Lecture 10- Victimology Flashcards
What are the key readings?
Newburn, Funnell, Spalek
What are the key points from Newburn?
Radical victimology rejects positivist victimology
Victimisation is a product of personal attributes of individual victim
What are the key points from Spalek?
The poor are disadvantaged as victims and offenders
Industrialisation helped with punishing the offender
There were victim movements in 1960s
What are the key points from Funnell?
Ethnographic methods are used for more information into race hate crime victimisation
Proximity has the risk of increasing racist hate crimes
Isolation was used to avoid hate crimes
Mortification of the self so there is a loss of self-esteem and a loss of social identity
Feagan and Sikes=repeated victimisation signficantly affects a black person’s behaviour understanding of life
There is a loss of role within the home
What is a victim?
Person that has suffered harm (physical + mental injury + emotional suffering) through acts that are in violation of criminal laws
What does Newburn say about victims?
‘Long been the forgotten party in criminal justice’
What are victims featured as?
Applicants for compensation to give witness in court
Who looked at the rise of victims in the 1940s?
Von Hentig and Mendelsohn
What occurred in 1940s?
Processes of victimisations and the relationship of victims and the offenders
What happened in the rise of victims in the 1960s?
Media exposure for killers and victims
Who looked at the rise of victims post-WWII?
Focus on victimisation and the Holocaust
Who looked at the rise of victims in the 1980s?
Home office funding for victim support
Who looked at the rise of victims in the 1990s?
First victim charters, witness services and the piloting of victim statements
What is positivist victimology?
Interest in the extent victims contribute to their own victimisation and how victimisation relates to crime patterns
What is radical victimology>
Analysis of the state, its action and the experience of victims. Attention to crimes of the powerful and social problems created by capitalism
What is critical victimology?
Incorporation of feminism in radical criminology and focus on citizenship. Victims rights crucial for policy making
Who looked at the ideal victim?
Christie, 1986
Who is the ideal victim?
Weak in relation to the offender, acts virtuously, blameless, victim as a stranger, offend in unambiguously big and bad, victim has power, influence and sympathy to elicit victim status
Why is it important to assess the ideal victim idea?
Focusing on secondary victimisation, robin hood crimes, there is overlapping of victim/offender categories, the victims aren’t aware they have been victimised
What is robin hood crimes?
Sometimes the offender is weak and disempowered
What is the implications for the criminal justice for offenders and victims?
Experience of sexual and physical victimisation can occur in cognitive and emotional consequences (Fallot and Harris)
Past abuse in women’s experience should be of interest to research and policy-makers ]
What are the trends in CSEW for victims (2010-15)?
Repeat victimisation (73%)
Most victims are young males (16-20 years)
Cases of violent crime is rare compared to property and household offences
2014- victim based crime (84%) of police recorded crime
Why might some people be particularly vulnerable?
Character and wider circumstantial reasons
What is a case study for vulnerable victims?
Julia Mason who was cross examined by her rapist in the same clothes he worn while attacking her
What are the special measures for vulnerable victims?
Screening witnesses from the accused, evidence via video link, clearing the public gallery, removal of wigs and gowns
What are the responses for victims in the CJS?
Procedural rights, implementation, victim personal statements
What are the procedural rights for victims?
Allowing victims to say more in the CJ process
What are the arguments against procedural rights for victims?
Threatened the defendent due to process rights and undermining fairness (Ashworth, 2012) and may raise expectations and place unnecessary burdens on them
What is implementation?
Probation being required to contact victims of particular offenders to see if they have any concerns over condition attach to offender’s release
What are victim personal statements?
Victim can describe the wider effects of crime on them and can choose to read
What do feminist criminologists argue about victim blaming?
There is a divide between the undeserving and deserving victim
What can effect victim blaming?
Persuasiveness of victim proneness, lifestyle factors and culpability
What are the statistics on femicide on the Mexico-US border?
Between 1993-2003, approximately 370 women were murdered and at least 137 of these were sexually assaulted prior to death (Amnesty International, 2003).
What were the reasons for femicide in Mexico-US border?
Here, ‘the politics of death and the politics of gender go hand in hand’. Government isn’t take the deaths seriousness
What does Greer and McLaughlin argue about child sexual abuse?
Argues that ‘long standing cultural taboos’ were, in part, responsible for the ‘marginalised’ nature of the UK public debate on child sexual abuse…
What are Cohen’s three reasons for institutional silence?
Literal denial, interpretative denial and implicatory denial
What is literal denial?
Sheer refusal to accept evidence
What is interpretative denial?
Denial based on the interpretation of evidence
What is implicatory denial?
Denial based on the change/response that acceptance would necessitate
What is public denial?
A main force that contributes to institutional child sexual abuse
What are the statistics (Stonewall) on homophobic hate crime?
1 in 6 LGBT people have experienced a homophobic hate crime in the last 3 years and a quarter felt like the needed to alter their behaviour to avoid being a victim
What are the statistics for non reporting for homophobic hate crime?
31% of those who experienced a hate crime or incident did not report as they believed Police would not act or take seriously
What are the statistics for reporting for homophobic hate crime?
2/5 said incident was not recorded as a homophobic incident
What are the statistics for support of homophobic hate crimes?
Only ¼ referred to support group or agency
What are the factors contributing to child sexual exploitation?
Those exploiting the child/young person have power over them by virtue of their age, gender, intellect, physical strength and or economic or other resources.
What is the Rotherham case study?
Abuse took place between 1997-2013 and affected 1400 children in one town. Children being violently raped, beaten, forced to perform sex acts in taxis and cars when they were being trafficked between towns, and serially abused by large numbers of men. Many children repeatedly self-harmed and some became suicidal. They suffered family breakdown and some became homeless.
Who speaks about Rotherham?
Jay, 2014
What does Jay, 2014, say?
Police ‘gave no priority to CSE, regarding many child victims with contempt and failing to act on their abuse as a crime’ (Jay, 2014). Lack of action against perpetrators of rape and sexual assault.
What are the challenges for the CJS for child sexual exploitation?
Forced in criminality for/by abusers
Disclosing abuse would disclose criminality
Youth offending impacts credibility in courts
YOTs often work with offenders and victims
Taking justice into their own hands due to system failings
What are the recommendations improving CJS for child sexual exploitation?
Prevention, multi-agency work, advocacy
What is prevention?
Core consent, sex and relationships work for vulnerable young people and young people displaying controlling or abusive behaviours
What is multi-agency work?
2012 Howard League research highlights a lack of strong partnerships responding to CSE including youth justice services.
What is advocacy?
Understand, assess and report on offending behaviour in the context of trauma and abuse. Challenge inappropriate charges with the police and CPS
