Crime - Victimology - Flashcards
What is positivist victimology?
positivist = scientifically gain knowledge.
Aims to find out what makes someone a victim and patterns with it.
- victim proneness = what makes a vulnerable victim.
Hans Von Hentig (1948) - 13 characteristics of a victim:
– female, elderly, mentally sub-normal.
Says victims ‘invite’ victimisation by being the kind of person they are e.g. lifestyle factors like displaying wealth in deprived areas.
What study links to positivist victimology?
Wolfgang (1958) - studied 588 homocides in Philadelphia and found that 26% involved victim precipitation. (victim triggered event e.g. being first to use violence)
Evaluation of positivist victimology?
+ Brookman (2005) - Wolfgang shows importance of victim-offender relationship and that in many cases, it is a matter of chance who becomes victim and offender.
- ignores wider social structural factors - e.g. poverty and patriarchy (marxists)
- victim - blaming - Amir (1971) 1 in 5 rapes are ‘victim precipitated’: basically saying that victim ‘asked for it’.
- ignores when victims are unaware of victimisation - e.g. environmental crimes.
What is critical victimology?
How structures cause victims.
Structural factors - patriarchy and poverty (place powerless groups at greater risk).
– Mawby and Walklate (1994) “victimisation is from of structural powerlessness”.
VICTIM IS SOCIAL CONSTRUCT - CJS applies label of victim selectively (denies victim status to some) poor and women.
What did Tombs and Whyte (2007) say linking to critical victimology?
Say that work place safety crimes are often seen as fault of ‘accident prone worker’. - also seen is rape cases.
– this denies victim status and blames them.
Also note ideological function of denying victim status.
– conceal truth of victimisation and real causes, it hides crimes of powerful and denies victims redress. – leads to ‘hierarchy of victimisation’.
Evaluation of critical victimology?
+ valuable in drawing attention to way ‘victim status’ is constructed by power and how it benefits powerful.
- disregards role of victims who may bring victimisation of themselves through choices - e.g. not making homes secure.
Who is more likely to be a victim? 5
- poor - homeless 12 times more likely to have experienced violence.
- young - those at highest risk of being murdered are under age of 1, teenager most of risk of assult.
- old - also at risk of abuse in homes (hidden) but generally goes down with age.
- ethnic minority groups.
- women - sexual crime, domestic violence, stalking.
60% of population have not been victims of crime with last year, but 4% of population are victims of 44% of all crimes in that period (British Crime Survey)
What is the impact of victimisation?
Secondary victimisation - individuals may suffer more at hands of cjs. – feminists argue rape victims are poorly treated by cjs which doubles amount of violation.
Fear of victimisation - crime creates fear of becoming victim (usually irrational) e.g. women afraid of going out through fear of attack however is it usually young men who are main victims of violence from strangers.
