The following study examined the effects of ethnic harassment and bully victimization on immigrant youths’ adjustment over the course of one year. Adjustment outcomes included depression, poor self-esteem, and self-harm. We asked: (1) Is bully victimization a risk for immigrant youths’ adjustment? and (2) Is ethnic harassment a risk for immigrant youths’ adjustment over and beyond bully victimization? Participants included 252 first and second-generation immigrant youths (52% female, 46% born abroad, M= 14.98 years) from seven schools in a mid-sized Swedish city. Multiple hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to test whether bully victimization and ethnic harassment predicted adjustment outcomes one year later and changes in these outcomes over the course of one year. A factor analysis revealed that bully victimization and ethnic harassment were separate constructs. Bully victimization predicted depression and poor self-esteem scores as well as increases in depression over the course of one year.  Ethnic harassment predicted depression, poor self-esteem, and self-harm scores as well as increases in these three outcomes over the course of one year. Results suggest that ethnic harassment poses an added risk to the adjustment of immigrant youth over and above bully victimization.  Findings underline the importance of assessing ethnic harassment when conducting research in ethnically diverse settings.

Previous research has explored the impact on individuals following hate crime victimization, including prevalence estimates in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual (LGBT) community. Past research, however, has been limited in its scope when exploring the impact of the hate crime event on the overall mental health of the survivor often examining only one measure of functioning. The current project aims to fill this gap by analyzing measures of posttraumatic symptoms, depression, stress and dissociation, collected on a sample of 30 LGBT individuals who have experienced hate crime victimization. In addition to clinical features, this study also analysed identity, openness about LGBT identity and coping behaviours. Results indicated that social support, identity and coping impact recovery from hate crime victimization. The effect of these factors differed over time (within one month of the hate crime) and up to as much as five years later (within the month of the interview).

Previous research has explored the impact on individuals following hate crime victimization, including prevalence estimates in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual (LGBT) community. Past research, however, has been limited in its scope when exploring the impact of the hate crime event on the overall mental health of the survivor often examining only one measure of functioning. The current project aims to fill this gap by analyzing measures of posttraumatic symptoms, depression, stress and dissociation, collected on a sample of 30 LGBT individuals who have experienced hate crime victimization. In addition to clinical features, this study also analysed identity, openness about LGBT identity and coping behaviours. Results indicated that social support, identity and coping impact recovery from hate crime victimization. The effect of these factors differed over time (within one month of the hate crime) and up to as much as five years later (within the month of the interview).

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF JOSEPH PIERRE KEENE, for the Master of Arts degree in Administration of Justice, presented on June 9, 2009, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: An Analysis of Victim Lifestyle in Assessment of Victimization of Native-American Women MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. George Burruss Native-American women have endured victimization for five centuries. The problem of Native-American female victimization should be a topic of great concern but has not been studied very well. Dugan & Apel (2003) demonstrated that a young unmarried woman, frequently transient, living in an rural setting, having children under the age of 12, and going out every night predisposed Native-American women to violent victimization because "risk" factors were heightened and "protective" factors were jeopardized. However, this theoretical approach involved use of routine activities theory to help explain the situational context of Native-American female victimization, which possibly suggested victim blaming. Therefore, the use of lifestyle theory vs. analyzing "risk" and "protective" factors coinciding with routine activities theory was used to help explore the nature and extent of Native-American female victimization. This study used NCVS data from 2005 (n = 4252 cases; Caucasian (n = 2987), African-American (n = 522), American Indian (n = 104), Asian (n = 91), Hispanic (n = 541), Other (n = 7)) to explore the nature and extent of Native-American female victimization (U.S. Department of Justice, 2007). This analysis contributed to relevant literature in regards to Native-American female victimization by examining contributing factors that were linked to Native-American female victimization, and it also enhanced previous literature establishing the predicating factors that precipitated disproportionate statistical findings of Native-American women having the highest percentages of victimization of any race of woman in the U.S. Findings indicated that higher rates of victimization took place off tribal land more so than on tribal land for Native-American women, contrary to previous literature findings that Native-American female victims encountered higher incidents of victimization on reservations as opposed to non-reservation land (due to lack of prosecution, jurisdictional issues) (Amnesty International, 2007). Further research is needed to explore the lack of prosecution of crimes and conflicts of interest between U.S. and tribal laws in regards to their impact on the victimization of Native-American women. Furthermore, findings of Native-American women having the highest percentages of victimization of any race of woman in the U.S. have prompted further research.

