Chad Posick

The Overlap Between Offending and Victimization Among Adolescents: Results From the Second International Self-report Delinquency Study

One longstanding research interest of criminology that has seen resurgence of late is the relationship between offending and victimization. This line of research reveals that offending and victimization are not randomly distributed among the population but clustered within the same individuals. These individuals share similar individual characteristics and experiences with violence and deviance. Research has only begun to explain this overlap using existing theoretical frameworks. Further, despite this recent interest, little is known about the overlap between theft offending and victimization. To expand and add clarity to the body of research on the victim–offender overlap, the current study uses data from the second International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD-2) to investigate the link between violent and theft offending/victimization. Results reveal that there is a consistent positive relationship between all forms of offending and victimization. Offending and victimization are also accounted for using similar explanatory frameworks.

Identities Through Time: An Exploration of Identity Change as a Cause of Desistance

Research examining desistance from crime (the process of decreasing offending over time) has increased over the last 20 years. However, many explanations of desistance remain somewhat exploratory. One theory in particular that is becoming more prominent includes the idea that desistance is caused by a change in identity (e.g. from deviant to pro-social). While qualitative support has been found for this proposition, prospective quantitative studies have not been conducted on this theory. This study addresses that gap by examining how pro-social identities change over time and whether these changes correspond to desistance from crime. The results of growth curve models indicate that pro-social identity increases over time and is a robust predictor of criminal behavior over the life course. These results offer support to identity theories of desistance and also provide important information for correctional programming.

More Than a Feeling: Integrating Empathy Into the Study of Lawmaking, Lawbreaking, and Reactions to Lawbreaking

Empathy is related, directly or indirectly, to important elements in criminology such as the enactment of harsh penalties for repeat offenders, antisocial behavior, feelings of legitimacy toward the law, and attitudes toward the death penalty. Although empathy is beginning to find its way into criminological discourse, it is still not well understood nor often incorporated into quantitative research. This is likely due to issues regarding the conceptualization and measurement of empathy as well as the lack of measures of empathy incorporated into contemporary data sets. This study discusses the importance of empathy for criminology and uses a set of research examples to exemplify the relationships between empathy and outcomes important to criminology. Empathy emerges as an important predictor of criminal behavior, support for harsh laws, and perceptions of police effectiveness. Future research should incorporate measures of empathy when seeking to understand individual feelings and behaviors as they relate to important facets of criminology and criminal justice.

Person-in-Context Insights on Contextual Variation in the Victim–Offender Overlap Across Schools

The correlation between victimization and offending (i.e., the victim–offender overlap) is one of the most documented empirical findings in delinquency research, leading researchers to investigate potential contingencies in this relationship. A small number of studies have found evidence of contextual variation in the victim–offender overlap, but these studies have produced conflicting results as to whether urban context amplifies or attenuates this relationship. To add clarity to this body of literature, the present study uses a nationally representative sample of adolescents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to investigate potential variation in the victim–offender overlap across school context. Results indicate that victimization is positively and significantly related to offending in all school contexts but that the relationship between victimization and offending is stronger in non-urban schools than in urban schools. Results also indicate that negative emotionality may play a key role in unpacking the mechanisms through which context moderates the victim–offender overlap.

Unraveling Change: Social Bonds and Recidivism among Released Offenders

Abstract Correctional researchers have increasingly focused on social bonding as a key pathway by which parolees desist from crime after release. Most work to date has focused on levels of bonds, either at reentry or as a function of events occurring in the community. However, few have assessed whether the magnitude of change in bonds during incarceration has an additional effect on desistance. Distinguishing between levels and change with respect to bonds may have important implications for understanding how bonds impact behavior. This paper addresses this gap by drawing on survey data from a sample of inmates at the start and end of their six-month prison terms. Recidivism is assessed as a function of change in social bonds (attachments and beliefs) from entrance to exit from prison, as well as levels of bonds at release. Our findings indicate that changes in social relationships predict recidivism, whereas improvements in prosocial beliefs do not. The data also suggest that the level of prosocial belief at release is significantly related to recidivism, whereas the level of attachment is not. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Risk Factors for and Behavioral Consequences of Direct Versus Indirect Exposure to Violence

