Prior research on victim self-protective behavior (VSPB) has largely been void of a theoretical basis. Accordingly, it remains unclear why it would be expected that victim actions might mitigate crime incident outcomes or under which circumstances such actions might be most successful. Using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey for periods 1992 to 2004, this study uses a nested logistic regression analysis to test the predictive utility of opportunity theory in explaining outcomes of VSPB during incidents of robbery and rape. The results suggest that opportunity theory provides a useful framework for understanding the effect of victim resistance on crime outcomes. Greater levels of victim resistance increase the effort needed by offenders, resulting in some cases in a 93% and 92% decrease in the odds of a robbery and rape being completed, respectively, compared to when no resistance is used. Implications for crime prevention practice are discussed.
Applegate, B.K., Cullen, F.T., Turner, M.G., & Sundt, J.L. ( 1996). Assessing public support for three-strikes-and-you’re-out laws: Global versus specific attitudes. Crime and Delinquency , 42(4), 517-534.
2.
Atkeson, B.M., Calhoun, K.S., & Morris, K.T. ( 1989). Victim resistance to rape: The relationship of previous victimization, demographics, and situational factors. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 18(6), 497-507.
3.
Bachman, R., Saltzman, L.E., Thompson, M.P., & Carmody, D.C. ( 2002). Disentangling the effects of self-protective behaviors on the risk of injury in assaults against women. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 18(2), 135-157.
4.
Bart, P.B., & O’Brien, P.H. (1984). Stopping rape: Effective avoidance strategies. Sign: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 10(1), 83-101.
Baumer, E.P. ( 2002). Neighborhood disadvantage and police notification by victims of violence. Criminology, 40(3), 579-616.
7.
Becker, J.V., Skinner, L.J., Abel, G.G., Howell, J., & Bruce, K. ( 1982). The effects of sexual assault on rape and attempted rape victims. Victimology, 7, 106-113.
8.
Block, R., & Skogan, W.G. ( 1984). The dynamics of violence between strangers: Victim resistance and outcomes in rape, assault, and robbery (final report). Evanston, IL: Northwestern University, Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research.
9.
Block, R., & Skogan, W.G. ( 1986). Resistance and nonfatal outcomes in stranger-to-stranger predatory crime. Violence and Victims, 1(4), 241-253.
10.
Brame, R., Paternoster, R., Mazerolle, P., & Piquero, A. ( 1998). Testing for the equality of maximum likelihood regression coefficients between two independent equations. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 14, 245-261.
11.
Brecklin, L.R., & Ullman, S.E. ( 2001). The role of offender alcohol use in rape attacks: An analysis of National Crime Victimization Survey data. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 16(1), 3-21.
12.
Clay-Warner, J. ( 2002). Avoiding rape: The effects of protective actions and situational factors on rape outcome. Violence and Victims , 17(6), 691-705.
13.
Clay-Warner, J. ( 2003). The context of sexual violence: Situational predictors of self-protective actions. Violence and Victims, 18(5), 543-556.
14.
Clarke, R. V. (Ed.). (1997). Situational crime prevention: Successful case studies (2nd ed.). Guilderland, NY: Harrow and Heston.
15.
Clarke, R.V., & Cornish, D. ( 1985). Modeling offenders’ decisions: A framework for research and policy. In M. Tonry & N. Morris (Eds.), Crime and justice: An annual review of research (pp. 147-185). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
16.
Cohen, P.B. ( 1984). Resistance during sexual assaults: Avoiding rape and injury. Victimology, 9(1), 120-129.
17.
Cohen, L.E., & Felson, M. ( 1979). Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activity approach. American Sociological Review, 44, 588-608.
18.
Conklin, J. ( 1972). Robbery and the criminal justice system. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott.
19.
Cook, P.J. ( 1986). The relationship between victim resistance and injury in noncommercial robbery. Journal of Legal Studies, 15, 405-416.
20.
Cornish, D. B., & Clarke, R. V. (Eds.). (1986). The reasoning criminal . New York: Springer-Verlag.
21.
Cornish, D.B., & Clarke, R.V. ( 2003). Opportunities, precipitators and criminal decisions: A reply to Wortley’s critique of situational crime prevention. In M. Smith & D. B. Cornish (Eds.), Theory for situational crime prevention: Crime prevention studies (Vol. 16, pp. 41-96). Monsey, NY: Criminal Justice Press.
22.
Dugan, L. ( 1999). The effect of criminal victimization on a household’s moving decision. Criminology, 37(4), 903-930.
23.
Exum, M.L. ( 2002). Application and robustness of the rational choice perspective in the study of intoxicated and angry intentions to aggress. Criminology, 40(4), 933-966.
24.
Fisher, B.S., Daigle, L.E., Cullen, F.T., & Santana, S.A. ( 2007). Assessing the efficacy of the protective action-sexual victimization completion nexus. Violence and Victims, 22(1), 18-42.
25.
Furby, L., & Fischhoff, B. ( 1992). Rape self-defense strategies: A review of their effectiveness. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University.
26.
Hindelang, M.J. ( 1976). Criminal victimization in eight American cities: A descriptive analysis of common theft and assault. Cambridge, UK: Ballinger.
27.
Kleck, G. ( 1988). Crime control through the private use of armed force . Social Problems, 35, 1-21.
28.
Kleck, G., & DeLone, M.A. (1993). Victim resistance and offender weapon effects in robbery. Journal of Quantitative Criminology , 9(1), 55-81.
29.
