Although various research confirms an overlap between victims and offenders, much less
is known about victimization and recidivism. Using data from the Serious and Violent
Offender Reentry Initiative evaluation, this study measures the extent to which the frequency
of recent victimization influences recidivism in the 15 months following release
from prison. Buffering effects are also investigated by examining whether family support
moderates the relationship between victimization and recidivism. After controlling
for other known predictors of recidivism, logistic regression models using both listwise
deletion and multiple imputation reveal that more frequent victimization significantly
increases the likelihood of any self-reported recidivism and has a particularly large effect
on violent recidivism for those previously convicted of serious and violent offenses.
Even at higher levels of family support, victimization still increases the likelihood of
reoffending
