CRIME AND DEVIANCE - Victimology and Victimisation (NEED TO FINISH)

Question 1

Give some Examples of Crimes that Cause Significant Harm to People - Use Statistics from 2017! HINT: There are 4 Types of Crimes here!

Answer 1

2017 Statistics:

27% rise in Gun Crime = Around 25%

26% rise in Knife Crime = Around 25%

19% rise in Sexual Offences = Around 20%

36% rise in Stalking and Harassment = Around 35%

Question 2

In regards to Crime Statistics, what types of Victims are there no Statistics for? HINT: ‘Hidden and Invisible Victims’!

Answer 2

There are no statistics for ‘Hidden Victims and Invisible Victims’!

These are people who suffer from the consequences of a crime that they did not commit = ‘Invisible Victims’!

‘Guilty by Association’ = Family members who committed crimes get blamed, shamed and accused - They are demonised; ostracised by society for not interfering or for not knowing that their loved one was a criminal, even though they did not know what the person was doing = Links to Michelle Raymond; her husband was found guilty of heinous crimes against children; she was found ‘guilty by association’ and labelled by those around her in society as ‘a villain’!

In order to reduce the number of ‘Invisible Victims of Crime’, we should not fall into the system of systematic victim blaming and we should judge people less and be more compassionate to those whose family members may have committed a crime!

Question 3

What is the definition of Victimology?

Answer 3

The study of victims of crime - Assessing why they are victims and what we can do about this!

Victims are usually people who suffers physical, mental or psychological harm, economic loss or impairment of their rights.

Question 4

What are Victims now considered to be? HINT: ‘Consumers’!

Answer 4

Victims are now considered to be ‘Consumers’ in the Criminal Justice System, with standards to expect and a role to be considered:

• Victim Surveys to judge the CJS
• Victim Support Services
• Involvement of Victims in the Process of Justice - Statements, courts etc

Question 5

What does Christie argue about Victims of Crime?

Answer 5

Christie argues that victims are socially constructed in society!

Question 6

Describe the Patterns of Victimisation, in regards to Social Class!

Answer 6

Poor / Working Class People = Most likely to be a Victim of Crime!

Middle Class People = Most likely to fear being a Victim of Crime; most likely top be shown as a Victim of Crime in Crime Dramas and on TV!

Rich / Upper Class People = Most likely to report a Crime and have it investigated!

The lower class are not represented in some crimes, such as with fraud, as they have less financial assets!

The poorest groups are actually more likely to be Victims of Crime. The Crime Survey of England and Wales shows us that crime rates are higher in areas of high unemployment and deprivation.

Question 7

Describe the Patterns of Victimisation, in regards to Age!

Answer 7

Infants = Most a risk of being murdered (links to the Jamie Bulger case) and being abducted (as seen with Madeleine McCann)!

Teens = Most likely to be a Victim of Violence, Sex, Crime and Theft = 16-24 year olds = They experience the most violence!

Elderly = Most likely to be Victims of Abuse (especially in care homes)!

Younger people are more at risk of victimisation - those most at risk of being murdered are infants under one (infanticide), whilst teenagers are more vulnerable than adults to assault, sexual harassment, theft and abuse. Whilst other people might be abused in care homes, this is something of a media stereotype, in general the risk of victimisation declines with age.

Question 8

Describe the Patterns of Victimisation, in regards to Gender!

Answer 8

Women = More at risk of Sex-Related Crimes, Domestic Violence and Trafficking!

Men = More at risk of being Victims of Violent Crime - 70% of homicides are Male Victims!

• Men are 2x as likely to be a Victim of any Crime than Women are!
• Women are more afraid of being Victims of Crime!
• Men are more likely to experience Crime from Strangers / Acquaintances!
• Women are more likely to experience Domestic Violence = They know the person who attacks them or harms them!

