Workplace Violence, 1992-96

Bureau of Justice Statistics
Special Report
July 1998, NCJ 168634



By Greg Warchol, Ph.D.
BJS Statistician

Data from the National Crime Victimization Surveys (NCVS) for
1992-96 indicate that during each year U.S. residents
experienced more than 2 million violent victimizations while
they were working or on duty.  The most common type of workplace
violent crime was simple assault with an estimated average of
1.5 million victimizations occurring each year.  While at work
U.S. residents also suffered 395,000 aggravated assaults, 51,000
rapes and sexual assaults, 84,000 robberies, and 1,000
homicides.

-----------
Highlights
-----------

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Figure:  Selected occupations with a larger number of violent
victimizations

Average annual number of violent victimizations in the
workplace, 1992-96

Retail sales         292482
Law enforcement      240480
Teaching             138124
Medical              133012
Mental health         80711
Transportation        73894
Private security      61790
-----------------------------------------------------------------

* Each year between 1992 and 1996, more than 2 million U.S.
residents were victims of a violent crime while they were at
work or on duty.

* More than 1,000 workplace homicides occurred annually.

* The most common type of workplace victimization was simple
assault with an estimated 1.4 million occurring each year.  U.S.
residents also suffered  51,000 rapes and sexual assaults and
about 84,000 robberies while they were at work.

* Annually, more than 230,000 police officers became victims of
a nonfatal violent crime while they were working or on duty.

* About 40% of victims of nonfatal violence in the workplace
reported that they knew their offenders.

* Women were more likely than men to be victimized by someone
they knew.

* Approximately 12% of the nonfatal violent workplace crimes
resulted in an injury to the victim.  Of those injured,
about half received medical treatment.

* Intimates (current and former spouses, boyfriends, and
girlfriends) were identified by the victims as the perpetrators
of about 1% of all workplace violent crime.

------------------
Workplace violence
------------------

In this report workplace violence is defined as violent acts
against a person at work or on duty, including physical assaults
(rape and sexual assault and aggravated and simple assault) and
robbery.  Attempts are included with completed victimizations.
(See Definitions on pages 7-8 for explanations of each offense.)
The phrases at work and on duty are used synonymously for the
term workplace.

While this report is mainly concerned with nonfatal violence as
measured by the NCVS, data from the Bureau of  Labor Statistics
and the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) are included as a
supplement to describe the nature and scope of workplace
homicide.  UCR data on commercial robberies are also included.
Unless otherwise noted as including homicide, all tables only
describe nonfatal workplace violence.

-------------------------------------------------------
The amount and nature of violent crime in the workplace
-------------------------------------------------------

Each year from 1992 to 1996, more than 2 million U.S. residents
experienced a violent crime victimization while they were
working or on duty (table 1).  The most common type of
victimization was assault, with an estimated 1.5 million simple
assaults and 396,000 aggravated assaults reported annually.
Each year there were 84,000 robberies, about 51,000 rapes or
sexual assaults, and more than 1,000 workplace homicides.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Table 1.  Victims of violence in the workplace, 1992-96

                     Victimization
                     in the workplace         All victimizations
                 Annual average  Percent  Annual average  Percent
Total                2010800     100.0        10868900     100.0
Homicide*               1023       0.05          22568       0.2
Rape and sexual
   assault             50500       2.5          466900       4.3
Robbery                83700       4.2         1274500      11.7
Aggravated assault    395500      19.7         2364600      21.7
Simple assault       1480000      73.6         6740300      62.0

*Homicide data from the FBI's UCR include murder and nonnegligent
manslaughter.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------
Victim characteristics
----------------------

Among people victimized while working or on duty, male victims
outnumbered females by about 2 to 1 (table 2). Nearly 9 in 10 of
victims of workplace violence were white. Fewer than 10% of the
workplace violence victims were black.  About 70% of the victims
were between ages 25 and 49, and fewer than 10% of the victims were
over age 50.

