Chapter 16 Victimology: Exploring The Experience of Victimization

Chapter 16 Victimology:
Exploring the Experience of Victimization

Chapter Summary
 Chapter Sixteen is an overview of victimolgy, or the
study of victims of crime.
 The chapter begins with a discussion of who is
victimized.
 This is followed with a discussion of the various
theories regarding victimization.
 The Chapter concludes with a discussion of the role
of the criminal justice system in terms of catering
to the victim.
Chapter Summary
 After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
 Define victimology
 Describe victims
 Explain the theories of victimization
 Describe the relationship between the criminal justice
system and victims
 Understand policies aimed at helping victims
The Emergence of Victimology
 For every criminal act, there is at least one victim.

 Victimology: A subfield of criminology that
specializes in studying the victims of crime.
Who Gets Victimized
 Victimization is not a random process; it is a process

encompassing a host of systematic environmental,
demographic, and personal characteristics.
 Victim characteristics differ according to the type of
crime.
Table 16.1 Victimization Rates of Combined Violent and Personal
Theft Crimes by Selected Demographic Characteristics –2004
Gender Rate Household Income Rate
Male 25.0 Less than $7,500 38.4
Female 18.1 39.0
$15,000–$24,999 24.4 $7,500–$14,999
Race/Ethnicity $25,000–$34,999 22.1
White 21.0 $35,000–$49,999 21.6
Black 26.0 $50,000–$74,999 22.1
Hispanic 18.2 $75,000 or more 17.0
Other 2.7
Two or more 51.6 Marital Status
Never married 39.4
Age Married 9.7
12–15 49.7 Divorced/separate 33.0
16–19 45.9 Widowed 4.0
20–24 43.0
25–34 23.7 Residence
35–49 7.9 Urban 29.0
50–64 11.0 Suburban 18.0
65 or older 2.1 Rural 19.9
Victimization in the Workplace and School
 On average, over two million incidents take place in
the workplace annually.
 The three occupations most at risk are: police
officers, correction officers, and taxi drivers.
 Schools are some of the safest places we can be.
 Teachers get victimized by both theft and violence
at school.
Table 16.2 Average Annual Number of Violent Victimizations in the
Workplace 1992-1996
Annual Average %
Homicide 1,023 0.05
Rape/sexual 50,500 2.50
assault
Robbery 83,700 4.20
Aggravated 395,500 19.70
assault
Simple assault 1,480,000 73.60
2,010,723 100.00
Source: Workplace violence, 1992-1996. Warchol (1998).

Figure 16.1
Number of Homicides and Suicides of Youth Ages 15-19 at
and Away from School: 1999-2000
Source: DeVoe et al., Indicators of school crime and safety: 2003 (2003). U.S.
Departments of Education and Justice.
Figure 16.2
Percentage of Students ages 12-18 who Reported being Bullied
During Previous Six Months, by Grade: 1999 and 2001
Source: DeVoe et al., Indicators of school crime and safety: 2003 (2003). U.S.
Departments of Education and Justice.
Child Molestation: Who gets Victimized?
 Child molestation is perhaps the most prevalent
crime against the person in the United States.
 Girls are more likely to be abused within the family,
and boys are more likely to be victimized by
acquaintances outside of the family and by strangers.
 The strongest single predictor of victimization for
girls is having a stepfather.
 The strongest predictor for boys is growing up in a
father-absent home.
Victimization Theories
 Victimization can occur at any time, at any place,
and totally without warning.
 In the majority of cases of victimization, victims
are now seen as individuals who in some way,
knowingly or unknowingly, passively or actively,
influenced their victimization.
Victim Precipitation Theory
 Von Hentig (1941)—by acting in certain
provocative ways, some individuals initiate a
chain of events that lead to their victimization.
 Victim precipitation theory has been most
contentious when it is applied to rape.
Figure 16.3
Male Victimization Rates by Number of Risk Factors for
Delinquency
Source: Loeber, Kalb, & Huizinga (2001).

