Victimization and happiness, the case of Chile

Violence and the resulting victimization have a serious impact on individuals and societies. The result of the experience of violence, whether at home, in the community or as a result of personal assault or abuse, has a devastating effect. Politicians around the world have been expressing concern for decades about the extent to which rising crime rates can affect the lives of individuals in the society. The growing distress over the effects of crime on individuals in rich and poor countries alike is thought to have been fueled by the perception that crime victims suffer greatly in terms of financial loss and psychological trauma from their experiences. These exposures to crime can have long lasting impacts on the victims and those close to them. Therefore, crime and the perception of personal safety are important factors in any assessment of social well-being and an individual’s happiness levels. (Powdthavee, 2005; Meadows, 2009)

In Chile two surveys have gathered both victimization and subjective well being data. The first was developed as part of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (http://www.ophi.org.uk/) in 2009. The second is the 2011 UNDP Subjective Well Being Survey, whose data will be available on 2012 after the 2011 Human Development Report for Chile is released.

Using the above mentioned data together with the ENUSC, a biennial victimization survey carried out by the Chilean Ministerio del Interior, an analysisi is performed in order to measure the relation between victimization and well being. An argument can be made as to the (approximate) exogeneity of victimization, so the analysis corresponds to a simple ordered probit or probit.

Analyses using the OPHI survey show a relation between victimization and well being, especially regarding the less severe (but more common) forms of victimization. The UNDP survey has not been yet relased but it will be soon.