--------------------------------------
Table 2.  Characteristic of workplace
violence victims, 1992-96

Victim
characteristic   Percent

Total              100.0

Sex
Male                66.8
Female              33.2

Race
White               88.6
Black                8.9
Other                2.5

Ethnicity*
Hispanic             6.6
Non-Hispanic        92.1

Age
12 to 17             2.4
18 to 24            17.9
25 to 34            32.9
35 to 49              37
50 to 59             7.2
60 to 64             1.5
65 or older          1.1

*Ethnicity was unknown for
1.3% of victims of workplace
violence.
-------------------------------------

While females made up the majority of rape/sexual assault
victims (83%), males were more likely than females to be victims
of robbery and simple and aggravated assault.

          Rape/                   Assault
         Sexual        Rob-      Aggra-
         assault       bery      vated     Simple

Male        16.7%      72.0%      74.4%      66.1%
Female      83.3       28.0       25.6       33.9

More than half of the violent crime victimizations happened to
individuals who worked for a private employer (table 3).  While
government employees make up approximately 16% of the U.S.
workforce, about 37% of the victims of workplace violence were
employed by a Federal, State, or county government organization.

Annually about 430,000 of the workplace violence victims
identifying their occupation stated they were employed by a
government law enforcement agency or private security
organization (table 4). Among these, an estimated 234,000 police
officers and 71,100 private security guards were victims of
workplace violent crime each year.  The  victimization of law
enforcement officers accounts for the over representation of
government employees as workplace violence victims.

-----------------------------------------
Table 3. Employers of workplace violence
victims, 1992-96

                  Victims of violence
                  in the workplace

                  Number*    Percent

Private employer   1127800     56.1
State/local
  government        677600     33.7
Self-employed       134500      6.7
Federal Government   62900      3.1
Not ascertained      35100      0.3

*Annual average, 1992-96.
------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------
Table 4. Occupations of victims of nonfatal
workplace violence, 1992-96

                        Victims of workplace
                        nonfatal violence

                        Annual     Number per
 Occupation             average    1,000 workers

Total/a                 2009400         14.8

Medical
Physicians                10000         15.7
Nurses                    69500         24.8
Technician                24500         21.4
Other                     56800         10.7

Mental health
Professional              50300         79.5
Custodial                  8700         63.3
Other                     43500         64.0

Teaching
Preschool/b                2400          3.6
Elementary                35400         16.0
Junior high               47300         57.4
High school               33300         28.9
College/university         6600          2.5
Technical/industrial/b      400          4.4
Special education          9000         40.7
Other                     14400         10.1

Law enforcement
Police                   234200        306.0
Private security          71100        117.3
Corrections officer       58300        217.8
Other                     67600         61.5

Retail sales
Convenience/
  liquor store            61500         68.4
Gas station               15500         79.1
Bar                       26400         91.3
Other                    228200         17.5

Transportation
Taxi driver               16100        183.8
Bus driver                17200         45.0
Other                     43200         10.0

Other/unspecified        758000          8.2


Note:  Rates are calculated using population
estimates from the NCVS for occupation, 1992-96.
Detail may not add to total because of rounding.

a/The total for specified occupations was
1,251,400, with 29.4 victims of workplace
violence per 1,000 workers.
b/Fewer than 10 sample cases.
------------------------------------------------

Annually, 330,000 retail sales workers became victims of
workplace violence. These included an estimated 61,000
convenience/liquor store clerks and 26,000 bartenders.  More
than 160,000 workers in the medical occupations including an
estimated 70,000 nurses, 24,000 technicians, and about 10,000
physicians were victimized each year.

Teachers accounted for about 149,000 of all workplace
victimizations each year.  An estimated 33,000 high school,
35,000 elementary, and 47,000 junior high/middle school teachers
were victims of a violent crime while working or on duty.

Of the occupations examined, law enforcement had the highest
rates of workplace violence while teaching had the lowest.
Police officers experienced 306 victimizations for every 1,000
officers; corrections officers in prisons or jails, 218 per 1,000.
College or university teaching was the occupation with the lowest
rate of violence at work:  2.5 per 1,000 teachers.

How often victims were assaulted at work was related to their
occupation (table 5).  Public law enforcement and private
security workers experienced the most workplace assaults each
year -- an estimated 327,000 simple assaults and nearly 100,000
aggravated assaults.  Transportation workers suffered the fewest
assaults -- an estimated 45,000 simple assaults and 17,000
aggravated assaults.

