Individual, Neighborhood, and Situational Factors Associated with Violent Victimization and Offending

Abstract

The criminological literature presents substantial evidence that victims and offenders in violent crimes share demographic characteristics, engage in similar lifestyles and activities, and reside in socially disorganized neighborhoods. However, research has examined these relationships separately using either victimization or offending data, and prior studies have not examined these relationships by comparing victims and offenders within the same incidents. This has limited efforts to examine whether these factors are associated with victimization and offending in similar or distinct ways. Using a law enforcement database of victims (N = 1,248) and offenders (N = 1,735) involved within the same aggravated battery incidents (N = 1,015) in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, this research explores whether victims and offenders involved in nonlethal violence share certain individual, neighborhood, and situational characteristics. Results suggest that victims and offenders live in socially disorganized neighborhoods and engage in risky lifestyles and violent offending behaviors in similar proportions. These findings highlight the overlapping factors associated with victimization and offending in non-lethal violent personal crimes. The implications of these findings are discussed.1

Emergency department utilization among victims and offenders involved in non-lethal violence

“…Unstructured and unsupervised activities coupled with risky lifestyles, such as substance use, bring together willing offenders and suitable victims in criminogenic environments. In support of theoretical expectations, subsequent research has discovered that factors associated with violent offending, such as being male, minority status, young, and having a prior offending history, are also associated with violent victimization (Daday, Broidy, Crandall & Sklar 2005;Jensen and Brownfield 1986;Lauritsen, Sampson, & Laub 1991;Sampson and Lauritsen 1990). …”

The “Homogamy” of Road Rage Revisited

“…The notion that victims and offenders are not independently distributed but rather are more likely to be drawn from similar socioeconomic and demographic groups is referred to as the principle of homogamy (Hindelang, Gottfredson, & Garofalo, 1978;Singer, 1981). A body of research has developed that finds supports for this principle in relation to violence (Daday, Broidy, Crandall, & Sklar, 2005;Fishman, Mesch, & Eisikovits, 2002;Klevens et al, 2002;Lauritsen, Sampson, & Laub, 1991;Marcus & Reio, 2002;Pape & Pederson, 1999;Regoeczi, 2000;Sampson & Lauritsen, 1994;Wittebrood & Nieuwbeerta, 1999).…”

Self-Control and Lifestyles: Associations to Juvenile Offending, Violent Victimization, and Witnessing Violence

“…It has long been recognized that victims of violence and offenders share many aspects of their demographic makeup-including gender, age, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status-reside in disadvantaged or high crime areas, and engage in risky lifestyles and behaviors (e.g., Daday, Broidy, Crandall, & Sklar, 2005;Finkelhor, Ormrod, Turner, & Hamby, 2005; …”