Victim, Offender, and Situational Characteristics of Violent Crime

• NCJ Number: 105991
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 77 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1986) Pages: 1142-1158
• Author(s): D W Denno
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 16 pages
• Grant Number(s): 85-IJ-CX-0034
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study assessed the differences between one-time and repeat offenders according to selected victim, offender, and situational characteristics associated with the first offense with a victim; the study also determined which variables were the strongest predictors of repeat offenses with and without victims.

Abstract

They study sample consisted of 60 black male juvenile offenders selected from a sample of 151 black male offenders whose mothers participated in the Philadelphia Collaborative Perinatal Project at Pennsylvania Hospital between 1959 and 1962. Sixty-two percent of the sample had committed two or more offenses, and approximately two-thirds of the recidivists committed another offense with a victim. The strongest predictors of recidivism were the type or severity of the first victim-related offense followed by the closeness in age between the offender and the victim and offender lower total and verbal abilities. Among predictors of repeat offenses involving victims, lower total and verbal intelligence of offenders were the strongest predictors in their respective models. Generally, offender cognitive attributes, rather than victim or situational characteristics, predominated when repeat offending involved at least one offense with a victim. 5 tables and 26 footnotes.