The Age-Graded Consequences of Victimization

• In Event: The Consequences of Victimization

Abstract

A wealth of research links victimization to numerous chronic health problems, emotional and mental distress, and increased crime and violence. Nevertheless, the extent to which the consequences of victimization are universal across the life course remains unclear. The majority of empirical research in this area has been confined to a narrow age range (i.e., childhood and adolescence), and the causal processes that link victimization to various life outcomes are rarely specified or measured directly. Accordingly, using four waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a series of multivariate models are estimated that address the following questions: (1) What are the various social, psychological, behavioral, and health-related consequences of victimization across different stages of the life course?, (2) What are the causal processes that explain variation in these consequences across the life course?, and (3) Are these causal processes general or age-graded? Implications for victimization theory and research are discussed.

Author

• Jillian J. Turanovic, Arizona State University