Males are at greater risk of being victims of violent attacks, about 70% of homicide victims are male. However, women are more likely to victims of domestic violence than men, sexual violence, people trafficking and rape as a ‘weapon of war’.

Question 9

Describe the Patterns of Victimisation, in regards to Ethnicity!

Answer 9

Ethnic Minorities (BAME) = More at risk of being Victims of Crime, especially those of a mixed-ethnicity - Mixed-race adults are more likely to be Victims of Crime!

The Home Office estimated that there around around 100,000 hate crimes per year; around 300 per day!

Minority-ethnic groups are at greater risk than whites of being victims of crime, as well as of racially motivated crimes. In relation to the police, ethnic minorities, the young and the homeless are more likely to report feeling under-protected and over-controlled.

Question 10

What is Repeat Victimisation?

Answer 10

There are a few people who are unfortunate enough to be a victim of crime many times over.

According to the Crime Survey of England and Wales, around 5% of people are victims of around 45% of all crimes in any one year. In contrast, around 60% of people experience no crime in any given year.

Question 11

What are the Evaluations of the Victim Crime Survey (The Crime Survey of England and Wales)? HINT: There are 3 Problems listed here!

Answer 11

The most representative Victim Survey is The Crime Survey of England and Wales. This covers approximately around 35,000 adults in England and Wales in private households. The survey asks about crimes the individuals have been victims of within the last year, and asks whether they reported these crimes to the police.

A problem with this survey is that certain aspects of victimisation are absent:

• Some people are missing from it, including children and homeless people
• Some crimes are not asked about, including white collar and corporate crimes
• Some crimes even if asked about might still be under-reported, including domestic violence because of the setting in which they take place

Question 12

Give some Statistics Deaths, in regards to Murders, Victim Deaths and the Gender Gap!

Answer 12

Murder Deaths (2002-2003) = Around 940 (Includes around 210 Harold Shipman murders)

How do Victims Die? (2009-2010) = Around 210 die due to ‘sharp instruments’

The Gender Gap (2009-2010) = Men - Around 420 + Women - Around 200!

Question 13

What do Miers and Newburn argue that POSITIVIST VICTIMOLOGY focuses on?

Answer 13

Positivist Victimology is mainly concerned with factors affecting rates of victimisation, as measured in statistical studies, a focus on violent crime and a concern with how victims might contribute to making the crime happen (known as ‘victim precipitation’).

Question 14

(POSITIVIST VICTIMOLOGY) What does Hoyle point out, regarding the identification of Patterns of Victimisation?

Answer 14

Hoyle points out that the identification of Patterns of Victimisation have been made possible through the increasing use of victimisation surveys; these surveys are able to enhance Official Statistics in understanding victims in a number of different ways.

Question 15

(POSITIVIST VICTIMOLOGY - HOYLE) How can Victim Surveys support Official Statistics, in regards to the Patterns of Victimisation? HINT: There are 3 Arguments here!

Answer 15

1. They can identify victims who have not had their associated offences reported to the police - Included non-police reported victims!
2. It is possible to do in-depth and local studies and collect far more details about victims than are recorded by police statistics - Increase in Verstehen and a more micro study!
3. It is possible to produce data on the experience of crime and the effects that victimisation has had on those involved - More data is able to be created and usefully analysed!

Question 16

(POSITIVIST VICTIMOLOGY - HOYLE) What do they note about how the British Crime Survey for England and Wales has found about the chance of being a Victim?

Answer 16

They found that the chances of being a Victim are linked to a number of factors:

AGE = Young men aged between 16-24 have the highest rates of Victimisation, particularly of violence.

SEX = Men are generally at higher risk of Victimisation than women, except in cases of domestic and sexual violence.

ROUTINE ACTIVITIES = People who regularly go out at night and consume alcohol are more likely to become victims of crimes than those who do not.

ETHNICITY = There is substantial evidence that minority ethnic groups are more likely than the white majority in the UK to be victims of many types of crimes.

