The frequency and predictors of poly-victimisation of South African children and the role of schools in its prevention

Figures & data

Table 1. Frequency of poly-victimisation.

Poly-victimisation category	Frequency	Per cent
No (0–1 events)	2033	36.1
Low (2–4 events)	1605	28.5
High (5–8 events)	1288	22.9
Very high (>8 events)	709	12.6
Total	5635	100.0

Table 2. Frequency of types of victimisation.

Type of victimisation (total sample size N = 5635)	Poly-victimisation category
	No	Low	High	Very high
Had something stolen (N = 2133, 37.85%)	96	691	818	528
Seen anyone attacked without a weapon (N = 1859, 32.99%)	43	504	750	562
Seen anyone attacked with a weapon (N = 1774, 31.48%)	28	495	712	539
Had something forcefully removed (N = 1318, 23.39%)	46	375	511	386
Item stolen from home (N = 1109, 19.68%)	53	286	446	324
Threaten to hurt (N = 1072, 19.02%)	26	240	406	400
Bullied (N = 965, 17.13%)	10	179	396	380
Physical victimisation (N = 962, 17.07%)	43	228	356	335
Attacked without an object (N = 939, 16.67%)	9	146	404	380
Attacked with an object (N = 831, 14.75%)	17	174	336	304
Heard shots, bombs or riots (N = 818, 14.52%)	14	146	349	309
Malicious damage to property (N = 698, 12.39%)	6	158	255	279
Emotional abuse (N = 688, 12.21%)	16	130	253	289
Seen parent hurt siblings (N = 633, 11.23%)	17	123	211	282
Escape attack (N = 537, 9.53%)	2	68	197	270
Parent threatened to hurt other parent (N = 524, 9.30%)	9	76	170	269
Murder of friend/neighbour/family member (N = 436, 7.74%)	16	65	177	178
Member of household assaulted other member (N = 416, 7.38%)	24	112	127	153
Parent pushed other parent (N = 383, 6.80%)	1	25	108	249
Sexual experience with an adult (N = 357, 6.34%)	33	89	122	113
Neglect due to physical living conditions (N = 351, 6.23%)	12	76	133	130
Parent hit or slapped other parent (N = 350, 6.21%)	4	23	99	224
Hit or attacked by an adult (N = 332, 5.89%)	3	46	98	185
Hit on purpose other than mentioned (N = 266, 4.72%)	7	28	69	162
Parent damaged other parent’s property (N = 262, 4.65%)	1	13	62	186
Neglect due to fear of parents’ visitors (N = 259, 4.60%)	5	51	77	126
Parent kicked, choked or beat other parent (N = 217, 3.85%)	1	9	43	164
Sexual exposure abuse (N = 192, 3.41%)	4	29	51	108
Attacked due to prejudice (N = 131, 2.33%)	2	13	45	71
Forced sexual intercourse (actual or attempted) (N = 128, 2.27%)	7	23	27	71
Written or verbal sexual harassment (N = 121, 2.15%)	2	15	39	65
Sexual abuse by child or teen (N = 114, 2.02%)	2	22	27	63
Sexual abuse by known adult (N = 110, 1.95%)	1	24	30	55
Neglect due to alcohol or drugs (N = 100, 1.78%)	3	14	22	61
Attempted kidnapping (N = 86, 1.53%)	2	8	37	39
Neglect due to abandonment (N = 80, 1.42%)	1	8	15	56
Neglect of physical cleanliness (N = 75, 1.33%)	3	9	17	46
Sexual abuse by unknown adult (N = 37, .66%)	1	9	8	19

Table 3. Binary logistic regression analyses.

Lifetime poly-victimisation	N	Wald	Sig	B	Exp (B)	Model sig
No vs. Low poly-victimisation^*	347	20.393	.000006	.5	1.649	.000004
Low vs. High poly-victimisation^*	524	15.984	.000064	.355	1.426	.001
High vs. Very high poly-victimisation^*	532	13.152	.000287	−.138	.727	.000157
No vs. Any poly-victimisation^*	879	338.363	<.000001	1.742	5.71	<.000001
No vs. Very high poly-victimisation^*	355	23.787	.000001	.536	1.71	<.000001

^* Category of membership being predicted.

Table 4. Significant predictors for poly-victimisation.

Predictors	No poly-victimisation vs. Low poly-victimisation			Low poly-victimisation vs. High poly-victimisation			High poly-victimisation vs. Very high poly-victimisation			No poly-victimisation vs. Any poly-victimisation			No poly-victimisation vs. Very high poly-victimisation
	Odds ratio	95% CI for odds ratio		Odds ratio	95% CI for odds ratio		Odds ratio	95% CI for odds ratio		Odds ratio	95% CI for odds ratio		Odds ratio	95% CI for odds ratio
		Lower	Upper		Lower	Upper		Lower	Upper		Lower	Upper		Lower	Upper
Parental substance misuse	11.852^*	1.325	106.01	3.454^***	1.790	6.665	1.796^*	1.128	2.861	24.392^***	3.109	191.345	47.611^***	4.729	479.374
Parental absence due to physical ill-health				2.303^***	1.548	3.428	1.527^*	1.050	2.220	2.987^***	1.830	4.876	4.393^***	2.311	8.354
Child substance misuse	2.008^**	1.222	3.298				1.739^**	1.170	2.586	2.823^***	1.844	4.323	4.845^***	2.646	8.871
Child sexual risk behaviour	1.98^*	1.176	3.322							2.074^**	1.323	3.253	2.393^**	1.3	4.405
Parents residing with child										2.260^*	1.231	4.148
Urban/rural residence													2.545^*	1.144	5.65

^* p < .05

^** p < .01

^*** p < .001.