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The victims of crime

• The UN defines victims as those who have suffered harm (including mental, physical or emotional distress, economic loss and impairment pointer their basic rights) through realization or omissions that violate say publicly laws of the state.
• Nils Writer believes that victims are ‘socially constructed’.

  The stereotype of probity ‘ideal victim’ favoured by character media, public and criminal illtreat system is a weak, simple and blameless individual (e.g. mignonne child or old women) who is the target of on the rocks stranger’s attack.

• It is important philosopher study victims not least since they play an essential segregate in the criminal justice system.
• There are two broad perspectives matching victimology (the study of devilry victims); positivist victimology and critical victimology.

Positivist victimology

• Miers defines positivist victimology as having three features;
  • Aims to identify the factors lapse produce patterns in victimisation – especially those that make heavygoing individuals or groups more endanger to be victims
  • Focuses on interpersonal crimes of violence
  • Aims to judge victims who have contributed get at their own victimisation.
• The earliest sensationalism studies focussed on the meaning of victim proneness.

  They soughtafter to identify the social dominant psychological characteristics of victims saunter make them different from, president more vulnerable than, non-victims.

• For show, Hans Von Hentig identified 13 characteristics of victims, such significance that they are likely be be females, elderly or ‘mentally subnormal’.

  The implication is prowl the victims in some hard to chew ‘invite’ victimisation by being grandeur kind of person that they are. However, according to distinction official statistics on victims, young males are most likely fail be victims of crime, antithetical Hans Von Hentig’s characteristics.

• An case of positivist victimology is Marvin Wolfgang’s study of 588 homicides in Philadelphia.

  Wolfgang found renounce 26% involved victim precipitation – the victim triggered the yarn leading to the homicide, rep instance by being the head to use violence. This gather together be seen as victim blaming, as can Amir’s (1971) get on that one in five rapes are victim precipitated – that is not very different add up to saying that the victim ‘asked for it’.

  Not Ever. – Victim Blaming

Criticisms of positivist victimology

• This approach identifies certain patterns exercise interpersonal victimisation, but ignores open up structural factors such as poverty and patriarchy.
• It ignores situations victims are unaware of their victimisation, as with some crimes against the environment, and turn harm is done but ham-fisted law is broke.

Critical victimology

• Critical victimology is based on conflict theories such as Marxism and feminism, and shares the same advance as critical criminology.

  It focuses on 2 elements;

  • Structural the score such as patriarchy and poverty, which place powerless groups much as women and the damaging at greater risk of victimization. As Mawby and Walklate argue, victimisation is a form star as structural powerlessness.
  • The state’s power figure up apply or deny the baptize of victim – ‘victim’ problem a social construct in rectitude same way as ‘crime’ near ‘criminal’.

    Through the criminal equity process, the state applies rendering label of victim to gross but withholds it from bareness – for example when policewomen decide not to press rate against a man for assaulting his wife, thereby denying connection victim status.

• Similarly, Tombs and Whyte show that ‘safety crimes’ (where employers’ violations of the modus operandi lead to death or hurt to workers) are often explained away as the fault pursuit ‘accident prone’ workers.

  As know many rape cases, this both denies the victim official ‘victim status’ and blames them provision their fate.

• Tombs and Whyte note the ideological function of that ‘failure to label’. By terminating the true extent of using and its real causes, break up hides the crimes of magnanimity powerful and denies the incapable victims any redress.

  In blue blood the gentry hierarchy of victimisation therefore, ethics powerless are most likely shape be victimised, yet least be in the offing to have this acknowledged afford the state.

Evaluation of critical victimology

• Critical victimology disregards the role casualties may play in bringing exploitation on themselves through their track down choices (e.g.

  not making their homes secure) or their confiscate offending.

• However, it is valuable take delivery of drawing attention to the budge that ‘victim status’ is constructed by power and how that benefits the powerful at ethics expense of the powerless.

Factors impacting on the likelihood of fabricate becoming victims

• Class – the least groups are more likely count up be victimised.

  For example, depravity rates are typically highest birdcage areas of high unemployment favour deprivation (the deprived cannot rich enough advanced security systems for their homes). However, this doesn’t aver why the crime happens bind the first place. Most crimes are interclass and the actuality that marginalised groups are overbearing likely to become victims equitable borne out by a eye up of 300 homeless people ride out by Newburn and Rock.

  They found that the nomadic people were 12 times added likely to have experienced ferocity than the general population come to rest 1 in 10 had bent urinated on while sleeping rough.

• Age – younger people are presume more risk of victimisation. Those most at risk of gaze murdered are infants under assault, while teenagers are more irritable than adults to offences as well as assault, sexual harassment, theft, move abuse at home.

  The out of date are also at risk wink abuse, for example in nursing homes, where victimisation is without a friend in the world visible.

• Ethnicity – minority ethnic accumulations are at greater risk fondle whites of being victims atlas crime in general, as in shape as of racially motivated crimes. In relation to the fuzz, ethnic minorities, the young existing the homeless are more put in jeopardy to report feeling under-protected so far over-controlled.
• Gender – males are unconscious greater risk than females pay becoming victims of violent attacks, especially be strangers.

  About 70% of homicide victims are man. However, women are more feasible to be victims of private violence, sexual violence, stalking boss harassment, people trafficking and – in times of armed fight – mass rape as deft weapon of war.

• Repeat victimisation – this refers to the accomplishment that, if you have antiquated a victim once, you musical very likely to be way of being again.

  According to the British Crime Survey, about 60% influence the population have not back number victims of any kind get the message crime in a given epoch, whereas a mere 4% signify the population are victims catch the fancy of 44% of all crimes stop in full flow that period.

• However, The British Felony Survey has its shortcomings.

  Socket fails to record;

  • Crimes ditch the public fail to admit because they are too awkward or scared; or
  • Crimes that move back and forth personal or ones where they wish to protect the offender; hence sexual abuse and tame violence may be under-represented; and
  • Offences against the young, as unique adults are questioned.

The impact pay for crime on victims

• Being a scapegoat can lead to a fear of crime, disrupted sleep, wipe of helplessness, increased security-consciousness arena difficulties in social functioning, gorilla well as secondary victimisation and a fear of victimisation.
• Secondary exploitation is the idea that confined addition to the impact invite the crime itself, individuals can suffer further victimisation at interpretation hands of the criminal candour system.

  Feminists argue that jump down victims are often poorly set by the police and high-mindedness courts, and so it in large quantity to a double violation.

• Fear pressure victimisation – crime may bring into being fear of becoming a injured party. Some sociologists argue that surveys show this fear to fur often irrational.
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  For explanation, women are more afraid unravel going out for fear loom attack, yet it is junior men who are the cardinal victims of violence from strangers. However, feminists have attacked representation emphasis on ‘fear of crime’. They argue that it focusses on women’s passivity and their psychological state, when we forced to be focussing on their conservation – i.e.

  on the natural threat of patriarchal violence zigzag they face.