There are always those moments when we make decisions that affect the rest of our lives, turning left when we should have turned right. The difference is that most times we live to regret those decisions unlike Carla and her ill-fated jog to her death. There have been throughout time theories as to why offenders commit crime and what drives them to go against all social norms, but now the discussion in the last 50 years, or so, has been what and how much responsibility the victim has in what makes them an attractive target and how their daily routines can even make then more susceptible to crime. The three theories of victimization I found are the Victim Precipitation theory, the Deviant Place theory, and the Lifestyle theory. Each theory has …show more content…
Carla jogged at night to a place known for selling heroine and had a bar across the street. I mean come on, “Here I am, someone come kill me”. She might as well have worn a sign saying that. I have raised three daughters and have always warned about placing themselves in situations that could get them hurt. It is the little preventive measures that may make me seem paranoid but is smart to remember. Park in a parking deck close to the elevator, carry your keys with the keys through your fingers for protection, and always, always use the buddy system. The theory mostly encompasses those that live in known high crime areas. Mostly ethical these areas have high crime, low wages, and poor economy. The makings of a bad neighborhood include drugs, gangs, and poor housing. These types of neighborhoods house those that live outside of societal norms and criminals to not usually travel far to find victims either and they also know that these are victims less likely to call …show more content…
Hindelang, Gottfredson, and Garofalo (1978) and the study done by Cohen and Felson (1979) stated that this theory along with The Routine Theory pushed that the actions of victims are what made them victims. Not to say that they asked for it but that they put themselves in a position to become one. It also worked out in future studies that the individual that changed or placed themselves in situations that were close to people who commit crimes or offenders and do not have the right kind of guardian or supervision will in a sense, make themselves a victim. The studies also take into consideration the old, the disabled, and the very young as victims that cannot control the variations of their routines. There are a number of variables in Carla’s story that bring her within the realm of crime. Her jogging at ten o’clock at night. Her drug use or the fact that her boyfriend sold drugs. The neighborhood he lived in. These are obviously elements that brought Carla closer to crime, if not too close. This to me is the most relevant theory in my studies. This explained completely why Carla became a victim. Her lifestyle helped facilitate her
...ctivities they do. The theory looks at how the lack of regulation in a community results into crime. Further, it alludes that when an individual faces great strain or pain in the achievement of his or her goals and needs in life, he or she is forced to either give up all together or apply force to accomplish them. This motivation to achieve the needs and objectives of the community, led the other Moore deep into the life of crime (Moore, 2011).
The first theory is victim precipitation. This theory infers that some people may actually initiate the confrontation that eventually leads to physical suffering. This initiation is either active or passive. Active initiation occurs when a victim acts provocatively, such as using threats/fighting words or actually making the first attack. Passive initiation occurs when the victim unknowingly carries some personal characteristic that either threatens or encourages the attacker (Siegel, 2012, p. 80). The second theory is the lifestyle theory, the belief that crime is not a random occurrence but rather a function of the victim's lifestyle. This does not always carry a negative aspect. An example of this would be a college student living on a college campus. The college student is a female and habitually drinks on campus surrounded by other people also drinking. Her lifestyle puts her at a higher risk of victimization as it has been found that sexual assaults on campus involving females usually involve the use of alcohol (Siegel, 2012, p. 81). The deviant place theory inserts the belief that the greater the exposure to dangerous places, the more likely people will become victims of crime and violence (Siegel, 2012, p. 82). Lastly, the routine activities theory insinuates that volume and distribution of predatory crime "are closely related to the interaction of three variables that reflect the
Introduction: Criminology is a scientific approach to the study of crime and why it occurs. Criminologists examine this both on the individual and on the societal level. Meaning, why do individuals commit crime, and how society reacts to those crimes. As we look at the root causes of crime, we begin to notice certain aspects of people’s lives that causes them to offend - like a poor social standing, or perhaps an individual’s peer group who may allow or even support negative influences. We can also try to understand why some individuals choose NOT to offend and live pro-social lives despite negative external influences. These concepts and ideas are known as crime theories. There are many and they are wide-ranging.
Essentially, through a process of conceptual integration, different aspects of each theory can be used in conjunction to compensate for what each individual theory fails to explain, and thus can further both the scope and policy utility of the theories (Paternoster & Bachman, 2001). For instance, low self-control theory asserts that low self-control is the cause of crime all the time. This may be true for some criminals, but many criminals, like those involved in white collar crimes, do not adhere to the principles of low self-control. In addition, while low self-control theory is useful in explaining why individuals may act in a certain way, it does not explain the situations that must be met for a crime to occur (Brunet, 2002). On the other hand, routine activity theory describes the situational factors that must be present for a crime to occur, but it is more difficult to apply this theory to sexting because the offender and victim do not necessarily have to meet for the crime to occur (Wilsem,
A victim advocate is someone who helps people who are victims of a crime or sexual abuse. They are usually only referred to as victim advocates, however they can be called victim coordinators, victim specialists, or victim service providers.
Generally, the study of crime mainly focused on the offender until quite recently. In fact, Shapland et al (1985) described the victim as ‘the forgotten man’ of the criminal justice system and ‘the non-person in the eyes of the professional participants’. A new perspective was brought with victimology, an expanding sub-discipline of crimin...