-------------------------------------
Table 5.  Workplace assaults,
by occupation, 1992-96

                 Average annual
                 number of assaults

                 Simple   Aggravated

Medical          137500     12800
Teaching         126500     16800
Mental health     79000     15300
Law enforcement  326900     98500
Transportation    45200     17400
Retail sales     215700     90700
-------------------------------------

Assaults on police

Both the NCVS and the UCR recorded recent decreases in the
number of nonfatal assaults on police (figure 1).  In 1996
police officers reported to the NCVS about 152,000 assaults,
and agencies reported 47,000 such assaults to the UCR.

-----------------------------------------------
Figure 1  Number of assaults on police officers

           UCR           NCVS
1992      81252          263257
1993      66975          261601
1994      64912          237815
1995      56686          227518
1996      46695          176096

-----------------------------------------------

The higher levels in the NCVS data are partially attributable to
the survey's recording assaults that victimized officers did not
report to their superiors.  These were possibly the less serious
assaults in which officers were not injured:  87% of all
assaults did not result in an injury.  The difference between
the UCR and the NCVS data is less distinct when comparing
assaults on police officers resulting in injury --
victimizations that officers may be more prone to report to
their superiors.

     Annual average
     number of assaults
     injuring police officers
NCVS        30,304
UCR         21,604

------------------------------
Response to workplace violence
-------------------------------

When confronted by the offender, about 27% of the workplace
violence victims did not resist (table 6).  The most common
reaction of victims was   nonconfrontational actions such as
trying to stall, persuade, or bargain with the offender, or
fleeing or hiding from the offender.  Fewer than 4% of the
victims resisted with a weapon.

--------------------------------------
Table 6.  Reactions to the violence
by victims in the workplace, 1992-96

Reaction                  Percent

Total                      100.0
Offered no resistance       27.3
Nonconfrontational act      29.6
Unarmed confrontation       20.9
Resisted with--
  Firearm                    1.4
  Other actions/weapons      1.7
Other                       19.1
Unknown                      0.1

Note:  Detail may not add to total
because of rounding.
-------------------------------------

Among workplace violence victims who took some type of
self-protective action, more than 80% stated that they thought
it helped the situation.

Value of response      Percent of victims

   Total                      100.0%
Helped situation               84.1
Did not help                   12.4
Don't know                      3.5

------------------------------
Injury from workplace violence
-------------------------------

As with street crime, workplace violence can result in injured
victims. Twelve percent of all victims of workplace violence
reported having been physically injured.


Victim injury     Total  Males   Females

Injured           12.0%  11.3%   13.2%
Uninjured         88.0   88.7    86.8

Victims of certain types of violent crime, however, sustained a
slightly, though not statistically significant, higher incidence
of injury.  Victims of rape or sexual assault suffered
additional injury in 19% of the reported victimizations (table
7).  About 17% of victims of robbery or aggravated assault were
injured, compared to 10% of victims of simple assault.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Table 7.  Injured victims of workplace violence, by type
of offense, 1992-96

                  Percent of victims of workplace violence

Injury to        Rape/Sexual             Aggravated   Simple
victims          assault       Robbery   assault      assault

Injured              19.3       17.4        17.3        10
Uninjured            80.7       82.6        82.7        90
--------------------------------------------------------------

About 6% of all workplace crimes resulted in the victim being
injured and receiving medical treatment -- either at the scene
or at a medical facility.

Treatment                       Percent
Total                             100.0%
Not injured                       88.0
Injured but not treated            6.1
Treated at the scene               2.3
Treated at a medical facility      3.6

------------------------------------
Offense and offender characteristics
------------------------------------

More than 60% of the workplace violent victimizations occurred
during daylight hours.

Time
of occurrence      Percent

Total               100.0%
Day                  62.3
Night                36.2
Don't know            1.4

The majority of workplace violence incidents (56%) happened to
individuals working in cities.  Individuals working in rural
parts of the country accounted for about 11% of the incidents of
violence at work.

