Victimology Notes PDF

Preview

Summary

Detailed lecture notes for chapters 1-12. Cjus 399 Victimology- Prof. Chris Palmore ...

Description

Chapter 1: Origins of Victimology  ● Victimology is an integrated field of study that focuses specifically on victims of crime and their experiences.  ● Virtually every crime has a victim. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), there were over 6.8 million violent victimizations and over 19.8 million household victimization experienced in the United States during 2012. ● Victimization - refers to events that harm individuals, households, businesses, communities, or institutions. ● Victim - used in many contexts and is used to describe a range of human experiences ○ ex.) illness, accidents, misfortunes, or even natural disasters. ○ Crime victims * are those persons, households, businesses, communities, or institutions that are harmed physically, financially, or emotionally as the result of a criminal act. Theory & Research ○ Victimology is a social science discipline. Researchers in victimology use scientific research methods to develop theories, formulate hypotheses, gather information to test those hypotheses, and either find support or reject them based on data collected. ■ Helps researched to develop theories that describe or explain the causes of victimization, grow knowledge, and suggests new policies/programs to prevent victimization ○ Victimology and criminology are complementary areas of study. ■ Victimology considers crime from the victim’s perspective ● Study of victims & the circumstances surrounding their victimization ■ Criminology and criminal justice focus on the offender’s perspective ○ Debates to the relationship b/w the two fields: ■ Two separate fields ● separate fields, focusing on different issues and utilizing different theories to explain them. ■ Overlapping fields w/ shared purpose & focus

● theories of crime may be useful in explaining victimization and theories of victimization are useful for understanding crime. ■ Victimology as a Subfield of Criminology ● Victimology is a narrow area of focus related to crime that is subsumed by the larger study of crime by the field of criminology. ○ Risk Factors - variables that are associated with an increased risk of victimization. ■ ex.) gender - men (male population) typically have higher rates of personal victimization compared to women… does not hold overall crimes, such as rape, & can change over time ● Theories of Victimization ○ Victimologists use scientific research methods to discern why some people get victimized and others do not… approaches have evolved over 4 generations ○ victim precipitation - early theorists who focused on the idea that victims contribute to the criminal event that harms them ■ ex.) person who antagonizes another person and gets into a fight that they lose. They are now the victim of an assault. ■ 2 forms: facilitation & provocation ● Victim facilitation - refers to victims that unintentionally make it easier to become targets for offenders. ○ ex.) When someone drinks to intoxication, they increase their risk of becoming a victim. They may be drunk and decide to walk home, leaving them a vulnerable target for offenders. ● Victim provocation - refers to when victims purposefully or overtly act in ways that result in their victimization. ○ ex.) if the intoxicated person becomes belligerent and gets into a fight ● Major difference = the intention of the victim’s behavior Victim Typologies

○ Created at an early stage in victimology ○ Typologies - refer  to general categories that distinguish differences amongst groups; tools that can be used to quickly classify groups; a research tool used to systematically classify or “type” characteristics or common traits ■ Any individual case may fall into one or more categories, or fail to fit into a single category neatly. ● Hans Von Hentig’s (1948)’s typology is one of the earliest attempts to classify victims.  ○ von Hentig argued that individuals with these "attributes" carried an increased victimization risk due to their personal characteristics, which attracted offenders to them. *Using the textbook, try to define each category. Can you think of any category that is missing? * ○ General Classes of Victims: ■ The Young - especially vulnerable to victimization because of their attractiveness, physical weakness, & susceptibility to the suggestions of others ■ The Female - a form of weakness in human beings, particularly physical, that resulted in the commission of crimes against females ■ The Old - lack physical strength, possess physical or mental impairments that make them “easy” targets, & have accumulated wealth, which is desirable to motivated offenders ■ The Mentally Defective & Other Mentally Deranged - the feeble-minded, insane, drug addict, & alcoholic… these groups are less able or incapable of responding to threats arising from their environment - especially good prey for offenders ■ Immigrants, Minorities, & Dull Normals - gullible or of lower intelligence who can easily be taken advantage of… less capable of protecting themselves & less able to respond to the crime if they are victimized ○ Psychological Types of Victims: ■ The Depressed - more easily exploited because they are often apathetic & not alert ■ The Acquisitive (greedy) - easily exploited because of their excessive desire for wealth overwhelms their better judgment

