Criminology 3.

Hate Crimes:

  • Criminal Offense motivated by an offender’s bias

    • Hate speech/hate symbols

  • NCVS a better source for statistics than police record (Huge difference in number reported)

  • Motivations

    • Race and Ethnicity

    • Sexual Orientation

    • Gender

    • Religion

  • Most hate crimes are violent

Four categories of offenders:

  • Thrill — most common; go in search of victims

    • May serve to strengthen mild preexisting prejudice to justify that act to its perpetrators

    • Defensive — protecting their neighborhoods

    • Retaliatory— reaction to real or imagined harm

    • Mission — fully committed to bigotry; may be members of hate group organizations

Identity Theft and Other forms of Cybervictimization:

Cyber Crime— FBI (linked)

2017 1.4 billion in losses

  • Identity theft

    • Fraudulent use of someone else’s personal information

    • Can range from short-term use of stolen credit cards to extensive use of personal information

    • Ways in which personal information is accessed

      • Steal it

      • Buy it

      • Get if from unwary victims

    • Phishing— fraudulent emails sent to into cyberpond

Victim Theories:

  • Victimization can occur at any time or place without warning; however, victimizing events are not random

  • Victim precipitation theory (Von Hentig 1941; this theory examines violent victimization)

    • victim’s actions influence their victimization; provocative ways to initiate a set of events

    • Contentious, especially when applied to rape victims

    • Has been labelled as victim blaming

Routine activities theory (RAT)

  • Criminal behavior takes place when these variables interact

  • Presence of motivated offenders

  • Availability of suitable targets

  • Absence of capable guardians

Lifestyle theories:

  • Certain lifestyles disproportionately expose some people to high risk for victimization

  • A high-risk lifestyle can lead to repeat victimization

  • Prior victimization is the best predictor of future victimization

Is victimology blaming the victim?

  • Victim advocates reject victimology theories as they seem them as victim blaming

    • tips are ideologically tainted

    • Victimologists emphasize that they don’t blame the victim, want to understand and prevent it

  • On the flip side if crime prevention tips and strategies (Locking doors and windows, etc.) are ignored, it could be devastating

  • Safeguard ourselves (Not helpless pawns)

    • Avoid certain places

    • Dress sensibly

    • Don’t provoke

    • Take reasonable precautionary measures

    • Don’t drink too much

  • Factor that distinguishes one-time victims from repeat victimization— avoid circumstances that led to their victimization

  • Complete innocence and full responsibility— lies on a continuum

The consequences of victimization:

  • Physical- life-long pain; permanent disability

  • Psychological

    • Shock, anger, vulnerability, suspicion

    • Depression, guilt, self-blame, lower self esteeem

    • Rape trauma syndrome; A syndrome sometimes suffered by rape victims like post-traumatic stress syndrome (reexperiencing the event via “flashbacks,” avoiding anything associated with the event, and a general numbness of affect).

  • Adult outcomes- PTSD, drug use, offending

  • Victimization during adolescence has significant effects on problem outcomes as adults

Victimization and the Criminal Justice System:

  • Crime victims’ bill of rights at the federal level (2004)— recognition of victim

  • Participation of states- All 50 states have implemented constitutional amendments

  • Credit of attention to victim issues to

    • women’s movements

    • Feminist criminologists

    • Eligible for partial compensation from the state to cover medical and living expenses

    • Victim Impact Statements