What is victimology?
- the scientific study of crime victims
- the study of causes of victimization, it’s consequences, how the CJS accommodates and assists victims, and how other elements of society deal with crime victims
What is victim precipitation?
- extent to which victims are responsible for their own victimization
- concept is problematic when used to blame victim
What is victim facilitation?
- victim unintentionally makes it easier for offender to commit crime
- victim not blameworthy but actions made a victim a more likely target
What is victim provocation?
- persons actions incite another person to commit a crime
- crime would not have occurred w/o the victims actions
- provocation connotes blame
The national crime survey…
was the first government sponsored victimization survey
The women’s movement
- influential movement for women
- focused on female crime victims and children
- lead to first domestic violence shelters and rape crisis in 1970’s
What were the critical developments from the Women’s Movement?
- awareness of emotional and mental harm
- reduced additional victimization of CJS
- shelters/centers run by volunteers, didn’t require significant budgetary support
The Civil Rights Movement
- advocated against racism and discrimination
- created awareness of mistreatment of minorities by CJS as both offenders and victims
What are secondary victims?
people affected by somebody else’s victimization
Key elements in victim prevention
- discourage offenders
- reduce opportunity
- address factors that place victims at risk
Uniform Crime Victim Report
- began in 1929 and run by the FBI
- shows amount of crime known to police each year
- detailed information of eight Part I Crimes
- includes arrest data on 21 additional Part II Crimes
Advantages of the UCR
- over 97% of the US covered
- provides crimes by geographical units
- provides trend data
- reports crime characteristics
Disadvantages of the UCR
- no detailed information on victims
- information only on crimes that are reported
- Part I crimes are limited
- Hierarchy rule
- accuracy limited by agency participation
National Incident Based Reporting
- detailed information about crimes
- eliminates hierarchy rule
- not all agencies participate
- information on crime victims and incidents
National Crime Victimization survey
- survey of households
- administered by US census of bureu
- 12+ age, interviewed
- two stage process
Advantages of National Crime Victim Survey
- crimes not in part I of UCR
- crimes not reported are seen
- short recall period (last 6 months only)
- conservative estimation method
Disadvantages of the National Crime Victim Survey
- dependent on respondent recall
- subjects can lie
- treatment of series victimization
- excludes murder, and victim-less crime
Part I index offenses
murder, non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson
What is series victimization
incidents in which a person experiences the same type of victimization at such a high rate that they can’t recall specific details about each incident
