Discussion #2 - Victims/Offenders

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THEORIES OF

VICTIMIZATION

SECTION II

Victims and the Criminal Justice System

Victims play an important role in the CJ process
Instead, often treated as a “tool” and experience frustration

Victim-assistance programs/organizations introduced in the 1970s provided support for crime victims

Victims and the Criminal Justice System

Victim-oriented federal and state legislation

Violence Against Women Act

Crime Victims’ Rights Act of 2004

“Dark figure of crime”

Reasons why crimes go unreported

Reporting varies by type of offense

Victims and the Criminal Justice System

Women tend to seek help from resources outside police
Positive informal support  seeking formal services
Formal services: law enforcement and therapeutic resources
Informal Services: family, friends, clergy, etc.
Fear of retaliation, especially in intimate partner violence
Embarrassment
Self-Doubt

Victim Blaming

Victim blaming is shifting the blame from the offender to the victim
Victim’s engagement in atypical, risky, or careless behavior
The presence of victim blaming has been linked to the low reporting rates of crimes

Victim Blaming

Victim blaming has been most related to sexual assault and intimate partner violence, but also occurs in property victimizations

“Victims should have known better”

Can lead to victim self-blame

Secondary Victimization

Victims traumatized by CJ response to their victimization
Influence of rape myths
Introduction of rape shield laws

Secondary Victimization

Just World Hypothesis

People deserve what comes to them

Raises questions like, “why didn't’t you fight back” and/or “why didn't’t you leave?”

Allows us to shield ourselves from feelings of vulnerability

Secondary Victimization

Just World Hypothesis

3 problematic assumptions

Ability to change environment

“Innocent” victims as “true” victims

Diffusion of responsibility

False sense of security

Secondary Victimization

Just World Hypothesis
Occurs without conscience awareness
Subtle victim blaming permeates culture through media
Messages increase victim self-blame
Self-blame may increase likelihood for re-victimzation
Solidify beliefs associated with increased likelihood of offending

Fear of Victimization

Media representations of crime
Distorted view of the criminal justice system
Over-exaggerations lead to increases in fear

Fear of Victimization

Higher levels of fear among women

Gendered socialization experiences

Fear of sexual assault
Extended to all crimes through “shadow of sexual assault”

Vulnerability

Media influence

The Shadow of Sexual Assault Thesis

Fear of Victimization

Negative consequences of fear
Isolation
Impacts self-worth and self-esteem
System/political responses to community fear
Example: Sentencing laws, such as “three strikes” and the war on drugs

Theories of Victimization

Victimology
Early explanations focused on victim responsibility
Mendelsohn’s (1963) 6 categories of victims
Innocent victim and (5) victim precipitated categories varying in victim culpability

Victim with minor guilt

Voluntary victim

Victim who is more guilty than the offender

Victim who alone is guilty

Imaginary victim

Theories of Victimization

Victimology

Early explanations focused on victim responsibility

von Hentig (1948)
Factors (biological, psychological, and social) that “made a victim a victim”
Typology included 13 categories

Multiple factors for women beyond gender

Theories of Victimization

Routine Activities (Cohen & Felson, 1979)

Impact of society and personal choices

Changes in daily routines

Convergence of 3 essential components

Motivated offender

Available target

Absence of capable guardians

Focused primarily on risk for property crime

Theories of Victimization

Routine Activities Theory

Feminists disagree that men are more vulnerable

Guardianship is often misleading

Lifestyle Theory

Impact of everyday activities on risk for victimization

“Risky” lifestyles

Due to similarities between these two theories, often their tenets are combined for research

Risk of sexual assault on college campuses

Theories of Victimization

Feminist Pathways Perspective

Cycle of CJ involvement and victimization

Victimization sets women on a “pathway” to offending

Pathway often begins during youth

Reading 3

Cognitive Mapping and Fear-Provoking Cues
Cues are important to individuals safety; they protect people from harm
Personal cognitive maps define:
Places
Times
Categories
A constellation of cues influence fear

Reading 3

Are the cues that predict crime-related fear gendered?
Lighting and Gender
Foliage and Gender
Youth Loitering and Gender
Police Visibility and Gender

Reading 3

Method
Data Collection
Survey
Random sample of undergraduates
Dependent Variables
Fear of criminal victimization while on campus
Independent Variables
Poorly lit parking lots, poorly lit sidewalks and common areas, overgrown or excess shrubbery, groups congregating or loitering, visibility of public safety officials
Control Variables
Results

Reading 3

Findings
Lack of gendered findings

Reading 4

Formal and informal resources for help and support
Cultural sensitivity
Poor access to services
Study Method
Participants
Procedures
Measures
Results
Discussion