The victimization literature has clearly established race, ethnicity, and gender disparity in victimization risks whereas contemporary work has demonstrated that the intersection of these characteristics produces complex patterns in victimization risks. However, explanations for these differences within and across gender and race and ethnicity must continue to be explored and to that end the purpose of this research is to examine whether the well-established risk factors for victimization such as daily or routine activities and neighborhood conditions similarly influence risks for violent victimization among varying gender, racial, and ethnic groups. Using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) 12 Cities study, the authors find that risks do vary both across and within gender. While routine activities are significant predictors of females' risks, neighborhood conditions seem to be better indicators of males' risks. Also, routine activities and neighborhood conditions have disparate effects on males' and females' risks across race and ethnicity. For example, while frequent use of public transportation has a null effect on White females' risks for violent victimization, it increases such for Black and Latina females. Likewise, although residential stability decreased the risks of violent victimization for White and Latino males, it increased the likelihood of victimization for Black males.
Criminological research has clearly demonstrated that the risk of violent victimization varies across gender. More complex are the differences across race and ethnicity within gender groups. Past studies have established that victimization rates among Black females exceed those of White and Latina females. Although this pattern has been established, the reason for these differences between females must continue to be explored. We draw on situational and contextual features of routine activities and lifestyle theories to examine their use in accounting for these variations across race and ethnicity among females. The results indicate that the divergent impact of routine activities and lifestyle measures on females' risks for violent victimization. For example, some situational (e.g., riding public transportation) and contextual (e.g., residential stability) measures increased the risks of violent victimization among females of color but decreased among White females. The implications of these findings and areas of consideration for further research are discussed.
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