Perpetrators of the Criminal Victimisation of Children: A Longitudinal Study

Excluding child abuse and neglect, children may experience violence in their day-to-day lives, but little is known about the frequency of such experiences or the characteristics of those who perpetrate this violence. Some characteristics of the environment in which the child is reared, e.g., family economic disadvantage, or of the perpetrator, e.g., mental illness, may contribute to the level of violence children may routinely experience. This study examines children’s and adolescent’s experiences of criminal victimisation and identifies the perpetrators of these behaviours. Data are taken from a birth cohort study of pregnant women and the children to whom they gave birth. At 21 years of age, a sample of prospective parents (children born 1981–1984) were interviewed. Some 19 years later, the children of the children were interviewed about their recent experiences of criminal victimisation (N = 742 parent–children pairs). Predictors of perpetration are taken from the child’s parent before the birth of the child. Experiences of victimisation are reported by the child/adolescent. The perpetrators of child criminal victimisation are most frequently the friends/neighbours/teachers, siblings, strangers and the father of the child. Parents who have symptoms of mental illness at 21 years of age more often have children who, 19 years later, experience recent criminal victimisation. Children 16 to 17 years of age are disproportionately likely to experience criminal victimisation (OR = 2.01(1.18,3.40)) while fathers are more frequent perpetrators of violence experienced by older (18+) children (OR = 4.80(2.70,8.51)).