This exploratory study aimed to answer three research questions about the relationship between childhood victimization and being hazed during college. Secondary data analysis was conducted with a sample of first-year college students who completed a web-based survey during their fall and spring semesters. Forms of childhood victimization measured in this study include: bullying victimization, peer victimization (multiple forms and length), and exposure to other forms of victimization (e.g., parental abuse, dating abuse). Results support the hypothesis that students with a victimization history are more likely be hazed during college. Specifically, a chronic victimization history – exposure to multiple forms of peer victimization, longer peer victimization, and other forms of childhood victimization – was associated with an increased odds of being hazed during college. Results did not support the hypothesis that a sense of college belongingness would moderate the relationship between past victimization and hazing during college. There was partial support for the hypothesis that a victimization history would put students at risk for perceived negative effects of hazing. Childhood physical dating abuse, sexual assault, and exposure to other forms of childhood victimization were all positively associated with perceived negative consequences of hazing. Lastly, results found that exposure to other forms of childhood victimization moderates the relationship between being hazed during college and depression. Specifically, those with prior exposure to other forms of childhood victimization who are also hazed report lower depression scores than those with this victimization history who do not enter hazing initiations. These findings lend themselves to future research to better understand the relationships found between childhood victimization and hazing initiations during college. These findings also have practical implications for understanding the trajectory of previously victimized students. There are a number of limitations of the current study that can be addressed in future research.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF SUFNA GHEYARA JOHN, for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Psychology, presented on March 21st, 2014, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: GENETIC AND PARENTAL INFLUENCES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTION RECOGNITION SKILLS IN CHILDREN MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Lisabeth DiLalla The purpose of this study was to examine the magnitude of genetic and environmental influences on children's emotion recognition (ER) skills and social difficulties (bullying and victimization). An additional goal was to examine the relation between parent ER skills, child ER skills, and child social difficulties. It was expected that genetic and environmental influences would account for a significant portion of the variance in child ER skills and social difficulties and that child ER skills and social difficulties would share common genetic and environmental influences. Moreover, it was predicted that parent and child ER skills would significantly predict child social difficulties. Finally, it was predicted that child angry and fearful biases in ER abilities would lead to greater social difficulties. 121 children (forming 69 twin pairs) ages 6-10 years and their parents participated in the study. Children and their parents completed an objective measure of ER abilities and subjective measures of child social difficulties. Separate analyses were conducted for child social difficulties by informant (parent or child) and type of difficulty (bullying or victimization). Results from this study suggest that genetic and non-shared environmental influences account for a significant portion of the variance in child ER skills, parent-reported bullying and victimization, and child-reported bullying. Conversely, environmental influences account for a significant portion of the variance in child-reported victimization. Child ER abilities and child-reported bullying shared common genetic influences. Path modeling demonstrated that parent ER skills predicted child ER skills and parent-reported bullying, whereas child ER skills predicted child-reported victimization. Finally, children who demonstrated an angry or fearful bias had greater involvement in bullying and were more victimized. These results underscore the importance of conceptualizing bullying and victimization from a biopsychosocial perspective that incorporates both biological and environmental influences on complex social behavior. Moreover, results in this study varied by informant, suggesting that it is important to gather information from multiple perspectives in order to gain the most comprehensive view of child behavior. Finally, these results suggest that helping children to achieve a more balanced perspective in their emotion recognition abilities may help reduce their involvement in socially maladaptive interactions.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relation between anxiety symptoms and victimization experiences. It was expected that anxiety (both at age 5 and follow-up) and victimization (both overt and relational subtypes) would be heritable. It was also expected that early anxiety would predict future victimization experiences and that these experiences would be correlated with concurrent anxiety. Finally, it was predicted that early anxiety and high risk genotypes of the 5-HTTLPR serotonin transporter and DRD2 dopamine receptor genes would serve as diatheses, which upon experiencing the stressor of victimization, would put an individual at a multiplicatively greater risk for experiencing anxiety symptoms. Sixty-five children from the Southern Illinois Twins and Siblings Study (SITSS) were examined longitudinally. Parent-reported anxiety was obtained at age 5. Then during a follow-up study when the children were aged 6-16 years, parent- and self-report measures of anxiety and a self-report measure of victimization experiences were collected. Results indicated that the genetic influences on parent-reported anxiety at age 5 and total victimization were significant, with practically no influence of the shared environment. However, self-reported anxiety appeared to be largely due to the non-shared environment. A diathesis stress framework was not supported in this study, as early anxiety and high-risk genotype did not put an individual at greater risk for developing subsequent anxiety after being victimized. Although significant heritability was demonstrated for early anxiety and victimization, high risk alleles for both of the genes examined in this study (5-HTTLPR and DRD2) were not significant contributors to the demonstrated genetic underpinnings. Likewise, early anxiety did not serve as a diathesis for subsequent anxiety. However, age 5 and follow-up measures were positively correlated when both were reported by a parent, a result that did not remain true when measures were taken from different informants. The relation between anxiety symptoms and victimization also varied by informant and time. Early anxiety, as reported by a parent, was predictive of overt victimization specifically, whereas youth reports of anxiety were significantly related to both subtypes of victimization (both of which were measured at follow-up). However, parent-reported anxiety at follow-up was not significantly associated with any form of victimization. These results indicate that the relation between anxiety symptoms and victimization is complex and dependent on the type of victimization and reporter of anxiety symptoms. Understanding the maladaptive consequences of experiencing peer victimization as well as the psychological factors that put children at risk for being bullied will inform teachers, parents, and counselors how to effectively prevent and handle these maladaptive interactions. Given that peer victimization is a very common phenomenon, research in this field will generalize to a large portion of the population.

