Criminology Chapter 4

What is Victimology?

The scientific study of crime victims and the victimization process.

Is victimization randomly distributed across time and space?

No, there are high-risk locations and high-risk time periods.

Who is a victimologist?

An individual who studies crime victims and the victimization process.

What is Victimogenesis?

The contribution to victimization made by the background of a victim.

What is Victim Precipitation?

Any contribution made by the victim to the criminal event, especially one that led to its initiation.

Who studied homicides in Philadelphia and found that 26% involved active victim precipitation?

Marvin Wolfgang.

What were the causative factors in Wolfgang's study?

Personal relationship, argument escalation, and alcohol (victim started the violence).

Who coined the term "Victimology" in 1947?

Benjamin Mendelson.

What did Mendelson believe about victimization?

That some victims have an unconscious aptitude for victimization.

What are Mendelson's victim types?

• Innocent victim

• Victim with minor guilt

• Guilty victim, guilty offender

• Guilty offender, guiltier victim

• Guilty victim

• Imaginary victim

Who wrote "The Criminal and His Victim"?

Hans von Hentig.

What is von Hentig’s typology of vulnerable victims?

• Young people

• Females/elderly

• Mentally ill/intellectually disabled

• Immigrants

• Minorities

• Dull normals

• The depressed

What is Victim Proneness?

An individual’s likelihood of victimization.

What is the Lifestyle Exposure Theory?

Victimization risk is linked to one’s lifestyle and routine activities.

Who developed the Routine Activities Theory?

Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson (1979).

What are the three key elements of Routine Activities Theory?

Motivated offender, suitable target, and absence of a capable guardian.

What is the Deviant Places Theory?

A theory that focuses on high-risk, stigmatized neighborhoods as places of increased crime.

What are characteristics of deviant places?

• Crowded homes

• Transience

• Dilapidation

• Lack of successful role models

Does Deviant Places Theory focus on people or location?

Entirely on the ecological features of locations.

What is the Integrated Victimology Theory and who proposed it?

A comprehensive theory by Ezzat Fattah combining lifestyle/opportunity theories.

What are the 10 components of Integrated Victimology?

1. Opportunities

2. Risk Factors

3. Motivated Offenders

4. Exposure

5. Associations

6. Dangerous times and places

7. Dangerous behaviours

8. High-risk activities

9. Defensive/avoidance behaviours

10. Structural/cultural proneness

What is Primary Victimization?

Direct harm caused by a criminal act.

What is Secondary Victimization?

Harm caused by society or institutions in response to the victimization (e.g., blaming).

What is Tertiary Victimization?

Community-wide victimization or trauma, often following hate-motivated or systematic violence.

What is Mutual Victimization?

Both parties in a criminal event are victims.

What is No Victimization?

A crime without a clear victim (e.g., consensual crimes).

What are Police-Based Services?

Services provided by or in collaboration with police (e.g., victim liaisons, emergency assistance).

What are Court-Based Services?

Victim support during legal proceedings (e.g., court accompaniment, victim impact statements).

What is included in “Victims and Corrections”?

Victims may attend parole hearings and receive notifications about the offender.

What notifications can victims receive under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA)?

• Offender's release date

• Changes to incarceration status

• Transfers to minimum security

What are System-Based Services?

Coordinated victim services often involving multiple agencies (police, courts, community).