Location         Percent
Total            100.0%
City              56.5
Suburb            14.6
Rural             10.8
More than one     17.7
Not ascertained     .4

The relationship between the victim and the offender may be of
special interest with crime that occurs in the workplace.  In
addition to strangers, workplace crime has been in part
attributed to disgruntled current or former employees and
domestic disputes involving intimates (current and former
spouses, boyfriends and girlfriends).

The majority of all workplace violent crime was committed by a
stranger to the victim (table 8).  A higher percentage of men
(66%) than women (47%) were victimized by a stranger. Intimates
were identified as the perpetrators in fewer than 1% of all
incidents of workplace violence.  Female victims reported that
their attackers were intimates in about 2% of all offenses.
Female victims were also more likely  than male victims to
report that their attackers were acquaintances (46%, compared to
30%).

---------------------------------------------------------------
Table 8.  Victim-offender relationship of victims
of workplace violence, 1992-96

Relationship of      Percent of workplace violence victims
offender to victim     Total    Male      Female

Total                 100        100        100
Intimate                0.9        0.2*       2.2
Other relative          0.5        0.2*       1.0
Acquaintance           35.3       29.9       46.2
Stranger               59.6       65.9       47.0
Unknown                 3.6        3.7        3.5

Note:  Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.
*Fewer than 10 sample cases.
---------------------------------------------------------------

When asked about the offenders, over 84% of workplace violence
victims stated that the incident involved only one offender.

Number
of offenders   Percent

1                  84.7%
2                   6.2
3                   2.4
4 or more           3.5
Not ascertained     3.1

Forty-three percent of the robberies were committed by more than
one offender (table 9).  About 11% of the rapes and 9% of the
simple assaults involved multiple offenders.

---------------------------------------------------------------
Table 9.  Number of workplace violence offenders,
by type of crime, 1992-9

                 Annual average percent of victims
                 of workplace violence

Number of         Rape/Sexual            Aggravated   Simple
offenders         assault      Robbery   assault      assault

Total               100         100         100          100
1                    85.1        53.8        77.1         88.2
More than 1          10.9        43.0        19.0          8.9
Not ascertained       4.0         3.1         3.9          2.9

Note:  Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.
---------------------------------------------------------------

Those who committed workplace violence were predominately male,
white, and older than 21 (table 10).  Among workplace crimes for
which victims reported just one perpetrator, more than 80% of
the offenders were males, 58% were white, and 47% were over age
30.

------------------------------------------------
Table 10.  Characteristic of offenders
who committed workplace violence, 1992-96

                   Percent of victims
Characteristic of  of workplace violence
offender           by lone offenders

Sex
Male                   82.9
Female                 14.1
Unknown                 2.9

Race
White                  58.4
Black                  29.0
Other                   8.1
Not ascertained         4.4

Age
Under 12                1.9
12 to 17               10.0
18 to 20                6.6
21 to 29               29.4
30 or older            47.0
Not ascertained         5.1
------------------------------------------------

About 20% of violent incidents in the workplace involved an
armed offender (table 11).  A firearm was used in fewer than 10%
of all workplace violent crimes.  The likelihood of a victim's
being threatened or injured by an armed offender reflected the
vulnerability of the victim's occupation (table 12).  One in
three incidents of violence against transportation workers were
committed by an offender who had a gun, knife, or other weapon.
One in four retail sales workers reported that the offender was
armed during the incidents they experienced.  Of those incidents
examined, medical care workers faced an armed offender in 7% of
violent crimes.

------------------------------------------
Table 11.  Weapons present in workplace
violence, 1992-96

                          Percent of
Type of  weapon           violent victimizations
present                   in the workplace

None                          73.4
Unknown                        6.2
Some type                     20.4

Firearm                        7.5
Knife                          6.0
Club, bottle, stick,
   or other object used
   as a weapon                 6.0
Unknown type                   1.0

Note:  Detail may not add to totals
because of rounding.
------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------
Table 12.  Whether the offender in workplace violence was armed,
by occupation of the victim, 1992-96

               Percent of violent victimizations in the workplace
Whether                                 Law                 Trans-
the offender         Mental             enforce-            porta-
was armed   Medical  health   Teaching  ment        Retail  tion      Other