■ The Wanton (sexually unrestrained) - may be provocative to offenders, take risks, and/or find themselves in situations that are favorable to crime ■ The Lonesome & the Heartbroken - easier for perpetrators to target & take advantage of because they are often alined & therefore less protected, & even more trusting of people they do not know ■ Blocked, Exempted, & Fighting Victims - those who have “a self-imposed helplessness” that is attractive for criminals… those who have gotten themselves into bad situations & cannot call the police for help (robbing a drug dealer) ■ The Tormentor - victims who are victimized over time & eventually turn on their offender, becoming perpetrators themselves ○ Remember - criminal events are the result of the interaction of victims & offenders ■ Offenders affect victims, and victims influence offenders  ● Benjamin Mendelsohn - widely considered the “father” of victimology; his work generally focuses on victim precipitation. * Be able to define Mendelsohn’s Categories * ○ The Completely Innocent Victim - bears no responsibility for their criminal victimization; people unconscious are also innocent ○ The Victim with Minor Guilt (aka victims due to ignorance) - partially responsible for their criminal victimization, although their actions may be accidental or inadvertent ■ ex.) someone who walks home alone at night from a bar & is attacked may have minor responsibility for the victimization ○ The Victim who is as Guilty as the Offender (aka voluntary victims) - shoulder responsibility equal to that of the offender; engage in risky, deviant, delinquent, or criminal behaviors; voluntary participants ■ ex.) individual who is challenged to a fight, accepts, knowing the opponent is going to try to hurt them ○ The Victim who is More Guilty than the Offender - victims are slightly guiltier than their offenders; may provoke or induce offenders into action

■ ex.) when victims retaliate against their perpetrators  ○ The Most Guilty Victim (aka victims who are guilty alone) - they are responsible for initiating the actions that eventually lead to their subsequent harm ■ ex.) a robber targets a victim who fights back & kills him in self defense. The robber accepts guilt because there would have been no injury if not for his behavior ○ The Imaginary Victim (aka simulating victims) - have not suffered criminal victimization bur may accuse another of offending against them ● Marvin Wolfgang - one of the most important figures in early studies of victims ○

One of his most celebrated contributions was research into the occurrence of victim-precipitated homicide while studying young men in Philadelphia.

○ He also identified the following factors common to victim-precipitated homicides: ■ 1) prior relationship between the offender and the victim; ■ 2) escalating disagreements between the two parties; ■ 3) prior criminal records; ■

4) the presence of alcohol during the encounter.

● Menachem Amir - former graduate student of Wolfgang. ○ He expanded Wolfgang’s typology of victim-precipitated homicide to rape arguing that rape victims precipitated their own victimization. (His work was met with extreme criticism on several fronts) ○ Some of his ideas were legitimate: certain situations can cause victimization. However, he consistently argued that some women who were raped held an unconscious desire to be raped. Further, his typology was largely based on how the offender viewed the victim’s behavior and not the actual behavior of the victim. ■ ex.) he argued that women who used foul language would be seen as having a bad reputation and deserving to be raped... Obviously, this is not the victim’s behavior, rather, it is how the offender might have subjectively interpreted the behavior. ● His work ultimately assigned blame and responsibility to rape victims and was largely discredited  Grassroots Origins of Victimology

