Life-time violent victimization and recent violent behavior: An overlap analysis

Abstract

Background:There is an important consensus in Criminology on the overlap between victimization and crime (Berg & Mulford, 2020). Findings indicate that each experience significantly increases the probability of the other (Jennings et al., 2012), especially of a similar typology (Miley et al., 2020). The International Self-report Delinquency Study (ISRD) questionnaire allows to determine the life-time prevalence and the annual incidence of these events. The objective is to explore the overlap between life-time victimization experiences and violent behaviors in the last year, controlling for the period of occurrence of both.Methodology:We used data collected in Argentina for the ISRD 4. The sample is composed by 1007 adolescents (53,2% females) with a mean age of 15,4 years old (DS=1,6) that answered the paper-and-pencil version in 9 schools from Córdoba (n= 646) and San Miguel de Tucumán (n= 461). We focus on victimization and delinquency that occur in face-to-face contexts and involve violence. Two groups were formed: Life-time victims, adolescents who suffered victimization experiences throughout their lives, up to the 12 months prior to the assessment, and last-year offenders, adolescents who reported violent behavior in the last year. The association between life-time victimization and last-year offending will be analyzed by means of contingency tables and the chi-square test calculation. In addition, Odds Ratios (OR) will be calculated by sex and age groups.DiscussionSince its first edition in the early 1990s, the results of the ISRD have shown significant implications for public policies aimed at promoting the well-being of children and adolescents. Our findings are aimed at making a contribution in this regard at the national level. The role of victimization prevention strategies in the consequent prevention of crime and other forms of violence to which adolescents may be exposed will be discussed.