault

victims shows that frequently no injury or only

minor injuries were sustained. The occurrence of

major injury is slightly higher for overall aggravated

assault victims than for family aggravated assault

victims. (See Table 22.)

Table 22. Numbers of Victims and Percent Distribution,

Aggravated Assault, 1995

Injury Overall Family

Major 23.47 20.48

Minor 34.22 39.00

None 42.31 40.53

SIMPLE ASSAULT

Simple assault accounts for 56 percent of all violent

offenses. Considering family violence, simple assault

accounts for 68 percent. In both overall and family

simple assault, 4 percent of children under 12 are

victimized. Considering their percentage of the totals,

individuals aged 12-17 are less often victims of family

simple assaults than they are victims of overall simple

assaults (16 percent versus 9 percent). Also, adults

account for 78 percent of the victims in overall

assaults and 87 percent in family assaults. Females
9

more frequently experience family simple assault than 75 percent of the family simple assaults and 80 percent 

overall simple assault (76 percent versus 61 percent). of all simple assaults. (See Table 24.)

Considering family or all cases when reviewing the

race of the victim, the patterns are similar. Seventyone to seventy-three percent of the victims were

identified as white in the jurisdictions studied. (See

Table 23.)

Table 23. Percent of Victims by Age, Sex, and Race,

Simple Assault, 1995

Overall Family

Age:

 0-11 4.37 3.54

 12-17 15.86 8.90

 18 and over 78.17 86.68

 Unknown 1.60 0.88

Sex:

 Male 39.08 24.24

 Female 60.79 75.71

 Unknown 0.13 0.05

Race:

 White 71.33 73.32

 Nonwhite 27.46 25.84

 Unknown 1.22 0.83

Turning to substance abuse, family simple assault

involves more suspected substance abuse on the part of

the offender (25 percent versus 20 percent) than in the

general case. No substance abuse was reported in

Table 24. Percent Distribution of Offenses where Offender

was Suspected of Substance Use, Simple Assault, 1995

Suspected Use Overall Family

Alcohol 18.76 23.32

Drugs 0.56 0.78

Multiple 0.65 0.77

None 80.04 75.13

As for aggravated assault, children under the age of

12 most frequently victimize other children of the

same age in overall simple assaults. Data for family

simple assaults, however, show that children under

age 12 victimize other children of the same age group

45 percent of the time and adults 42 percent. Data for

juveniles aged 12-17 reveal a similar picture; in all

simple assaults other juveniles are the most frequent

victims at 59 percent. In contrast, family assaults are

shown to be more frequently focused on adults, 69

percent. When adults are the offenders in overall

assaults, however, the predominant victims are adults,

89 percent. This finding is the same for cases of

family simple assaults. (See Table 25.)

Table 25. Number and Percent Distribution of Confrontations of Victim and Offender Age, Simple Assault, 1995

Offender Age*

Victim Age* 0-11 12-17 18 and over Total

All Simple Assault:

0-11 1,629 (26.79%) 1,805 (29.69%) 2,646 (43.52%) 6,080 (100.00%)

(69.38%) (7.52%) (2.35%) (4.38%)

12-17 370 (1.51%) 14,084 (57.61%) 9,993 (40.88%) 24,447 (100.00%)

(15.76%) (58.70%) (8.89%) (17.61%)

18 and over 349 (0.32%) 8,103 (7.48%) 99,807 (92.19%) 108,259 (100.00%)

(14.86%) (33.77%) (88.76%) (78.00%)

Total 2,348 (1.69%) 23,992 (17.29%) 112,446 (81.02%) 138,786 (100.00%)

(100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%)

Family Simple Assault:

0-11 72 (4.51%) 205 (12.83%) 1,321 (82.67%) 1,598 (100.00%)

(45.00%) (5.32%) (3.19%) (3.52%)

12-17 21 (0.50%) 974 (23.37%) 3,172 (76.12%) 4,167 (100.00%)

(13.13%) (25.25%) (7.65%) (9.17%)

18 and over 67 (0.17%) 2,678 (6.75%) 36,947 (93.08%) 39,692 (100.00%)

(41.88%) (69.43%) (89.16%) (87.32%)

Total 160 (0.35%) 3,857 (8.48%) 41,440 (91.16%) 45,457 (100.00%)

(100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%)

* Does not include unknown ages.

