Bosick analyzes odds of victims reporting crimes

Stacey J. Bosick, assistant professor of sociology at CU Denver, presented "Gender Differences in the Relationship between Victimization Reporting and Adult Role Statuses" at the Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology in Prague, Czech Republic, last month.

In the United States, at least half of all stranger victimization, that is, incidents in which the perpetrator is unknown to the victim, goes unreported to police.

Without victims' reports to law enforcement, Bosick said, victims are unlikely to receive appropriate recovery services, and offenders stand little chance of being apprehended.

“In the paper we presented, we investigate how occupying adult roles influences reporting. We find that female victims who have children living in their homes experience higher odds of reporting, compared to female victims who do not have children living in their homes. Male victims who are married, own their own homes, and/or are employed experience higher odds of reporting, compared to male victims who are not in these roles,” Bosick explained.

“These patterns suggest that women may be driven to report in order to protect their children from future victimization," Bosick said, "while men may be pressured to report by spouses, neighbors and co-workers.”