Genetic and Environmental Contributions to the Relationship Between Violent Victimization and Criminal Behavior

Abstract

Studies have shown that there is a significant association between violent victimization and criminal behavior. One potential explanation for this association is that genetically mediated processes contribute to both violent victimization and criminal behavior. The current study uses data from the twin sample of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health ( n = 2,568) to examine whether genetic and/or environmental factors explain the correlation between violent victimization and criminal behavior in adolescence and early adulthood. Results from the bivariate genetic analyses reveal that genetic factors explain 39% of the covariance between violent victimization and delinquency in adolescence and 20% of the correlation between violent victimization and criminal behavior in early adulthood. The remaining covariance between violent victimization and criminal behaviors is attributed to the same nonshared environmental factors operating on both. The implications of these findings in relation to the victimization literature are discussed.