Victimology

Question 1

What is the defenition of a ‘victim’?

Answer 1

Those who have suffered harm through acts that violate the laws of the state

Question 2

Positivist victimology…

Answer 2

Identifies the factors making some people more likely to be victims, focuses on interpersonal crimes.

Victim proneness, the characteristics that make victims more vulnerable, Hans Von Heting found characteristics such as the elderly, women, and those with low IQ.

Question 3

Positivist victimology evaluation…

Answer 3

This ignores wider structural factors such as poverty and the patriarchy

Question 4

Critical victimology…

Answer 4

Based on conflict theories, looks at structural factors like patriarchy and poverty, eg, women are more at risk of DV.

The states power to apply or deny the label of the victim, ‘safety crimes’ at work are seen as ‘accident prone’ workers instead of them being victims. Hides the crimes of the powerful and denies the powerless any compensation

Question 5

Critical victimology evaluation…

Answer 5

This disregards the role victims may play, such as starting a fight

Question 6

Impact of victimisation…

Answer 6

Crime has a serious physical and emotional impact on its victims, hate crimes create waves of harm, also creates a fear of victimisation

Question 7

Impact of victimisation…

Answer 7

Instead of focusing on the ‘fear of crime’, we should focus on people’s safety, argued femenists