5 Flashcards
Shared Responsibility
The offender does not bear total responsibility for the criminal act, and that some of the blame falls either on the victim or the social system, or both.
Two reasons for repeat victimization
- Boost explanation
- Flag explanation
Boost explanation
A theory holding that repeat victimizations occur because the offender gains important knowledge about the target during the initial crime
Flag explanation
A theory proposing that repeat victimizations occur because a target has permanent characteristics that attract criminals, such as being at a vulnerable location.
Typology
a classification system that aids in the understanding of what a group has in common and how it differs from others.
Typology includes…
- complete innocence
- full responsibility
Victim Blaming
An approach that holds an injured party partly responsible for what happened.
What is the three-stage process (victim blaming)
- assumes a mutual agreement (reciprocity, symbiosis
- victimologists may unavoidably blame the victim
- victim blaming
Just world outlook
people get what they deserve before their lives end—find victim blaming a com- forting notion.
Techniques of neutralization theory
A social theory, which proposes that offenders have learned certain pat answers that neutralize their guilt over harming others.
Victim defending
It rejects the premise that victims are partial to blame
offender blaming
removes the burden of responsibility from the backs of victims and restores it entirely onto the shoulders of lawbreakers, “where it belongs.”
System blaming
The focus of attention is on the social-economic-political theories in criminology that
argue that the causes of crime are closely connected to other unresolved social problems
e.g. poverty, unemployment and failing school etc.
Facilitation
Careless or thoughtless behavior that makes a criminal’s tasks easier, especially when perpetrating a theft of some kind.
- least serious charge
Skimmers
Corrupt employees can use “skimmers” to scan and capture crucial information during credit card transactions at restaurants and other stores.
Provocation
the most serious charge against victims. (active)
precipitation
the individual who gets hurt contributed significantly to the outbreak of violence.
subintentional death
Provocative behavior that can cause a victim, who harbors self-destructive impulses to get killed in a confrontation with a powerful adversary.
justifiable homicide
A legal ruling that a killing does not merit punishment, usually because it was the result of an act of self-defense in a perilous kill-or-be-killed confrontation.
selective-disinhibition perspective
An explanation for misbehavior due to intoxication.
outlet attractor perspective
An explanation that accounts for an outbreak of crimes concentrated near certain bars and clubs, or other sources of alcoholic beverages.
character contest
A situation in which a slur or insult leads to a confrontation that escalates into a fight because each party wants to save face by not backing down.
Free will
A philosophical or religious concept that emphasizes the ability of individuals to make their own decisions and to choose among different courses of action.
deterrence theory
A widely held belief that if individuals are punished they will learn a lesson not to behave that way again (specific deterrence); and that the suffering of punished persons will serve as a warning to others (general deterrence).
Vulnerability
A prediction about the degree of susceptibility of a target to attack.
Situational factors
Outside elements that can influence behavior, including encouraging or discouraging attempts to victimize others.
social ecology of victimization
An attempt to identify under what circumstances, where, and when various groups face the greatest risks of suffering interpersonal violence and theft.
deviant lifestyles
Routines and unconventional everyday patterns of behavior that generally elicit social disapproval, often centering on sexual activities, drug-taking, heavy drinking, and gang fighting.
deviant place factor
An explanation for a geographic concentration of incidents that focuses on areas that attract criminally inclined people.
subculture of violence theory
the way of life of a group that appears to condone or even approve of the use of force to settle disputes.
risk-reduction activities
ways people try to diminish their odds are called
Avoidance strategies
Precautions that crime-conscious individuals can follow to reduce their risks of being accosted by criminally inclined persons.
Risk-management tactics
Ways to protect oneself against the dangers of being victimized while carrying out unavoidable activities.
Situational crime prevention
A strategy that depends on reducing the opportunities for criminals to commit crime by making it appear less rewarding, more difficult, and riskier.
victimization prevention
Specific precautions taken by particular individuals intended to increase their personal safety, in contrast to crime prevention, which is societal in scope.
target hardening
A strategy that relies on making the offen- der’s tasks even more difficult and discouraging; the opposite of facilitation.
valve theory of crime shifts
The belief that protecting one type of target deflects criminally inclined people toward a comparable but more vulnerable type of target.