Armed         7.2     14.9     11.9       21.5        26.6    34.3     20.6
Unarmed      89.2     83.5     82.4       75.1        65.6    55.3     71.9
Unknown       3.5      1.6*     5.7        3.4         7.9    10.4      7.6

*Fewer than 10 sample cases.
----------------------------------------------------------------
--------
Outcomes
--------

Fewer than half of all nonfatal violent workplace crimes were
reported to the police (table 13).  Male victims (47%) were more
likely than female victims (38%) to report the offense to the
police. About 25% of the rapes and sexual assaults were reported
to the police while nearly 73% of the robberies were reported.
An injured victim was more likely than an uninjured victim to
report the crime to the police.  Sixty percent of the injured
victims, but 42% of the uninjured, reported the offense to the
police.  About 61% of the victimizations committed by an
intimate of the victim (spouse/ex-spouse or boy/girlfriend) were
reported to the police.

-----------------------------------------------
Table 13.  Reporting of workplace violence
to the police, by sex of victim, offense, injury,
and victim-offender relationship, 1992-96

                          Percent of violent
                          crimes in the workplace
Workplace violence        reported to the police

All                              44.2

Sex of victim
Male                             47.0
Female                           38.4

Offense
Rape                             25.3
Robbery                          72.8
Aggravated assault               60.8
Simple assault                   39.2

Injury of victim
Injured                          60.0
Uninjured                        42.2

Victim-offender relationship
Intimate                         60.7
Stranger/acquaintance            44.0
-----------------------------------------------

When questioned about why they did not report the offense,
workplace violence victims gave as their most common reason that
they reported it to another official (29%).  This other official
may have been a supervisor or the security personnel of the
organization for which they worked.  Another 19% stated that the
violence was not important enough to report to the police.

Reason for not reporting                   Percent of
workplace violence                         victims who
to the police                              did not report

Reported to another official                 29.4%
Private or personal matter                   20.6
Not important enough                         18.9
Police could/would not do anything            5.1
Afraid of the offender                        1.8
Inconvenient                                  1.2
Do not know                                    .5
Other reason                                 20.5
No one reason more important                  2.0

Of all workplace violence incidents reported to the police, 37%
resulted in the eventual arrest or charging of an offender for
the victimization between the time of the incident and the
interview with the victim (table 14).

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Table 14.  Whether offender in workplace violence was arrested,
by offense, 1992-96

                    Percent of incidents reported to the police
 Outcome     All      Rape   Robbery Aggravated assault  Simple assault
assault
Arrested     37.4     30.0    22.8        44.1               36.5
Not arrested 57.3     64.7     68.7       48.4               59.3
Unknown       5.3      5.3      8.4        7.5                4.2
-----------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------

Figure 2: The number of violent victimizations in the
workplace declined 21% from a peak of 2.2 million
in 1994 to 1.7 million in 1996

Number of violent
victimizations in millions

1992     2.163879        10.896
1993     2.077988      10.53158
1994     2.182529       11.0311
1995     1.894272      10.02193
1996     1.730289         9.125

The decrease in violent victimization in the workplace
between 1994 and 1996 was similar to the 17% decline in
violent crime overall during the period.
--------------------------------------------------------------
------------------
Workplace homicide
------------------

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that homicide
was the second leading cause of death in the workplace between
1992 and 1996 (figure 3) with more than 1,000 murders occurring
each year. The work-place homicides accounted for about 1 of
every 6 fatal occupational injuries.

--------------------------------------------------
Figure 3 Homicide accounts for about 17% of all
deaths in the workplace

         Fatal accidents  Homicide
1992            6217          1044
1993            6331          1074
1994            6632          1080
1995            6275          1036
1996            6112           912

Source:  Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1992-96
--------------------------------------------------

Firearms were used to commit more than 80 percent of all
workplace homicides between 1992 and 1996. About 20 percent of
the homicides were the result of bombings, stabbings, or
beatings.  This figure includes the deaths of employees among
the 168 who died in the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal
Building in Oklahoma City.

                 Annual average percent
                 of workplace homicides,
Weapon              1992-96
Firearm               83.7%
Bomb or other         11.4
Knife                  7.8

Source:  Bureau of Labor Statistics, Fatal Occupational
Injuries by Event or Exposure, 1992-96.

