Victimisation

10 Key excerpts on "Victimisation"

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  Crime Victims

  An Introduction to Victimology

  • Andrew Karmen(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Cengage Learning EMEA

    (Publisher)

  1 AN INTRODUCTION TO VICTIMOLOGY The concept of a victim can be traced back to ancient societies. It was connected to the notion of sacrifice. In the original connotation of the term, a victim was a person or an animal put to death during a religious ceremony in order to appease some super- natural power or deity. Over the centuries, the word has picked up additional meanings. Now it com- monly refers to individuals who suffer injuries, losses, or hardships for any reason. People can become vic- tims of accidents, natural disasters, diseases, or social problems such as warfare, discrimination, political witch hunts, and other injustices. Crime victims are harmed by illegal acts. Victimization is an asymmetrical interper- sonal relationship that is abusive, painful, destruc- tive, parasitical, and unfair. While a crime is in progress, offenders temporarily force their victims to play roles (almost as if following a script) that mimic the dynamics between predator and prey, winner and loser, victor and vanquished, and even master and slave. Many types of victimization have been outlawed over the centuries—specific oppres- sive and exploitative acts, like raping, robbing, and swindling. But not all types of hurtful relationships and deceitful practices are forbidden by law. It is permissible to overcharge a customer for an item that can be purchased for less elsewhere, or to underpay a worker who could receive higher wages for the same tasks from another employer, or to impose exorbitant interest rates and hidden fees on borrowers who use credit cards and take out mortgages, or to deny food and shelter to the hungry and the homeless who cannot pay the required amounts. Studying Victimization Scientifically Victimology is the scientific study of the physical, emotional, and financial harm people endure because of illegal activities.

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  Crime and Victimization

  • Anne Wade(Author)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • Society Publishing

    (Publisher)

  Victimization 1 CONTENTS 1.1. Introduction ........................................................................................ 2 1.2. Theories Of Victimization .................................................................... 5 1.3. Theories Of Victimization (Second Generation) ................................... 8 1.4. Refinement And Empirical Tests Of Opportunity Theories of Victimization (Third Generation) ................................................ 10 1.5. Moving Beyond Opportunity Theories (Fourth Generation) ............... 11 1.6. Recurring Victimization .................................................................... 11 1.7. Consequences And Effects Of Victimization ...................................... 13 1.8. Relationship Between The Victim And The Offender .......................... 15 1.9. Domains Of Victimization ................................................................ 16 1.10. Victim Rights And Assistance ........................................................... 18 Crime and Victimization 2 1.1. INTRODUCTION The act of singling an individual out for unjust or cruel treatment is known as victimization. It is because of intentional or deliberate actions taken by an individual or an institution to oppress, bring harm to, or exploit another. It can also be the destruction or illegal acquisition of one’s possessions or property. Victima (the Latin word for the term victim) is interpreted as ‘sacrificial animal.’ The term victim, however, has progressed to include many targets inclusive of the environment, the state, a business, household, another individual, and even oneself. Usually, the activities carried out by an offender does not have to have violated a law but is normally a violation of a civil or a criminal statute. Mental or emotional damage, sexual, and or physical injury, and even economic loss can all be included under the harm one or something may be subjected to (Bostaph, 2016).

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  Criminology NQF3 SB

  TVET FIRST

  • M Schoeman(Author)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Macmillan

    (Publisher)

  Victimisation refers to any action or behaviour, such as a crime, that causes a person to become a victim. This is inclusive of physical, mental or emotional harm, as well as actions or behaviour that violates another person’s human rights. Effect and impact Effect refers to a change that occurs in a person’s physical, social, or emotional functioning as a direct result of an action by somebody or something, for example physical injury that results from an assault. Impact can be defined as the powerful or dramatic effect or influence that something or somebody has on a person. An example is the financial problems that a person experiences due to the theft of his or her money or property. In order to explore the effects of crime and Victimisation on a crime victim, we therefore need to study the changes that occurred in the victim’s behaviour and circumstances due to the impact that the crime had on his or her life. Fig.6.2 A person who is physically harmed by a crime is classified as a victim of crime. 47 Module 6: What is meant by the effects of crime and Victimisation? What happened to this family is probably something all of us are scared of. How does it make you feel when you read the article? Do you think that articles in the newspaper, or stories you hear in the news on the radio or see on the television affects your way of life? If your answer is yes, then you are a victim of crime. Crime victims can be divided into three groups, namely primary victims, secondary victims and tertiary victims. Primary crime victims Crime has the most devastating impact on the primary crime victim because he or she is the direct victim of a crime. The result thereof is that he or she could suffer financial, physical, mental, and/or emotional harm. Emotional reactions to crime include depression and fear, and in South Africa’s present climate, feelings of resignation that the crime situation will never improve.

