Vulnerability and coping with victimization: Do people who feel (in)vulnerable before crime suffer more from victimization?

• In Event: Victimology Working Group Panel 2 Consequences of Victimization

Abstract

Research on heterogeneous consequences of victimization is vital because it provides knowledge about coping processes and success and, thus, about which victims will likely be in particular need of help. However, few longitudinal studies have systematically examined these differential consequences. The current study adds to this small body of research by exploring whether the effects of victimization on psychological well-being differ by the victim’s sense of vulnerability before the crime. To answer this question, we applied weighted panel regressions to two-wave panel data collected in two German cities in 2014/2015 (n ≈ 3,400; cohort I) and 2020/2021 (n ≈ 2,900; cohort II). The preliminary findings are mixed: (1) Victimization did not alter life satisfaction. (2) Victimization increased negative affectivity, but only among those who felt fairly invulnerable before the crime in the 2020/2021 cohort. (3) Victimization generally increased feelings of vulnerability and had particularly strong effects among those who already felt quite vulnerable before the crime.

Author

• Florian Kaiser, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law Freiburg