Juvenile delinquency and serious injury
victimization.
Figure 16.4 Four Scenarios Illustrating the Degree of
Victim/Offender Responsibility According to Victim
Precipitation Theory
Degree of Criminal Intent of the Perpetrator
None  Some  More  Much
Victim Provocation Equal Responsibility Victim Facilitation Victim Innocent

A woman who has Victim using the Victim leaves keys in A sex offender
suffered years of services of a his car while he runs kidnaps a screaming
abuse stabs and kills prostitute leaves his into a store. A young girl from a
her husband in self- wallet on the bed teenager impulsively playground and
defense as he is stand and leaves. steals the car and molests her.
beating her again. She decides to keep wrecks it.
the money in his
wallet.
Much  More  Some  None
Degree of Victim Facilitation or Provocation/Precipitation

Routine Activities/Lifestyle Theory
 The basic idea of lifestyle theory is that there are

certain lifestyles that disproportionately expose
some people to high risk for victimization.
 Lifestyles are the routine patterned activities that
people engage in on a daily basis, both
obligatory and optional.
 Most of the research in routine
activities/lifestyle theory has been done on rape
victimization.
Is Victimology Blaming the Victim
 Some victim advocates strongly reject victimology

theories as victim blaming.
 Victimologists do not blame, they simply remind
us that complete innocence and full responsibility
lie on a continuum.
The Consequences of Victimization
 Overall, financial looses per crime do not appear
overly large.
 The worst consequences are psychological.
 Rape trauma syndrome: Re-experiencing the
event via flashbacks, avoiding anything at all
associated with the event, and a general numbness
or affect.
 Violent victimization helps to shape the life course
trajectories of victims.
Victimization and the Criminal Justice System
 Advocates for victims’ rights began agitating for

some of the same kinds of due process rights for
victims that are enjoyed by their victimizers in the
late 1960s, but it was not until 1982 that a federal
task force was set up to examine the treatment of
victims by the criminal justice system.
 The fair and decent treatment of victims by the
system can help them to some extent to get over
their victimization.
Figure 16.5
Percentage of Adolescent Victims and Non-victims of Violence
Expected to Experience Adult Problem Outcomes
Source: Menard (2002). Short-and long-term consequences of

adolescent victimization
Box 16.2
Focus on Victim’s Opinions Of the Importance of Victims’ Rights
Source: D. Kilpatrick, Beatty, & Smith-Howley (1998). The Rights of Crime Victims.
National Institute of Justice.
Victim Compensation and Restitution
 Victims of crime are eligible for partial

compensation from the states to cover medical
and living expenses incurred as a result of their
victimization.
 Victim compensation in the form of direct
payments from the offenders in the form of
restitution is increasingly ordered by the courts.
Victim-Offender Reconciliation Programs
(VORPs)
 VORPs are an integral component of restorative
justice philosophy.
 Central to the VORP process is the bringing
together of victim and offender in face-to-face
meetings mediated by a person trained in mediation
theory and practice.
 VORPs are used most often in the juvenile system
but rarely used for personal violent crimes in
juvenile or adult systems.

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Chapter 16 Victimology:

Exploring the Experience of Victimization

 For every criminal act, there is at least one victim.

 Victimization is not a random process; it is a process

Source: Workplace violence, 1992-1996. Warchol (1998).

Source: Loeber, Kalb, & Huizinga (2001).

Degree of Criminal Intent of the Perpetrator

None  Some  More  Much

Victim Provocation Equal Responsibility Victim Facilitation Victim Innocent

Much  More  Some  None

Degree of Victim Facilitation or Provocation/Precipitation

 The basic idea of lifestyle theory is that there are

 Some victim advocates strongly reject victimology

 Advocates for victims’ rights began agitating for

Source: Menard (2002). Short-and long-term consequences of

 Victims of crime are eligible for partial

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