The Victim-Offender Overlap in Intimate Partner Violence: Considering the Role of Self-control

Abstract

While a growing body of literature in the field of criminal justice documents the relationship between victimization and offending, only recently has this knowledge been applied to the study of intimate partner violence (IPV). Accordingly, questions remain with regard to the theoretical origins of mutual violence between intimates. In an effort to fill this void in the literature, the current study examines the etiology of moderate forms of mutual IPV, specifically assessing self-control theory's applicability to the victim-offender overlap in IPV. Data were obtained from Waves I and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) to investigate whether low self-control at Wave I predicts IPV victimization, IPV offending, or both IPV victimization and offending at Wave IV. The present study extends prior literature examining the role of self-control in IPV by (1) investigating the influence of selfcontrol on the victim-offender overlap in IPV, (2) using longitudinal data, and (3) utilizing a sample of U.S. adults ages 24 to 33. While low self-control was found to significantly predict IPV offending and the overlap in IPV victimization and offending, low self-control failed to significantly predict IPV victimization. Policy implications, study limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Performance-Enhancing Substance Use and Intimate Partner Violence: A Prospective Cohort Study

“…Third, while Add Health has collected data on couples, our analyses were limited to the entire Add Health sample given the rarity of some of our measures (e.g., AAS use). This aligns with prior research on IPV ( Dunn et al, 2021 ; Reingle et al, 2012 ; Spivey & Nodeland, 2021 ; Swiatlo et al, 2020 ). Similarly, we were limited in our analyses to investigating associations among the overall sample.…”

“…Given the higher prevalence of AAS use and IPV among sexual, gender, and racial/ethnic diverse individuals, future research is warranted to explore these associations among diverse samples. Furthermore, we dichotomized the IPV involvement items in accordance with prior literature ( Dunn et al, 2021 ; Reingle et al., 2012 ; Spivey & Nodeland, 2021 ; Swiatlo et al, 2020 ). However, this may have reduced the detail of information.…”

“…IPV victimization was measured based on experiencing the following within the past year: “partner pushed or shoved you, or threw something at you that could hurt”; “partner slapped, hit, or kicked you”; “you had an injury, such as a sprain, bruise, or cut because of a fight with your partner”; and “partner insisted on or made you have sexual relations with him/her when you did not want to.” Response options included categories assessing frequency of occurrence ranging from no occurrence to 20 or more occurrences. Responses were dichotomized to no occurrence and any occurrence in accordance with prior literature ( Dunn et al, 2021 ; Reingle et al, 2012 ; Spivey & Nodeland, 2021 ; Swiatlo et al., 2020 ). Any IPV victimization was assessed using a combined dichotomous variable that measured whether a participant reported experiencing any IPV victimization involvement.…”

“…Response options included categories assessing frequency of occurrence ranging from no occurrence to 20 or more occurrences. Responses were dichotomized to no occurrence and any occurrence in accordance with prior literature (Dunn et al, 2021;Reingle et al, 2012;Spivey & Nodeland, 2021;Swiatlo et al, 2020). Any IPV victimization was assessed using a combined dichotomous variable that measured whether a participant reported experiencing any IPV victimization involvement.…”

Correlates of the victim–offender overlap based on daily conflict-Level data from digital diaries

“…Moreover, scant research has investigated the content of the conflict, whether it was a continuing conflict, if it happened in cyber space or in-person in a private or public location, and who instigated the conflict. Also, research suggests that the relationship between the reporter and the counterpart (such as intimate relationship) could affect the V-O overlap (Spivey & Nodeland, 2020).…”