Cohen Kluegel And Land Case Study

Cohen, Kluegel and Land (1981) set out to devise a theory that accounts for the relationship between social inequalities and the risk of being victimized. People tend to assume that the most vulnerable to victimization are the poor, non-white and old, but this is simply untrue (Cohen, Kluegel & Land, 1981, p. 507). Using recently acquired resources it is possible to determine what factors can cause an increase in risk for different crimes (Cohen, Kluegel & Land, 1981, p. 506). The authors focus on income, race and age and how the five main risk factors, which are exposure, guardianship, proximity to potential offenders, attractiveness of potential targets and definitional properties of specific crimes, mediate their effect on victimization (Cohen, Kluegel & Land, 1981, p. 507).

In defining their theory they have made five assumptions and three principles, which arose from relationship between the risk factors and income, race and age discovered in previous research (Cohen, Kluegel & Land, 1981, p. 509). The first four assumptions state that if all else remains equal increased exposure, decreased guardianship, increased proximity and increased attractiveness all increase the risk of being victimized (Cohen, Kluegel & Land, 1981, p. 508). The fifth assumption states the degree to which properties of crime inhibit instrumental actions increases or decreases the strength of the effects of exposure, guardianship and proximity (Cohen, Kluegel & Land, 1981, pp. 508-509). The principle of homogamy refers to those who share socio-demographic characteristics (Cohen, Kluegel & Land, 1981, p. 509). When offenders and victims lead similar lifestyles they are more likely to interact, and as a result of their similar lifestyles the offenders wi...

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...ructural choice model of victimization, which used their work on how socioeconomic inequality effects criminal events (Carthwright, 2014, p. 89). The emphasis they have placed on social inequality has had a profound effect on how we look at factors, such as race, in becoming a victim of crime.

Works Cited

Blau, J. R. & Blau, P. M. (1982). The cost of inequality: Metropolitan and violent crime. American Sociological Review, 47(1), 114-129.

Cartwright, B. (2014). Introduction to Criminology. Burnaby, BC: Simon Fraser University.

Cohen, L. E., Kluegel, J. R., & Land, K. G. (1981). Social inequality and predatory criminal victimization: An exposition and test of a formal theory. .American Sociological Review, 46(5), 505–524.

Sacco, V. F. & Kennedy, L. W. (2011). The criminal event: An introduction to criminology in Canada (5th ed.) Toronto, ON: Thomson Nelson.