○ While academics were beginning to study victims, social forces throughout the US were also driving the development of victimology. * Read the text to understand how each of these social movements helped to focus more attention on the victims, thereby, growing the field of victimology.* ■ The Civil Rights Movement (1950s-1960s) - concentrated on ending segregation of African Americans; Furthered the causes of crime victims by highlighting the discrimination & unequal treatment of both African American crime victims & offenders ● ex.) white police officers viewed as an army. Black crime victims refrained from reporting their experience, so they didn’t receive any justice or recover from their victimization… those who did report their instance felt unheard by authority... African Americans accused of crime were treated brutally & unequal ■ The Women’s Movement (1960s-1970s) - feminist movement championed women’s rights issues related to criminal victimization ● The movement focused attention on sexual victimization crimes like rape & sexual assault ● ex.) feminists were successful in getting states to repeal marital exemption laws that made it legally impossible for a wife to pursue rape charges against her husband ● Their 2nd focus was on spousal abuse ○ ex.) feminists claimed police officers were reluctant to intervene in situations occurring behind closed doors within the context of marriage ○ Feminists argued that victim-blaming was a significant problem in instances of spousal sexual & physical victimization, & the poor treatment of these victims by the criminal justice system further demonstrated that women occupied a subservient place in society

● The Women’s movement worked toward remedying these problems through providing victim services, shelters, & legal actions ■ The Children’s Movement - advocated for better treatment of children ● Crimes against children, such as abuse & neglect have occurred throughout history, but recognizing children as a group of crime victims with special needs did not occur in earnest in the US until the early 1960s ● Henry Kempe exposed the medical community to child abuse through the journal of the American Medical Association titled “The Battered Child Syndrome.” (TBCS) ○ TBCS occurs when a young child suffers repeated serious physical abuse by parents or other caregivers Political Origins of Victimology ● the US began to politically address the plight of victims of crime through federal victims’ rights legislation

* Be able to define some of the major movements that helped shape victimology. * ○ Law and Order Movement (1960s) ■ Countermovement to the civil rights and women’s rights movements ■ During the 60s, there were increasing crime rates ■ Based on a philosophy of crime control that endorses swift justice, harsh punishments, and efficacy in the CJS ■ Public fear of crime and media frenzy led politicians to argue for greater crime control and ”get tough” approaches ■ Emphasis on punishment that led to an acknowledgment that victims had been ignored ■ Victim restitution as a form of punishment ■ Factors to the expansion of victims’ rights in the 80s and 90s ○ President’s Commission on Law Enforcement (1967) and the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) ■ President’s Commission on Law Enforcement (1967)

● Federal government’s response to crime in the 1960s ● Recommendations for improving the nation’s response to crime (ex. Improving education and training of police officers) ● Efforts shall be made to compensate victims of a crime who suffer financial hardships ● Consequences victims suffer as a result of crime need more attention ■ Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) ● Replaced and absorbed functions of previous entities ● Administering federal grants to state and local agencies geared towards reducing crime ● Mission was fourfold: encourage states to develop plans to combat crime and delinquency, make grants available to states to implement these plans, to help governments and agencies improve the CJS by providing guidance and leadership, and conduct criminal justice research ● Abolished in 1982 ● Federal funding allocated by LEAA was used to create early victim service funds ○ Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (1974) ■ Fueled by President’s Task Force on Victims of Crime to improve the lives of crime victims ■ Original purpose was to provide financial assistance to the states and communities for identifying, preventing, and treating child abuse and neglect ■ Established National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, a clearinghouse for information, technical assistance, and model programs related to addressing child abuse and neglect ■ 2010, amended and reauthorized

○ Victims of Crime Act (1984) ■ Established the Crime Victims Fund which gave state and local level victims assistance and compensation ■ Funds come from federal bonds and asset forfeitures and fines paid by federal offender blaming ■ Revisions established the office for victims of crime that administers crime victims funds that support victims in recovery efforts through assistance, compensation, training, and technical assistance ○ Student Right-To-Know and Campus Security Act (1990) ■ Renamed the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act ■ Requires universities to publicly report annual crime statistics and engage in crime prevention activities ■ Must provide timely warnings of crimes that may be a threat to students and employees ■ If not, can face loss of federal funding ■ Must have a publicly available crime log ○ Violence Against Women Act (1994) ■ Drafted by Biden and signed by Clinton ■ Provided $1 billion in funding to address violence against women by enhancing enforcement, increasing prosecutions, expanding services, and providing protection for victims ■ Reauthorized and expanded in 2000, 2006, and 2013 ■ Crimes like domestic violence, sexual violence, and stalking 





