| This paper examines victim/offender relationships in aggravated assaults,
with particular attention focused on racial/ethnic differences in types of
relationships. Research has shown that there are fundamental differences
between stranger and nonstranger homicides that call for the disaggregation
of homicide data. However, research on victim and offender relationships
for assaults is limited, often due to data limitations, but this is an
important issue to examine. To do so we use a sample of aggravated assault
cases from Miami, FL for 1996 and 1997, and explore whether there are
racial/ethnic differences (White, Black and Latino) in victim-offender
relationships, net of the effects of relevant variables (e.g., whether
multiple victims). Logistic regression is used to examine the following
outcomes: stranger vs. non-stranger, intimate/family vs. other, acquaintance
vs. other, and unknown relationship vs. known relationship. The results
indicate that there are racial/ethnic differences among both victims and
offenders in the relationships. Further, other characteristics of the
assaults, such as gun use, also vary by victim-offender relationship.
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Updated 05/20/2006