NCJ Number
252911
Journal
Journal of Quantitative Criminology Volume: 34 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2018 Pages: 251-274
Date Published
March 2018
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This study examined whether victims who live in communities characterized by structural constraints (e.g., concentrated disadvantage) are more likely to continue engaging in risky behaviors (e.g., offending, illicit drug use, and getting drunk) after being victimized, as well as whether victims who continue to engage in risky lifestyles have an increased likelihood of repeat victimization.
Abstract
Research indicates that victims who make changes to their risky behavioral routines are better able to avoid being victimized again in the future. Nevertheless, some victims' abilities to change their behaviors may be limited by what Hindelang et al. in Victims of personal crime: an empirical foundation for a theory of personal victimization. Ballinger, Cambridge (1978) referred to as "structural constraints." In examining this issue, 10 waves of data (spanning nearly 7 years) from the Pathways to Desistance Study were used, and multilevel models were estimated to examine changes to risky lifestyles and repeat victimization among a subsample of victims. The findings indicate that community-level structural constraints imposed limits on the changes that victims made to their risky lifestyles, and that these changes influenced repeat victimization. The study concludes that in the context of repeat victimization, structural constraints are both real and consequential, and that future theory and research should continue to explore how context shapes and influences victims' behavioral routines. (publisher abstract modified)