According to the GSS, Mex-Ams have the highest rate of assault: In previous posts that relied on survey data, I showed that Mexican-Americans have high rates of street crime, even higher than blacks in some respects. (For example, the risk of gang membership is probably higher). Well, some folks don't believe me, so let's come at it another way. Research has documented that most criminal violence is intra-ethnic, so victim rates parallel those of assailants. General Social Survey respondents were asked if they have been the victim of a personal assault in the past year. I limited the analysis to groups with a least 50 sampled people. Here are the percent who answered yes:


Percent assaulted in the past year

Mexican 5.6
Blacks 4.8
Italian 4.6
German 3.3
American Indian 3.3

USA 2.7

Irish 2.1
Scots 1.3
English/Welsh 0.7

These numbers square with with my other posts: rates are highest among Mex-Ams and blacks, above average for Italians (and southern Europeans in general), and low for those from northern Europe. These numbers also square with global patterns. Latin America has, overall, high rates of violent crime.

Keep in mind that some of the white numbers might be inflated because other data indicate that black-on-white attacks are more likely than the reverse.