Criminology C2

• Victimology - The study of victims, what makes them more susceptible to crime in order to prevent future crimes
• Examining patterns of victimisation show who may be more prone to being a victim. If the amount of crime is increasing, it means there are more victims.
• Positive victimology - The type of behaviour and personality type that is associated with being a victim.
• Positive victimology - Hans Von Hentig (1948)
• Positive Victimology Traits - Walking home alone, attending nightclubs regularly
• Limitations of Positive Victimisation -

  • Accused of victim blaming
  • 'Slut shames' women, saying that women who dress more provocative are more susceptible to sexual assault
• Critical Victimisation - Victimology within social groups since some groups are vulnerable to being victims such as homeless people.
• CRITICAL VICTIMISATION

  Hierarchy of victimisation- Carrabine (2004)
• **CRITICAL VICTIMISATION**

  Hierarchy of Victimisation:

  • Women, children, frail, emotionally vulnerable
  • Men generally
  • Specialist personnel
  • Military
• Critical Victimology Evaluation:

  • Statistics suggest that men are more likely to be a victim of crime
  • CSEW (2017) People with a higher income were more likely to be a victim of crime such as theft than those with a lower income
• Impacts of victimisation:

  • Insecurity
  • Social isolation
  • Social anxiety
  • Spreads to secondary victims
  • May lead to PTSD, anxiety, depression
• Primary victim - The person who directly experienced the harm
• Secondary victim - Those close to the person who experienced the harm such as witnesses or family/friends
• Tertiary Victims - Those involved in the aftermath/intervention in professional capacity such as police and crime scene investigators
• Direct Victimisation - When a crime is perpetrated directly against a person(s). These are typically victims of sexual assault, physical attack or prolonged abuse.
• Impact of direct victimisation - They may suffer physically, psychologically and financially
• Ripple effect - When a crime has an effect on a community, for example hate crime since it spreads a 'ripple' of harm through a community
• Impact of Indirect Victimisation - These may be family/friends who may feel rage, fear or grief in response to the crime
• Azevedo et al (Portugal 2022) - Aimed to characterise direct and indirect victimisation.

  This was a study of 554 participants. 38.11% were victims of crime but only 17.7% were direct victims and 29.0% were indirect victims.
• Azevedo et al (Portugal 2022) - Found that the most reported crimes were robbery, theft and offenses to physical integrity and occurred at night on the street
• Secondary victimisation - When the criminal justice process treats the victim like shit which makes them feel victimised a second time. It is the act of putting the blame on a victim
• Fear of Crime - Victimisation increases a fear of crime, lowering people's quality of life.

  Media tends to increase fear by overestimating and exaggerating crime due to media sensationalising crime and focusing on violent crime.
• Patterns of victimisation:

  • Social class
  • Age
  • Repeat victimisation
  • Ethnicity
  • Gender
• Repeat Victimisation (CSEW) - A previous victim is likely to become a victim of crime again
• Hans Von Hentig (1948) - You need at least two vulnerabilities to become the "perfect victim"