Heather Zaykowski

• PhD Criminology
• Professor (Associate) at University of Massachusetts Boston

This study examines how youth interpret potentially violent encounters, their own identity as victims, and their responses to dangerous situations. The purpose is to understand when “victimization” does or does not lead to a violent response and how individuals negotiate risky situations. Qualitative interviews from 147 youth, aged 12 to 23 across...

Victim assistance programs have grown dramatically in response to the victim's rights movement and concern over difficulty navigating victim services. Evidence, however, indicates that very few victims seek assistance. The present study examined factors associated with victim service use including reporting to the police, the victim's demographic c...

Although it is commonly assumed that victims and offenders are distinct groups of people, extant research indicates significant overlap in these populations. The current review explores theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence supporting this position. It also highlights some unique challenges and consequences for the criminal justice system...

Although the Victim’s Rights Movement has led to advances for victims of crime, the use of victim impact evidence in criminal trials remains controversial due to the suspicion that such evidence enhances punitive attitudes and arbitrariness in capital sentencing outcomes. Despite a growing body of literature in this area, it remains unclear if some...

While there has been significant growth in victimology theories since its roots in the mid twentieth century, these developments have not been adequately transferred to victimology textbooks. This paper evaluates the representation of theories in victimology textbooks using a content analysis approach. It specifically examines the amount of space d...

It is well known that marginalized communities of color, particularly young Black men, are more likely to experience police-initiated contact that other groups. Research suggests that these events contribute to legal cynicism, or the belief that the law and its agencies are ineffective, unwilling to help, and untrustworthy. In turn, cynical orienta...

Background Youth in communities with high rates of crime and low rates of collective efficacy are at risk of depression, substance abuse, and other types of delinquency. Objective This article presents a formative evaluation of an empowerment-oriented program intended to reduce depression and risky behaviors by improving social support, providing...

This study examines whether sex differences in level of distress and help-seeking for physical and emotional problems as a result of criminal victimization can be explained by injury, type of crime, and the victim–offender relationship. The study uses data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) from 2008–2014. Analyses utilize multivar...

This study uses an intersectional approach to examine the “paradox” that disadvantaged victims often mobilize the police, despite their distrust and lack of confidence in the law. Data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (1994–2016) were analyzed using logistic regression to model the predicted probabilities of police notification by victi...

Extensive evidence suggests that offending (the perpetration of a crime) and victimization (being harmed by a criminal act) have a strong connection. Childhood victimization is particularly salient to female offending during adolescence and young adulthood. In addition, female offending poses risk for further victimization as a result of exposure t...

Using data from a social program that provides one year of wraparound services and housing first to chronically homeless adults with mental health and substance abuse problems, this study examines changes in victimization experiences before and during treatment, and the relationship between victimization, housing placement, and risky behaviors. The...

Critics have argued that victim impact evidence (VIE) may enhance sentencing biases by encouraging judges and juries to treat some types of victims as worthier than others. Yet, research to date has not utilized trial transcripts to assess differences in the quantity and quality of evidence presented. The current study addresses this gap by utilizi...

Although extensive evidence supports a relationship between victimization and offending, research has been limited in focusing on this association during only a brief period in the life course. Existing research has not adequately considered the influence of early-onset problem behaviors on victimization and offending later in life. This study adva...

Recent reports of police shootings and urban unrest have increased public awareness of the nonwhite experience in communities long plagued by disadvantage and racial inequality. Given current times, there is little research that examines how community residents maintain social ties and trust. Race relations literature finds that support and trust c...

Objectives: While permanent housing, addictions and mental health treatment are often critical needs to achieve housing stability and community reintegration, few studies have systematically integrated them into a single comprehensive approach for people experiencing chronic homelessness. This pilot study examined the feasibility and preliminary o...

Although research on the age–crime curve has made significant advances in the past few decades, the understanding of victimization has not benefited to the same degree. The present study examines the age–victim curve to explore victimization trajectories, which increases understanding of risks over time through different life pathways. Using data f...

Evidence indicates that negative relationships between youth and police often develop in socioeconomically disadvantaged and high crime communities. Negative perceptions of the police are especially prevalent among young black and Latino males. The lack of meaningful dialogue and positive relationships between youth and law enforcement is a great s...

Research indicates that a majority of children are exposed to violence through witness to, or a victim of, violence in their home, school or community. Youth exposure to violence is known to lead to negative psychological and social outcomes that include mental health problems, issues with problem behavior and academic difficulty. The purpose of th...

Objectives: Describe our experiences and lessons learned in integrating Housing Fist (HF) alongside an established co-occurring mental health and substance use disorder (COD) wraparound support intervention. Methods: Between 2011 and 2014, MISSION, a flexible 12-month, wraparound intervention developed to treat COD among chronically homeless indivi...

Although research over the past few decades has illustrated that gender is a significant predictor of victimization, there has been less attention toward explaining these differences. Furthermore, there has been little attention given to how offending and other deviant behaviors contribute to victimization risk for males and females. This is surpri...

Although numerous studies have explored youth formal and informal help-seeking, including reporting to the police and disclosing victimization experiences to others, there has been little discussion in how other experiences with violence, such as witnessing and perpetrating violence, may impact responses to victimization. The current study uses mul...

The purpose of this report was to provide an overview of the epidemiology of violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women as well as an accounting of the criminal justice responses to this violence.

Despite much focus on school violence, there has been little research that explores the relationship between offending and victimization in various school climates. School climate theory suggests that the school’s social system, culture, milieu, and ecological structure affect student outcomes including academic performance, delinquency, and more r...

Research consistently demonstrates that severity, often measured by victim injury, is the most influential factor to predict reporting crimes to the police. However, less is known with regard to how the victim’s perception of the incident or their involvement in offending behavior inhibits this decision. The current study examines how traditional i...

It has been 20 years since Robert J. Bursik Jr. published his seminal article outlining some of the problems and prospects in the social disorganization perspective on crime and delinquency. In this study, we review the content of approximately 200 published articles that cite Bursik’s 1988 piece. These studies are systematically examined in terms...

National surveys indicate that American Indian and Alaskan Native (AIAN) women have higher rates of rape and sexual assault victimisation compared to women from other race/ethnic groups. These statistics were brought to the forefront of media attention when an Amnesty International (2007) report illuminated the obstacles many AIAN women have when s...

This study examines the influence of the victim's race in reporting hate crimes to the police. Data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) concentrated incident-level files (1992-2005) were used to (a) analyze how the victim's race influences the likelihood of reporting and (b) explore differences between reporting racial hate crimes a...