Different Settings, Different Patterns of Victimization: Building Theoretical Models for Differentiating Contextual Effects on the Risk of Individual Victimizations

• In Event: Methodological Advancements in Victimization Research: The Importance of Place, Time, and Situational Contexts

Abstract

Since earlier studies on individual victimizations, contextual factors have been discussed as one of the main determinants of individual victimization risk. Due to methodological limitations including ecological fallacy, however, previous studies have been rather limited to identifying mediating and indirect effects of contextual factors than studying direct influence from contextual factors such as level of criminality in the given area. With the application of recent methodological findings, the current study aims to fill this vacancy by building five theoretical models explaining direct contextual effects which are differentiated by structural settings. More specifically, this study hypothesize that contextual factors directly influence the risk of individual victimization in different ways depending on (1) crime types representing intensity of victim and offender familiarity, (2) macro-level risk heterogeneity reflecting diversities of individual lifestyles, and (3) time span showing temporal length of data collection. Incorporated with individual propensities, these differentiated contextual effects generate different patterns of individual victimizations and require distinct statistical tools. As an empirical test of these hypotheses, four types of criminal victimizations from the 2010 – 2013 NCVS are analyzed with model-fit tests, group-based trajectory modeling, and GLM analyses.

Authors

• Seong-min Park, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

• Terance D. Miethe, University of Nevada, Las Vegas