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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: The rate of violent victimization against children with disabilities is thought to be lower than the rate for children without disabilities but several studies shows otherwise.
OBJECTIVE: The study focuses on examining violent crime against children with disabilities and explaining differences in victimization, in order to elucidate to what extent types of disability, family disadvantages, gender, high-risk behavior, location and indicator of ethnic minority (e.g. non-Danish citizens) influence adolescents' risk of violent victimization. Previous population studies in this area lack scientifically sound research methodology and results are weak or inconclusive.
METHOD: Data is based on a national study of reported violent crime against children in Denmark aged between 7 and 18 years, using total birth cohorts (N = 678,000). Data on types of disability were collected from the Danish national inpatient register. Violent-crime data were extracted from Danish police records. Within the birth cohorts studied, 3.5% of children had experienced a violent crime. A discrete-time Cox model was used for the statistical analysis, which included an extended list of potential risk factors to adjust for confounding.
RESULTS: Children with disabilities are more likely to be victims of a reported violent crime than non-disabled children - ADHD odds ratio: 2.7 (2.6-2.8), mental retardation: 2.7 (2.6-2.7), autism 2.6 (2.5-2.7), loss of hearing 1.4 (1.2-1.5), brain injury: 1.8 (1.7-1.9), physical disabilities 1.4 (1.2-1.5), and blindness 2.0 (1.4-2.8). Speech disability, epilepsy, stuttering, and dyslexia were not associated with increased risk of violent victimization, when adjusted for confounding risk factors and age.
CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study provide empirical insight into the first-time prevalence of victimization among children with disability, and into the predicative association between family disadvantages and victimization.
Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Language: en |