Abstract
Prior research has shown that victimization incidents are disproportionately concentrated among relatively few victims and that prior victimization is a consistent predictor of future risk. This paper expands existing knowledge on victimization by describing temporal patterns of risk and by developing and testing alternative explanatory models of the link between past and future risk. Analyses based on panel data from the National Youth Survey support both state dependence and heterogeneity interpretations of the correlation in risk over time. In other words, prior victimization predicts future risk in part because it alters something about the individual, and because it indicates an unmeasured propensity for victimization that persists over time. The theoretical implications of these findings, including the feasibility of a victim labeling perspective, are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barr, R., and Pease, K. (1990). Crime placement, displacement and deflection. In Tonry, M., and Morris, N. (eds.),Crime and Justice: A Review of Research, Vol. 12, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 277–315.
Black, D. (1983). Crime as social control.Am. Sociol Rev. 48: 34–45.
Bursik, R. (1980). The dynamics of specialization in juvenile offenses.Soc. Forces 58: 851–864.
Cohen, L., and Felson, M. (1979). Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activity approach.Am. Sociol. Rev. 44: 588–608.
Cohen, L., Kluegel, J., and Land, K. (1981). Social inequality and predatory criminal victimization: An exposition and test of a formal theory.Am. Sociol. Rev. 46: 505–524.
Davis, K. (1992).Patterns of Specialization and Escalation in Crime: A Longitudinal Analysis of Juvenile and Adult Arrest Transitions in the Glueck Data, Ph.D. dissertation. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Elliott, D., Knowles, B., and Canter, R. (1981). The epidemiology of delinquent behavior and drug use among American adolescents. Project Report No. 14, The National Youth Survey, Behavioral Research Institute, Boulder, CO.
Elliott, D., Huizinga, D., and Ageton, S. (1985).Explaining Delinquency and Drug Use, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA.
Farrell, G. (1992). Multiple victimization: Its extent and significance.Int. Rev. Criminol. 2: 85–102.
Farrington, D. (1993). Understanding and preventing bullying. In Tonry, M. (ed.).Crime and Justice: A Review of Research, Vol. 17, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 381–458.
Fattah, E. (1967). Towards a criminological classification of victims.Int. Crim. Police Rev. 22: 163–169.
Fattah, E. (1991).Understanding Criminal Victimization: An Introduction to Theoretical Victimology Prentice-Hall, Scarborough, Ontario.
Feinberg, S. (1980). Statistical modelling in the analysis of repeat victimization. In Feinberg, S., and Reiss, A. (eds.),Indicators of Crime and Criminal Justice: Quantitative Studies, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, pp. 54–58.
Garofalo, J., Siegel, L., and Laub, J. (1987). School-related victimizations among adolescents: An analysis of the National Crime Survey narratives.J. Quant. Criminol. 3: 321–338.
Gottfredson, M. (1984).Victims of Crime: The Dimensions of Risk, Home Office Research Study 81, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.
Gottfredson, M., and Hirschi, T. (1990).A General Theory of Crime, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.
Greene, W. (1992).LIMDEP User's Manual and Reference Guide (Version 6.0), Econometric Software, Bellport, NY.
Greene, W. (1993).Econometric Analysis, 2nd ed., Macmillan, New York.
Hindelang, M., Gottfredson, M., and Garafalo, J. (1978).Victims of Personal Crime: An Empirical Foundation for a Theory of Personal Victimization, Ballinger, Cambridge, MA.
Jensen, G., and Brownfield, D. (1986). Gender, lifestyles, and victimization: Beyond routine activity theory.Violence Victims 1: 85–99.
Knoke, D., and Burke, P. (1980).Log-Linear Models, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA.
Lauritsen, J., Sampson, R., and Laub, J. (1991). The link between offending and victimization among adolescents.Criminology 29(2): 265–291.
Lauritsen, J., Laub, J., and Sampson, R. (1992). Conventional and delinquent activities: Implications for the prevention of violent victimizations among adolescents.Violence Victims 7: 91–108.
Meier, R., and Miethe, T. (1993). Understanding theories of criminal victimization. In Tonry, M. (ed.),Crime and Justice: A Review of Research, Vol. 17, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 459–499.
Nagin, D., and Paternoster, R. (1991). On the relationship of past to future participation in delinquency.Criminology 29: 163–189.
Nelson, J. (1980). Multiple victimization in American cities: A statistical analysis of rare events.Am. J. Sociol. 85: 870–891.
Reiss, A. (1980). Victim proneness in repeat victimization by type of crime. In Fienberg, S., and Reiss, A. (eds.).Indicators of Crime and Criminal Justice: Quantitative Studies, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, pp. 41–53.
Sampson, R., and Laub, J. (1993).Crime in the Making: Pathways and Turning Points Through Life, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Schwartz, D., Dodge, K., and Coie, J. (1993). The emergence of chronic peer victimization in boys' play groups.Child Dev. 64: 1755–1772.
Singer, S. (1981). Homogenous victim-offender populations: A review and some research implications.J. Crim. Law Criminol. 72: 779–788.
Sparks, R., Genn, H., and Dodd, D. (1977).Surveying Victims: A Study of the Measurement of Criminal Victimization, Perceptions of Crime, and Attitudes to Criminal Justice, Wiley, London.
Sparks, R. (1981). Multiple victimization: Evidence, theory, and future research.J. Crim. Law Criminol. 72: 762–778.
Sparks, R. (1982).Research on Victims of Crime: Accomplishments, Issues, and New Directions, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
Trickett, A., Osborn, D., Seymour, J., and Pease, K. (1991). What is different about high crime areas?Br. J. Criminol. 32: 81–90.
von Hentig, H. (1948).The Criminal and His Victim, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Phoenix, 1993.
An exception to this lack of attention is the vast literature in the area of domestic abuse.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lauritsen, J.L., Davis Quinet, K.F. Repeat victimization among adolescents and young adults. J Quant Criminol 11, 143–166 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02221121
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02221121