1 / 21

Victimology

Victimology. and Anthropology and Race. Victimology. Until recently, victims were not studied Passive recipients of criminal’s greed, anger, etc., “wrong place at the wrong time” Victimology the study of victims $8 billion per year in stolen property Victims not treated well by CJS

paul
Download Presentation

Victimology

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Victimology and Anthropology and Race

  2. Victimology • Until recently, victims were not studied • Passive recipients of criminal’s greed, anger, etc., “wrong place at the wrong time” • Victimology the study of victims • $8 billion per year in stolen property • Victims not treated well by CJS • Loss of wages, physical & psychological complications

  3. Social ecology of victimization • When: 6 p.m.. to 6 am • Personal larceny during day • More serious at night • Where: Open, public area, only rape and simple assault in homes • Central city • Western urban highest, Northeast rural lowest

  4. Victimization • NCS indicates that 25% of U.S. households contain at least one individual who was victimized in some way during the past year • 99% will experience personal theft, 87% will be a theft victim 3 or more times

  5. Victim characteristics • Men are twice as likely as women to be victims of robbery and assault. • The violent victimization rate for females has been stable, but there has been a 20% increase for males in last 15 years • Victim risk diminishes rapidly after age 25. Contrary to belief, grandparents are safer than their grandchildren.

  6. Characteristics (continued) • The poor are more likely to be victims of violent crime, while the middle class are more likely to be victims of property crime • Unmarried/never married more likely to be victims than married/widows • African Americans are victimized at highest rates • Young, black, urban, poor, male

  7. Characteristics (continued) • 60% of violent crimes committed by a stranger. However, females usually know their assailants (625,000 victims of intimate violence) • Crime tends to be intraracial • 54% of offenders report being under the influence of alcohol and/or other drugs when they committed the offense resulting in incarceration.

  8. Violence in the home • About 1 1/2 million children are physically abused. Average number of assaults per year for these children: 10.5, rarely a one-time act • 16% couples report incident of spouse abuse • 1% sexually abused

  9. Theories of victimization • Victim precipitation theory: There are victims who may have actually initiated the confrontation that led to their injury/death • Life-style theory: life-style increases exposure to criminal offenses • Increased risk: staying single, associating with young men, urban, going to public places late at night

  10. Theories of victimization (cont) • Reduced risk: staying home at night, rural, staying out of public places, earning more money, getting married • Thus, probabilities of crime depends on the activities of the victim. Crime occurs when victims place themselves in jeopardy

  11. Theories (cont.) • Routine activities theory • The volume and distribution of predatory crimes depends on • availability of suitable targets • absence of capable guardians • presence of motivated offenders

  12. Theories (cont) • Increase in crime since 1960 • less caretakers, women entering workforce • decline of the traditional neighborhood, flight to the suburbs • volume of easily transportable wealth has increased

  13. Theories cont. • Equivalent group hypothesis: victims and criminals share similar characteristics because they are not really separate groups • Crime victims as a group report a high amount of criminal activity • Proximity hypothesis: crime less a function of life-style, but rather is based on close proximity.

  14. Theories (cont) • Victims and criminals live in the same areas • Probability of being victimized is more a function of where one lives than one’s lifestyle • High crime: poor, densely populated, highly transient neighborhoods

  15. Victim services • Studies of the victim have led to new programs • Victim compensation programs • Court services • Public education • Crisis intervention (such as rape)

  16. Protecting victims • Victim’s rights: debate about what they should be. Megan’s law, allowing victims to speak at hearings, etc. • Self-protection: target hardening, block watch, neighborhood patrols • Gun ownership higher among crime victims: debate

  17. Race and Crime • One in every four African American males between the ages of 20 and 29 are under some form of correctional supervision in the U.S. This was not always the case: The proportion has doubled since W.W.II • 1/8 of the population, but 1/2 of those arrested for violent crimes, 1/3 for property crimes, 1/2 of those in prison. • Also victimized at higher rates

  18. Race and crime: explanations • Economic deprivation and conflict theory • Racial isolation, barriers to employment, education, etc. • Relative deprivation: growing disparity between poor and middle class (Middle class African Americans have rapidly increased income and educational levels, those in inner cities are worse off

  19. Explanations (cont) • Biological factors • Genetic factors among differing ethnic groups seems an unlikely explanation (for example, it could not account for the sudden increase) • Poor prenatal care and poor nutrition among the poor result in being at risk for LD, neurological problems, ADHD, LBW, etc.

  20. Explanations • In general, children in poor female based households are more at risk, because of the greater difficulties in providing resources and supervision.. • 1/2 of African American children live below the poverty line • Moynihan report

  21. Explanations • Legacy of slavery? (why the rise 100 years later?) • Expression of anger? Note that crime tends to be intraracial. • Ecological research: Migration from rural South in the 1920s and 1930s into transitional area. A rise in crime would be predicted. It would be expected to last longer because of segregation.

More Related