Temporal Patterns of the Cyber Victim-Offender Overlap in Adolescence

• In Event: Developmental Approaches to the Victim-Offender Overlap

Abstract

The adolescent victim-offender overlap is well documented as research recognizes the propensity for offenders to be victimized and victims to offend. However, with the emergent domain of cyber victimization and offending, research must once again seek to understand how the victim-offender overlap operates in this context. The current study seeks to identify the connection between cyber offending and victimization at age 17 for boys and girls, and the predictors of this overlap. Using a nationally representative, longitudinal sample of adolescents from the UK (N=4,442 boys and 4,607 girls), preliminary results show that 2.2% of girls and 2.7% of boys at age 17 had harassed, sent pictures, or spread rumors about someone digitally in the past year, and 19.6% of girls and 12.9% of boys had also been victims of these interpersonal cybercrimes. Preliminary results also suggest considerable overlap in cyber victimization and offending, as the odds of cyber offending at age 17 are 12.5 (OR=12.52, p<.001) times higher among adolescents who experienced cyber victimization in the past year versus those who had not. Moving forward, we identify the time-ordered patterns of the cyber victim-offender overlap and their related correlates including online and offline routine activities, risky lifestyles, and low self-control.

Authors

• Camille Ingham, Pennsylvania State University

• Jeremy Staff, Pennsylvania State University