This theory believes the criminal was provoked or encourage by the victim. Then there’s the Deviant Place Theory, the best way to explain this theory is being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then there is the Routine Activity Theory, a theory that can be calculated by different risk factors in your life, for example, if you live in a bad neighborhood and you go on vacation your risk of getting robbed is higher. Finally is the Lifestyle Theory. This theory basically states that you are as good as who you hang out with. Personally I agree with this theory. I believe that some personalities can be molded by the people they hang out with, so if they hang out with people with negative personalities eventually they will develop negative traits. For example, on Oct 26 2012 Joshua Smith made a decision to take his mother's life. As a young teen he would hang out with thugs and always tried to get ''street cred''. Eventually Joshua Smith became aggravated with his mother because she wouldn't allow him to do things his so called crew did. In the end he made the decision to take his mother's life and is now serving 25 to 27 years in
Most of the presentations spoke about the psychological theories about crime and criminals. My habitus is more about the institutional problems of society, not personal troubles. It was hard to understand their research when it did not take into account flawed institutions and its invisible pressures and pulls. My habitus of trying to utilize the sociological imagination was nearly pointless in this setting. Especially when most of the presenters looked at the criminals as the guilty party to their own actions, and how they are the problem of society, while I am more of a Marxist and pessimistic about society. It was hard to see another person’s psychological point of view as to why rapes turn into homicides, when I am interested as to the structures that person was a part of—is there an issue with the institution of marriage? Are there monetary troubles from the 0.01% having all the wealth? Is the person undergoing intense stress from institutional racism? Overall, my habitus of being young in the educational system as a whole, and my personal views and biases of society enveloped me into a feeling of undeserving to be there, and unable to understand the personal troubles of
In defining their theory they have made five assumptions and three principles, which arose from relationship between the risk factors and income, race and age discovered in previous research (Cohen, Kluegel & Land, 1981, p. 509). The first four assumptions state that if all else remains equal increased exposure, decreased guardianship, increased proximity and increased attractiveness all increase the risk of being victimized (Cohen, Kluegel & Land, 1981, p. 508). The fifth assumption states the degree to which properties of crime inhibit instrumental actions increases or decreases the strength of the effects of exposure, guardianship and proximity (Cohen, Kluegel & Land, 1981, pp. 508-509). The principle of homogamy refers to those who share socio-demographic characteristics (Cohen, Kluegel & Land, 1981, p. 509). When offenders and victims lead similar lifestyles they are more likely to interact, and as a result of their similar lifestyles the offenders wi...
today is the biological theory. I believe this theory is explains urban crime in the U.S because many of the individuals who commit crimes have a certain disorder of factor that causes them to commit the crime. For instance, many individuals have a brain disorder such as insanity that affects the brain and causes a person to experience hallucinations and not know what they’re doing. In the United States over 64% of individuals who are incarcerated have some type of mental illness (Nami, 2017) which may have influenced the individual to commit the crime. When an individual goes to prison or any type of confinement the first thing officers do is get them screened to see if they encompass any mental illness and majority of the time that’s the case. Any type of damage whether small or big will trigger a person to do the wrong thing, the mind is powerful and can make a person commit horrendous acts. Also since there are fewer rehabilitation programs people being sent to prison are recidivating instead of receiving help causing a never ending cycle. Overall, I believe the biological theory best explains urban crime in the United States
This theory was based on multiple factors such as social class, age, race, and location, and how these factors influenced the amount of crime within a geographical location. In her Chancellor 's Scholars Council of Pembroke State University thesis, LEARNING TO BE DEVIANT: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION, scholar Sandra K. Holland states,
(Segal L. The Law Project. Rod Hollier Victimology: Four Major Theories Retrieved 2017) The presences of one or more than one of the following events lead to the victimization, The Availability of Suitable Targets, The Absences of Capable Guardians, and The Presence of Motivate Offenders. Victimization theories state that Routine Activity Theory, the risk of victimization increases as in Carla example she went to jog at 22:00, on top of that she was going to expend the night in her boyfriend apartment, her boyfriend apartment is in a dilapidated apartment complex that was mostly hidden off the main road, between a Bar and a county office complex used by drug rehab counselors. We can see that Carla fits in this theory of victimization perfectly. This theory concentrates on how doors open for violations it will identified with the idea of examples of routine of the daily living, including one's work, family, and
Theory is an important part of discovering and understanding why people commit crime. It is difficult to understand how a prejudice or bias towards someone can be linked to criminal behavior. The general theory of crime coined by Travis Hirschi and Michael Gottfredson can be applied to hate crime. The general theory of crime explains that people are born pre-disposed to crime and that they have natural tendencies to commit crime (Tibbetts, 2015, p 161). The only difference between those who are criminals and non-criminals would be their self-control (Tibbetts, 2015, p 161). Self-control is a key component to the general theory of crime. Not everyone acts on his or her thoughts of someone criminally, or even at all. The difference between people who do not choose to commit crime, would be their difference in self-control. People who commit crime have low self-control, and people who are law-abiding citizens have high self-control.
With each of these types of victimization, the victim or victims are subjected to physical, mental and emotional damages. Most victims who have been victimized could potentially have a relationship or had a relationship of some sort with the offenders. To understand how or why someone becomes some victims, one must understand the theories of victimization. According to the Criminal Justice there are four known theories of victimizations. The first is The Victim Precipitation Theory stating, victims themselves may initiate, either passively or actively, the criminal act that ultimately leads to injury or death. During passive precipitation, the victim unconsciously exhibits behaviors or characteristics that instigate or encourage the attack. Active precipitation, on the other hand, is the opposite of the afore-described. Victimization under this theory occurs through the threatening or provocative actions of the victim. Second is The Lifestyle which purports that individuals are targeted based on their lifestyle choices, and that these lifestyle choices expose them to criminal offenders, and situations in which crimes may be committed. In addition to theorizing that victimization is not random, but rather a part of the lifestyle the victims pursues, the lifestyle theory cites research that victims "share personality traits
...lity that the victim may actually be partly to blame for the crime that was committed against them. Therefore it is often the environment that the criminal lives in, and the people that around them that influence them into committing a criminal act.