From 1993 to 1996 males were the majority of workplace homicide
victims (table 15).  Each year an average of 710 whites and 191
blacks were murdered while working.  About 143 workplace
homicide victims each year were of Hispanic origin.  Most
workplace homicide victims were between ages 25 and 44.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Table 15.  Characteristics of workplace homicide victims, 1993-96

Selected characteristic of victims
of workplace homicide                       Annual average number

Male                                                  821
Female                                                196

White                                                 710
Black                                                 191
American Indian, Alaska
   Native, Asian, or Pacific Islander                 106
Other                                                  60
Hispanic                                              143

Younger than age 20                                    30
20-24                                                  85
25-34                                                 261
35-44                                                 264
45-54                                                 198
55-64                                                 115
Age 65 or older                                        63

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal
Occupational Injuries, 1993-96

Between 1993 and 1996 most workplace homicides -- an average of
nearly 760 each year -- were the result of a robbery (figure 4).
About 100 workplace homicides a year were attributed to the
victim's coworkers or customers.  Personal acquaintances of
homicide victims were identified as perpetrators in about
50 workplace murders each year.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 4  Each year from 1993 to 1996 nearly 800
workplace homicides were the result of a robbery

Victim and circumstance of homicide      Average annual number
Employees in robberies/other crimes                 757
Employees by co-workers/customers                   112
Police in the line of duty                           56
Security guards in the line of duty                  48
Employees by personal acquaintances                  45

Source:  Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 1993-96
--------------------------------------------------------------

Of select occupations sales workers experienced the highest
number of workplace homicides -- an average of 327 each year
from 1993 to 1996 (figure 5).  Annually, 74 taxi drivers and
chauffeurs were murdered while working or on duty.  About 70 law
enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty each year.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 5:   Most workplace homicide victims were employed
in retail sales

Occupation of victim                 Average annual number
Sales                                        327
Executive/manager                            154
Law enforcement                               69
Security guard                                60
Taxi driver/chauffeur                         74
Truck driver*                                 25

*Based on 1993 and 1995-96.

Source:  Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 1993-96
--------------------------------------------------------------

-----------
Methodology
-----------

Except as noted, the data for this report come from the 1992 to
1996 National Crime Victimization Surveys (NCVS).  The NCVS is
an annual survey of about 46,000 households and 95,000
individuals age 12 or older.  It obtains information about
crimes, including those not reported to the police, from a
continuous, nationally representative sample of households in
the United States.

Respondents who reported that they were a victim of a violent
crime while working or on duty represent the sample for this
report.  This sample does not include those crime victims who
stated that they were on their way to or from work.  Customers
affected by violence at a workplace also were not included in
the analysis.  Because the NCVS does not measure murder, the
homicide data included in this report were drawn from the FBI's
Uniform Crime Reports and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  While
some trends are presented, most data are presented in the
aggregate.  Using aggregate data from 5 years for this report
makes possible more reliable estimates.

The estimates in this report are not directly comparable to
those in Violence and Theft in the Workplace (BJS Crime Data
Brief, NCJ 148199, July 1994).  The differences reflect changes
in survey methodology introduced by the 1992 redesign of the
NCVS.

Research prior to the redesign indicated that a substantial
proportion of certain types of crimes were not recounted.  In
general, the redesigned survey gives respondents additional cues
to encourage recall of eligible crime events.  These changes
achieved the intended effect of producing higher and more
accurate estimates of violent crime than had resulted from the
previously used procedures.  For a detailed explanation, see
Effects of the Redesign on Victimization Estimates (BJS
Technical Report, NCJ 164381, April 1997).

Definitions

Aggravated assault:  Attack or attempted attack with a weapon,
regardless of whether or not an injury occurred and attack
without a weapon when serious injury occurs.

Simple assault:  Attack without a weapon resulting either in no
injury, minor injury, or in undetermined injury requiring less
than 2 days of hospitalization. Also includes attempted assault
without a weapon.

Robbery:  Completed or attempted theft, directly from a person,
of property or cash by force or threat, with or without a
weapon, and with or without injury.

