Victim offender overlap is a relatively new area of research with most studies having focused on applying this concept to the study of assault and homicide. Research in intimate partner violence has found that there exists a group of victim offenders or individuals who are involved in initiating, sustaining, and engaging in intimate partner violence as both victims and offenders (Johnson & Ferraro, 2000; Steinmetz, 1980). This Master’s thesis explored the concept of victim offender overlap in connection to intimate partner violence (IPV). Bivariate analyses were conducted using Paul C. Friday, Vivian Lord, M. Lyn Exum, and Jennifer L. Hartman’s (2003-2005) data, Evaluating the Impact of a Specialized Domestic Violence Police Unit in Charlotte, North Carolina. The findings suggest that there is a separate group of individuals involved in intimate partner violence who are both victims and offenders. Furthermore, the three groups (offenders only of IPV, victims only of IPV, and victim/offenders of IPV) were found to be different across gender, past criminal involvement, and future criminal activity as predicted. Suggestions for future research and the implications of the findings are discussed.

Victim offender overlap is a relatively new area of research with most studies having focused on applying this concept to the study of assault and homicide. Research in intimate partner violence has found that there exists a group of victim offenders or individuals who are involved in initiating, sustaining, and engaging in intimate partner violence as both victims and offenders (Johnson & Ferraro, 2000; Steinmetz, 1980). This Master’s thesis explored the concept of victim offender overlap in connection to intimate partner violence (IPV). Bivariate analyses were conducted using Paul C. Friday, Vivian Lord, M. Lyn Exum, and Jennifer L. Hartman’s (2003-2005) data, Evaluating the Impact of a Specialized Domestic Violence Police Unit in Charlotte, North Carolina. The findings suggest that there is a separate group of individuals involved in intimate partner violence who are both victims and offenders. Furthermore, the three groups (offenders only of IPV, victims only of IPV, and victim/offenders of IPV) were found to be different across gender, past criminal involvement, and future criminal activity as predicted. Suggestions for future research and the implications of the findings are discussed.

abstract: The victim-offender overlap is a widely accepted empirical fact in criminology. While many methodological strategies have been used to study overlap, prior studies have assumed that it is uniform, taking little consideration into the potential differences within the overlap. The larger body of criminological research on pathways to crime suggests that victim-offenders also have variability in their victimization experiences and offending patterns. Not accounting for variation within the overlap has produced inconsistent findings in terms of establishing theoretical explanations for the victimization and offending relationship. Several general theories of crime have merit in their assumptions about the relationship between victimization and offending. Routine activity/lifestyle theory, low self-control theory, and general strain theory offer insight into the overlap. Variables derived from these three general theories are assessed to test their ability to explain a more complex conceptualization of the victim-offender overlap. Using data on 3,341 individuals drawn from four waves of the publically available National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), a latent class analysis establishes unique victim-offender overlap taxonomies. A multinomial logistic regression is conducted to test how well theoretically derived variables from three general theories (e.g., routine activity theory, low self-control theory, and general strain theory) predict membership in the unique victim-offender overlap taxonomies. Additional multinomial logistic regressions are run using a split sample analyses to test the invariance of the findings across different social groupings (e.g., gender and race/ethnicity). Comparing the more complex operationalization of the victim-offender overlap with the baseline regression models shows notable differences. For example, depression significantly predicts membership in the general victim-offender overlap group, but when taking into consideration variation within the overlap, depression does not consistently predict membership in all taxonomies. Similar results are found for routine activity/lifestyle theory and low self-control theory. Tests of invariance across gender and race/ethnicity highlight the need to consider how theoretical explanations of the victim-offender overlap differ based on social groupings. Males and females have unique risks and needs and these should be reflected in how routines and negative emotions are measured. The findings underscore the need to consider overlap when studying the relationship between victims and offenders. Implications for theory, future research, and policy are also discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Criminology and Criminal Justice 2018

While a growing body of literature in the field of criminal justice documents the relationship between victimization and offending, only recently has this knowledge been applied to the study of intimate partner violence (IPV). Accordingly, questions remain with regard to the theoretical origins of mutual violence between intimates. In an effort to fill this void in the literature, the current study examines the etiology of moderate forms of mutual IPV, specifically assessing self-control theory's applicability to the victim-offender overlap in IPV. Data were obtained from Waves I and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) to investigate whether low self-control at Wave I predicts IPV victimization, IPV offending, or both IPV victimization and offending at Wave IV. The present study extends prior literature examining the role of self-control in IPV by (1) investigating the influence of self-control on the victim-offender overlap in IPV, (2) using longitudinal data, and (3) utilizing a sample of U.S. adults ages 24 to 33. While low self-control was found to significantly predict IPV offending and the overlap in IPV victimization and offending, low self-control failed to significantly predict IPV victimization. Policy implications, study limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

The victim-offender overlap has been extensively studied and documented overthe last decades. Various studies have identified young men as the most commonvictims of violent assault, yet the public, the media, but also criminologicalresearch have actively favored the discourse on the ideal victim. Consequently,not much is known about how victim-offenders experience and perceivevictimization.The present systematic literature review aims to analyze how violent victimizationis experienced and narrated by male victim-offenders in the context of hegemonicmasculinity. Secondly, it aims to analyze in how far the public’s attitudes ofvictim blaming and victim concern are affected by a belief in a just world.Collectively, these findings aim to create a better understanding of criminal men’svictim identities.The public’s empathy and concern are reserved to the innocent and vulnerablevictim; criminal men are perceived as culpable and deserving of victimization.The latter use violence as an instrument of dominance and subordination, in linewith hegemonic masculinity beliefs, and reject the victim identity (antithesis ofmasculinity), forming a new category of the nonideal victim.

Studiens syfte var att utifrån Nils Christies teori om det ideala offret, i kombination med ettgenusteoretiskt perspektiv analysera hur offer och gärningspersoner framställdes i TV-serien I Am a Killer. Den valda analysmetoden var tematisk analys. Studien visade att Christies idealtyper inte var vanligt förekommande, och att Christies icke-idealtyper var dominerande. Vidare visade studien att offer såväl som förövare inte framställdes olika utifrån deras könstillhörighet. Slutsatserna som gjordes var att Christies teori om idealtyper inte gick att applicera fullt ut på riktiga människor. I stället visade sig termen rollblandning vara mer tillämplig på verkliga människor och fall. Vidare var stereotypa idéer och föreställningar om män respektive kvinnor till viss del förekommande i materialet. Tidigare forskning gällande framställningen av kvinnliga offer och gärningspersoner samt manliga offer och gärningspersoner bekräftades till viss del men inte fullt ut. / The purpose of the study was to analyze how victims and offenders were portrayed in the Netflix series I Am a Killer, through Nils Christie’s theory of the ideal victim in combination with a gender theoretical perspective. The chosen method of analysis was a thematic content analysis. The study showed that Christie’s ideal types were not common and that non-ideal victims and offenders dominated. Furthermore, the study did not show that victims and offenders were portrayed differently based on their gender. The conclusions made were that Christie’s ideal types were not applicable in the realm of reality, the roles ”victim” and” offender” were generally intertwined which made the term victim-offender overlap more useful and accurate. Furthermore, stereotypical ideas regarding men and women were somewhat present in the material. To a certain extent that confirmed previous research regarding the portrayal of gender in media as well as in victimization and perpetratorship.