Deviant lifestyle and crime victimization

The present study examined these questions: (1) Does deviant lifestyle lead to victimization? (2) Does victimization lead to deviant lifestyle? (3) Do es neighborhood influence the relationship between deviance and victimizati on? A two-wave panel study of young males was used. Deviant lifestyle was s pecified as drinking, drug use, and delinquency. Cross-lagged and synchrono us SEQ panel models were used. A group analysis was conducted to determine whether the relationship between victimization and deviant lifestyle was af fected by neighborhood. Results showed a significant lagged effect and a sy nchronous effect of deviant lifestyle on victimization. Among young males, deviant lifestyles led to being victimized, both around the same time and e ighteen months later. In contrast, crime victimization had a significant sy nchronous effect on deviant lifestyles, but no lagged effect. Being victimi zed led to deviant lifestyle around the same time, but not in the future. F inally, group analyses showed marginally that deviant lifestyle leads to cr ime victimization only in low-crime neighborhoods, although this comparison fell short of statistical significance. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.