Essay On Victimization Of Crime

The National Crime Survey indicates that 25% of U.S. households have at least one individual who was victimized in some way during the past year. Personal theft is very common. About 99% of Americans will be the victim of personal theft at some time in their lives, and 87% will be a theft victim three or more times. Men are twice as likely as women to be victims of robbery and assault. The violent victimization rate for females has been fairly stable, but there has been a 20% increase for males in the last 15 years. Victim risk diminishes rapidly after age 25, It usually draws more attention when elderly people are victimized, but they are usually safer than their children or grandchildren. Unmarried or never married people are more likely

Victimization is more likely at night between the hours of 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Personal larceny is more common during the day, with more serious crime occurring at night. Crime occurs more in open public areas, although rapes and simple assaults tend to occur in homes. Crime is most frequent in central city areas. Western urban areas have the highest crime rates, while the Northeast rural areas have the lowest. The poor are more likely to be victims of crime. They are far more likely to be victims of violent crime, while the middle class are more likely to be victims of property crime. African Americans are victimized at the highest rates. Crime tends to be intra-racial criminals and victims of the same race rather than interracial criminal and victim of different races. About 75% of crime is intra-racial. Strangers commit about 60% of violent crimes. However, females are more likely to know their assailants. In some studies, over half of offenders report being under the influence of alcohol and/or other drugs when they committed the offense (Roberts,

Moreover, the deviant place theory suggests that taking safety precautions in these areas may be of little use since it is the neighborhood, and not the lifestyle choices, that affect victimization. In a nutshell, if a neighborhood is deviant, then the only way to lower your risk of victimization is to leave the neighborhood for a less deviant, low crime rate area (Harper, 2014).

Lastly, the Routine Activity Theory explains the rate of victimization through a set of situations that reflect the routines of typical individuals. The availability of suitable targets, the absence of capable guardians, and the presence of motivated offenders. According to this theory, the presence of one or more of these factors creates a higher risk of victimization. Communities with ample police protection, alarms and other security devices, and community watch teams, lower their risk by creating guardianship, which is noted under this theory to reduce crime rates (Seigel,