Situational Factors and the Victim-Offender Overlap, Pennsylvania, 2013-2014 (ICPSR 38095)
Version Date: Aug 31, 2021 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Mark T. Berg, University of Iowa;
Richard B. Felson, Pennsylvania State University
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR38095.v1
Version V1
Summary View help for Summary
This study examines explanations for the victim-offender overlap using data obtained from male prison inmates and a community sample. It employs two different designs, both of which are based on situational analyses of incidents. First, respondents are asked about their frequency of victimization and offending, as well as other behaviors. Second, respondents are asked about a violent and non-violent conflict in which they were recently involved.
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Subject Terms View help for Subject Terms
Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
Smallest Geographic Unit View help for Smallest Geographic Unit
None
Restrictions View help for Restrictions
This data collection may not be used for any purpose other than statistical reporting and analysis. Use of these data to learn the identity of any person or establishment is prohibited. To protect respondent privacy, some of the data files in this collection are restricted from general dissemination. To obtain these restricted files researchers must agree to the terms and conditions of a Restricted Data Use Agreement.
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Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)
Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine explanations of the victim-offender overlap using data obtained from male prison inmates and a community sample.
Study Design View help for Study Design
Recruitment flyers were posted throughout the facility approximately two weeks prior to data collection, and prison staff also shared information about the project with inmates to bolster recruitment efforts. The survey was administered by the Survey Research Center (SRC) staff in classroom settings to small groups of inmates. Inmates completed the survey alone on laptops using a computer-assisted personal interviewing program (CAPI). When inmates arrived, an SRC staff member read them a script that described the purpose of the study, and discussed consent, anonymity, confidentiality, and the study's approval by university institutional review boards. We guaranteed anonymity by not using any identifying information on the survey and by giving the inmates privacy, in most cases by seating them at desks separated by partitions. No prison guards were in the room, but were adjacent to it either in the hallway or in a nearby room. The respondents were given a copy of the consent form that included the contact information of the project investigators and institutional review boards.
To generate the community sample, inmates were asked to provide on the recruitment flyer the names, age, and contact information for up to three male friends or family members in the community who have not been arrested who might be willing to complete the same survey for a $45 payment. One week after the notification letters were mailed, the SRC began calling community contacts. The SRC made up to twenty attempts to call the contacts. Once contacts agreed to participate, the SRC informed them that they could complete the survey via the telephone or internet; 66% chose the telephone.
Sample View help for Sample
Inmate sample was a purposive sample since individuals were selected because they share a particular characteristic - incarceration. The community sample was selected through inmate referrals.
The total sample of 723 participants includes 503 male inmates from the Pennsylvania state prison system and 220 inmate personal male contacts in the community who had never been arrested.
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
Male inmates from the Pennsylvania state prison system and inmate personal male contacts in the community who had never been arrested.
Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation
Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)
Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection
Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables
The study includes variables about the frequency of respondents' verbal conflicts and their violent victimizations. There are also self-reported measures of respondents' self-control, alcohol use, and honor-based attitudes.
Response Rates View help for Response Rates
The response rates for the community sample was 44 percent.
Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales
None.
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