Measuring Young People’s Involvement in Violence

For the past half century, crime has been measured on the basis of data increasingly distanced from the penal institutions. This paper discusses the contribution of public health surveys to knowledge about young people’s relationship with violence. Some of these surveys reveal the proportion of young people among violent offenders. More importantly, they consider types of violence that regular victimization surveys do not cover and so overestimate the victimization of people under 25. The reasons for this are explored and related to the specificities of physical violence within this age group.