Measuring and Addressing Childhood and Youth Victimization from the School Context
摘要
This chapter delves into the multifaceted issue of child victimization, beginning with the conceptualization of victimization or interpersonal violence. It presents a comprehensive analysis of factors contributing to children being one of the most vulnerable populations to victimization. Explores the far-reaching impacts of child victimization across various areas of people’s lives, including social, health, work, and educational consequences, as well as its economic impact on countries. It provides prevalence rates for several types of victimization, such as sexual victimization, victimization by caregivers, or cyberbullying, highlighting the difficulties in revealing the real and hidden number of child and adolescent victims and the importance of comparing incidence with prevalence figures. Critical considerations when selecting instruments to measure victimization among children and adolescents are discussed, including factors such as the age of the target audience, the period being evaluated, the inclusion of the severity of the experience (e.g., injuries, frequency), and context adaptation (e.g., availability in the needed language, adaptation to specific settings). The main section of this chapter underscores the practical implications of the role of schools in child protection and violence prevention. Highlights the importance of measuring victimization experiences in educational settings and examines the strengths and challenges of such measurements.