Margit Averdijk

Testing the Situational Explanation of Victimization among Adolescents

Objectives: This study aimed to test situational theories of victimization by answering three research questions, namely to what extent victims are actually victimized while being exposed to risky situations, whether the relation between victimization and situational elements is causal, and which elements of a situation are risky. We distinguished the type of activity, the company that individuals keep, the place of the activity, and the time of the activity. Methods: Data were collected among adolescents in The Hague, the Netherlands, using space–time budgets. These provided detailed information on situational elements for each hour across a period of four days. Multivariate fixed effects logit analyses were used to ensure that the results were not due to stable differences between individuals. Results: A total of 55 individuals reported 63 incidents of victimization. Results confirmed most hypotheses. Especially, the relation between delinquency and victimization was extraordinarily strong. Alcohol consumption, presence of peers, absence of authority figures, and being in a public place also increased the risk of victimization. Conclusions: Confirming major victimization theories, victimization was shown to occur during and because of exposure to risky situations. The hypothesized elements of risky situations were shown to have independent effects on victimization.

Bullying victimization and later anxiety and depression among pre‐adolescents in Switzerland

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between bullying victimization at age 8 and anxiety and depression at age 11 in a large and ethnically heterogeneous sample from Zurich, Switzerland.Design/methodology/approach – The authors present new analyses from the Zurich Project on the Social Development of Children and Youth (z‐proso) on the relationship between bullying victimization at age 8 and anxiety and depression at age 11.Findings – Different measures of bullying victimization significantly predicted later anxiety and depression. Differences existed between measures of anxiety and depression from different informants.Originality/value – First, the paper provides readers with an overview of the victimization data collected in z‐proso among an ethnically heterogeneous population sample of children in Zurich, Switzerland. Second, it provides results of bivariate and multivariate analyses on the relationship between bullying victimization and internalizing behavior. Third, ...

VIOLENCE BEGETS VIOLENCE … BUT HOW? A DECISION-MAKING PERSPECTIVE ON THE VICTIM–OFFENDER OVERLAP*

This study applied a decision-making perspective to examine the causal mechanisms underlying the relation between violent victimization and offending. We theorized that having been victimized affects an individuals appraisal of subsequent potentially conflictive situations in such a way that victims become more attuned toward the benefits of violence perpetration than toward its costs. Furthermore, we argued that this altered appraisal mediates the relation between violent victimization and violent offending. We tested these hypotheses by using data from the Zurich Project on the Social Development of Children and Youths, a longitudinal study of Swiss youth (N = 1,013; 11–15 years of age). In line with expectations, path analysis results showed that prior victimization influenced the appraisal of decision-making situations that, in turn, predicted subsequent self-reported violent offending. Importantly, these mediation effects held when controlling for a variety of time-stable factors, such as self-control and risky activities, as well as prior victimization and delinquency. Implications for research and theorizing on the victim–offender overlap are elaborated in the discussion.

“Do You Trust Him?” Children’s Trust Beliefs and Developmental Trajectories of Aggressive Behavior in an Ethnically Diverse Sample

This study investigated the role of trust beliefs (i.e., trustworthiness, trustfulness) on aggression trajectories in a four-wave longitudinal study using an ethnically diverse sample of 8- to 11-year-old children (N = 1,028), as well as the risk profiles of low trust beliefs and low socioeconomic status on aggression trajectories. At Time 1 to Time 4, teachers provided ratings of overt aggressive behavior. At Time 1, children’s trust beliefs were assessed by a sociometric peer nomination instrument and derived using social relations analysis. Latent growth curve analysis revealed five trajectories of aggressive behavior: high-stable, medium-stable, low-stable, increasing, and decreasing. As hypothesized, children in the high-stable trajectory were perceived as less trustworthy than children in the low-stable, medium-stable, and increasing trajectories. Children in the high-stable trajectory were less trustful than children in the low-stable trajectory and had a significantly higher risk profile (i.e., low trust beliefs and low SES) compared to children in the low-stable trajectory. Our findings indicate that the developmental course of aggression during middle childhood is predicted by children’s trustworthiness and trustfulness. A risk profile of low trust and low socioeconomic status contributes to high-stable aggression trajectories.

