Young women who are exposed to violence face elevated risks of labour market exclusion

Being young and exposed to violent crime can increase the risk of labour market exclusion later in life, at least if you are a woman. For young men, there is not the same risk – unless they themselves have also committed a violent crime, then the risk of exclusion from the labour market increases for them as well. This is shown in a new dissertation in sociology from the Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI) at Stockholm University.

En kvinna sitter på en säng i ett rum vid ett fönster, med ryggen mot kameran.
Young women who are exposed to violence face elevated risks of labour market exclusion.
Photo: Yupa Watchanakit / Mostphotos

 

In the study, Anna Kahlmeter has studied young people who have been victims of violent crime at age 20 to 24 and their position on the labour market at the age of 25 and 30. She sees a connection between being exposed to a violent crime as a young person and future exclusion from the labour market.

“I see an increased risk of exclusion from the labour market, but it mainly applies to women. When we look at male victims who have not committed violent crimes themselves, there is no elevated risk of exclusion, neither in the immediate aftermath, nor at follow-up when they are 30 years old”, said Anna Kahlmeter, recently appointed PhD in sociology at the Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI) at Stockholm University.

 

 

Men who themselves have committed violent crimes risk exclusion
 

There is a group that has been both exposed to violence and committed a violent crime. It concerns both women and men, but for men this overlap is particularly noticeable. In this group of men, Anna Kahlmeter also finds a connection to labour market exclusion.

“Among young men who have themselves committed a violent offence, violent victimization is correlated with exclusion from the labour market. I only see this connection in this specific group and not among other young men who have been exposed to violence”, said Anna Kahlmeter.

Women exposed to violence stand out in that they are more likely to come from families with risk factors, experience financial difficulties, have a lower level of education and to a greater extent are single parents, compared to both men exposed to violence and women in general.

“Young women who are victims of violent crimes are a particularly vulnerable group. I see that they face heightened risks of exclusion both in the short and long term and regardless of offending. In that regard, they differ from the group of young men exposed to violence, where the relationship is completely influenced by offending”, said Anna Kahlmeter.

 

 

The nature of the violence possible explanation
 

Why these differences appear has not been investigated in this study, but a possible explanation could be that the nature of the violence differs and is carried out in different contexts. Men are often subjected to night-life violence by other men who are at the fringes of their networks, or who are unknown to them. It is more common that women know or live with their perpetrator and that the violence is part of a larger pattern of threats or control.

“The fact that there is such a tangible difference between the groups may partly be due to subtle and unobserved differences in the nature of the violence – but also to differences in reactions to the violence and in the strategies the victims have for dealing with the experience. The study indicates that disadvantage is cumulated by experiences of violence, which entails elevated risk of labour market exclusion”, said Anna Kahlmeter.

In the study, Anna Kahlmeter has delimited the violence she measures to that which requires hospital care, and used patient data. This means that certain types of violence, for example psychological violence and violence that causes milder physical injuries, are not visible in the data.

Anna Kahlmeter
Anna Kahlmeter, PhD in sociology at Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI). Photo: Daniel Rossetti /SU

“It is a limitation, but at the same time the definition of exposure to violence is often very broad, for example in surveys which are the most common way to study exposure to violence. With patient data, we get stricter definition and thus more comparable events. Another advantage is that even the most vulnerable groups, for example individuals in homelessness and substance abuse, who are often difficult to capture with surveys, are covered by the data.”

Anna Kahlmeter hopes that an increased understanding of the dual roles that young men often have, as both victim and perpetrator, can lead to better social interventions. The long-term risks of exclusion from the labour market should also be taken into account when assessing appropriate support measures.

“Perhaps social services, correctional services and other actors can keep this in mind when dealing with young violent offenders. For victims of violence, it is important to not only look at the urgent need for protection and support, but that social interventions should also promote labour market establishment in the long term”, said Anna Kahlmeter.

 

How the study was carried out

The study was conducted using Swedish register data for 12 full cohorts, born between 1975 and 1986. Exposure to violence was studied using data from the patient register and is defined as interpersonal violence that has led to a hospital admission when the individuals were between 20 and 24 years old. The patient register has then been linked with a number of other national registers in order to take important background factors into account.

Exclusion from the labour market is operationalized based on a model for social exclusion and labour market attachment, and is defined as having an annual income that is lower than 0.5 price base amounts, and not being a student. This was measured when the individuals were 25 years old, and followed up at age 30. The focus of the analyses is whether the connection between violent victimization and labour market disadvantage differs between non-offenders and offenders, and whether these patterns are gender-specific.

 

Read more about the research

Kahlmeter, A. (2022). Stressful life events and risks for social exclusion in the youth-to-adulthood transition : Findings from Swedish longitudinal data (PhD dissertation, Department of Sociology, Stockholm University). Retrieved from http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-208078

 

Contact

Anna Kahlmeter
Researcher, PhD in sociology
Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI)
Stockholm University
E-mail: anna.kahlmeter@sofi.su.se
Phone: +46 (0)8-16 10 70