Victim precipitation refers to the theory of criminology where a victim of crime is believed to have provoked or incited the acts of the offender. This theory is mostly associated with crimes such as rape, assault, robbery and homicide.
Victim precipitation was first made known by Criminologist Marvin Wolfgang in his 1957 article “Victim precipitated criminal homicide”. Wolfgang states the term victim precipitated is applied to criminal homicides where the victim is a direct, positive precipitator to the crime. The role of the victim is characterized by “his having been the first in the homicide drama to use physical force directed against his subsequent slayer.” (Wolfgang, 1957)
In 1968 Criminologist Menachem Amir’s primary research was regarding
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Some writers for example Jones and Aronson (1973), have used this to hypnotize that “respectable” rape victims would be blamed more than less respectable victims. They based this hypothesis on a need to seek extra justification to explain why what appears to be an unfair fate would occur to a respectable individual. (McCaul, Veltum, Boyechko, & Crawford, 1990)
This has lead to societies belief system in rape myths, statements such as “she was asking for it” or asking what the victim was wearing or how much they had to drink at the time of the assault creates an attitude towards sexual assault and reinforces the myth that offenders cannot control their sexual urges when multiple studies prove that sexual assault has nothing to do with sexual urges and everything to do with power and
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News coverage portrayed the offenders as good boys with promising futures that had now been tarnished by these allegations. The school was also rumoured to have taken part in a cover up of evidence to protect the offenders. This became national news in the US when the New York Times ran an extensive piece on the offenders in this case and only talked about the affect on the victim in the last few paragraphs, Anonymous, the hacker group got involved after this and leaked all the information about the offenders and the cover up that took place making the case international news. (Roesch, 2013)
Sexual assault and rape are a serious epidemic in today’s society; statistics show that one in five women will be the victim of rape or attempted rape in their lives. (United Nations Development Fund for Women, 2008). And the reporting of sexual assault to the police is exceptionally low and few offenders are successfully prosecuted this leads to a lack of support and education within the community. (Madeleine van der Bruggen,
When university or police find out about the sexual assault, they immediately blame the victim or question what the victim was wearing, drinking, or doing. “Brownmiller identified four basic rape myths: (1) All women want to be raped; (2) a woman cannot be raped against her will; (3) a woman who is raped is asking for it; and (4) if a woman is going to be raped, she might as well enjoy it” (Helgeson, 2012, p. 432). In The Hunting Ground, the rape myth, which a woman who is raped is asking for it, is seen throughout the testimonies of the survivors. Clark, herself, was told by her dean that “rape is like a football game” and asked if “looking back, what would you have done differently?” (Ziering & Dick, 2015). These rape myths affect how many victims actually report and how seriously sexual assaults are taken within universities and the justice system. For example, some women, themselves, subscribe to rape myths because they see how current cases are handled. “Women who did not physically fight off the person who raped them and who subscribed to the rape myth that “it can’t be rape if a woman doesn’t fight back” were less likely to acknowledge that they had been raped” (Helgeson, 2012, p. 434). Universities need to teach first-year students about consent and how to
The vast amount of research has provided several explanations to account for the behavior of the offenders and the low rate in which sexual assault cases initiate criminal proceedings through a variety of theoretical perspectives. These include the classical approaches that focus on the individual who has committed sexual assault and the positivist approaches that aim to explain the social factors that influence the prosecution rates th...
Sexual assault is defined as a type of behaviour that occurs without explicit consent from the recipient and under sexual assault come various categories such as sexual activities as forces sexual intercourse, incest, fondling, attempted rape and more (Justice.gov. 2017). People often become victims of sexual assault by someone they know and trust (Mason & Lodrick, 2013) which is conflicting to the public’s perception and beliefs that offenders are strangers. Women are the main victims for sexual assault and are 5 times more likely to have been a victim of sexual assault from a male (Wright, 2017, p. 93). Men are victims of sexual assault however only 0.7% of men, compared to 3.2% of women, experience some form of sexual assault which highlights how vulnerable women are compared to men. Sexual assault is publicised and exposed in the media, however is often
First we need to look at what is Victimology and where did it come from? The origins of Victimology can be traced back to the 1940’s to the 1950’s and early 1960’s it erupted after World War II to seek and understand the relationship between criminal and victim. It began when criminologist had came together to examine the victims of crime at a university. ‘Criminology is the science upon which victimology is founded’ (Wallace; Roberson 2) and when two criminologists, “The founding fathers of Victimology” Mendelsohn and Von Hentig first began the field of victimology by using charts and analysis of different types of crimes of victims. They studied the behaviors and vulnerabilities of victims like, rape victims and murder victims. How some of the ways that some of us can relate to of what a victim is. As Wallace; Roberson writes:
Rape is a virus that infects every nation, culture and society. It is constantly referred to as “the unfinished murder”, because of the deep state of despair the rapist leaves the victim in. There is no common identifiable trend that determines who will be a rape victim. Women are not assaulted because of their attitudes or actions, they are attacked simply because they are present. With rapists, just as with their victims, there is no identifiable trend. The old myth that only “sick, dirty, old, perverted men” commit rapes is a lie that society tells itself in order to sleep better at night. The startling truth is that most rapists work under a veil of normalcy. In order for the percentage of rapes to decrease, we have to change our ideas about rape and let go of the old myths of the past. And until this happens, rape will continue to plague our world at large.
