Assessing the interaction between offender and victim criminal lifestyles & homicide type

PurposeThis study examined the interaction between homicide victim and offender criminal lifestyles and the situational characteristics of homicides that occurred in the city of Newark, New Jersey from 1997 through 2007. Three research questions were explored: (1) what are the lifestyles exhibited by homicide victims and offenders; (2) are there different types of homicide actors (i.e., victim and/or offender) based on their criminal lifestyle; (3) do varying homicide actor (i.e., victim and/or offender) types influence the characteristics of homicide incidents?MethodsFive hundred and thirteen homicide incidents was used to answer the three research questions. Hierarchical Agglomerative Cluster and Logistic Regression Analyses were employed to answer the research questions.FindingsThe findings showed that criminal lifestyles were indeed very common among homicide victims and offenders, and that they resemble each other. The findings also showed that there were two types of homicide victims and offenders, and that these types influenced the etiology of homicide incidents.ConclusionOverall, the results suggest that researchers and practitioners should take into account the criminal lifestyles of potential victims and offenders when tailoring homicide prevention strategies.

Research highlights
► This study examined the interaction between victim and offender criminal lifestyles and the characteristics of homicides.
► Hierarchical Agglomerative Cluster and Logistic Regression Analyses were employed to answer the research questions.
► The findings showed that victims and offenders are similar and that their characteristics influenced the incident etiology.
► Researchers and practitioners should take into account criminal lifestyles when tailoring homicide prevention strategies.