Integrating the general theory of crime into an explanation of violent victimization among female offenders

Abstract

In 1999, Schreck extended Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) self-control theory to explain victimization and the victim-offender overlap. His analysis of college students revealed that low self-control was significantly associated with victimization. We build on Shreck's work by assessing whether low self-control contributes to victimization among a sample of female offenders while controlling for routine activities/lifestyle behaviors. We advanced two research questions: (1) Can self-control theory account for variations in victimization? (2) Do risky lifestyle behaviors mediate the effects of self-control? The results were consistent with the hypothesis that low self-control is a risk factor for victimization, even after lifestyle behaviors were controlled.