LOCATION = Crime rates vary substantially between different towns and cities and specific urban areas, and they are often linked to income and social class: poorer, mainly working-class areas, have higher rates of crimes than richer, mainly middle-class areas.

Question 17

What did a study by the mental health charity, MIND, find people in vulnerable groups and being Victims of Crime?

Answer 17

They found that some vulnerable groups, such as those with learning or mental health problems, are particularly likely to be victims of crime!

Question 18

TRUE OR FALSE = Patterns of Victimisation DO NOT vary with specific types of crime!

Answer 18

FALSE = Patterns of Victimisation DO vary with specific types of crime! For Example - The vast majority of sexual assaults and rapes are committed against women by men, and rapes are usually carried out by people who are known to victims rather than by strangers.

Question 19

(POSITIVIST VICTIMOLOGY) What does Victim Proneness mean?

What people are tend to be easy targets of Crime?

Answer 19

Victim Proneness states that people become victims because of their own characteristics!

Therefore, the old, the young and the mentally ill are said to be victims of crime because they are ‘easy targets for the offender’!

Question 20

(POSITIVIST VICTIMOLOGY) What does Von Hentig claim about homicide? HINT: Victim-precipitated!

Describe Von Henting’s study!

Answer 20

He claimed that homicide could be victim-precipitated - This is whereby the person who was killed may have started the violence that resulted in their own death.

His study of around 600 homicides in the US found that over 1/4 of these crimes could be seen as victim-precipitated.

Question 21

(POSITIVIST VICTIMOLOGY - VON HENTING) What are the Criticisms of his study?

Answer 21

However, his study has been widely criticised for victim blaming!

The idea of victim precipitation in crimes has been particularly criticises in rape cases where, in some court proceedings, judges have occasionally deemed young women wearing revealing clothes partly to blame for their victimisation.

Question 22

(POSITIVIST VICTIMOLOGY) Describe the importance of Victims, in regards to crime!

Answer 22

It is widely accepted that victims should not be held responsible for the actions of those who victimise them; however, it is now debated and acknowledged by many Criminologists that victims may play some part in the processes that result in a crime occurring and that, without victims, many crimes would not exist, including theft and assault!

This links to the Left Realist study by Lea and Young, in regards to the Square of Crime, which highlights the importance of victims in defining acts as ‘criminal’ by choosing whether or not to report them.

Question 23

(POSITIVIST VICTIMOLOGY) What are the Overall Evaluations of Positivist Victimology?

Answer 23

POSITIVES:

• It has been important in identifying broad patterns of crime and for highlighting the problem of victimisation in certain types of offence = EG: It has been useful in highlighting the frequency of sexual assaults on women and the need to tackle sexual and violent offences against female victims within the home and the study of ethnic-minority victims has also exposed problems of institutional racism within the police!
• It has highlighted the tendency for the Criminal Justice System (CJS) to ignore the victim, and has also shown that being the victim of even relatively minor offences can be traumatic and potentially debilitating = EG: It can make people feel unsafe within their own home, or make them too afraid of crime to go out at night.
• It explains why white collar crime is so underrepresented in statistics by showing that the term ‘victim’ is attached by the powerful.

NEGATIVES:

• Relies upon data from Victimisation Surveys that may not be entirely reliable
• Some Positivist Victimology has tended to blame the victim for the offending = EG: Von Hentig
• It tends to be limited in the range of crimes considered. Crime Surveys do not produce statistics on the Victims of White-Collar, Corporate or State Crime.

Watts et al = They argue that Positivist Victimology, because of its reliance upon Victimisation Surveys, is limited to Victims ‘that the state chooses to “see”’!

