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Abstract
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Criminologists emphasize the role of violent victimization as both cause and consequence of female crime; this seems less true in research on male offenders. Few gender comparisons of offenders' victim experiences exist. Yet there are theoretical reasons to believe that for both sexes victimization may both motivate crime and result from criminal involvement. Using self-report data, this study compared the domestic and criminal victimization experiences of male and female inmates. Both had similar physical child abuse histories. The greatest divergence was found in women's high rates of assaults by intimate partners and men's high rates of assaults by strangers; however, for both sexes these experiences were common. Inmates abused as children were younger at first arrest and showed greater participation in crime. Greater criminal involvement was also associated with more criminal victimization by strangers. In supporting several models linking crime and victimization, these findings suggest that criminologists should address how victimization histories are intertwined with criminal behavior for both sexes.
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The goal of this study by Lake was to examine gender as a factor in offenders' experiences of violence by comparing female and male inmates experiences as victims.
METHODOLOGY:
The author conducted a quasi-experimental study. The sample consisted of inmates from a medium-security male prison and a minimum through maximum security female facility. Solicitation of volunteers was the only description of the selection procedure used to obtain 122 men (out of a population of about 850) and 83 women (out of a population of about 220). Prison files were used to collect demographic information (age, race and education level), as well as specific information on the types of offenses committed. Respondents who volunteered to participate were randomly assigned to receive either a written questionnaire or an interview. In all, 53 men and 56 women were given face to face questionnaire interviews; the remainder of the sample completed written questionnaires.
The measurement instrument included questions about criminal behavior, including physical and sexual assaults and robbery. Several items asked subjects to report the types of relationships within which the incidents took place. The instrument assessed physical child abuse with questions about the types of punishment that subjects' parents had administered: spanking, hitting with objects, punching or kicking. Abuse was operationalized as a respondent reporting being kicked or punched. Personal history of sexual assault was measured by a question asking if anyone had ever used force or threats of force to coerce them into sex. Respondents who answered yes were asked to categorize the relationship between themselves and the assailant. A respondent who reported coerced sex with a relative was dummy-coded a victim of family sexual assault. The final question in this section asked how often these assaults had occurred in the year prior to incarceration. Intimate/domestic violence history was assessed by first asking whether the subject had ever been hit by a spouse or cohabitating partner. Those who had been hit were asked the frequency of assault for their last year living with this partner. Subjects were asked to report their frequency of victimization by strangers assaulting and/or robbing them. Lastly, subjects' personal histories of criminal activity were assessed. Inmates were asked their age at first arrest, number of prior arrests, and numbers of different types of crimes. A summary measure totaled how many criminal acts were committed the year prior to incarceration.
The author sought to address two questions. One, do female and male inmates differ in the amounts and types of mistreatment they have experienced? Two, is the criminal activity of females linked more to victimization experiences than men? Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and t-tests were used to analyze the data.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
A descriptive analysis of the demographic data revealed that the sample was similar in age to the state's prison population. However, this sample was disproportionately white (over 60%), in contrast to the national population of state prisoners (about 40% white). The female sample's criminal records indicated proportions of different types of offenses that were similar to the female population in the nation's state prisons. In contrast, the male sample was found to have an over representation of violent offenders when compared to nationwide data (85% versus 55%). Also, the author found that the mode of administering the measurement instrument did not result in significant differences in reported victimization.
The author found that 55.4% of the men and 64.8% of the women had experienced parental abuse. Therefore, harsh punishment did not differ significantly by gender. However, female inmates were found to have a significantly higher level of sexual victimization (18.1%) versus the males (6.6%). Assaults by intimate partners did not differ significantly by gender. Males were significantly (p<.01) more likely to be victimized by strangers than females who were more likely victimized by intimates. Significantly more women than men reported sexual assaults by strangers. Women inmates averaged significantly more incidents of victimization in the year prior to incarceration than men (p<.001). Contrary to popular beliefs, the data failed to show a statistical significance between childhood abuse and abuse by adult partners. No significant relationship was found between family sexual assault and criminal involvement for either males or females. For males, there was a significant positive relationship between being victims of sexual abuse and committing sexual assault. Overall, the author did not establish a causal model but still found that victimization and crime reinforce each other in different ways for men and women.
AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS:
The author recommended that those who treat female offenders should address chronic victimization as a cause for criminal activities. The author also pointed to the social construction of gender as a key factor in understanding and treating both male and female offenders. The author asserted that family violence must be addressed if our society hopes to decrease crime. The author concluded that criminology research should begin to address the dynamics of male offenders as victims and perpetrators.
EVALUATION:
In general, a major problem with this study is the sampling procedure. The author comments that, "volunteers for the study were solicited by research staff members using similar procedures at the two institutions" (p. 274). No description of these procedures is included in the article. Therefore, the external validity of this study cannot effectively be evaluated. The absence of random selection procedures in the article increases the likelihood that self-selection bias distorted the results. An additional problem is the fact that the male sample did not match the national population with regard to percentage of violent offenders. The author conceded that making generalizations from this study to all male offenders was ill-advised. Also, the operationalization of the variable abuse excluded subjects who had been hit with heavy objects or those who had been spanked severely. The operationalization of the variable sexual abuse excludes molestation without physical force. In conclusion, this research provides new theoretical avenues for looking at the intersections between gender, victimization and crime. Future studies in this area should attempt replication with random samples.
(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 - Adult Offender
KW - Adult Inmate
KW - Adult Violence
KW - Adult Crime
KW - Adult Survivor
KW - Adult Female
KW - Adult Male
KW - Male Inmate
KW - Male Crime
KW - Male Offender
KW - Male Victim
KW - Male Victim
KW - Female Inmate
KW - Female Victim
KW - Female Offender
KW - Female Crime
KW - Female Violence
KW - Gender Differences
KW - Child Abuse Effects
KW - Child Abuse-Crime Link
KW - Child Abuse Victim
KW - Child Abuse-Violence Link
KW - Child Physical Abuse Effects
KW - Child Physical Abuse Victim
KW - Child Sexual Abuse Effects
KW - Child Sexual Abuse Victim
KW - Child Victim
KW - Childhood Victimization
KW - Childhood Experience
KW - Long-Term Effects
KW - Domestic Violence Effects
KW - Domestic Violence Victim
KW - Sexual Assault Effects
KW - Sexual Assault Victim
KW - Psychological Victimization Effects
KW - Victim Turned Offender
KW - Partner Violence
KW - Violence Against Women
KW - Violence Causes
KW - Crime Causes
KW - Spouse Abuse Effects
KW - Spouse Abuse Victim
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