Victim, Offender, and Situational Characteristics of Violent Crime

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the differences between one-time offenders and repeat offenders according to select victim, offender, and situational characteristics associated with the first victim-related offense. A second purpose was to determine which characteristics were the strongest predictors of repeat offense status with and without a victim. The sample consisted of sixty black male juvenile delinquents whose offense histories were analyzed for ages ten through seventeen. It was expected that repeat offenders would have more disadvantaged personal and background characteristics than one-time offenders and that these characteristics would be relatively strong predictors of a subsequent offense. Results of the present study partly supported these expectations. Repeat offenders showed relatively greater evidence of disadvantage, although other factors also characterized the nature of their first victim-related offense. For example, the strongest predictors of repeat offense status were those factors related to type of offense and personal attributes of the offender, such as the offender’s low verbal abilities. In contrast, demographic characteristics of the victim, the type of victim-offender relationship, and other situational components of the offense, such as the presence of a weapon, were not found to be significant. In general, then, the cognitive attributes of the offender, and not characteristics of the situation or the victim, predominate when subsequent offense behavior involves at least one offense with a victim. Evidence that the personal characteristics of the offender predict more strongly subsequent offense behavior relative to some characteristics of the offense suggests that situational dynamics in certain offenses may not be of overriding importance. Therefore future victimology research should include as factors the personal attributes of all parties involved in an offense to assess more accurately the contribution of victim and situational components to repeat offense behavior.