Consequences of Using Self-Protective Behaviors in Nonsexual Assaults: The Differential Risk of Completion and Injury by Victim Sex.

This study examines the consequences of using self-protective behaviors in nonsexual assaults. Particular attention is paid to how victim sex modifies conclusions regarding the effectiveness of countermeasures as completion or injury avoidance strategies. These relationships are tested using 16,309 incidents of nonsexual assaults from the National Crime Victimization Survey. Several outcomes of violent encounters (i.e., completion, injury, injury severity) are regressed on measures of self-protective behaviors through a sequence of logistic regressions. Interactions between victim sex and self-protective behavior are also estimated. Forceful physical strategies are associated with a greater probability of assault completion and injury. Conversely, nonforceful verbal strategies serve as protective factors for both completion and injury and nonforceful physical strategies are associated with a lower probability of injury. Furthermore, there is some evidence that the effectiveness of these countermeasures varies by the sex of the victim.