Statistics

General Statistics

Studies show that child abuse occurs in 30-60% of family violence cases that involve families with children. (Carter LS. Weithorn LA. Behrman RE. Domestic violence and children: analysis and recommendations. The Future of Children. 9(3):4-20, 1999 Winter.)
Approximately 4 million adolescents have been victims of a serious physical assault, and 9 million have witnessed serious violence during their lifetimes. (Kilpatrick D. Saunders B. The Prevalence and consequences of child victimization: summary of a research study. Washington DC: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice, 1997)
Every year, 3 to 10 million children witness domestic violence. (Carter LS. Weithorn LA. Behrman RE. Domestic violence and children: analysis and recommendations. The Future of Children. 9(3):4-20, 1999 Winter.)
1 in 12 High Schoolers is threatened or injured with a weapon each year. (OJJDP, Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report, 1999).
In New Haven, CT, 39% of 6th, 8th, and 10th grade students had seen someone shot at in the preceding year. (Schwab-Stone M. Chen C. Greenberger E. Silver D. Lichtman J. Voyce C. No safe haven II: the effects of violence exposure on urban youth. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 38(4):359-367, 1999, Apr.)
In Miami, FL, more than 90% of the high school students witnessed community violence and 44% had been a victim of a violent crime. (Berman S. Kurtines W. Silverman W. Serafini L. The impact of exposure to crime and violence on urban youth. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 66(3): 329-36, 1996, Jul.)
In Richmond, VA, 88% of the children in one neighborhood heard gunfire near home, and 25% saw someone killed. (Kliewer W. Lepore S. Oskin D. Johnson P. The role of social and cognitive processes in children's adjustment to community violence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66(1):199-209, 1998.)
African-American youth seem to be the ethnic group most exposed to violence, followed by Latinos, and Caucasians–regardless of economic status (Crouch, J; Hanson, R.; Saunders, B; Kilpatrick, D; Resnick, H. Income, race/ethnicity, and exposure to violence in youth: Results from the national survey of adolescents. 2000).
Lower income households will witness violence more than children in higher income households (Crouch, J; Hanson, R.; Saunders, B; Kilpatrick, D; Resnick, H. Income, race/ethnicity, and exposure to violence in youth: Results from the national survey of adolescents. 2000).
Parents underestimate a child’s exposure to violence (Richters, J.; Martinez, P. The NIMH Community Violence Project: I. Children as victims of and witnesses to violence. 1993)