A Study of the Implications of Preexisting Individual Differences on the Consequences of Violent Victimization for Life Prospects

• In Event: The Consequences of Victimization

Abstract

Research investigating the effects of violent victimization reports that violent victimization contributes to relationship and work failure. Victimization thus corresponds with worsened life prospects for the victims. This research investigates the possibility that preexisting individual traits may underlie both victimization and life failure and render the correlation spurious. In the latter perspective, victimization and life failure share a common cause, such as low self-control, and difficult life circumstances would occur with or without the occurrence of violent victimization. Using multiple waves of the Pathways to Desistance data, which follows a sample of offenders from adolescence through early adulthood, we investigate the impact of victimization on relationship and work after controlling for preexisting individual differences. We then discuss the theoretical significance of our findings.

Authors

• Mark Berg, University of Iowa

• Christopher J. Schreck, Rochester Institute of Technology

• Jillian J. Turanovic, Arizona State University