Concerning Victims

Chapter 16

What is a Victim?

For our purposes, used only in the sense it is used in the criminal justice system to describe a person who is a target of a criminal offense

For victims of violent crimes: it may include persons who have been directly harmed or have experienced loss due to the crime committed against them or immediate family members (widely accepted but not the legal definition)

What Makes a Victim?

Interpersonal contexts Not all people are open to the same level

of risk or forms of victimizationAttractiveness (vw or bmw?)Proximity (remember – offenders are lazy!)Deviant place (crime “hot spots”)Vulnerability (elderly, very young, infirm)

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Need a victim and offender to meet in time and location

Offender must want to victimize someone There needs to be a victim available

Circumstances must allow for a crime Offender must believe that threat of violence (or

force) will secure target of their crime

Victim Selection

Desirability Accessibility Vulnerability

An Integrated Model of Victimization

The victim The location The Offender

Demographics

(age, gender, race) Hot Spot? Motivated

Attractiveness Guardians Willing to absent victimize

Vulnerability

Level of security Proximity

Child Sex Abuse

Victim’s age group provides picture of person responsible & circumstances of crime

Victims categorized into 3 groups Childhood

Know well; “grooming” victim

Adolescence Step-parent; “veneer of normalcy”

Adulthood “antisocial,” unmarried,& younger in age; varied criminal

convictions; weapons

And now………..

Stuff not in the book

Victims Needs

Various kinds of assistance throughout all stages of victimization

Not all victims will require same assistance at same time

Types of losses victims endure

Emotional – shock, depression, anxiety, shame, loss of trust or safety, PTSD

Physical – if directly assaulted; physical side effects of depression or anxiety

Types of losses victims endure

Financial – expenses from loss of work; travelling expenses; medical/counselling; direct loss from crime

Social – disruptions in personal relationships, in being able to work; distorted perceptions of society, disinterest in ordinary social events

Victims

Few things in life are scarier than to be a victim of a serious crime

It directly affects people’s lives Even crimes that seem relatively minor

can have devastating effectsBurglary is a property crime but perceived as

much more than that by the victims

Victims

Many victims are fearful that it might happen againBurglaryStreet victimization

Crime hurts but the fear of crime hurts in a different and separate waySignificant factor in crime and justice

policymaking

Who is Afraid?

Young males already in contact with cjs significantly more likely to become victims Does this fit your notions of the victims of crime?

Those statistically very unlikely to become victims may feel themselves to be more at risk

Who is Afraid?

How safe do you feel walking alone in your area after dark? ‘very safe’ ‘fairly safe’ ‘a bit safe’ ‘very unsafe’

Who is Afraid?

GenerallyPeople feel safer in their homesMen somewhat more so than women

Widespread wariness regarding crime Careful after dark; don’t give strangers

unnecessary personal details; keep PIN codes safe; lock doors, cars, bikes

Mindful of chance of becoming a victim, rather than being fearful?

Who is Afraid?

Fear of crime is unevenly distributed in society Previously victimized Older people (more women) – increased vulnerability Women (younger) – afraid of different things?

Younger women – sexual offences (‘stranger danger’) Older women – contact crimes (robbery, mugging)

Urban areas more fearful (type of neighbourhood) Ethnic minorities (more often victims than whites)

Who is NOT Afraid?

Outgoing young men Most likely to be offenders Most likely to be victims “Fear of Crime Paradox”

Those who are most afraid (seem to) have least to worry about

Those who are most likely to become victims do not seem to be bothered by that

Fear of crime and the media

Local television seems most influential (in USA) Influences how perceive our immediate environment Perceptions may be skewed because:

Crime is over-represented Violent crime more likely to get coverage (if it bleeds, it

leads) Erroneous perceptions about places where crimes occur &

people who commit them Disproportionately reports crimes by strangers in public

places

Deconstructing fear of crime

Some fears highly localized & temporaryFear of being burglarized

Some fears represent a continuous non-specific state of anxietyFear of an abusive partner

Different emotive responsesConstant threat of antisocial youngstersThreat of identity theft

Deconstructing fear of crime

Fear components: Cognitive element (awareness of danger) Affective component (fear or anxiety) Motivation to act (or not)

Disentangle the components in research? Distinguish between ‘crime is totally out of control, but

I’m not scared’ and an elderly person who has an ever-present dread of going outside the front door.

Subjective experiences are radically different

Getting to the causes

No one single factor will universally explain levels of fear

3 theories:Victimization modelVulnerability modelSocial disorganization

Getting to the causes Victimization model

Role of victimization on aggregate level More crime in society, more people will be victims, the higher

level of concern about crime & more people will be afraid Victimization & fear insufficiently explain each other

Vulnerability model Consequences of victimization, not risk

Social disorganization Fear of crime highest in contexts where individuals feel crime and

disorder not under control (graffiti, evidence of drug abuse, noise pollution)

Getting to the causes

None of models sufficiently pinpoint relationship between personal characteristics, area characteristics, levels of actual crime, and levels of fear

Relation between crime and fear should inform policing practicesNeighbourhood watch programs; education in

crime-prevention strategies (informal social control – report crimes, appear as witness)

Defensible space

Crime prevention through environmental designTerritoriality & a sense of ownership &

responsibility for area around property Zimbardo experiment

1969 – abandoned cars in 2 neighbourhoods Licence plates removed; hood open Bronx, NY and Palo Alto, California

Defensible space

Bronx – within 10 minutes people started taking off parts; soon an object of play and vandalism; reduced to pile of rubbish

Palo Alto – nothing happened! After 1 week, Zimbardo himself damaged the car with sledge hammer. Only then was car stripped, vandalised and slowly destroyed

So what did we learn?

The power of the situation (environment is a potent shaper of behaviour)

4 principles of notion of defensible space Surveillance (to see and to be seen) Access management (access & restriction to certain spaces) Territorial reinforcement (physical & symbolic barriers to enhance

feeling of safety & ownership) Quality environments (communal spaces need to be pleasant and well

maintained for residents to take responsibility)

Eg. - Older mass housing developments