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Victimology overview
The importance of victimology
Victimology overview
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Abstract
Crime as we know it is sometimes glorified in movies. Although crime happens in many forms the effects and costs can be relatively the same. Research has shown that when a person is a victim of a crime they can suffer in various ways. Not only are they victimized at the time the crime occurs but for some it can be an ongoing process that effects them for longer periods of time. Research is conducted to better understand why individuals become victims and how they are targeted. Some criminologists research the trends and losses that occur as a result of a crime. These individuals known as victimologists examine cause and effect of why individuals are victimized and the results of that victimization.
The Effects and Cost of Crime on Victims and Victimization Theories
There are differing reasons why victims are targeted by criminals. Once an individual becomes the target of
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Criminologists began to look closer at the victim. Did there exist a relationship between victim and criminal? Criminologists began to develop theories of victimization. Theories such as Victim Precipitation could it be possible that the victim played an integral part in the crime occurring? There are two possibilities that support this theory. Passive or Active precipitation. Passive precipitation defines how the victim may have inadvertently initiated the crime against them. As cited in the text, the crime can occur because of personal conflict—for example, when two people compete over a job, promotion, love interest, or some other scarce and coveted commodity (Siegel. 80). Active precipitation is defined as the victim being the aggressor or initiating the criminal act against them. For example would be a female dressing provocatively be responsible for her own rape? In court this behavior has been used as a defense rendering not guilty verdicts (Siegel,
Victimology is the scientific study of the physical, emotional, and financial harm people suffer from illegal activities. A common struggle Victimologists face is determining who the victim is. In general, crimes don 't have an “ideal victim”. The term ideal victims refer to someone who receives the most sympathy from society (Christie, 2016). An example of this would be a hardworking, honest man who on his way to work, had his wallet taken by force. Most people in society would have sympathy for him. He spent his life making an honest living to earn what he has and was a victim of a robbery. Victimologists study the interactions victims have with criminals, society, and the criminal justice system (Karmen, 2015). According to (Karmen, 2015)
Victimization has a twofold meaning as we try to gain a better understanding from this action. First, it is an act exploiting/victimizing an individual. A relationship has occurred between the victim and the attacker. (Victimization, n.d.) Second, it is also the adversity resulting forced to be a victim. (Victimization, n.d.) This adversity has also forced a relationship between the victim and the criminal justice system as well as socials groups and institutions (media, business, etc.) Victimization is a process. This attacker has forced upon the victim to feel pain, injury, or possibly death. What was the reason for this eternal force? A list of possibilities is endless in the reasoning for such a crime such as intended or unintended, social or individual, civil or uncivil, expected or unexpected, biological or chemical, natural or manmade, legal or
The relationship between social harm and criminology has been discussed all around the world within different approaches. Some criminologists such as Hillyard and Tombs, believe to be a better alternative to the concept of crime, due to the fact that involves a lack of more harmful issues that go unpunished in our society, others disagree saying that, actions can only be penalized within communities if they are seen as a crime. However, crime is looked at differently within societies, social groups, and nation states, as a result of distinct cultures and beliefs.
Criminology as a genre is defined as the scientific study of crime, as well as its causes, law enforcement interaction, criminal behavior, and means of prevention. In its own way criminology is the history of humanity. As long as people have been on earth there has been criminal activity. Much like most other work atmospheres, it was a male dominated field. A woman seeking to work in criminology was unheard of. Men filled the jobs as police officers, lawyers, judges, and politicians. However, in the 1860s Belva Lockwood became determined to pave the way for women in criminology. As a women’s rights activist, she became one of the most influential women in criminology.
The media is a dominating aspect of American culture. The way the media depicts crime and criminal behavior has an effect on the way society views crime and criminals. Television series such as CSI, NCIS, Law and Order, Criminal Minds and countless others, have become very popular in our society today showing that our culture has an immense interest in crime. It is clear that there is a fascination with criminals and why they do the things they do. To analyze the way crime dramas represent crime and criminal behavior, I completed a content analysis of one episode of Criminal Minds. The episode I chose was season one; episode eight, which first aired in 2005, titled ‘Natural Born Killer’.