Rape:  Forced sexual intercourse including both psychological
coercion as well as physical force. Includes attempted rapes,
male as well as female victims, and both heterosexual and
homosexual rape.

Sexual assault:  A wide range of victimizations, separate from
rape or attempted rape. These crimes include attacks or
attempted attacks generally involving unwanted sexual contact
between victim and offender. Sexual assault also includes verbal
threats.

Intimates:  Includes spouses, ex-spouses and current and former
boyfriends and girlfriends. The relationship is defined by
the respondent.

Acquaintances:  Includes friends, former friends, roommates or
boarders, schoolmates, neighbors, someone at work, or some other
known non-relative.

Relatives:  Includes parents and step-parents, children and
stepchildren, siblings and other relatives.

Stranger:  Someone not known to the victim.

Rounding of percentages

Percentages in the tables may not add to 100% because of
rounding.

Computation of standard errors

The results in this report were tested to determine if the
observed differences between groups were statistically
significant.

The comparisons made in this report were tested to determine
whether the observed differences between groups or over time
were statistically significant.  Comparisons mentioned in the report
passed a hypothesis test at the 0.05 level of statistical
significane (or the 95-percent confidence level.)  This means
that the estimated difference between comparisons was greater than
twice the standard error of that difference.

The standard error calculations were made using statistical
programs specifically developed for the NCVS  by the U.S. Bureau
of the Census. These programs take into account the complex
sample design of the NCVS when calculating the generalized
variance estimates.

Though 5 years of data are covered in this report, some
estimates were based on relatively small numbers.  This is noted
in tables where estimates are based on 10 or fewer sample cases.
Because standard errors cannot be accurately computed for such
estimates, it is not advisable to compare them to other
estimates. Caution should also be used when comparing estimates
not specifically mentioned in the text of this report. Large
differences may not be statistically significant at even the
90-percent confidence level.

----------------------------
Box: Determining occupation
for the NCVS
----------------------------

The victim reported his or her job at the time of the
victimization by answering question 138 on the
NCVS Incident Report.

Occupation Variable (No. 138)

Q. Which of the following best describes your job
at the time of the incident?

Medical Profession
1. Physician
2. Nurse
3. Technician
4. Other

Mental Health Service Field --
Are your duties --
5. Professional (social worker/
psychiatrist)
6. Custodial care
7. Other

Teaching Profession --
Were you employed in a --
8. Preschool
9. Elementary
10. Junior high or middle school
11. High school
12. College or university
13. Technician or industrial school
14. Special education facility
15. Other

Law Enforcement or Security
Field --
Were you employed as a--
16. Law enforcement officer
17. Prison or jail guard
18. Security guard
19. Other

Retail Sales--
Were you employed as a --
20. Convenience or liquor store
clerk
21. Gas station attendant
22. Bartender
23. Other

Transportation Field --
Were you employed as a --
24. Bus driver
25. Taxi cab driver
26. Other

or

27. Something else
----------
References
----------

BJS.  Effects of the Redesign on Victimization Estimates,
Technical Report,  NCJ 164381, April 1997.

BJS.  Violence and Theft in the Workplace, Crime Data Brief, NCJ
148199, July 1994.

FBI.  Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 1994 and
1996.

FBI.  Crime in the United States 1996.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.
Census of Fatal
Occupational Injuries, 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department of Labor.
Fatal Occupational Injuries by Event or Exposure, 1992-96.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the statistical agency of
the U.S. Department of Justice.  Jan M. Chaiken, Ph.D., is
director.

BJS Special Reports address a specific topic in depth from one
or more data sets that cover many topics.

Greg Warchol, Ph.D., wrote this report.  Cathy Maston provided
statistical review.  Tom Hester produced and edited the report.
Marilyn Marbrook, assisted by Jayne Robinson and Yvonne Boston,
administered final production.

June 1998, NCJ 168634

This report and its data are available on the Internet:

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/

The National Archive of Criminal Justice Data can provide
computer readable files from the National Crime Victimization
Survey and the Uniform Crime Reports.  The archive can be
accessed through the BJS Web site.



7/26/98
th
revised 7/28/98 th