Victimization and Its Consequences for Well-Being: A Between- and Within-Person Analysis

Abstract

Objectives We examined the effects of victimization on several aspects of well-being in a longitudinal study of a general population sample. Previous research has often been inconclusive, as it was largely based on cross-sectional data and prone to problems of unobserved heterogeneity and selection bias. We examined both between-person differences and within-person changes in well-being in relation to property and violent victimization. We investigated psychological and behavioral dimensions of well-being, controlling for and comparing with the effects of other negative life events. Methods We used data from a two-wave panel survey of 2928 respondents aged 25-89 nested in 140 neighborhoods in two large German cities. We applied random-effects modeling to separate between-person from within-person effects. Results The within-person detrimental effects of victimization were considerably smaller than between-person effects, which reflected preexisting, time-stable factors that distinguish individuals who have experienced victimization from individuals who have not. Detrimental effects concerned fear of crime, generalized trust, and neighborhood satisfaction, but did not extend to emotional well-being or life satisfaction, in contrast to other negative life events. We found empirical support both for adaptation ('recovery') effects as well as for anticipation effects. Violent victimization had stronger effects than property victimization, and victimization near the home had stronger effects than victimization elsewhere. Conclusion The findings indicate that violent victimization has palpable detrimental effects on security perceptions, trust and neighborhood satisfaction-but not on emotional well-being and life satisfaction-and that individuals largely recover from the victimization within 18 months.

Examining Arrest and Cigarette Smoking in Emerging Adulthood

“…It should be noted that this is not the first study to find that individuals in the same sample may experience seemingly contradictory increases and decreases in outcomes. One recently published study 85 found that repeated violent victimization was associated with both increased and decreased subsequent avoidance behavior by victims. Similarly, a study 86 of the effect of arrest on intimate partner violence by gender found the inconsistent result that men experienced more severe violence than did women, but women were injured more than men.…”

Deviant Versus Nondeviant Routines, Social Guardianship and Adolescent Victimization in the Rural Context of China

“…Second, this study used cross-sectional data and therefore speaks only to the associations between the variables and not to causal inferences. We cannot rule out, for example, that victimization may result in delinquent involvement as a coping response to victimization stress, lead to avoidance behaviors and in turn solitary activities to lessen fear of re-victimization, or boost guardianship to circumvent repeat victimization (Janssen et al, 2021). Third, the measures of neighborhood guardianship were based on the adolescents' self-report.…”

Exploring the influence of cultural participation on the subjective well-being of victims in Mexico

“…The connection between victimization and subjective well-being may be addressed by the psychological adaptation theories. Within this framework, the process of adaptation of victims converges, both, on positive and negative effects on victims’ well-being ( Hanslmaier et al, 2016 ; Janssen et al, 2020 ). It means individuals can adapt themselves easier to some situations than others ( Wilson and Gilbert, 2008 ), which mostly depends on the type and severity of the lived experience ( Janssen et al, 2020 ).…”