Victim Offender Overlap: Dual Trajectory Examination of Victimization and Offending Among Young Felony Offenders Over Seven Years

Abstract

The relationship between victimization and offending has been shown consistently across different samples, settings, and crime types. This study uses data from the Pathways to Desistance Study to examine dual trajectories of offending between the ages of 15 and 24 in a sample of male felony offenders. The dual trajectory models demonstrate substantial convergence in victimization and offending. And while there are sizable numbers of youth who continue to be victimized, but desist or decrease in their offending behaviors, very few youth continue to offend in the absence of continued victimization. This study also proposes and tests three criminological theories that have been employed as explanations for the victim-offender overlap – low self-control, lifestyles/routine activities, and street-code attitudes. The logistic regression results indicate that involvement in risky and/or unstructured, unsupervised activities is a key correlate of the victim-offender overlap. The strength of the relationship between routine activity variables and the victim-offender overlap supports the provision of structured, supervised activities for youth and young adults as a way of preventing future victimization and offending, particularly among youth who have high exposure to violence.

Reappraising and Redirecting Research on the Victim–Offender Overlap

“…Furthermore, few conventional routine activities protect against victimization and none eliminate the strong positive effects of delinquent behavior (Lauritsen, Laub, & Sampson, 1992). On the other hand, research-based trajectory models of victimization and offending found that risky lifestyle measures were the most reliable determinants of membership in the dual trajectory groups (Mulford et al, 2016).…”

Similarities and Differences in Victimization Risk Factors for Nonoffending and Offending Substance Users

“…Stewart, Gossop, Marsden, & Rolfe, 2000). Although victim and offender roles overlap in a number of populations (Flexon, Meldrum, & Piquero, 2015;Jennings, Higgins, Tewksbury, Gover, & Piquero, 2010;Mulford et al, 2016;Mustaine & Tewksbury, 2000;Posick, 2013;Silver, Piquero, Jennings, Piquero, & Leiber, 2011;TenEyck & Barnes, 2017), including substance users (Darke, Torok, Kaye, Ross, & McKetin, 2010;French et al, 2004;McCOY, Messiah, & Yu, 2001), substance users are often described either in terms of their offending or their status as victims. The relationship between substance use and victimization may be simplified by not taking into account how the victim and offender roles are intertwined (Lauritsen, Sampson, & Laub, 1991;Reingle, 2014).…”

Revenge and forgiveness after victimization: psychometric evaluation of a Dutch version of the TRIM intended for victims and offenders

“…Victimization by aggression and violence is a prevalent theme in the autobiographies of perpetrators of violence, including convicted offenders (e.g., Jennings et al, 2012;Mulford et al, 2018). Across one's lifetime, the risk of victimization appears highest during adolescence (Cops & Pleysier, 2014).…”

“…The considerations raised above led us to sample our data in sentenced offenders as well as in adolescents from the general community. There is, generally, a high rate of victimization among individuals who are sentenced for violent offences (e.g., Dutton & Hart, 1992;Jennings, Piquero, & Reingle, 2012;Mulford et al, 2018;Widom, 1989). Furthermore, the risk of becoming the victim or perpetrator of injustice or aggression appears to peak in adolescence (Cops & Pleysier, 2014).…”