Differential Coercion and Social Support Theory and the Victim-Offender Overlap

• In Event: The Victim-Offender Overlap: New Empirical Insights

Abstract

Prior research has demonstrated that engaging in crime also increases the odds of victimization, prompting scholars to argue that the correlates of criminal behavior are also the same for victimization. Consequently, criminological theories traditionally used to explain crime are now used to explain victimization, with self-control, strain, and social learning theories as the most dominate explanations for this “victim-offender” overlap. However, other criminological theories have received less empirical attention. One such theory is Differential Coercion and Social Support (DCSS) as articulated by Colvin, Cullen, and Vander Ven. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to test this theory’s applicability to explain the victim-offender overlap using data from the Evaluation of the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) Program in the United States 1995-1999. Using structural equation modeling, results indicate that coercion does influence a person’s social-psychological characteristics, in turn, predicting both criminal behavior and victimization. The results also indicate that mother social support, compared to father social support, has a stronger influence on social-psychological characteristics and, therefore, is negatively associated with the outcomes.

Authors

• Egbert Zavala, University of Texas at El Paso

• Vivian Hughes, Florida State University

• Mario Cano, University of Texas at El Paso

• Don L. Kurtz, Kansas State University