Choosing and Using Child Victimization Questionnaires

• NCJ Number: 186027
• Author(s): Sherry L. Hamby; David Finkelhor
• Date Published: March 2001
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Series: OJJDP Crimes Against Children Series
• Grant Number(s): 98-JN-FX-0012
• Agencies: OJJDP
• Publication Type: Report (Technical Assistance)

Annotation

This bulletin attempts to determine the questionnaires best suited for collecting data on varying situations of child victimization.

Abstract

The bulletin notes the benefits of questionnaires, presents guidelines for selecting questionnaires, and reviews selected questionnaires related to the major forms of victimization. The bulletin discusses questionnaires related to: Community Exposure to Violence, Child Maltreatment, Sexual Assault, Peer Victimization, Witnessing Violence, and Multidimensional Forms of Victimization. The bulletin claims that both the identification of incidents of victimization and development of effective interventions are greatly enhanced through the use of self-report questionnaires. Choosing an appropriate victimization instrument requires consideration of several issues: (1) the type of victimization to be measured; (2) whether there will be interviews or only a self-administered questionnaire; (3) whether results need to correspond to official crime and child protection categories; (4) the period of time for which data are needed; (5) ages of children to be surveyed; and (6) whether data collected are to be compared with national norms. Resources, tables, references