The Victim-Offender Overlap, Intimate Partner Violence, and Sex

Abstract

This study examines the overlap between victimization and offending within officially recorded incidents of intimate partner violence (IPV). Using official police data, 1,256 individuals are initially differentiated by their role as the victim or the offender in an IPV incident and then categorized into four distinct groups (e.g., as victims, persistent offenders, desistent offenders, or victim-offenders) based on their role in further officially recorded IPV incidents during an 18-to 30-month follow-up period. Of particular interest is the victim-offender category, which involves individuals who switched roles from the original IPV incident (e.g., IPV victims who later became IPV offenders or IPV offenders who later became IPV victims). Results suggest that important distinctions exist across categories related to sex and crime exposure. Compared with victims who were predominately female and offenders who were predominately male, victim-offenders were the most gender symmetric and exhibited greater contacts with the justice process prior to and after the original IPV incident. Implications from these findings, as well as limitations and suggestions for further research are discussed.

Young Adult Reports of the Victim–Offender Overlap in Intimate and Nonintimate Relationships: A Nationally Representative Sample

“…Muftic and colleagues (2015) also found an overlap in IPV using crime report/police data for all adults. From a sample of 1,256 cases of IPV from police reports, 37% were IPV victims only, 17.9% were persistent IPV offenders (individuals who perpetrated IPV in the original incident, but did not experience domestic violence [DV] victimization in the 18+-month follow-up period), 18% were desistent IPV offenders (individuals who engaged in IPV offending in the original incident but had no officially recorded record of IPV incident in the follow-up), and 27.1% were victim-offenders.…”

“…Our study focuses on assessing the victim–offender overlap among young adults in intimate relationships, an understudied area (Muftić, Finn, & Marsh, 2015; Tillyer & Wright, 2014). Furthermore, a novel approach is used, investigating offending and victimization within and outside of the intimate relationship.…”

“…By collapsing these acts into a single dependent variable, researchers risk combining separate behaviors and experiences that might have unique determinants and that might also differ importantly by gender (Tillyer & Wright, 2014). While there is a considerable overlap of victims and offenders, some crime victims share little resemblance to offenders (Maldonado-Molina, Jennings, Tobler, Piquero, & Canino, 2010; Muftić et al, 2015), but there appears to be more evidence of similarities than differences (Schreck, Stewart, & Osgood, 2008). The victim–offender overlap in this study is defined as an individual who self-identified as an offender in at least one verbal aggression (past 6 months) or physical and sexual abuse (past 12 months) incident and also self-reported as a victim in at least one verbal aggression or physical and sexual abuse incident over the same period.…”

Associations between Risky Lifestyles and Involvement in Violent Crime during Adolescence

“…For specific offenses, the categorization of victims only, offenders only, and victimoffenders may vary, but men are in general more involved in committing acts of violence. For instance, it has been demonstrated in regard to intimate partner violence that, although the victim-offender group may be equally large across the sexes, males are much more often offenders without being victims, while women who commit acts of intimate partner violence are much more often also victims of such violence compared with men (Muftić, Finn, & Marsh, 2015).…”

Dating violence compared to other types of violence: similar offenders but different victims

“…Also, concerning the victimization of dating violence, several studies have reported that the victims of dating violence are found among groups of youth exhibiting social and health risk behaviours (Nilses, Blom, Heimer, & Danielsson, 2011;Silverman et al, 2001), such as non-violent and violent delinquency, increased levels of substance abuse, and sexual risk behaviours. It has been suggested, in accordance with the theory of gender symmetry (Straus, 2006), that the roles of victim and offender oscillate in violent relationships (Muftić, Finn, & Marsh, 2012).…”