Procedural justice research in the field of criminal justice and policing have investigated how perceptions of procedural justice during police-citizen encounters influence satisfaction with police, cooperation with police, perceptions of police effectiveness, and perceptions of police authority. In general these studies have investigated police-initiated encounters, police-suspect encounters, and to a lesser degree, police-victim encounters. Limited research exits perceptions of police-citizen encounters during calls for service, and even less regarding police-domestic violence victim encounters. The present study investigates this relationship of procedural justice and domestic violence victims' satisfaction with police processes during a call for service, police actions during calls for service, and domestic violence victims' willingness to seek help from police in the future. The sample study for the present research comes from a 1994-1995 victim survey distributed in New York and Texas. Results from this study suggest that perceptions of procedural justice do influence domestic violence victims' satisfaction and willingness to seek help in the future.

abstract: For some children, peer victimization stops rather quickly, whereas for others it marks the beginning of a long trajectory of peer abuse (Kochenderfer-Ladd & Wardrop, 2001). Unfortunately, we know little about these trajectories and what factors may influence membership in increasing or decreasing victimization over time. To address this question, I identified children's developmental patterns of victimization in early elementary school and examined which child-level factors influenced children's membership in victimization trajectories using latent growth mixture modeling. Results showed that boys and girls demonstrated differential victimization patterns over time that also varied by victimization type. For example, boys experienced more physical victimization than girls and increased victimization over time was predicted by boys who display high levels of negative emotion (e.g., anger) towards peers and low levels of effortful control (e.g., gets frustrated easily). Conversely, girls exhibited multiple trajectories of increasing relational victimization (i.e., talking about others behind their back) over time, whereas most boys experienced low levels or only slightly increasing relational victimization over time. For girls, withdrawn behavior lack of positive emotion, and displaying of negative emotions was predictive of experiencing high levels of victimization over time. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Family and Human Development 2015

abstract: It is widely recognized that peer-directed aggression and victimization are pervasive social problems that impact school-aged children and adolescents. This study investigated the developmental course of aggression and victimization, and more specifically, addressed three primary aims. First, distinct subgroups of children were identified based on similarities and differences in their physical, verbal and relational aggression and victimization. Second, developmental stability (and instability) were assessed by examining the extent to which individuals remain (or change) subgroups throughout childhood and adolescence. Third, group classifications and transitions over time were assessed as a function of children’s individual characteristics and their relational and contextual experiences. The sample for this longitudinal study consisted of 482 children (50% females) who were followed over time from grades 1 to 11. Multiple-informant data on children’s physical, verbal and relational aggression and victimization (peer-reports), individual characteristics including emotion dysregulation, withdrawn behaviors (teacher-reports), and hostile and self-blaming attributions (self-reports), and their relational and contextual experiences including peer rejection, friendships, social hierarchy and classroom aggression (peer-reports) were assessed in grades 1, 5, 8, and 11. Data analyses primarily consisted of a series of person-centered methods including latent profile and latent transition analyses. Most of the identified subgroups (e.g., aggressors, victims and aggressive-victims) were distinguishable by their frequencies (i.e., levels) of aggression and victimization, rather than forms (physical, verbal and relational), with the exception of one group that appeared to be more form-specific (i.e., relational aggressive-victims). Among children in each group there was a modest degree of intra-individual stability, and findings elucidated how some groups appeared to be more stable than others as well as developmental differences. Although group stability was fairly common across all groups, and over time, patterns of instability also emerged. The combination of trends reflecting both stability and instability support the perspective that the development of aggression in childhood and adolescence is characterized by heterogeneity. In contrast to perspectives that highlight the individual stability of aggression (e.g., that it is a stable behavioral style or individual disposition), findings elucidate the individual, relational and contextual mechanisms by which developmental stability and instability were more pronounced. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Family and Human Development 2016