Background : Criminological research shows that there is nearly always a strong and positive association between delinquency and being a victim of crime. This so-called victim-offender overlap is one of the most consistent and best documented findings in criminology. However, examinations using longitudinal panel data are rather scarce. Previous analyses based on latent growth and cross-lagged panel models showed that the developments of victimization and offending are parallel processes that expose similar stability and mutual influence over the period of adolescence and early adulthood (Erdmann & Reinecke, 2018). Objectives : The present study examines the relationship between victimization and offending over the phase of adolescence and emerging adulthood. The focus is on the application of continuous time dynamic modeling and on comparing results using data from the criminological panel study Crime in the Modern City . For the present analyses, seven consecutive panel waves are used that contain information about German adolescents from the age of 14 to 20 years. Approach : The relationship between victimization and offending is analyzed by con - tinuous time structural equation modeling using the R package ctsem (Driver & Voelkle, 2018, 2021). In addition to the unconditional models, relevant predictors (gender, routine activities) are considered in the conditional models. Methododological and substantive as - pects of continuous time dynamic modeling are highlighted in the discussion of the results.

Despite the substantive evidence on the victim-offender overlap from various national contexts, comprehensive examinations for Germany are lacking. This article provides insights into peer group-related correlates of the victim-offender overlap by specifically differentiating the roles of victims, offenders, and victim-offenders. The analysis examines risk factors for involvement in violence using a sample of 3,519 14- and 16-year-old students from a large crime study conducted in Germany. Applying multinomial logistic regression, the risk of being a victim-only, offender-only, or victim-offender is predicted by peer group characteristics such as frequency of meeting, group composition, delinquent norms, and routine activities with friends. The results show that proximity to friends and delinquent norms of peers significantly influence victimization, offending, and the victim-offender overlap. Regarding group composition, violent offending and being a victim-offender occurred more often in male-dominated mixed-gender friend groups, whereas victimization risk is not affected by group composition. Frequent alcohol consumption within the group is associated with victimization risk and the victim-offender overlap, whereas going out is associated with offending and the overlap. The findings underline that the peer context is not only of importance for explaining delinquency but also for unraveling victimization and the victim-offender overlap.

Research findings suggest that there is a strong relationship between offending and being a victim of crime, whereby victimization is often a consequence of delinquent behavior. Therefore, impacts of explanatory variables on victimization might only occur as a noncausal by-product induced by their influences on delinquency. This study investigates the influences of neighborhood characteristics on violent victimization while also considering the role of delinquency as a potential mediator. Using a sample of 3,065 15-year-old students from a long-term study on crime conducted in Germany, structural equation modeling is applied to examine the influence of neighborhood characteristics on offending and victimization. Additionally, influences on victimization are decomposed into direct and indirect effects to examine mediation via delinquency. The results show that - when analyzing offending and victimization simultaneously - influences on victimization are actually mediated through delinquency. Neighborhood context (disorder, leisure opportunities, perceived safety) mainly shapes offending. This investigation cannot provide evidence for direct influences of neighborhood characteristics on victimization that are independent of a person's delinquent behavior. Effects on violent victimization emerge from mediation via delinquency, particularly violent offending. These findings help to further disentangle impacts on victimization risk and point out implications for crime and victimization prevention within neighborhoods and cities.

Although the consistent association between offending and victimization is a long-noted phenomenon, current criminological research is still engaged to gather profound knowledge on the etiology of this victim-offender overlap. Beyond that, the examination of its development over the life course requires further attention to create a better understanding of why offending and victimization are strongly connected. Applying a joint trajectory technique, the present study examines the overlap between distinct trajectories of offending and violent victimization throughout the phase of youth and adolescence using seven consecutive waves from the German longitudinal study "Crime in the Modern City." In particular, the victimization of high-level offenders is investigated taking a routine activity perspective with a focus on activities with peers. The results indicate that there is a sizable overlap between trajectories of violent victimization and constant offending with four out of five high-level offenders being repeatedly victimized. Furthermore, the examination shows that meeting more frequently with friends, going out and drinking alcohol, doing forbidden things for fun, and casually hanging out with friends increases the risk of high-level offending significantly. Moreover, the analysis indicates that meeting frequently with friends enhances the risk of violent victimization for offenders, whereas casually hanging out reduces the risk. However, these impacts can only be observed for the present sample and cannot be generalized with sufficient certainty. In addition, the analysis provides evidence that gender differences in the victim-offender overlap are mediated through diverging activities. Implications and limitations are discussed.

When it comes to sensitive questions, data is often affected by bias due to non-response or effects of social desirability. Several methods have been introduced to eliminate answer bias by using randomization processes and probabilistic theory to obscure the respondent’s answer and create anonymity, thus facilitating honest answers. The probably most traditional method is the Randomized Response Technique by Warner (1965). However, this method is loaded with certain disadvantages. Therefore, in the last decade, newer methods were introduced that aim at balancing the disadvantages and weaknesses of previous methods, for instance, the non-randomized models Crosswise Model and Triangular Model (Yu et al. 2008) as well as the Parallel Model (Tian 2014). Although especially the Triangular Model is easy to implement in a study, there is only little empirical evidence on its application in different survey modes and populations. Further, it is to assume that certain questions are not equally sensitive for everybody due to specific personal characteristics. Thus, indirect questioning might not be effective in general but only for certain populations. The present study extends prior work on the Triangular Model by evaluating it for different subgroups. The conducted experiment asks for sensitive characteristics in the context of mental stress among students. The Triangular Model achieves significantly higher percentages than conventional direct questioning for illegal drug use among persons that answer socially desirable according to the characteristic of Self-Deception. For the other analyzed subgroups (Impression Management, gender, and depressiveness), the Triangular Model could not achieve higher prevalence rates compared to direct questioning on a sufficient probability level. But still, hard evidence on the effectiveness of indirect questioning models is thin and further critical discussion is needed.

The victim–offender overlap is currently under discussion in criminology. However, the connection between victimization and offending over the life course still requires further investigation. The present study examines whether the victim–offender overlap is invariant during the transition from adolescence to early adulthood using seven consecutive waves of the German Research Foundation–funded self-report study “Crime in the Modern City,” which contain information about German students from the age of 14 to 20 years. The results indicate that the nature as well as the strength of the overlap changes over the period from adolescence to early adulthood. The introduced measurement of the relative victim–offender overlap indicates that with growing up, fewer victims are also offenders whereas the amount of offenders that are also victims remains stable. Longitudinal analyses based on latent growth and cross-lagged panel models further point out that the developments of victimization and offending are highly parallel processes that evince similar stability and mutual influence over the phase of youth and adolescence. However, the association between both weakens over age. In conclusion, our results suggest variance in the victim–offender overlap over the life course. This justifies the demand for further research and theory development on this criminological phenomenon.