Crime and Victimology Essay - 2155 Words

Introduction From the beginning of time there have always been crimes against persons. People went by the saying â€Å"An eye for an eye†. You stole from your neighbor, they stole from you. You hurt someone, they hurt you. It wasn’t until the 1940’s people started taking a closer look into these crimes against person, which they later called victimology. This paper will look into victimology and their theories as we go back into the past and how victimology is now. Victimology: A Look into the Past The study of victimology dates back to the early 1940’s. Marvin Wolfgang was one of the first victimologists. To fully understand victimology is to understand what a victim is. A victim is a person that has suffered physical or emotional harm†¦show more content†¦A medium risk victim are really lower risk victims but was in the wrong place at the wrong time. A medium risk person could be a person that could be at the bank during a hold-up. Low risk victims are victims with a lifestyle that would not normally put them in danger. Low risk victims do not engage in risky behavior such as doing drugs, they are aware of their surroundings and stay away from danger. Equivalent group hypothesis suggests that victims and offenders are one and the same. That they are both part a high-risk lifestyle. Proximity hypothesis says that victims who live near crime are putting themselves at risk of becoming a victim. Someone who makes a little more than their neighbor can easily be a target of some sort of theft. The last theory, routine activities, has three variables. The first variable is the availability of target, the lack of guardianship, and the presence of motivated offenders. This means that there are offenders out there and their victim will be those who are unsuspecting and those without any sort of guardianship. Victim offender-relationships are defined as the victim and offender knowing each other before the victimization occurred. Most of these types are usually associated with rape and domestic abuse cases. The offender is probably a husband/wife, mother/father, sibling or close family friend. Victim-criminal justice system relates to how theShow MoreRelatedComparing Positivist And Radical Victimology Perspective1236 Words   |  5 Pages Compare the positivist victimology perspective with either the radical or critical victimology perspective. Illustrate your answer with reference to at least one of following: age, class, gender, race and sexuality. Introduction The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate the different perspectives within victimology, specifically focusing on positivist and radical victimology perspectives. In arguing these similar but contrasting perspectives this essay will also signpost the relationship of theRead MoreCSI, The First Forty-eight, Date Line, Law and Order and Criminal Justice are just a few examples1400 Words   |  6 Pagesof shows on the T.V. networks today that roll out a visual of the term victimology. According to Box 1.1 in the class text, Crime Victims, An Introduction to Victimology, by Andrew Aarmen, March 2012, victimology is the work done by law enforcement teams as they gather as much detailed information pertaining to a victim’s life while they were alive as they possibly can in order to help them identify the perpetrator of the crime, take them to court, and hopefully obtain a guilty verdict and appropriateRead MoreSimilarities Between Criminology And Victimology853 Words   |  4 Pa gesand differences between Criminology and Victimology? They are many similarities and differenced between Criminology and Victimology. 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It will focus on similarities and differences and some contradictions which my lie in these theories as well. Robert Agnew’s strain theory states that there are many strains and stresses in ones lives which could influence the likelihood of one committing a crime. The strain theory suggests there are two main factors that could influence ones decision to commit crimes. The first is theRead MoreThe United Nations Declaration Of Basic Principles Of Justice For Victims Of Crime And Abuse1521 Words   |  7 PagesThe 1985 United Nations Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power (REF 1) defines victim as â€Å"persons who individually or collectively, have suffered harm, including physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss or substantial impairment of their fundamental rights, through acts or omissions that are in violation of criminal laws operative within Member States, including those laws proscribing criminal abuse of power†. Victimisation is theRead MoreThe Issue Of Domestic Violence1527 Words   |  7 Pages childr en, elderly or mentally/physically disabled people as well. Victimology is a topic that has been intriguing to me for a while. It certainly has come a long way since 1947 when Benjamin Mendelsohn coined the term. According to all the history that has been provided since that time many improvements have taken place. Such as the accessibility to information regarding the amount of individuals that are victims of any crime in any specific area at any time. All the reforms, movements and implementationsRead MoreCriminal Profiling And The Criminal Justice System1117 Words   |  5 Pagesan individual who commits a crime, may leave some sort of psychological evidence that can be crucial to an investigation. This theory is a vital part of the criminal justice system today. Criminology targets why individuals commit crimes and why they behave in certain situations. By understanding why a person commits a crime, you can develop ways to control crime or change the criminal to a certain extent. There are many theories in criminology. Some characterize crime to the individual. They believeRead MoreWhich Gender Influences Patterns And Processes Of Victimisation, Identifying Key Victimological Perspectives And Typologies2548 Words   |  11 Pagesacknowledging the argument that radical victimology offers a more balanced approach to gendered victimisation than positivist or critical viewpoints. The Sage Dictionary of Criminology (2013) defines victimisation as â€Å"†¦a term originally used to designate an area of study concerned to address the relationship between the victim and offender.† It should be noted however that since the late 1970s, the term has been used to indicate a more general concern with the victim of crime. The Oxford English Dictionary