Chapter 2: Opportunity Theories of Victimization ● Introduction ○ Why do some people, properties, businesses, or organizations become victims of crime while others do not? ■ primary question that the second and third generations of victimologists and victimological theories sought to answer ■ These generations of theorists moved away from typologies, victim-precipitation, and victim-blaming, & instead focused on explaining how various kinds of opportunities were related to criminal victimization. ○ In investigating the above question, the opportunity perspective posits that the root cause of victimization is the favorable combination of circumstances, time, place, & people,  & that without such favorable combinations the chances of victimization occurring are substantially reduced. ■ Focused on identifying the key circumstances that increase the risk for victimization ■ Best illustrated by lifestyle-exposure theory & routine activity theory ● Research has examined how the lifestyles & daily routines of people facilitate opportunities for victimization by exposing potential victims to others who are likely to take advantage of these criminogenic circumstances ● Opportunity Theories ○ In 1998, Marcus Felson and Ronald Clarke, two prominent scholars in the fields of crime prevention and victimology, published a research report with the United Kingdom’s Home Office entitled Opportunity Makes the Thief.  ■ 10 principles of opportunity theory ● Opportunities cause crime ○ No type of crime or victimization in which opportunity does not play a role; opportunity is a “root cause” of crime ● Crime opportunities are highly specific

○ Depend on the type of victimization & specific circumstances generating opportunities ■ ex.) opportunities that result in sexual victimization are different from those of theft ● Crime opportunities are concentrated in time & space ○ Crime victimization is patterned according to where & when opportunities are present… meaning they are not random ○ The places or times that have the most opportunities will be the places & times where victimization most often occurs ■ ex.) most residential burglaries occur during the day (while most are at work) but most commercial burglaries occur at night (when no employees or customers are present) ● Crime opportunities depend on everyday activities ○ Daily activities bring together potential offenders & potential targets ■ ex.) the morning commute to work on a subway may provide an offender with the opportunity to steal someone’s wallet or purse ● One crime produces opportunities for another ○ Opportunity is dynamic ■ ex.) what starts out as a convenience store robbery may escalate into an assault on the clerk, or worse, depending on how the situation unfolds ● Some property offers more tempting crime opportunities ○ ex.) shoplifting - there are some products that provide easier opportunities or appear to be more attractive targets for victimization than others ● Social & technological changes produce new crime opportunities ○ New products, new victimizations

■ ex.) the life cycle of products establishes a demand for them & their desirability as a target for theft ■ ex.) online social networking (facebook) can be considered both a social & technological change that has produced new crime opportunities, such as identity theft or cyberstalking ● Crime can be prevented by reducing opportunities ○ Situational crime prevention ● Reducing opportunities does not usually move crime to nearby laces ○ Displacement ● Focused opportunity reduction can produce wider declines in crime ○ Diffusion of benefits, anticipatory benefits ■ ex.) efforts to prevent victimization on the street may also help to prevent victimization in neighboring streets ○ Lifestyle-Exposure Theory ■ Lifestyle-Exposure Theory by Hindelang et al. (1978) was developed after the NCVS revealed that victimization is not random and disproportionately affects certain groups of people. ■ Chart on pg. 37; Figure 2.1 ● Key concepts: ○ Could be traced back to personal demographic characteristics (age, race, gender, education, occupation, sex, marital status) ■ ex.) since young people tend to spend more time out w/ friends (a lifestyle characteristic) than older people, they are more likely to be targeted for victimization ○ Different lifestyles expose people to varying risk levels for personal victimization ○ Lifestyles are largely dictated by role expectations & structural constraints

○ Lifestyle alone isn’t a sufficient cause of victimization: it is the nature of the lifestyle & the associated activities that increase ...