Personal Violence by Strangers: An Extension and Test of the Opportunity Model of Predatory Victimization

VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research by Sampson was to test and extend the opportunity model of predatory victimization. METHODOLOGY: The author analyzed data from the British Crime Survey (BCS), a cross-sectional survey of England and Wales taken in 1982. One respondent per household aged 16 or older was randomly selected. Final sample size was 10,905. The sample was stratified. Inner city residents were over sampled because urbanization was one of the strongest predictors of victimization. The key microlevel variables examined for this study were age, sex, marital status, and lifestyle. The community level variables included urbanization, family structure, residential mobility, and racial heterogeneity. Lifestyle was measured by an item which asked the respondent how many nights a week he or she went out. Answers could range from 0-7. Local community context was measured by aggregating individual responses of respondents within the 238 communities. Neighborhood guardianship was defined by the authors as the percentage of single-adult households in the community. Family disruption was measured as the proportion of female-headed households with children. Residential mobility was measured as the percentage of respondents in a community living at their current address less than one year. The proportions of white and non-white households in a community was used as a measure of racial heterogeneity. The dichotomy of this relationship created a measure that ranged from 0-. 5. Urbanization was measured by housing density and an indicator of inner city residence. For this research the categories stranger personal theft and stranger personal violence victimization were used. Logistic regression was used to examine the data. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: Overall victimization by strangers was low in Great Britain. Males were at a higher risk of violent victimization than females. Separated or divorced and single persons have a stranger violence risk approximately 2.5 times higher than married persons. Lifestyle was also found to affect the risks of stranger victimization. Those who go out 5 to 7 nights have 4 times the risk of stranger violence than those who spend their leisure time at home. Age was found to be the strongest predictor of personal victimization by a stranger. Young persons have a 7.7 times higher risk of stranger violence than the corresponding older adults. Females were at a higher risk for stranger theft than males. Stranger theft was almost entirely comprised of purse snatching and this was seen as the reason for the higher risk for females. Using logistic regression the authors found that once community context and demographic variables are controlled, lifestyle has no effect on stranger violence. This finding contradicted the lifestyle routine activity theory which predicted that those who leave home frequently will have a higher risk of stranger violence than those who stay at home. When personal theft was examined with community and demographic variables controlled, lifestyle was still a significant factor but somewhat weakened. AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS: The author recommended that stranger victimization be studied according to its structural context. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) KW - England KW - Countries Other Than USA KW - Adult Female KW - Adult Male KW - Adult Victim KW - Juvenile Female KW - Juvenile Male KW - Juvenile Victim KW - Male Victim KW - Female Victim KW - Victimization Causes KW - Stranger Violence KW - Violence Causes KW - Victimization Risk Factors KW - Lifestyle