INTIMIDATION

Intimidation accounts for about 12 percent of all aged 12-17 represent about 10 percent in overall

violent crimes and 7 percent of family violence intimidation and 4 percent in the family case. Adults

offenses. Young persons are infrequent victims of are the predominant victims, 85 percent for overall

intimidation for both overall and family-related intimidation and 93 percent in the family offenses.

offenses. Children under 12 account for about 2

percent of the victims in either case, while juveniles
10

Females comprise a larger portion of family no substance abuse was reported in most instances.

intimidation victims at 77 percent versus 65 percent Eighty-two percent of the family intimidations and 92

for all offenses. Also, white individuals are more often percent of overall intimidation involved no suspected

victims of overall intimidation than are nonwhites (78 substance abuse. Alcohol use was, however, much

percent versus 20 percent). (See Table 26.) more prevalent in family offenses than it was in

Table 26. Percent Distribution of Victims by Age, Sex, 

and Race, Intimidation, 1995

Overall Family

Age:

 0-11 1.72 1.82

 12-17 9.97 3.92

 18 and over 85.13 93.28

 Unknown 3.18 0.98

Sex:

 Male 35.15 22.59

 Female 64.59 77.37

 Unknown 0.26 0.05

Race:

 White 77.65 70.20

 Nonwhite 19.51 28.11

 Unknown 2.84 1.70

Family intimidation involves more suspected

substance abuse on the part of the offender than it does

in the overall case (18 percent versus 8 percent). As

was the case with the other assault offense categories,

overall offenses, 15 percent versus 7 percent. (See

Table 27.)

Table 27. Percent Distribution of Offenses where Offender

was Suspected of Substance Use, Intimidation, 1995

Suspected Use Overall Family

Alcohol 7.07 15.35

Drugs 0.54 1.20

Multiple 0.58 1.51

None 91.81 81.95

Weapons involvement is not applicable to these

incidents.

As seen for the other assault offenses, young

children under age 12 generally victimize other

children of the same age in overall intimidations. The

number of cases reported in this age category for

family intimidation, however, is too small to state any

substantive findings. 

Table 28. Number and Percent Distribution of Confrontations by Victim and Offender Age, Intimidation, 1995

Offender Age*

Victim Age* 0-11 12-17 18 and over Total

All Intimidation:

0-11 87 (19.29%) 137 (30.38%) 227 (50.33%) 451 (100.00%)

(47.54%) (3.99%) (1.15%) (1.94%)

12-17 36 (1.22%) 1,579 (53.67%) 1,327 (45.11%) 2,942 (100.00%)

(19.67%) (46.02%) (6.74%) (12.62%)

18 and over 60 (0.30%) 1,715 (8.61%) 18,139 (91.09%) 19,914 (100.00%)

(32.79%) (49.99%) (92.11%) (85.44%)

Total 183 (0.79%) 3,431 (14.72%) 19,693 (84.49%) 23,307 (100.00%)

(100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%)

Family Intimidation:

0-11 2 (2.38%) 11 (13.10%) 71 (84.52%) 84 (100.00%)

(18.18%) (3.27%) (1.76%) (1.92%)

12-17 0 (0%) 28 (15.14%) 157 (84.86%) 185 (100.00%)

(0%) (8.33%) (3.90%) (4.23%)

18 and over 9 (0.22%) 297 (7.24%) 3,799 (92.55%) 4,105 (100.00%)

(81.82%) (88.39%) (94.34%) (93.85%)

Total 11 (0.25%) 336 (7.68%) 4,027 (92.07%) 4,374 (100.00%)

(100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%)

* Does not include unknown ages.

Juveniles aged 12-17, on the other hand, show a

different pattern, with other juveniles being victimized

about 46 percent of the time and adults about 50

percent of the time in overall intimidation offenses.

Looking at family intimidations among juvenile

offenders, adults are the predominant victims at 88

percent. Adults offenders overwhelmingly victimize

other adults at about 92-94 percent for both family and 

general intimidations. (See Table 28.)

OTHER OFFENSES

Other offenses include forcible sodomy, sexual

assault with an object, forcible fondling, and

kidnaping/abduction. These offenses account for about
11

4 percent of all violent offenses and 5 percent of those was reported in 94 percent of the family offenses and

related to family. Children under 12 comprise about 92 percent of all other offenses. (See Table 30.)

