The Role of Status in Criminal Outcomes: Evidence from NIBRS

• In Event: Measurement, Methodology, and Crime

Abstract

Research on the status composition of the offender-victim dyad has pointed to the importance of relative social differences between offenders and victims on criminal outcomes. Additionally, the same status processes that affect the victim-offender dyad should also be significant in explaining variation in outcomes among co-offenders. This study uses status characteristics theory to examine these relational differences within one theoretical paradigm. Specifically, the theory allows for the combination of demographic characteristics such as gender, race, and age, producing a quantitative measure of the status (dis)advantage of an offender relative to their victim or relative to other offenders. The relevance of this measure in predicting the arrest of criminals is tested using data from the National Incidence Based Reporting System (NIBRS). It is hypothesized that high status offenders, relative to low status victims and co-offenders will be less likely to be arrested than those offenders who are lower in status compared to their victims or other offenders.

Authors

• Lisa M. Dilks, West Virginia University

• Tucker McGrimmon, University of Pretoria