Karin Wittebrood

Criminal Victimization During One's Life Course: The Effects of Previous Victimization and Patterns of Routine Activities

This study focuses on the effects of previous victimization and patterns of routine activities on the risk of falling victim to seven types of crime: sexual offense, assault, threat, burglary, personal larceny, car theft and bicycle theft. To examine these effects individual life-course data on marital, fertility, residential, educational, employment and criminal histories were related to histories of criminal victimization. These data derived from a nationally representative survey administered in the Netherlands in 1996 to 1,939 individuals age 15 years or older. Logistic multilevel models were used in the analysis of the data. The results of the analyses suggest that individuals who have once been victims suffer a substantial higher risk of subsequent victimization. This effect of previous victimization can partly be explained by a real effect of previous victimization (state dependence), but more largely by the effects of patterns of routine activities (heterogeneity in the population).

Wages of Sin? The Link Between Offending, Lifestyle and Violent Victimisation

In this study the authors examine whether there is a link between offending and violent victimisation. They explore the extent to which this link can be explained by differences in peoples lifestyle. In keeping with recent criminological developments, they seek to explain differences in the risk of violent victimisation throughout peoples life course. For this purpose, data has been analysed on the past 25 years in the lives of 1,939 respondents, who constituted a representative sample of the Dutch population in 1996. The data was taken from the Netherlands Survey of Criminality and Law Enforcement. For each year of their life, data were recorded on the respondents marital, fertility, residential, educational and employment history. What is more, for each year in this period, data are available on their violent victimisation and their offending. The data was analysed with multi-level models. The results show that people who engage in violent crimes and vandalism are at greater risk of being victims than people who do not and that this relationship can only be partially explained by lifestyle.

Neighborhood Characteristics and Individual Homicide Risks: Effects of Social Cohesion, Confidence in the Police, and Socioeconomic Disadvantage

This study tests hypotheses on the relationship between characteristics of neighborhoods in the Netherlands—their socioeconomic disadvantage, social cohesion, and residents confidence in the police—and the likelihood of homicide victimization. These hypotheses are derived from social disorganization and strain/deprivation theory, but have rarely been tested at the neighborhood level. Furthermore, examining the validity of these hypotheses in the Netherlands, a country with relatively low homicide rates and geographically equal distributed social circumstances, provides a stronger test for the theories. Data from the Dutch Homicide Monitor 1996 to 2003, a national database of all homicides and their characteristics, are merged with data on characteristics of neighborhoods. Hierarchical logistic modeling is used to analyze the nested data. The results show that neighborhood social cohesion and socioeconomic disadvantage affect homicide risks, whereas indicators for confidence in the police do not have an effect. Implications for policy making and further theory development are discussed.