Resisting Crime

The Effects of Victim Action on the Outcomes of Crimes

Bibliographic Data

ID9679657
AuthorsJONGYEON TARK (Victim Support, corresponding author), Gary Kleck (0000-0001-9024-6896, New York State Department of State)
Year2004
Volume42
Issue4
Pages861-910
Publication date2004-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCriminology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0011-1384 • E-ISSN: 1745-9125
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1745-9125.2004.tb00539.x
OpenAlexW2125908996
LanguageEN
Citations received25
References cited41

This study assessed the impact of sixteen types of victim self protection (SP) actions on three types of outcomes of criminal incidents: first, whether the incident resulted in property loss, second, whether it resulted in injury to the victim, and, third, whether it resulted in serious injury. Data on 27, 595 personal contact crime incidents recorded in the National Crime Victimization Survey for the 1992 to 2001 decade were used to estimate multivariate models of crime outcomes with logistic regression. Results indicated that self‐protection in general, both forceful and nonforceful, reduced the likelihood of property loss and injury, compared to nonresistance. A variety of mostly forceful tactics, including resistance with a gun, appeared to have the strongest effects in reducing the risk of injury, though some of the findings were unstable due to the small numbers of sample cases. The appearance, in past research, of resistance contributing to injury was found to be largely attributable to confusion concerning the sequence of SP actions and injury. In crimes where both occurred, injury followed SP in only 10 percent of the incidents. Combined with the fact that injuries following resistance are almost always relatively minor, victim resistance appears to be generally a wise course of action

Action (physics · Confusion · Criminology · Injury prevention · Logistic regression · Medical emergency · Poison control · Property crime · Resistance (ecology · Sociology · Violent crime · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Demography · Gun Ownership and Violence Research · Medicine · Policing Practices and Perceptions · Psychology

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