Marie Skubak Tillyer

Gendered Opportunity? School-Based Adolescent Victimization

Researchers have shown that criminal opportunity significantly predicts school-based adolescent victimization. However, little is known about the extent to which opportunity for school-based victimization might be gendered. In this study, the authors drew from criminal opportunity and feminist research and extended the principle of homogamy to explore how gender interacts with opportunity and school-based victimization. Data collected from 2001 to 2004 from 10,522 students in 111 middle and high schools throughout Kentucky were used to examine whether indicators of criminal opportunity placed students, particularly girls, at heightened risk for school-based theft and physical assault victimization. The results of gender-specific hierarchical logistic regression models indicated that measures of criminal opportunity were significantly related to theft and assault for both sexes. Equality-of-coefficient tests supported gendered effects for some opportunity indicators, with differences indicating that the effects of risk and protective factors for victimization were heightened for girls.

The Effects of School Crime Prevention on Students’ Violent Victimization, Risk Perception, and Fear of Crime: A Multilevel Opportunity Perspective

This study examined the effects of school‐based crime prevention strategies aimed at reducing criminal opportunity. Results are mixed as to the effectiveness of such efforts in reducing violent victimization among students. Further, few studies have examined the effects net of student‐level risk factors. Finally, it is unclear as to whether such measures agitate or placate students’ risk perception and fear. Guided by a multilevel opportunity perspective, this study used self‐report data from 2,644 seventh‐grade students nested within 58 schools to test whether such efforts reduce students’ victimization, risk perception, and fear of violence at school. Hierarchical logistic models were estimated to control for individual‐level opportunity for victimization. Net of compositional differences, the prevention practices did not significantly reduce the likelihood of experiencing violent victimization or perceptions of risk, and only one measure, metal detectors, significantly reduced fear. Implications for school crime prevention are discussed in light of the findings.

Reducing Gang Violence Using Focused Deterrence: Evaluating the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV)

Research indicates that focused deterrence interventions are associated with violence reductions, although levels of success vary across sites. It is unknown if these strategies can produce sustained reductions over time, and if the variation in success is due to differences in program activities and dosages. This study provides a detailed description and evaluation of the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV), a focused deterrence violence reduction strategy implemented in Cincinnati, Ohio. CIRV’s organizational structure and enhanced social services were designed to address sustainability issues that threaten to undermine long-term success. Results from our pooled time series regression models indicate that two violent outcomes—group/gang-member involved homicides and violent firearm incidents—declined significantly following implementation. These declines were observed in both 24- and 42-month post-intervention periods, but not in comparison outcomes. Additional analyses, however, reveal that provision of social services was not responsible for the significant and sustained decline.

Intimate Partner Violence and the Victim-Offender Overlap

Objectives: Examine the prevalence and correlates of intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and offending, as well as the overlap of these experiences. Method: Data from wave 4 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were analyzed to examine IPV among adults ages 24 to 33. A multinomial logistic regression model was estimated to determine whether the correlates of IPV vary across victims, perpetrators, and victim-perpetrators. Results: Approximately 20% of respondents reported some IPV involvement in the past year, one-third of whom reported victimization and perpetration. The victim-offender overlap was observed for males and females across various measures of IPV. Bivariate correlations suggest victimization and perpetration have common correlates. Multivariate analysis, however, reveals considerable differences once we distinguish between victims, offenders, and victim-offenders and control for other variables. Perpetrators and victim-perpetrators were more likely to live with a nonspouse partner; feel isolated; display negative temperaments; and report substance use problems. “Victims only” were more likely to live with children and have lower household incomes. Conclusions: The victim-offender overlap exists for IPV across a variety of measures. Though perpetrators and victim-perpetrators have similar characteristics, those who are victims only appear distinctly different. We discuss the implications for theory, policy, and research.

Reexamining the Correlates of Adolescent Violent Victimization: The Importance of Exposure, Guardianship, and Target Characteristics

The present study examines the relative contributions of various theoretical constructs to violent victimization by operationalizing multiple measures of exposure to motivated offenders, guardianship, and target characteristics. Using a nationally representative sample of American adolescents, we conducted principal components factor analysis and logistic regression analysis to examine whether such measures do in fact represent empirically distinct constructs and if they are each correlated with violent victimization risk. Findings suggest that both nondelinquent and delinquent routine activities which expose adolescents to motivated offenders increase risk of victimization. In terms of guardianship, parental attachment appears to protect adolescents from victimization, although direct parental control actually increases risk. Finally, only one of four target characteristics—psychological vulnerability—was significantly associated with violent victimization risk. We discuss the implications for theory and future research in light of the findings.