Research suggests that direct exposure (personal victimization) and indirect exposure (witnessing or hearing about the victimization of a family member, friend, or neighbor) to violence are correlated. However, questions remain about the co-occurrence of these phenomena within individuals. We used data on 1915 youths (with an average age of 12 years at baseline) from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods to examine this issue. Results indicated that youths who tended to be personally victimized were also likely to witness violence; conversely, youths who disproportionately witnessed violence were relatively unlikely to experience personal victimization. In addition, direct and indirect exposures to violence were associated with subsequent adverse outcomes in similar ways. The key distinguishing factor was, rather, the cumulative level of violence (both direct and indirect) to which youths were exposed.

Examining Metal Theft in Context: An Opportunity Theory Approach

Although law enforcement agencies, policymakers, and communities have had to confront the issue of increasing metal theft for the past several years, almost no academic literature has attempted to examine the correlates of metal theft and subsequent policy implications. This exploratory study profiles the theft of metal from commercial and residential dwellings through analysis of recorded crime data from April 2008 through July 2010 in Rochester, New York. An opportunity framework guided the analyses. Spatial, trend, and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to examine and better understand metal theft. Results indicate that an opportunity theory approach is useful in addressing metal theft and that this framework provides explicit implications for local law enforcement and policymakers.

Measuring Up: Assessing the Measurement Properties of Two Self-Control Scales

Gottfredson and Hirschis self-control theory is one of the most empirically tested explanations of criminal behavior. Yet questions remain about the operationalization of self-control. Researchers have examined the relationship between self-control and crime predominantly with the Grasmick et al. (1993) scale. However, research investigating the measurement properties of that scale has relied primarily on statistical techniques that may underestimate or fail to detect potential problems with the scale. In addition, Hirschi (2004) recently offered a revised operational definition of self-control, which he argued is more faithful to the original theory. To date, research using Hirschis revised self-control measure is sparse. We contribute to the literature by using Rasch measurement and negative binomial models to examine the measurement properties and construct validity of the Grasmick et al. (1993) and Hirschi (2004) self-control scales. The findings indicate that while there are some differences, and revisions are necessary, both scales demonstrate adequate measurement properties and construct validity.

Family matters: A cross-national examination of family bonding and victimization

Family bonding is a mainstay in theories of crime and delinquency. Recently, it has also been extended to explain exposure to victimization in the US and abroad. Although research reveals that there are differences between countries in their views about the importance of family, scholarship has not yet considered how and why the protective features of family bonding might vary across the country context according to how the family is valued. This study, using data from the second International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD-2), reveals that both individual levels of family bonding and macro levels of the perceived importance of the family are negatively related to victimization. Analyses suggest that exposure to victimization and the effects of family bonding vary across contexts where the effect of family bonding on victimization is stronger in countries that view the family as more important. We conclude that these results contribute insight into the operationalization of victimization theories across the country context and that policies at the country level may prove useful in reducing victimization risk.

One Scale Fits All? Assessing Racial Differences in the Measurement of Attitudes toward the Police

Research consistently shows that minorities have less confidence in the police and perceive less procedural justice during encounters than Whites. This work generally concludes that the differences in perceptions by race are due to actual differences in attitudes, then proceeds to explore the origins of these differences. However, scholarly work has not yet explored the possibility that this finding is related to how members of different racial groups answer and interpret questions about the police; in other words, how measurement properties of scales may contribute to these differences. Using data from the National Police Research Platform’s Police–Community Interaction Survey, we conduct analyses to assess the reliability and validity of two measures of attitudes toward the police and assess differential item functioning (DIF) by race using Rasch analysis. Our findings reveal that few items from the procedural justice scale indicated DIF. All other items comprising the confidence in the police and procedural justice scales exhibited no differential functioning by race, indicating that the historic finding of variation in attitudes toward police by race are likely due to real differences rather than measurement error.