Adolescent dating violence may lead to adverse health behaviors. We examined associations between sexual teen dating violence victimization (TDVV) and sexual risk behaviors among U.S. high school students using 2013 and 2015 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey data (combined n = 29,346). Sex-stratified logistic regression models were used to estimate these associations among students who had dated or gone out with someone during the past 12 months (n = 20,093). Among these students, 10.5% experienced sexual TDVV. Sexual TDVV was positively associated with sexual intercourse before age 13, four or more lifetime sexual partners, current sexual activity, alcohol or drug use before last sexual intercourse, and no pregnancy prevention during last sexual intercourse. Given significant findings among both sexes, it is valuable for dating violence prevention efforts to target both female and male students.

The Office for Victims of Crime recommends that victims should be informed, consulted, respected, and made whole, rights that relate to informational, procedural, interpersonal, and distributive justice. We surveyed 238 victims in two Pennsylvania counties to test whether crime victims’ satisfaction with the criminal justice system was related to their perceptions of the fairness of the process and of their outcomes in their case, particularly with regard to restitution. Results indicated that payment of restitution, perception of fair process, and good interpersonal treatment were positively related to victims’ willingness to report crimes in the future but that satisfaction with information about the process was not. Victims’ understanding of the restitution process was a significant predictor of willingness to report in a multivariate analysis.

This article addresses the issue of a therapist’s duty to warn and protect victims of domestic violence. In three different cases, California courts have found therapists liable for violent acts perpetrated by clients in their care. Based on the landmark Tarasoff case that mandated the therapist to report threats made by their clients regarding a specific victim, the courts have now extended the therapist’s duty to include the reporting of those clients they assess as dangerous but who have not made specific threats, as well as the protection of unintended victims of violence, such as children. Therapists are concerned that the courts are expecting them to be clairvoyant and that psychologists may not be able to predict dangerousness. This article will discuss these concerns in light of the current state of the art regarding the prediction of dangerousness and its relationship to domestic violence. The author suggests specific clinical interventions for victims and perpetrators of domestic violence.

The current study assessed if childhood sexual abuse (CSA) can be meaningfully classified into classes, based on the assumption that abuse by a close family member differs in important ways from other abuse, and whether abuse classes were differentially associated with couple relationship problems. The childhood experiences and adult relationships of 1,335 Australian women (18–41 years) were assessed. Latent class analysis identified three classes of CSA: that perpetrated by a family member, friend, or stranger, which differed markedly on most aspects of the abuse. Family abuse was associated with the highest risk for adult relationship problems, with other classes of CSA having a significant but weaker association with adult relationship problems. CSA is heterogeneous with respect the long-term consequences for adult relationship functioning.

The literature indicates that witnessing domestic violence is harmful to children, that there is a high overlap between domestic violence and child abuse, and that safety is an important issue for separating women because separation from abusive partners is a particularly dangerous time for victims of domestic violence. Further, child custody is often a contentious issue in domestic violence cases. Child custody evaluations are typically used to assist courts in deciding custody when custody is disputed and when the best interests of the child are unclear. The concept of “best interests of the child” does not specify evaluation techniques or approaches, however, and while custody evaluation standards generally address the best interests of the child, they offer little guidance in high-risk situations such as parental domestic violence. In addition, there has been limited research focused on understanding the custody evaluation process or the degree to which practitioners differ in their procedures and reporting for cases with and without parental domestic violence. This study is one of the first to examine characteristics of disputed custody cases and their custody evaluation reports for differences between domestic violence and non-domestic violence cases. This study selected a 60% random sample of cases with custody evaluations in Fiscal Year 1998 and 1999 (n = 82 cases). Out of the 82 cases, 56% (n = 46) met criteria for classification into the domestic violence group and 44% (n = 36) did not. In general, results indicated that although there were some important differences in court records between cases with and without domestic violence, there were only minor differences between custody evaluation reported process and recommendations for the two groups. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Correctional facilities have a responsibility to take “reasonable measures” to preserve and protect inmate safety. The extent to which people inside prison feel safe from victimization is explored using a sample of approximately 7,000 adult male inmates housed in 13 prisons. The majority of male inmates reported no victimization in the past 6 months and that they felt safe, especially from sexual abuse and assault. Levels of feeling safe diminished for inmates who experienced victimization. Inmate perceptions of safety varied between facilities. Variation in perceptions of safety among harmful situations and between facilities provides useful information about inmate safety and ways to improve it (n = 104).

This study examined histories of past emotional, physical, and sexual abuse as correlates of current psychological distress using data from 916 female sex workers (FSWs) who were enrolled in a safer-sex behavioral intervention in Tijuana and Ciudad (Cd.) Juarez, Mexico. We hypothesized that histories of abuse would be associated with higher symptom levels of depression and somatization and that social support would moderate the relationship. Nonparametric correlations and a series of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that all forms of past abuse predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms, and physical and sexual abuse were significantly associated with higher levels of somatic symptoms. Social support was also significantly associated with fewer symptoms of distress; however, it was not shown to moderate the relationship between abuse history and distress.

This study extends the opportunity theory of victimization to consider the social capital of adolescents at school. We argue that social capital might act as a protective factor potentially encompassing both the concepts of guardianship and target attractiveness. Drawing on a sample of 5,395 adolescents interviewed in the context of the 2007 National Crime Victimization Survey (school crime supplement), we develop school-specific measures of social capital and opportunity indicators in predicting violent and theft victimization on school grounds. The results show that opportunity indicators are strong predictors of both violent and theft victimization and that social capital is especially important as a protective factor from violent victimization. More specifically, the results indicate that students who developed trust relationships with adults at school benefit from these relationships by avoiding violent encounters with potential offenders. Implications for opportunity theories of victimization are discussed.

Self-report college student surveys on childhood maltreatment, and borderline and narcissistic personality features are examined to determine their influence on stalking victimization vulnerability. Stalking victimization was measured using Spitzberg and Cupach’s (2008) Obsessive Relational Intrusion scale. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models were run separately for men (N = 677) and women (N = 1,017). Results indicated childhood sexual maltreatment and borderline traits were associated with stalking victimization among both men and women. These were the only significant relationships for men (R² = .10). For women, stalking victimization was also associated with narcissistic grandiosity and vulnerability and with a child sexual abuse by borderline features interaction (R² = .13), demonstrating women reporting prior sexual abuse and borderline personality pathology are especially vulnerable. Methodological and policy implications are discussed.