Arbeitspapier

Criminal Victims, Victimized Criminals, or Both? A Deeper Look at the Victim-Offender Overlap

Offenders are more likely than non-offenders to be victims, and victims are more likely than non-victims to be offenders. The overlap between offenders and victims is not well understood in criminology, and in the economics of crime the stylized empirical fact is even widely ignored. The paper gives a survey of leading theoretical interpretations and empirical results. It summarizes findings from criminology and focuses on economic explanations, where rational choice, behavioral economics, as well as bounded and ecological rationality are discussed. The paper presents new econometric evidence based on German survey data covering victimization experiences and criminal activities. Using recursive bivariate Probit modeling, econometric results confirm that victimization depends on offending but not vice versa. Among the joint covariates of the bivariate system, broken homes, criminal records of parents and personal indebtedness turn out as highly relevant factors of offending behavior, whereas individual victimization risks are significantly linked to education, employment and size of peer groups.

Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 7686

Classification
Wirtschaft
Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models: Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions
Single Equation Models; Single Variables: Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions; Probabilities
Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
Subject
victim-offender overlap
crime
victimization
rational choice
behavioral economics
negative reciprocity
recursive bivariate probit
education and victimization
indebtedness

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Entorf, Horst
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
(where)
Bonn
(when)
2013

Handle
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET

Data provider

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Object type

  • Arbeitspapier

Associated

  • Entorf, Horst
  • Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Time of origin

  • 2013

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