Homogeneous Victim-offender Populations - A Review and Some Research Implications (From Victimology Research Agenda Development, Volume 1, P 41-52, 1980 Judith S Dahmann and Joseph H Sasfy, ed. - See NCJ-76275)

• NCJ Number: 76278
• Author(s): S I Singer
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 12 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The extent to which victims are also offenders involved in serious assault is investigated in a followup survey of self-reported victimization subjects to determine whether findings support the thesis of a violent subculture.

Abstract

Out of 975 subjects randomly sampled from the male cohort population of a 1972 survey of delinquency in a birth cohort, 567 were located and interviewed at age 26 concerning their social and criminal background experiences. Surveyed victimizations were measured by asking the respondent to recall his victim experiences during three time periods; before age 12, between age 12 and 18, and after age 18. In contrast to victims of minor assault and property damage, cohort members who were shot or stabbed were most often nonwhite, high school dropouts, unemployed, and single at the time of the survey. Also, they were more frequently involved in official and self-reported criminal activity. Victims of serious assault had the highest probability of having a friend arrested, belonging to a gang, using a weapon, committing a serious assault, and having been arrested. The relationship between having been shot or stabbed and having committed a serious assault is highly significant, as indicated by the fact that 68 percent of the cohort victims reported committing a serious assault compared to 27 percent of the nonvictims. The learning of crime by negative association is indicated by the significantly higher percentage of juvenile victims committing a serious assault of adults: 64 percent compared to 22 percent for nonvictims. Other data point to strong relationships between victim status and subsequent adult arrest and more serious criminal careers. Findings support the thesis of homogeneity of victim-offender interaction for serious assault but do not confirm the existence of a violent subculture. Policy implications of the continued study of victim and offender relationships are discussed. Graphs, notes, and 11 references are provided.