The role of self-control in the link between prior and future victimization: An indirect test

This article investigated the effect of self-control on the link between individuals’ prior and future victimization, using panel data across nine years from the Pittsburgh Youth Study. Results showed that for victims with high self-control, prior theft victimization was related to decreased risk of later theft victimization. However, self-control was not related to repeat violent victimization. Control variables related to opportunity structures and delinquent subcultures played a key role in influencing the effect of self-control on the relationship between prior and later victimization. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Do social relationships protect victimized children against internalizing problems

We investigated whether social relationships protect children against the effects of victimization on internalizing problems. We used data from the Zurich Project on the Social Development of Children and Youths. Victimization at age 8 years was associated with internalizing problems at age 9 years. Victims who had siblings, warm parents, and a good relationship with the teacher had less severe internalizing problems than those who did not, providing evidence for a protective effect of social relationships. Friendships with classmates were not found to be protective. Furthermore, social relationships did not protect victims more than nonvictims.

The relationship between quantity, type, and timing of external childcare and child problem behaviour in Switzerland

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between external childcare and child problem behaviour at age 7 in a culturally diverse urban sample from Switzerland. We used data from the Zurich Project on the Social Development of Children and Youths (z-proso). Findings suggested that the quantity of group-based childcare (but not individual childcare) was related to aggression, ADHD, non-aggressive externalizing behaviour, and anxiety and depression at age 7. Analyses on timing of childcare suggested that the accumulation of childcare over the life course, and not so much childcare in the first years of life, was associated with child problem behaviour. In addition, childcare at age 5 to 7 had a unique relationship with problem behaviour over and above quantity of group-based childcare received in other age periods.

The discrepancy between survey-based victim accounts and police reports revisited

This article investigates the discrepancy between victimization surveys and police data, or the extent to which crimes that are reported in one source can be traced back to the other. We used traditional reverse and forward record checks to investigate reciprocal validity. In addition, we designed a new, more comprehensive measure that is more optimally geared towards calculating the total discrepancy between the two data sources. We used victimization surveys and police data from Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Results of the reverse record check showed that in 48% of cases a survey respondent did not mention victimization, even though it appeared in police registration. Results of the forward record check showed that only 35% of reported victimization in the survey could be traced back to police data within the reference period. Forward telescoping occurred in 28% of cases. In 7% of cases, respondents reported victimization experienced by household members. Furthermore, 29% of victimization reported to the police according to survey respondents could not be traced back to police data. Finally, we calculated the total discrepancy between the police data and the victimization survey and found that reports of 18% of respondents in the victimization survey were not congruent with the police data.

Children’s trust and the development of prosocial behavior

This study examined the role of children’s trust beliefs and trustworthiness in the development of prosocial behavior using data from four waves of a longitudinal study in a large, ethnically-diverse sample of children in Switzerland (mean age = 8.11 years at Time 1, N = 1,028). Prosocial behavior directed towards peers was measured at all assessment points by teacher reports. Children’s trust beliefs and their trustworthiness with peers were assessed and calculated by a social relations analysis at the first assessment point using children’s reports of the extent to which classmates kept promises. In addition, teacher reports of children’s trustworthiness were assessed at all four assessment points. Latent growth curve modeling yielded a decrease in prosocial behavior over time. Peer- and teacher-reported trustworthiness predicted higher initial levels of prosocial behavior, and peer-reported trustworthiness predicted less steep decreases in prosocial behavior over time. Autoregressive cross-lagged analysis also revealed bidirectional longitudinal associations between teacher-reported trustworthiness and prosocial behavior. We discuss the implications of the findings for research on the role of trust in the development of children’s prosocial behavior.

Seeing is Believing?: Comparing Negative Affect, Realism and Presence in Visual Versus Written Guardianship Scenarios

ABSTRACT We compared participant responses on three written guardianship scenarios versus visualized versions of the same scenarios in terms of realism, presence, negative affect elicited by the situation, perceived risk, and the choice to intervene. We find that people who received the visual scenarios report higher presence, but not realism, than those who received the written version. Furthermore, visual scenarios elicited stronger negative affect and resulted in a lower likelihood to intervene. Finally, presence, but not negative affect, mediated the relation between condition and the choice to intervene. Implications of the visual scenario method for future research are discussed.