When the victim does not fit the ideal victim attributes which society has familiarised themselves with, it can cause complications and confusion. Experts have noticed there is already a significant presence of victim blaming, especially for cases involving both genders. The fear of being blamed and rejected by the public is prominent in all victims. Victim blaming proclaims the victim also played a role in the crime by allowing the crime to occur through their actions (Kilmartin and Allison, 2017, p.21). Agarin (2014, p.173) underlines the problem of victim blaming is due to the mass of social problems and misconceptions within society. The offender can have “an edge in court of public opinion” if victim blaming exists, resulting in the prevention of the case accomplishing an effective deduction in court (Humphries, 2009, p.27). Thus, victims will become more reluctant to report offences because of their decrease in trust in the police and criminal justice system, leading to the dark figure of
Generally, the study of crime mainly focused on the offender until quite recently. In fact, Shapland et al (1985) described the victim as ‘the forgotten man’ of the criminal justice system and ‘the non-person in the eyes of the professional participants’. A new perspective was brought with victimology, an expanding sub-discipline of crimin...
Race and crime is a major topic in today’s world because it is a highly debated subject and has a major impact on how society is today. Race and crime go hand in hand. No matter who commits a crime, there is always a race involved. With race and crime there are many stereotypes that come with the subject. Race and crime are both active matters in everyday life. It is everywhere. Social Media involves race and crime in practically anything. If one is active on say for example twitter, the point of twitter is to keep your followers interested by what you are showing them. There is a reason why the news opens up with the most violent crimes and twitter is no different. As a matter of fact any form of media grasps onto it. Another example would
Davis, R. C., Lurigio, A. J., & Skogan, W. G. (1997). Victims of crime (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
The world will always be full of crime, thus it is necessary for scientist to grow along with the gruesome and increasing amount of violations. Due to this it sparked scientist to develop crime theories in which emerged to explain why crime is caused by individuals. Some of the few theories that have advanced over the past century and provided many answers to why crimes are committed are biological theories, psychological theories and learning theories. These theories provide an insight to its first use and change in order to provide answers.
Understanding the theories of victimology is important to understand the victims, we need to understand the four main theories of victimization. These theories are the principals of victim assessment. It will give the officer the tools to understand the motive behind the victimization giving him different types of views to analyze the victim. The four main theories of victimization are: Victim Precipitation, Lifestyle, Deviant Place, and Routine Activity. These four theories according to victimology give us the idea of how the victim become to be a victim. The word Victimization meanings “an act that exploits or victimizes someone” and “adversity resulting from being made a victim” (Vocabulary.com. Dictionary Victimization (2017)). By understanding the victim and the influences of their social life is important so we can give the victim the treatment and
...lity that the victim may actually be partly to blame for the crime that was committed against them. Therefore it is often the environment that the criminal lives in, and the people that around them that influence them into committing a criminal act.
Everyone is affected by crime, whether they are a direct victim, a family member or the victim’s friend. It can interfere with individual’s daily life, their personal sense of safety and their ability to trust others.
Victims of crime will deal with a wide range of immediate, short-term and long-term reactions. All victims will experience shock, distress, numbness and disconnection. It can affect their emotional, psychological, physical, social, financial and spiritual wellbeing, causing people to change their behaviour and lifestyles. Victims who have suffered violent crimes and threats to their lives and personal injury will have a different reaction and have a harder time coping with their feelings than those who are victims of nonviolent crimes. As everyone reacts differently to similar offences it is impossible to predict what effects the individual victim will suffer.
Sociologists have been examining crime and its causes for over 150 years, and through several researches, various explanations have been used to describe crime and deviance. Crime is a behaviour that goes against all formal written laws of a given society (Haralambos, Smith, O 'Gorman, & Heald, 1996). Laws in different societies differ, so do crimes i.e. what may be considered as a crime in one society may not be in another different society. For instance, while same-sex relationship is accepted in some countries like the United States, United Kingdom etc. it is illegal in countries like Nigeria, and most Arabic countries. Other examples of general crimes are theft/robbery, murder, kidnapping and others. Once a crime is committed, sanctions