• The idea of victim-precipitation carries the serious risk that the victim will not just be seen as involved in the events leading up to the crime, but will be seen as jointly responsible with the offender for causing the crime!
• It ignores wider structural differences that cause crime
• It can easily tip into victim blaming (EG = Amir (1971) = He said that 1/5 rape victims are precipitated - almost like saying they asked for it)
• It ignores crimes where victims are unaware, such as green crime
• It ignores that some victims make problems for themselves (EG = Such as not locking doors or windows)

Alternative Approaches to Victimology have been developed partly because of these criticism!

Question 24

What is Radical Victimology? HINT: Focus on Structural Factors!

Answer 24

Radical Victimologists suggest that more account needs to be taken of structural factors in society, in regards to understanding victimisation!

Question 25

(RADICAL VICTIMOLOGY) What might Positivist Victimologists reveal about crime? HINT: Links to Women and the Working-Class!

Answer 25

They might reveal that women and the working-class are more likely to be victims of particular types of crime = However, they do not discuss why this is, as they do not discuss the structure of society!

Question 26

(RADICAL VICTIMOLOGY) What do Positivists focus on, in regards to research? HINT: Statistical patterns!

Answer 26

Positivists concentrate on statistical patterns and do not consider the role of the patriarchy in crimes, like DV!

Lack of verstehen and depth in data = No background factors, arguments of understanding!

Question 27

(RADICAL VICTIMOLOGY) What do Lea and Young argue about Victimisation? HINT: High rates of crime in poor-inner city places!

How does this link to Jones, Maclean and Young’s study?

Answer 27

These 2 Left Realists argue that understanding of Victimisation needs to consider the way that socially structured class inequality is made worse by the high rates of Victimisation amongst people living in poor-inner city areas.

Jones, Maclean and Young completed an in-depth local victim survey in Islington and found that the poor are often subjected to repeat Victimisation; being a victim was more problematic for the poor, because they often lacked insurance and the means by which to protect themselves from further crimes against them! Also, the working-class people had an uneasy relationship with the police, which made it harder to report crimes.

Many were typified as ‘troublemakers’ (Cicourel); they were also seen as being part of the blame as to why they are a Victim of crime!

Question 28

(RADICAL VICTIMOLOGY) What else do Radical Victimologists argue needs to change about Victimisation? HINT: Other types of crimes, including corporate crime, need to be included!

What does Kuazlarich et al argue about this? HINT: Victims of state crime are the poor; the offender is the State!

Answer 28

They argue that this area of Criminology needs to also take into account victims of crimes other than street crimes, including corporate crime, white-collar crime and also state crime.

Kuazlarich et al argues that victims of State Crime are often found amongst the poor and vulnerable in society and, because the offender is the State, they have very little chance of getting compensation or seeing the offender prosecuted. This is unless they go to an international court, like the ECHR, and get their case appealed there - However, this costs a lot of money and resources!

Question 29

(RADICAL VICTIMOLOGY) What are the Criticisms of Radical Victimology? HINT: Not separate enough from Positivist Victimology!

What does Walklate argue? HINT: Research methods used, including unreliable crime surveys!

Answer 29

Critical Criminologists argue that it does not go far enough in distancing itself away from Positivist Criminology (which blames the victims).

EG: Walklate suggests that it is still sometimes reliant upon limited and unreliable crime surveys (as was the case with Left Realist Approaches) and upon legal definitions of crime.

Question 30

According to Walklate, what is Critical Victimology? HINT: Who defines who is and who is not a Victim?

Answer 30

Critical Victimologists question the whole category of ‘the victim’, just like the labelling theory questioned the idea of ‘the criminal’ being a clear-cut category!

Walklate suggests that the state has a crucial and integral role in defining who is and who is not a victim of crime; they argue that the State often acts to protect its own interests!

EG: States rarely define those who are killed by State themselves, such as the civilians who are killed in military action by armed forces, or people who die in police custody as ‘Victims’!

Question 31

(CRITICAL VICTIMOLOGY) What does Critical Victimology argue? HINT: A more positive view of Victims; they are individuals who need to be protected!