44 percent of the victims of these offenses when

looking at data for overall offenses. However, in

family situations these children represent 62 percent

of all victims. Juveniles aged 12-17 comprise 29

percent in overall offenses and 26 percent in family

occurrences. Females are frequently victims of these

offenses, comprising 75 percent of the victims of both

family and overall offenses. Also, white individuals

are the predominant victims of these offenses in both

overall and family offenses, 82 and 90 percent

respectively. Nonwhites are less often (7 percent

versus 15 percent) victims of family-related offenses

than they are victims of overall other offenses. (See

Table 29.)

Table 29. Percent Distribution of Victims by Age, Sex, 

and Race, Other Offenses, 1995

Overall Family

Age:

 0-11 44.34 62.25

 12-17 28.78 26.03

 18 and over 25.22 10.67

 Unknown 1.65 1.06

Sex:

 Male 24.44 24.61

 Female 75.40 75.25

 Unknown 0.17 0.15

Race:

 White 82.05 89.84

 Nonwhite 15.21 7.13

 Unknown 2.75 3.03

Family offenses of this type involve less suspected

substance abuse on the part of the offender than in the

overall case (6 percent versus 8 percent). It is

important to note, however, that no substance abuse

Table 30. Percent Distribution of Offenders Suspected of

Substance Use, Other Offenses, 1995

Suspected Use Overall Family

Alcohol 6.88 4.37

Drugs 0.50 0.51

Multiple 0.73 0.66

None 91.88 94.46

Firearms, knives, and blunt objects are not

significant factors in these offenses. The majority of

weapon use reported in these offenses is personal

weapons. This finding remains consistent when

looking at family or overall cases. No weapon

involvement was reported in 28 and 31 percent of

the cases for both overall and family offenses,

respectively. (See Table 31.)

Table 31. Percent of Weapons Used,

Other Offenses, 1995

Weapon Overall Family

Firearm 3.31 1.09

Knife 1.82 0.62

Blunt Object 0.50 0.40

Personal Weapons 62.83 63.67

Other 2.53 2.37

Multiple 1.36 0.87

None/unknown 27.65 30.98

Data on the age of offenders and their victims show

that individuals under the age of 12 almost exclusively

victimize other children of the same age. This is

evidenced in both family offenses, 99 percent of the

cases, and general offenses, 97 percent of the cases. 

Table 32. Number and Percent Distribution of Confrontations by Victim and Offender Age, Other Offenses, 1995

Offender Age*

Victim Age* 0-11 12-17 18 and over Total

All Other Offenses:

0-11 508 (12.76%) 1,001 (25.14%) 2,473 (62.10%) 3,982 (100.00%)

(96.95%) (54.46%) (36.21%) (43.32%)

12-17 9 (0.32%) 733 (25.74%) 2,106 (73.95%) 2,848 (100.00%)

(1.72%) (39.88%) (30.83%) (30.98%)

18 and over 7 (0.30%) 104 (4.40%) 2,251 (95.30%) 2,362 (100.00%)

(1.34%) (5.66%) (32.96%) (25.70%)

Total 524 (5.70%) 1,838 (20.00%) 6,830 (74.30%) 9,192 (100.00%)

(100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%)

Family Other Offenses:

0-11 125 (6.85%) 423 (23.17%) 1,278 (69.99%) 1,826 (100.00%)

(99.21%) (79.51%) (57.72%) (63.58%)

12-17 0 (0%) 95 (12.91%) 641 (87.09%) 736 (100.00%)

(0%) (17.86%) (28.95%) (25.63%)

18 and over 1 (0.32%) 14 (4.52%) 295 (95.16%) 310 (100.00%)

(0.79%) (2.63%) (13.32%) (10.79%)

Total 126 (4.39%) 532 (18.52%) 2,214 (77.09%) 2,872 (100.00%)

(100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%) (100.00%)

*Does not include unknown ages.
12

Juveniles aged 12-17, however, less frequently analysis of the presented data are currently limited

victimize individuals within their same age group (40 only to the jurisdictions reporting. On this last point

percent) as compared with victims under the age of 12 progress is being made, but data reflective of the

(54 percent) in general other offenses. In family national picture are not yet available.

