Reconsidering the victim–offender overlap through a trauma-informed lens

The victim–offender overlap is one of the most robust findings in criminology and victimology. However, the literature on this overlap suffers from several limitations. First, its conceptualisation of the victim–offender overlap is rather narrow. Second, it lacks a theoretical framework that explains the overlap between victimisation and offending. Third, it has neglected its relevance for criminal justice responses to crime. In this paper, I argue that adopting a trauma-informed lens can help us to overcome these limitations in the context of violent crime. Such a lens is based on two premises: (1) that violent victimisation and offending may both originate in and result from trauma and (2) that criminal justice responses to violent crime will be less harmful and result in better outcomes if they account for trauma. I show that this lens can help to broaden the conceptualisation of the victim–offender overlap and to improve criminological and victimological theory and criminal justice policy and practice.