Victims and Victimology

1
Victims and Victimology

• Basic Questions/Data Gathering
• Effects of Victimization
• Theories of Victimization

2
The Level and Cost of Victimization

• 37 million criminal
• incidents (1996)
• Including estimates of non-NCVS crimes, 49
  million
• Cost 450 billion?

3
How do we know the cost of crime?

• Tangible Costs
• To Victim
• To Society
• Intangible Costs
• To Victim
• To Society

4
Estimating victim loss through jury awards

• Looking only at cases that go to civil (tort)
  court
• Are these a representative sample of complete
  and incomplete crime?
• Think of the typical assault.
• Is it worth 9,350?
• PROBLEM use of this data to justify the expense
  of prison

5
Immediate Problems of Crime Victims

• Financial Loss
• Property
• Wages
• Medical Expenses
• Physical and Emotional Pain

6
Post-Victimization Suffering

• Double Victimization
• Intensive questioning by police
• What is going on in the case?
• Property is often kept for a long time
• Psychological Harm
• Depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, fear,
  antisocial behaviors

7
Where do Victimizations Take Place?

• Urban areas (more than rural)
• Certain neighborhoods (and areas within these
  neighborhoods)
• Open, public areas and businesses

8
What Demographic Characteristics are Related to
Victimization?

• Gender
• Social Status
• Marital Status
• Age
• Race/Ethnicity

9
Victim-Offender Relationships

• Crime tends to be intra-racial rather than
  inter-racial
• In violent crimes, the victim is at least well
  known to the offender in 40 of the cases.
• Much less often in property cases

10
Theories of Victimization

• Explain who gets victimized and/or why
• Victim Precipitation theory
• Lifestyle Theories
• Routine Activities Theory

11
Victim Precipitation Theory

• Active (e.g., take the first swing)
• Rape?
• Passive? (e.g., love triangle)
• Difference between empirical documentation and
  normative statements
• Empirical facts do not excuse or justify

12
Lifestyle Theories

• All of these designed to explain the correlates
  of victimization
• High Risk Lifestyle
• Equivalent Group Hypothesis
• Proximity Hypothesis

13
Routine Activities Theory

• To predict direct predatory crime
• The convergence in time and space of
• Motivated Offenders
• Suitable Targets
• Lack of Capable Guardianship
• Usually assume presence of offenders