A little over half of violent victimizations in the U.S. from 2012 to 2015 were
intraracial, meaning victims and offenders were the same race or both were of Hispanic origin, the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics reported Thursday. Violent victimization includes rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault and simple assault.
Between 2012 and 2015, U.S. residents experienced 5.8 million violent victimizations each year.
Some 41 percent of violent victimizations during the period involved victims and offenders of different races or Hispanic origin. Among black victims, 63 percent of violent victimizations were committed by black offenders, 11 percent by white
offenders and 7 percent by Hispanic offenders. Among white victims, 57 percent of victimizations were committed by white offenders, 15 percent by black offenders and 11 percent by Hispanic offenders.
Among Hispanic victims, 40 percent of violent victimizations were committed by Hispanic offenders, 20 percent by white offenders and 20 percent by black offenders. The race of the offender or the number of offenders was unknown in 8 percent of cases. The rate of white-on- white violent crime (12.0 per 1,000) was about four times higher than black-on- white violent crime (3.1 per 1,000). The rate of black-on- black crime (16.5 per 1,000) was more than five times higher than white-on- black violent crime (2.8 per 1,000).
The rate of Hispanic-on-Hispanic crime (8.3 per 1,000) was about double the rate of white-on-Hispanic (4.1 per 1,000) and black-on-Hispanic (4.2 per 1,000) violent crime. Offender demographic characteristics are based on the victim’s perceptions.