Violence Defined
Many different sources of data examine violence and girls’ involvement in it. However,
these sources often rely on different definitions and measures of violence. Official
criminal justice system data sources (e.g., Uniform Crime Reports) use legal definitions
focusing on homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault (which usually involves
assault with a weapon or assault producing injury), and simple assault (a behavior
defined differently in various jurisdictions). Self-report studies and those involving
interviews with adolescents focus on a variety of behaviors including, for example,
fighting and weapon-carrying. Some studies include relational aggression in their
definitions of violent behavior (see p. 11 for a discussion of relational aggression).
In general, this Bulletin defines violence as behaviors that inflict or threaten to inflict
bodily injury on other persons.