National Survey on Children Exposed to Violence

The OJJDP Invited Research Program furthers the Department's mission by providing grants and cooperative agreements for research and evaluation activities to organizations that OJJDP designates.

The University of New Hampshire is undertaking additional analyses of data collected in the 3 waves of the National Survey of Children Exposed to Violence (NatSCEV) in 2008, 2011, and 2014. In addition, the researchers will prepare documentation about the methodology and data structure of those studies so that the data will be readily accessible for secondary analyses by other researchers.

The new analyses that will be conducted will be based on a pooled data set from all 3 waves to create a large sample that will allow for the examination of low base rate forms of victimization as well as the experience of small or specialized populations. The low base rate forms of victimization include: bias crimes; physical abuse resulting in injury; severe sexual assault; family abduction; and offenses committed by teachers, coaches, and other youth serving adults. The specialized populations that will be analyzed in more detail include: American Indians, disabled youth, youth who have been involved in the justice system, youth in foster care, and children with deployed and returning parents in the military. The pooled samples will also allow for more detailed analyses of violence exposure by subcategories of the youth population stratified by race, gender, age, and social class.

The additional documentation will include the archiving of the pooled data set at the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, providing instructions on key study variables, and producing an updated measurement handbook. Dissemination efforts will also include the release of journal articles, bulletins, and conference presentations.

Note: This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law. NCA/NCF