Assignment: Apply Victimization Theory

1

Apply Victimization Theory

Ashley M. Mason

Department of Psychology, Walden University

CRJS: 4203 Victimology

Dr. Jennifer Grimes

December 20, 2020

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APPLY VICTIMIZATION THEORY 2

A criminal case that aligns with the perspectives of the routine activity theory is the

kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart. Routine activity theory can include both the offender and the

victim and occurs when three elements converge 1) a motivated offender, in the case of Elizabeth

Smart her motivated offender was a man named Brain David Mitchell, 2) a suitable target,

Elizabeth Smart being the target of choice for Brian Mitchell, and 3) the absence of a capable

guardian, the only other witness to Elizabeth Smarts abducting was her younger sister who she

shared a room with (Cohen & Felson, 1979 as cited in Purpura, 2013). Smith & Brooks (2013)

further argued that the routine activity theory describes how likely offenders come to commit a

crime partly based on their normal everyday activities as routine travel and activist can bring a

motivated offender into contact with a desirable yet vulnerable victim who does not have the

appropriate guardianship necessary to keep them safe. In the case of Elizabeth Smart, she was

not chosen as the victim based on her routine activity; she happened to be someone that was

exposed to her offender during his normal activity. Brain Mitchell was a man that completed

work on the Smarts home as a handyman but often referred to himself by another name. If he

were never hired by the Smarts for handy work, it leaves the question if Elizabeth still would

have been abducted? Why did he decide to take Elizabeth and not her younger sister who was

‘sleeping’ in her bed in the same room as Elizabeth?

Parents of a child that has gone missing or has been abducted are the first point of action; the

sooner they call the authorities and notify them that their child is missing the better chance the

authorities have at reuniting the child back with their family. The next point of action are the

authorities, for all missing persons, officers log the personal information into the Nation Crime

Information Center Missing Person File which is a searchable database (Adams-Mott, 2020).

Depending on the severity of circumstances that led up to the kidnapping decides what

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APPLY VICTIMIZATION THEORY 3

authorities do next. For instance, if a person like Elizabeth Smart was abducted from their home

in the middle of the night in a violent way, authorities would send out units to look for the

missing child, set up media coverage, or have ground units go into heavily wooded areas like the

unit that was sent into the wooded area in Utah that Elizabeth was being held captive in. If the

child missing is believed to have done so on their own volition a different procedure is followed.

Their information is put into NCIC but groups are not created and distributed as they were in

cases like Elizabeth Smart or similar to her case.

This is a process that can be improved, all cases involving a kidnapping or missing person

should have the same practices and procedures. If a mother or father calls the police and tells the

authorities that they believe that their child has run away, regardless of that child left on their

own volition if that child is not an adult in the eyes of the law, meaning 18, then practices and

procedures need to be in place to treat each case with priority. Regardless of the authority's belief

that the person missing is not in immediate danger (no sign of a struggle at the scene of the

crime) their practices and procedures should not reflect that. If a person is missing that in itself

needs to be taken at face value not taken and deciphered by a law enforcement officer that may

or may not be right about their feelings. They (law enforcement) are essentially gambling with

the missing person's life. What if the missing person was abducted by a meticulous offender who

planned this abduction to make it look like the victim left on their own and want officials to

believe that the victim was not in imminent danger? That leaves the victim's information in a

database that only helps if they come into contact with law officials and left as someone who is

‘missing’. What happens to that missing person whose case should have been taken seriously

from the start, but nothing came from the little effort that was used into locating them? Who is to

blame for them not being reunited with their families? Is it their fault (victims)? Is it the family's

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APPLY VICTIMIZATION THEORY 4

fault? Is it the offender’s fault for acting on their urges? Law enforcement's fault for their lack of

prioritizing? The policies and procedures? Who answers for the individuals who remain

‘missing’ because the authorities have done everything, they are capable of doing or everything

their policies and practices allow them to do?

Abduction is a crime that will occur regardless of a theory-based process or practice

change. There could be a process or practice change implemented but that just leaves new ways

for offenders to get what they want without getting caught by authorities. Elizabeth Smart was

held captive for nine months and in those nine months her face was all over the news and media

outlets but even with all this attention, her case was getting she was still unrecognizable when

her capture would walk her around whatever town they were in at the time. It was not until a

tapping of her kidnapping was shown on America’s Most Wanted that some realized who she was

and that began the process of locating Elizabeth Smart and reuniting her with her family. When

practices and processes are implemented to keep a crime like abduction from happening it needs

to be taken under consideration that each publicized work or material is going to aid in offenders

changing their own practices and process to keep themselves with what they want.

When it comes to being a victim of an abduction there are only two outcomes 1) you either

go through hell and get reunited with your family and loved ones having to attend therapy for the

PTSD that is now experienced or 2) you go through hell and you do not get reunited with your

family and loved ones. No number of practices or processes will be able to improve outcomes for

a victim that has been reunited with their loved ones after being abducted. A normal life is

possible after such an incident, but it takes time. Elizabeth Smart, for instance, endured mental,

emotional, and physical pain for nine months, she was raped at least once a day sometimes

numerous times a day, she was chained to a tree, and starved for days at a time, and is now

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APPLY VICTIMIZATION THEORY 5

married and a mom of three. What process or practice is going to improve the outcomes for

victims like Elizabeth Smart? Mandatory therapy? Medication? Briefings? Advocacy?

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APPLY VICTIMIZATION THEORY 6

References

Adams-Mott, A. (2020, May 18). How Long Does a Person Need to Be Missing Before Police

Are Obligated to Look for Them? Legal Beagle. https://legalbeagle.com/7453089-long-

police-obligated-look-them.html.

Purpura, P. P. (2013). Chapter 3: Foundations of Security and Loss Prevention. In Security and

Loss Prevention (6th ed., pp. 55–88). Butterworth-Heinemann.

Smith, C. L., & Brooks, D. J. (2013). Chapter 5: Physical Security. In Security Science the

Theory and Practice of Security (pp. 105–127). essay, Butterworth-Heinemann.

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