Repeat Victimization among Burglary Targets: A Network Analytic Approach

• In Event: Victimization

Abstract

A small percentage of burglary victims account for a disproportionate number of victimizations because they are victimized more than once. This repeat victimization could be the result of one of three processes: (1) characteristics of a location make the target attractive to all motivated offenders, (2) the same offender returns to the offense location multiple times, or (3) the primary offender notifies other offenders, to whom he is tied, about the target. Based on data from every burglary conviction in one county over a 10-year period, this study tests these three possible mechanisms by using an affiliation network approach to construct (1) a network of offenses linked through offenders and (2) a network of offenders linked through offenses. The results from network visualization techniques that examine networks of offense locations, as well as multivariate analyses in an HLM framework, are most consistent with the third possible explanation. Repeat victimization offenses are significantly more likely to be committed by offenders from within a subgroup than by solo offenders, and more likely to be committed by offenders from within the same subgroup, rather than from different subgroups. Taken together, the results suggest that group processes play a significant role in repeat victimization.

Authors

• Brendan Lantz, Pennsylvania State University

• Barry Ruback, Pennsylvania State University