Violent Victimization Across the Life Course Moving a “Victim Careers” Agenda Forward

The present study examines violent victimization patterns across the life course and outlines a victim careers agenda for future scholarly inquiry. I analyzed four waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to examine whether violent victimization prevalence, onset, and persistence during earlier stages of the life course can predict violent victimization risk in adulthood, and whether these relationships are observed independent of current violent offending. Violent victimization in adolescence was significantly related to subsequent risk in adulthood. Even when current violent offending is controlled, those who report early and persistent violent victimization during prior stages of the life course appear particularly vulnerable to subsequent victimization. The findings demonstrate the importance of moving forward with a victim careers agenda and the present study outlines numerous theoretical and empirical avenues for victimization scholars to pursue.

Beyond Boston Applying Theory to Understand and Address Sustainability Issues in Focused Deterrence Initiatives for Violence Reduction

Focused deterrence initiatives, including the most famous, Boston’s Operation Ceasefire, have been associated with significant reductions in violence in several U.S. cities. Despite early successes, some cities have experienced long-term sustainability issues. Recent work in Cincinnati, Ohio, has focused on institutionalizing focused deterrence in an attempt to achieve sustainability. Despite these efforts, it became apparent that institutionalization was necessary, but insufficient, to achieve long-term success. This study turns to criminological theory to understand why focused deterrence works and how the model can be improved to maximize crime prevention potential. In doing so, the authors draw from the principles of effective intervention from correctional rehabilitation research and describe how these elements have been integrated into the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence.

Maybe I Should Do This Alone: A Comparison of Solo and Co-offending Robbery Outcomes

There has been a notable increase in co-offending research in recent years, with most studies focusing on the causes and correlates of co-offending. There is little known, however, about the consequences of co-offending and how it may influence crime event outcomes for the offender. The present study compares the monetary reward and arrest risk of solo and co-offending robberies. Data from the National Incident Based Reporting System were analyzed to examine the characteristics and outcomes of robberies perpetrated by one, two, three, and four or more offenders. Though co-offending incidents were associated with greater total property value stolen, co-offending incidents resulted in significantly less property value per offender, controlling for other incident characteristics. The likelihood of an incident resulting in an arrest significantly increased with the number of offenders. We discuss the implications of our findings for theory and research on the real and perceived benefits and costs of co-offending.

Intimate partner violence and the overlap of perpetration and victimization: considering the influence of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse in childhood

Using data from Wave 4 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, this study examined the independent relationship of childhood maltreatment type (emotional, sexual, physical) on IPV victimization and perpetration; then mutually exclusive categories of IPV involvement (victimization, perpetration, and victimization/perpetration) were investigated. IPV victimization and perpetration were assessed using items from the revised Conflict Tactics Scales. A series of binary regression models and multinomial regression models were estimated. Models were stratified across gender. Results uncovered significant relationships between child physical abuse and IPV victimization as well as IPV perpetration for males and females, but this effect was reduced when emotional maltreatment was added to the model. When IPV victimization/perpetration was considered, maltreatment effects changed. For males, physical maltreatment remained significantly related to victimization only and physical, sexual, and emotional maltreatment were related to victimization/perpetration. For females, physical maltreatment remained significantly related to IPV victimization only and emotional maltreatment was related to perpetration only and to victimization/perpetration. Screening and intervention for maltreatment, including emotional maltreatment, among children as well as adults with IPV histories may be important to preventing first IPV experiences and stemming current involvement.

Violence in Context: A Multilevel Analysis of Victim Injury in Robbery Incidents

Prior research highlights the importance of both situational variables and the broader social context in explaining the distribution of crime. It is unclear, however, whether these factors continue to influence a criminal event as it unfolds, thus affecting the severity of violence. The present study draws on developments in opportunity theory to assess the influence of situational variables and the broader social context on the severity of violence. Using incident-level data from National Incident Based Reporting System and city-level Census data, we estimated a series of multilevel models to examine the effects of location and time of day on victim injury during robberies. We also modeled cross-level interactions to observe the moderating influence of concentrated disadvantage. Findings suggest location and time of day are significantly associated with victim injury, and the broader social context conditions the effect of location on victim injury. We discuss the implications of our findings and directions for future research.