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
It is not a topic that is brought up often, especially at schools or at gatherings, yet it is crucial that everyone be educated, or at least informed on a topic that affects women every day. “Given that sexual violence continues to occur at high rates in the United States, it is vital that we understand attitudes and cultural norms that serve to minimize or foster tolerance of sexual violence” (Aosved, 481). Growing rates of sexual violence goes to prove that it is not taken seriously by many, especially when myths excuse the actions of the perpetrator and instead guilt victims into thinking they are responsible for the horrible act. Burt (1980), in her article titled, “Cultural myths and support for rape” attempts to make sense of the importance of stereotypes and myths, defined as prejudicial, stereotypes, or false beliefs about rape, rape victims and rapists- in creating a climate hostile to rape victims (Burt, 217). Examples of rape myths are such sayings as “only bad girls get raped”; “women ask for it”; “women cry rape” (Burt, 217). This only goes to prove that rape myths against women always blame and make it seem like it is the women’s fault she was raped and that she deserved it for “acting” a certain way. McMahon (2007), in her article titled, “Understanding community-specific rape myths” explains how Lonsway and Fitzgerald (1994) later described rape myths as “attitudes and beliefs that are generally
Victim-precipitated homicide theory is the focus on how the victim contributes to their own death by provocation. In 26% of homicide cases, the victim is the direct, positive precipitator in the crime (Wolfgang, 1957) . Some potential victims cause their own death when they engaged in situations that cause them to be victimize. In all victim precipitated homicides, the victim either initiated the confrontation or continue the confrontation. There are many actions that these victims can do to cause their own death. It could be as minor as throwing insults and giving dirty looks or can be as major as assault (i.e. brawl).
Many of the attitudes, beliefs, and mistaken ideas about rape have been with us for centuries. By looking at myths, such as “women ask for it,” and “it would do some women good to get raped,” from a historical perspective, lead us for better understanding how they evolved. Women are still seen as the property of men, are protected as such. Men and women are still taught to occupy very different roles in today’s world. Men are usually more aggressive, and women are seen as passive. (Vogelman) This socialization process is changing, but slowly.
Sexual assault is an offense that plagues many U.S. citizens. Although some studies show that rape is on the decline, other studies report that the phenomena actually occuring is that less rape victims are reporting the crime. In fact, approximately 68% of sexual assaults go unreported to the police according to the U.S. Department of Justice in a National Crime Victimization Survey from 2008-2012. It is common knowledge that rape victims are usually severely traumatized after the event, which leaves them susceptible to various emotions such as shame, anxiety, numbness, fear, denial, and guilt. Because of this, many rape victims decide to repress their experience and let it go unheard. However, not only does this prevent them from healing emotionally,
Rape is considered to be one element in the “Big Six” of the most common sex-related crimes. It is defined as the unlawful act of sexual activity forced upon a person who did not or was unable to give willing to give consent. There are four main types of a rapist that center around their modus operandi: Power Reassurance, Anger Retaliation, Power Assertive, and Sadistic. The goals of a Power Reassurance rapist are to gain a validation of their status and to validate their sexual adequacy. They view the act as a reassurance of a mutual relationship between them and the victim, and they usually force the victim into acting out their sexual fantasies. This could be done by demanding that the victim talks dirty or by asking reassuring questions
...apidly our world today. There are hundreds of places people may go and visit for help or more information about rape and sexual violence. It is very important that when and if it happens, the victim needs to report the crime to authorities immediately. People must know the truth about rape and sexual violence and what to do about it.
Victim precipitation is a theory in criminology that analyzes how a victim 's interaction with the offender may have contributed to the crime being committed. Variation of intent by the offender and how the victim may or may not have contributed to the crime, regardless of the actions. With some offenders looking for the right situation to commit a crime, others show little to no prior intent. The approach with assumption that all offenders are equal in their drive and desire to engage in criminal activity was untenable. In 1974, Curtis attempted an integrated approach and sketched a grid that allows the degree of victim precipitation to vary. This strategy recognized five degrees of precipitation, ranging from pure victim precipitation to total offender responsibility. The table (p. 14) "The Precipitation Grid Outlining the Relative Responsibility
Victim precipitation refers to the role or responsibility that a victim has in their own victimization. In the first generation of victimization theories and victimologist the idea of victim precipitation was studied and thought to be a piece of the whole picture of a crime committed. As time progressed it was not thought to be as much as a factor.
An example of victim precipitation is a female that arrives at a nightclub and is sexually suggestive with a male individual. The female entices the male to buy her drinks while flirting with the man. The female allows slight grooming but the male then becomes more aggressive. The female declines these advances, stunning the male. The male places a date rape drug into her drink and renders her immobilized. The male then proceeds to rape the female. This kind of victimization is comparable to victim facilitation, as the initial situation is created by the victim (likening the shopping bags in the vehicle to the female encouraging the man’s advances). This situation is unlike victim provocation because she cannot be blamed for the man believing she wanted more than a drink based on her flirty nature. In this situation, if the victim had only sat at the bar and left her drink unattended and available for the man to tamper with, this would be considered victim facilitation as she was unaware of her actions which created an opportunity for crime. Had the woman in the bar agreed to go home with the man she met there, it would be victim provocation, as she created and placed herself in the dangerous