Patterns and trends in victimisation

Question 1

What are the characteristics of a ‘typical’ victim?

Answer 1

• Young
• Male
• Working class
• Black

Question 2

How is incidence of victimisation in terms of age disproportionate to fear of crime?

Age

Answer 2

• Older people are more likely to fear crime BUT younger people are more likely to be victims of crime

Question 3

What did Young say about victimisation?

Age

Answer 3

• It is a combination of social factors that have the greatest impact on the likelihood of becoming a victim
• E.g: Islington crime survey found young, white females were 29x more likely to be assaulted than those over 45, and 30x more likely to be sexually attacked (intersection between age and gender)

Question 4

What are the findings for the most dangerous age for women?

Age and ethnicity

Answer 4

White= youngest age group
Black= 25-44
Asian= 45+

Question 5

Age and crime stats

Age

Answer 5

• 1 in 4 children (10-15) have been a victim of personal crime (robbery, theft, assault)
• Only 1 in 10 aged 10-15 reported a crime against them
• Young men are most likely to be victims of violent crime (knife attacks, gang violence)

Question 6

What does evidence suggest about crime in victims over 45?

Age

Answer 6

• Lower crime rate against the
• But more likely to be seriously injured as a result of assault
• More likely to have an attack involving severe violence
• Attack more likely to greatly effect their lives

Question 7

What does evidence suggest about crime in victims over 60?

Age

Answer 7

• Fear crime but are less likely to be victims
• Due to a media over-reporting og ‘shocking’ crime, creating a false impression
• Most vulnerable- impact is greater so fear is not misplaced

Question 8

What does evidence suggest about gender and victimisation rates/fear of crime?

Gender

Answer 8

• Victimisation rates lower for women historically
• Current rates are similar for both genders
• Women fear crime more than men, but men are more likely to be victims
• Women experienced a self-imposed curfew due to fear of crime

Question 9

Stats on gender and types of crime

Gender

Answer 9

• 2/3 homocides= male victims
• Males more likely to be murdered by strangers vs women by people they know (husband/boyfriend)
• Women more likely to be victims of sexual/domestic violence
• Crown prosecution services (CPS)= 90% of rapes go unreported

Question 10

What does Young say about victimisation and gender?

Gender

Answer 10

• Crime and deviance= socially constructed and interpreted
• Same act, i.e. a punch, can have different meanings based on: social context, people involved, interpretation by society/justice system

Question 11

How is violence and gender interpreted?

Gender

Answer 11

• Male violence= normalised, expected
• Female victims of violence= viewed differently- more severe/indicative of gender imbalances

Question 12

What are gendered perceptions of victimhood?

Gender

Answer 12

• Male victims= expected to ‘toughen up’/blamed
• Female victims= framed within context of vulnerability

Question 13

What are the responses to violence based on gender?

Gender

Answer 13

• Male victims of DV find experiences are downplayed
• Female victims of DV are recognised more often within the context of abuse and power dynamics

Question 14

What is the cultural context and victimisation?

Gender

Answer 14

• Gender roles/expectations inform interpretation of who is allowed to be seen as a ‘true victim’. Women are framed as vulnerable/powerless vs men are less likely to report due to social stigma

Question 15

What did Hanmer and Saunders say about victimisation?

Gender

Answer 15

• 20% of women in a street in Leeds had been sexually assaulted and NOT reported it

Question 15

What did Stanko say about victimisation?

Gender

Answer 15

• Over a 24 hour period, an incident of domestic violence is recorded every second

Question 16

What did Walkate say about repeat victimisation?

Gender

Answer 16

• Many women remain in abusive relationships because:
• They have nowhere else to go
• There are children involved
• Lack of economic independence
• Pscyhological issues (self-blame, dependence)
  Shortage of safe shelters

Question 17

Ethnicity stats

Ethnicity

Answer 17

• Shankley and Williams: in 2017 white British people least likely to say they were victims of crime (14%), black/ black British and mixed people report significantly higher proportion of victimisation of personal crime
• 1 in 3 gun murders= victims and offenders are black
• Number of racist incidents recorded by police decrased from 2005
• CSEW- 2012-13 mixed, black, asian adults at higher risk of being a victim of personal crime

Question 18

What did the Islington crime survery find on class and victimisation?

Social class

Answer 18

• Poorer households more likely to be burgled
• Poorer communities more at risk
• Poor people more likely to suffer repeat victimisation
• Chambliss- W/c engages in crime as a response to their social and economic conditions, directed towards w/c

Question 19

What is the myth of equal crime?

Social class

Answer 19

• Young and Kinsey- the poor suffer more from crime
• Experience of crime is more traumatic for poorer victims as they cannot afford insurance to replace stolen goods
• Hostile police community relationships meant crimes went underreported

Question 20

What did the CSEW find about class and victimisation?

Social class

Answer 20

• Risk of being a victim of burglary/theft positively correlate with the level of unemployment in the victim’s community
• High crime areas= inner city and deprived neighbourhoods (w/c populated)
• Risk of being a victim is invesely proportional to income