Kleck, G., & Sayles, S. ( 1990). Rape and resistance. Social Problems , 37(2), 149-162.
30.
Kleck, G., & Tark, J. ( 2004). The impact of victim self-protection on rape completion and injury. Retrieved October 2, 2007, from http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/211201.pdf
31.
Koss, M.P. ( 1988). Hidden rape: Sexual aggression and victimization in a national sample of students in higher education. In A. Wolbert-Burgess (Ed.), Rape and sexual assault II (pp. 3-25). New York: Praeger.
32.
Koss, M.P., Dinero, T.E., Seibel, C.A., & Cox, S.L. ( 1988). Stranger and acquaintance rape: Are there differences in the victim’s experience? Psychology of Women Quarterly , 12(1), 1-24.
33.
Kruttschnitt, C., & Carbone-Lopez, K. (2006). Moving beyond the stereotypes: Women’s subjective accounts of their violent crime. Criminology, 44(2), 321-352.
34.
Levine-MacCombie, J., & Koss, M.P. ( 1986). Acquaintance rape: Effective avoidance strategies. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 10(4), 311-320.
35.
Lizotte, A.J. ( 1986). Determinants of completing rape and assault. Journal of Quantitative Criminology2(3), 203-217.
36.
Lohr, S.L., & Liu, J. ( 1994). A comparison of weighted and unweighted analyses in the National Crime Victimization Survey. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 10(4), 343-360.
37.
MacDonald, J.M. ( 1975). Armed robbery: Offenders and their victims. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
38.
Marchbanks, P.A., Lui, K.J., & Mercy, J.A. ( 1990). Risk of injury from resisting rape. American Journal of Epidemiology, 132(3), 540-549.
39.
Martin, S.E., & Bachman, R. ( 1998). The contribution of alcohol to the likelihood of completion and severity of injury in rape incidents. Violence Against Women, 4(6), 694-712.
40.
Normandeau, A. ( 1968). Patterns in robbery. Criminologica, 6, 2-15.
41.
Queen’s Bench Foundation. (1976). Rape: Prevention and resistance. San Francisco: Author.
42.
Quinsey, V.L., & Upfold, D. ( 1985). Rape completion and victim injury as a function of female resistance strategy. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science , 17(1), 40-50.
43.
Ruback, R.B., & Ivie, D.L. ( 1988). Prior relationship, resistance, and injury in rapes: An analysis of crisis center records. Violence and Victims , 3(2), 99-111.
44.
Sacco, V.F., & Kennedy, L.W. ( 2002). The criminal event: Perspectives in space and time. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
45.
Scott, H.S., & Beaman, R. ( 2004). Demographic and situational factors affecting injury, resistance, completion, and charges brought in sexual assault cases: What is best for arrest?Violence and Victims, 19(4), 479-494.
46.
Siegel, J.M., Sorenson, S.B., Golding, J.M., Burnam, M.A., & Stein, J.A. ( 1989). Resistance to sexual assault: Who resists and what happens . American Journal of Public Health, 79(1), 27-31.
47.
Skogan, W.G. ( 1981). Issues in the measurement of victimization. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.
48.
Tark, J., & Kleck, G. ( 2004). Resisting crime: The effects of victim action on the outcomes of crimes. Criminology, 42(4), 861-909.
49.
Thompson, M.P., Simon, T.R., Saltzman, L.E., & Mercy, J.A. ( 1999). Epidemiology of injuries among women after physical assaults: The role of self-protective behaviors. American Journal of Epidemiology, 150(3), 235-44.
50.
Ullman, S.E. ( 1997). Review and critique of empirical studies of rape avoidance . Criminal Justice and Behavior, 24(2), 177-204.
51.
Ullman, S.E. ( 1998). Does offender violence escalate when rape victims fight back? Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 13(2), 179-192.
52.
Ullman, S.E. ( 2002). Rape avoidance: Self-protection strategies for women . In P. A. Schewe (Ed.), Preventing violence in relationships: Interventions across the life span (pp. 137-162). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association .
53.
Ullman, S.E. ( 2007). A 10-year update of "review and critique of empirical studies of rape avoidance." Criminal Justice and Behavior , 34(3), 411-429.
54.
Ullman, S.E., Karabatsos, G., & Koss, M.P. ( 1999). Alcohol and sexual assault in a national sample of college women. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 14(6), 603-625.
55.
Ullman, S.E., & Knight, R.A. ( 1991). A multivariate model for predicting rape and physical injury outcomes during sexual assaults. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 39, 724-731.
56.
Ullman, S.E., & Knight, R.A. ( 1992). Fighting back: Women’s resistance to rape. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 7(1), 31-43.
57.
Ullman, S.E., & Knight, R.A. ( 1993). The efficacy of women’s resistance strategies in rape situations. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 17, 23-38.
58.
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. ( 2006). National Crime Victimization Survey, 1992-2004 [Computer file]. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [producer and distributor].
59.
U.S. Department of Justice. (1997). Criminal victimization in the United States, 1994: A National Crime Victimization Survey report. Washington, DC: Author.
60.
Wolfgang, M.E. ( 1982). Victim intimidation, resistance and injury: A study of robbery. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.
61.
Ziegenhagen, E.A., & Brosnan, D. ( 1985). Victim responses to robbery and crime control policy . Criminology, 23, 675-695.
62.
Zoucha-Jensen, J.M., & Coyne, A. ( 1993). The effects of resistance strategies on rape. American Journal of Public Health, 83(11), 1633-1634.
