| Victims have become a prominent focus of crime policy over the past few decades. However, much of these changes have emphasized the needs and interests of particular victims, and not the interests and concerns of the majority of victims, who are often ignored in such discussions. Moreover, we still no very little about how people make sense of experiences with violence within their social context and the process of how incidents unfold, including victims' thoughts about why they responded in particular ways. Using a constitutive perspective, the current study helps to fill this void by examining the narratives of 147 Philadelphia youth in addition to survey data from a national sample of adolescents. It specifically explores two central research questions: (1) how do young people's understanding about victims, their social context and personal experiences influence identities as victims of crime; and (2) how do departures from the "ideal victim" impact responses to victimization?;Results indicated that youth and young adults described their experiences with violence in multiple ways. The closer experiences aligned with "ideal victims" (Christie, 1986), the more likely young people were to see themselves as victims and seek formal or informal help. However, individuals whose experiences diverged from those qualities were hesitant to identify themselves as "victims." Some young people viewed victimization as a part of chosen lifestyles: a risk to be managed by self-help or ignored. Others saw themselves as "defenders" who were strong and able to take immediate action against potential threats. From these narratives, several general hypotheses were developed and tested using the survey data.;Using the National Survey of Adolescents (Kirkpatrick & Saunders, 1995), multinomial probit regression models confirmed that the respondent's violent behavior and witnessing violence inhibited calling the police. Fear, on the other hand, substantially increased the odds of police reporting. The odds that incidents occurring in schools and by peer offenders were more likely to be reported to school authorities. Finally, informal help-seeking was more common when incidents involved known parties. The findings of this study provided evidence that policies, particularly for youth, must recognize the continuum of victimization experiences and how young people make sense of their experiences with the goal of reducing violence through promoting multiple help-seeking opportunities. Other recommendations for policy and future research are discussed. |
