iCOR

This study will examine conflict in interpersonal relationships and the overlap between victim and offender statuses. Nearly five decades of research has revealed a strong association between criminal offending and victimization. This 31-month project will investigate the etiology of the victim-offender overlap through the design and application of new measurement tools to understand the nature of interpersonal conflicts including mechanisms that generate conflict escalation. 

The iCOR research objectives are (1) to determine the nature, incidence, and coincidence of forms of interpersonal conflict and resulting conflict management styles in an existing nationally-representative cohort of 18-32 year old adults ("Primes"); and (2) to assess the nature of conflicts and conflict management behavioral patterns within and outside intimate partner dyads, using information reported by both the Prime respondents and their intimate Partners (identified via referral by the Prime) on themselves, each other, and conflicts with other parties. Dyadic models allow researchers to model relationships as a unit of analysis, and allow them to circumvent respondent favorability bias in survey responses, providing a novel third-party report of the Prime respondent's behavioral tendencies in conflict situations. 

The iCOR study, designed by NORC at the University of Chicago and the University of Iowa, draws on NORC's probability-based panel responding via an integrated system of online and telephone survey modalities (AmeriSpeak).  

The investigators will use this novel data to examine the behavioral patterns that generate the victim-offender overlap. This is the first nationally representative study to examine dyadic and third party data on conflict patterns and conflict management styles, to investigate cross-situational consistency, and escalation patterns to understand the overlap between victimization and perpetration.