cases, 80 percent of these offenders in the 12-17 age Nonetheless, this study illustrates that the NIBRS

group victimize children under 12 and only 18 percent data can currently be used to support topical crime

victimize similar-aged individuals. In overall other studies and contribute to the knowledge about specific

offense incidents, adult offenders victimize children, crime problems. As such, this study shows that 27

juveniles, and adults with about the same frequency. percent of all violence occurs in a family setting and

However, within families, children under the age of the majority of these offenses are assaultive in nature

12 comprise 58 percent of the victims and juveniles 29 involving offenses such as intimidation, simple assault,

percent, with the remaining 13 percent being attributed or aggravated assault. In the jurisdictions studied,

to adult victims. (See Table 32.) whites, adults, and females were found to be the

Most of these offenses, 97 percent, involved no or particular offenses, some variance with this general

only minor injuries to victims. The occurrence of profile is evident. This seems to be particularly clear

major injury was negligible (3 percent) in both family in sex offenses where children under 12 were found to

and overall other offenses. (See Table 33.) comprise larger percentages of the victims associated

Table 33. Number of Victims and Percent Distribution,

Other Offenses, 1995

Injury Overall Family violence. 

Major 2.68 3.20

Minor 11.78 10.81

None 85.54 85.98

CONCLUSION

This analysis was designed to demonstrate that the

data compiled by the NIBRS can be used effectively

for analyzing many aspects of violent crime. Yet,

several limitations particular to the study of both the

NIBRS data in general and that which relates to family

violence remain. For instance, the NIBRS data

collection does not permit an analysis of repeat calls

to a given location. There are no geographic

identifiers specific enough to support detailed geomapping of the data, and the generalizations from an

predominant victims of family violence, but within

with family violence. The analysis for weapon use,

substance abuse, and injury is informative and may be

useful for understanding the problems of family

 Caution should be used in extrapolating conclusions

from these findings since the NIBRS is not yet national

in scope. As a result, data quality issues with the

NIBRS are still evolving and statistical compatibility

with other crime information systems remains to be

studied. Further, the reporting of some information

such as substance abuse in family violence may be

hampered by the reluctance of or lack of opportunity

for victims to come forward at the time of the offense.

Nonetheless, this analysis of family violence, with its

comparisons and contrasts to the overall picture of

violence, may suggest some facets of these crimes that

are amenable to efforts by law enforcement and the

community to investigate and prevent such incidents.
13

APPENDIX

OFFENSE DEFINITION

Murder and Nonnegligent Manslaughter:

The willful (nonnegligent) killing of one human being by another.

Negligent Manslaughter:

The killing of another person through negligence.

Forcible Rape:

The carnal knowledge of a person, forcibly and\or against that person's will; or not forcibly or against the person's

will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his\her temporary or permanent mental or physical

incapacity.

Forcible Sodomy:

Oral or anal sexual intercourse with another person, forcibly and/or against that person's will; or not forcible or

against the person's will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her

temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.

Sexual Assault with an Object:

To use an object or instrument to unlawfully penetrate, however slightly, the genital or anal opening of the body

of another person, forcibly and/or against that person's will; or not forcibly or against the person's will where the

victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental

or physical incapacity.

Forcible Fondling:

The touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, forcibly and/or

against that person's will; or not forcibly or against the person's will where the victim is incapable of giving consent

because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.

Aggravated Assault:

An unlawful attack by one person upon another wherein the offender uses a weapon or displays it in a threatening

manner, or the victim suffers obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury involving apparent broken bones, loss of

teeth, possible internal injury, severe laceration, or loss of consciousness. This also includes assault with disease (as

in cases when the offender is aware that he/she is infected with a deadly disease and deliberately attempts to inflict

the disease by biting, spitting, etc.).

Simple Assault:

An unlawful physical attack by one person upon another where neither the offender displays a weapon, nor the

victim suffers obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury involving apparent broken bones, loss of teeth, possible

internal injury, severe laceration, or loss of consciousness.

Intimidation:

To unlawfully place another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the use of threatening words and/or

other conduct, but without displaying a weapon or subjecting the victim to actual physical attack.

Kidnaping:

The unlawful seizure, transportation, and/or detention of a person against his/her will, or of a minor without the

consent of his/her custodial parent(s) or legal guardian.