Answer 31

This approach argues that victims should not just be seen as the unfortunate and passive recipients of harm done to them by criminals; they argue that Victims should be seen more positively as individuals with rights that should be honoured!

Structural factors play a part in explaining why people are more likely to be victims (EG = Poverty and patriarchy).

Question 32

(CRITICAL VICTIMOLOGY) What does Critical Victimology tend to concentrate on? HINT: Powerless vs Powerful!

How does this link to Feminism?

Answer 32

It tends to concentrate on the harm done to relatively powerless people whose rights are violated by the more powerful!

This approach has been popular amongst Feminist writers; they see women as the Victims of oppressive patriarchal practices in society!

Question 33

(CRITICAL VICTIMOLOGY) How do they view Political Campaigning, especially in regards to Feminism? HINT: Does it really do much when rich, powerful individuals are the ones who have to change the laws?

Answer 33

Writers, like Walklate, argue that Political Campaigning by Victim groups can make some difference and can lead to people’s rights being acknowledged, better enforced or extended (EG: The right of women to be free of DV or sexual harassment at work), but they believe that society still largely operates in the interests of the Powerful elite, who decide whether or not to change the laws!

Question 34

(CRITICAL VICTIMOLOGY) What do Tombs and Whyte argue, in regards to Victims of Corporate Crime? HINT: They are not aware!

Answer 34

They argue that many people who are Victims of Corporate Crime are often Victims without even realising it - They argue that Corporate Crime is actually more common and more damaging than Street Crime is!

They suggest that more than 1/3 of the US population (2010) have been victims of fraud or theft and more than 20,000 people in the UK are killed annually by air pollution! Yet, corporations try to ensure that their actions are not prohibited by law and (if they are) they make sure the law is not enforced - This links to PartyGate!

They also found that Corporations use their power and money to obscure the nature and extent of Corporate Crime (such as by lobbying governments_ so that members of the public do not see themselves as Victims (false consciousness)!

Because of this, Victim surveys are of little use, as they do not fully understand or explain Victimhood for those who are unaware Victims of Corporate Crime!

• Victim status is created for the poor (exploited, live in deprived areas = Higher risk of crime) and for women (more likely to be victims of sex crime/trafficking/violence etc.)
• Global power structures create victims in poorer places (drone attacks, war, environmental disasters) and they often don’t face justice.

Question 35

What are the Evaluations of Radical and Critical Victimology? HINT: They are not mutually exclusive; they can work together!

Answer 35

Despite the differences between Positivist, Radical and Critical Victimology, these Approaches to Victimology may not be mutually exclusive and they could work alongside one another.

POSITIVIST = Helps to identify the extent of Victimisation in different groups!

LEFT REALISM (A TYPE OF RADICAL VICTIMOLOGY) = Highlights the Social Construction of Offenders and Victims through the Square of Crime!

CRITICAL = Highlights the role of power in defining who is and who is not a Victim!

Question 36

What does Hoyle argue about the Effects of Victimisation? HINT: 12 Effects!

Answer 36

Hoyle argue that Victims experience 12 negative reactions including sleeplessness, fear, PTSD, shock etc - The true, harsh reality of being a Victim!

Question 37

What does Walklate mean by ‘Secondary Victimisation’? HINT: Victims get attacked by the CJS; rape victims feel like they are on trial!

Answer 37

Walklate argues about something called ‘Secondary Victimisation’; the idea that on top of the original victimisation, victims can be victimised by the CJS. EG: Rape victims

Question 38

(WALKLATE - ‘Secondary Victimisation’) What is the Impact of this? HINT: Fear of Victimisation!

Answer 38

Fear of Victimisation = This creates fear of becoming a victim. However, this could be irrational. EG: Women not going out for fear of attack when men are more likely to be attacked or elderly mistrusting the wider population.

• This can also create ‘indirect’ victims (e.g. family, friends, witnesses).
• Hate crimes can lead to waves of fear and panic in communities, again affecting others.