Victims of crime

• Victim

  Someone who has suffered harm (physical, emotional, economic) through acts that go against the law
• Evaluation of victims of crime

  Christie argues that 'victim' is a socially constructed category

  • stereotype of ideal victim by media, CJS and public is of a weak individual who is the victim of strangers offence
• Positivist victimology

  Looks at patterns in victimisation, identifies characteristics of victims that contributes to their victimisation

  1. Victim proneness = characteristics that make victim different and vulnerable from others, e.g. age, disability
  2. Victim precipitation = Wolfgang studied 588 murders > found victim triggered event leading to their murder
• Evaluation of positivist victimology

  • Criticized for victim blaming > victimisation appears to be victims fault
  • Ignores wider structural differences > poverty, patriarchy
• Critical victimology

  Looks at structural factors which place women and poor at greater risk of victimisation

  • through CJ process the victim label is given to some but denied to others, e.g. male victim of domestic violence
  • Tombs and White (Marxist) showed employers violations of laws leading to death/injury were often explained as fault of 'accident prone workers'
• Evaluation of critical victimology

  Failure to label = (Marxism) concealing extent of vistimisation and hides crimes of powerful, denies victim redress, e.g. Grenfell
• Patterns of victimisation

  1. Class = poor more likely to be victims, crime is highest in areas of high unemployment
  2. Age = vulnerable to assault
  3. Ethnicity = minority groups at greater risk than whites of being victims of crime and racially motivated crime
  4. Gender = males at greater risk of violent attacks whereas woman more likely to be victims of domestic violence
• Impact of victimisation

  Crime may have serious physical/emotional impact on victim

  • may create indirect victims = friends, family
  • hate crimes against minorities may create climate of fear for a community
• Impact of victimisation

  Secondary victimisation = individuals may suffer further victimisation in CJS, e.g. rape victim

  • crime may create fear of becoming a victim even if fears are irrational, e.g. young women may be afraid to go out in case they're attacked