The temporal ordering of offending and victimisation in early adulthood among people who use substances in Chile: A multichannel sequence analysis

1. To assess the extent of the victim-offender overlap during early adulthood among people who use substances preceding substance use treatment (SUT) admission in Chile. 2. To analyse the within-individual temporal ordering of criminal victimisation and offending patterns across subgroups, referred to as ‘sequence profiles’. 3. To examine the characteristics of these sequence profiles. Our study used a retrospective cohort design with linked nationwide administrative data, focusing on a cohort of 1965 individuals born in 1992, who received SUT and were observed from ages 18 to 27. We used multichannel sequence analysis to explore the temporal ordering of victimisation and offending. A considerable degree of victim-offender overlap exists among our cohort. We found no clear temporal ordering between criminal victimisation and offending in early adulthood. We identified five sequence profiles with different patterns of offending and victimisation in early adulthood. Social disadvantage indicators were more prevalent among the profile of high-rate offending and persistent victimisation. During early adulthood, many people who use substances have ongoing involvement with the criminal justice system as both victims and offenders. The lack of evidence for temporal ordering of this involvement may be partly due to our reliance on criminal records. • We identified a significant overlap between victims and offenders in our cohort. • No clear temporal order was found between victimisation and offending in adulthood. • Five subgroups of offending and victimisation patterns were found in our cohort. • Substance use can ensnare individuals in cycles of offending and victimisation. • Multichannel sequence analysis is a useful tool to explore temporal ordering.