An empirical analysis of sibling sexual abuse: Examining offender, victim, and event characteristics in National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data, 2018-2022.

BACKGROUND: Sibling sexual abuse (SSA) is a pervasive form of intrafamilial sexual violence. A review of existing literature underscores ongoing challenges to comprehensive understanding of this offense due to definitional inconsistencies, small sample sizes, data constraints, methodological shortcomings including reporting practices, and a dearth of empirical scrutiny. Previous studies have relied on retrospective, non-representative, clinical, or homogeneous samples. OBJECTIVE: The present work updates knowledge on SSA addressing several persistent limitations in previous studies and offering contemporary victim, offender, and incident-based profiles to promote avenues for future risk assessment, prevention, and intervention strategies. METHODS: This study, both exploratory and descriptive, draws on the five most recent years (2018-2022) of data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), the largest available dataset (N = 30,640), containing SSA incidents reported to law enforcement. RESULTS: Significant sex differences were noted across age, race, victim injury, offense type, and relationship. Female victims were more likely to experience abuse from older siblings and were nearly 2.5 times more likely to be victimized as an adult than their male counterparts. Female victims were also more likely to report injury, yet less likely than male victims to experience forcible penetration during an SSA incident. CONCLUSIONS: Findings substantiate the ongoing need for continued refinement of SSA definitional criteria, which, in turn, will lead to greater identification and reporting of incidents. Moreover, findings here underscore the importance of considering age and gender dynamics to guide risk assessment, intervention, and prevention strategies.

The Sexual Victimization of the Elderly: An Empirical Analysis of Officially Reported Incidents, 2007-2016.

As "baby boomers" age through the lifecourse, elderly American's are projected to comprise more than 20% of the U.S. population by 2030 (Ortman, Velkoff, & Hogan, 2014). With a dramatic population increase anticipated, elder abuse and maltreatment has emerged as a focus of violence research. Elder sexual abuse is perhaps the least perceived, acknowledged, detected, and reported type of victimization (Roberto, Teaster, & Nikzad, 2007). The present work explores elder sexual abuse, drawing on 10 years (2007-2016) of officially reported incidents from National Incident Reporting System (NIBRS) data, to address several of the limitations identified by the National Research Council (2003) including: inconsistent definitions, unclear and inadequate measures, and a lack of population-based data. Results support significant differences in elder sexual abuse profiles across victim and perpetrator sex, age, race, relationship, residence, and offense type, highlighting the need to examine contextual differences in offenders, victims, and incident-based characteristics. Intervention, policy needs, and prevention are discussed.

My brother's reaper: examining officially reported siblicide incidents in the United States, 2000-2007.

With higher rates than any other form of intrafamilial violence, Hoffman and Edwards (2004) note, sibling violence "constitutes a pandemic form of victimization of children, with the symptoms often going unrecognized and the effect ignored" (p. 187). Approximately 80% of children reside with at least one sibling (Kreider, 2008), and in its most extreme form sibling violence manifests as siblicide. Siblicide is poorly understood with fewer than 20 empirical studies identified in the extant literature since 1980 (see Eriksen & Jensen, 2006). The present work employs 8 years of Supplemental Homicide Report (SHR) data, 2000-2007, with siblicide victims and offenders age 21 years and younger, to construct contemporary victim and offender profiles examining incident characteristics. Findings highlight the sex-based nature of the offense with unique victimization patterns across victims and offenders. Older brothers using a firearm are the most frequent offenders against both male and female siblings. Strain as a theoretical foundation of siblicide is offered as an avenue for future inquiry.

Examining the nexus between domestic violence and animal abuse in a national sample of service providers.

Companion animals play a complex role in families impacted by violence. An outlet of emotional support for victims, the family pet often becomes a target for physical abuse. Results from a comprehensive e-survey of domestic violence shelters nationwide (N = 767) highlight both improvements and existing gaps in service provision for domestic violence victims and their pets. Quantitative and qualitative data noted frequently encountered obstacles to successful shelter seeking by abuse victims with companion animals including a lack of availability, funding, space, and reliable programming. Although results indicate an overall improvement in organizational awareness, fewer than half of surveyed shelters include intake questions about animals. Continued awareness and an expansion of services is needed to create viable safety planning strategies and reliable alternatives for women with companion animals in order to improve the likelihood that abuse victims will seek escape and refuge for themselves, their children, and their pets.

Sibling sexual abuse: an empirical analysis of offender, victim, and event characteristics in National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data, 2000-2007.

Sibling sexual abuse is identified as the most common form of familial sexual abuse. Extant literature is plagued by definitional inconsistencies, data limitations, and inadequate research methodology. Trivialized as "normal" sexual exploration, sibling sexual abuse has been linked to psychosocial/psychosexual dysfunction. Research has relied on retrospective, convenience, and/or homogenous samples. This work drew on eight years of National Incident-Based Reporting System data (2000-2007) to provide aggregate level baseline information. This work extended prior research exploring victim-, offender-, and incident-based characteristics. Results highlight the need for expanded definitional criteria relating to both age and gender to better inform risk assessment and prevention. Findings both corroborate and contrast prior work and suggest victim- and offender-based gender differences.

A decade of child-initiated family violence: comparative analysis of child--parent violence and parricide examining offender, victim, and event characteristics in a national sample of reported incidents, 1995-2005.

This article examines 11 years (1995-2005) of National Incident Based Reporting System data comparing victim, offender, and incident characteristics for two types of child-initiated family violence: child-parent violence (CPV) and parricide. The objective is to better understand the victim-offender relationship for CPV and parricide and to highlight distinguishing features between the two offenses. This work extends the research and addresses shortcomings in the extant literature. Data analysis consists of chi-square tests and logistic regression. Findings suggest that CPV and parricide are distinct and unique crimes. In short, parricide offenders and victims are both older than CPV offenders and victims, with CPV offenders more likely to be female, more likely to be African American, and less likely to use a weapon than parricide offenders. The study calls for future research and exploration of preliminary support for a family violence escalation hypothesis.

Elderly in America: a descriptive study of elder abuse examining National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data, 2000-2005.

Elder abuse is the newest form of intrafamilial violence to garner the attention of the public, policy makers, health officials, researchers, and the criminal justice system. Despite evidence that elder abuse is a growing problem, there is little known about the phenomenon because of persistent limitations in the extant empirical work. The present study examined a large cross-national sample of reported incidents (n = 87,422) collected as part of the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), 2000-2005. Addressing limitations in prior works, this research employed a criminal justice oriented definition of elder abuse examining victim, offender, and incident characteristics using chi-square tests and logistic regression to establish baseline findings from a more comprehensive sample of data than previously existed. Results render a baseline profile of victims and abusers and suggest that gender differences prevail throughout elder abuse. This work both corroborates and contrasts past findings of elder abuse research, providing new insights and much needed baseline data.