OFFENDERS EXPERIENCES OF VIOLENCE - A COMPARISON OF MALE AND FEMALE INMATES AS VICTIMS

Criminologists emphasize the role of violent victimization as both cau se and consequence of female crime; this seems less true in research o n male offenders. Few gender comparisons of offenders' victim experien ces exist. Yet there are theoretical reasons to believe that for both sexes victimization may both motivate crime and result from criminal i nvolvement. Using self-report data, this study compared the domestic a nd criminal victimization experiences of male and female inmates. Both had similar physical child abuse histories. The greatest divergence w as found in women's high rates of assaults by intimate partners and me n's high rates of assaults by strangers; however, for both sexes these experiences were common. Inmates abused as children were younger at f irst arrest and showed greater participation in crime. Greater crimina l involvement was also associated with more criminal victimization by strangers. In supporting several models linking crime and victimizatio n, these findings suggest that criminologists should address how victi mization histories are intertwined with criminal behavior for both sex es.