ABSTRACT
Recent national studies document high rates of familial and extrafa-milial victimization in children and adolescents (Finkelhor & Dziuba-Leatherman, 1994). There is considerable evidence that experiences of childhood victimization and maltreatment significantly contribute to a range of negative psychological, social, and medical outcomes (National Research Council, 1993). Victimization of children is now recognized as a major public health problem in the United States and is attracting the interest of mental health, medical, social, and criminal justice researchers.