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  Criminology NQF4 SB

  TVET FIRST

  • M Schoeman(Author)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Macmillan

    (Publisher)

  78 Module 5: Primary and secondary Victimisation Module 5 Primary and secondary Victimisation Overview In this module you will: • Examine the concepts primary and secondary Victimisation and victim blaming • Discuss different types of primary Victimisation • Define hate crime • Look at the link between hate crime and secondary Victimisation • Discuss examples of secondary Victimisation • Look at what a victim profile entails • Assess the benefits of victim profiling. Unit 5.1: Primary and secondary Victimisation and victim blaming Until recently, little attention has been given to the victims of crime and violence in South Africa. This changed with the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in 1995, when the impact of crime and violence on the victim was recognised. Within the field of criminology, victimology is an area of study that involves the scientific study of Victimisation and victims of crime. A victim is any person who has suffered physical, emotional or mental harm because of another person’s actions. In this section attention will be given to the phenomenon of primary and secondary Victimisation. The benefits of victim profiling will also be assessed. Definition of key concepts It is important to take note of the following definitions: Victimisation Refers to any action or behaviour, such as a crime, that has impaired people’s human rights and resulted in their suffering physical, mental and/or emotional harm as well as financial loss. Primary Victimisation This is the personalised or individual Victimisation of a person; in other words, a person who is the direct victim of crime or violence. Victims of hate crimes or domestic violence are some examples. Secondary Victimisation According to the Department of Justice, secondary Victimisation refers to the attitude, actions and omissions that may intentionally or victimology: the scientific study of Victimisation and victims of crime.

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  International Handbook of Victimology

  • Shlomo Giora Shoham, Paul Knepper, Martin Kett, Shlomo Giora Shoham, Paul Knepper, Martin Kett(Authors)
  • 2010(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  We suggest five principles [Greve et al., 1994, 1997; Strobl, 2004]: 1 . Identifiable single event. If we start from the very wide range of experiences that people may call victimization, we will probably learn that some people feel victimized by general forms of inequality or injustice. They may see themselves as victims of a xenophobic mood, of globalization, of climate change, and so on. Although this is cer-tainly an interesting area for sociological or psychological inquiry, it is definitely too broad for victimological research. Therefore, we propose to include only identifiable single events in the definition of victimization. As a consequence, a person must name a concrete incident (e.g., a xenophobic insult) to be regarded as a victim. 2 . Negative evaluation. It is obvious that victimization is something negative (even though positive changes like a lottery prize may also have irritating consequences and will require substantial coping reactions). Victimization should be restricted to events that cause an unsatisfactory actual state. 3 . Uncontrollable event. It is also clear that someone who has caused the unsatisfactory actual state him- or herself should not be called a victim (although certain forms of self-destructive behavior could suggest such a classification). We would rather use medical categories in this latter connection. Generally, assigning the victim role to a person means absolving him or her of responsibility, which precludes self-inflicted suffering. 4 . Attribution to a personal or social offender. Thus far our definition still includes victims of traffi c accidents, natural disasters, and so on.

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  Restoring Harm

  A Psychosocial Approach to Victims and Restorative Justice

  • Daniela Bolívar(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  As we can observe, the DSM’s definition of trauma could be applied to different types of situations, e.g. natural disasters. However, can we argue that a natural disaster does not differ in nature from crime-caused Victimisation? This question has been an issue of debate within the victimological field for years. In 1997, in the context of the Ninth International Symposium of Victimology, Van Dijk (1999) distinguished between general and penal victimology. According to him, general victimology was concerned with the prevention of Victimisation in a wide sense. The first representative of this approach was Mendelsohn (see, for example, Mendelsohn, 1976), who advocated the development of a victimological discipline independent of criminology and criminal law. On the contrary, penal victimology studies incidents defined by the law as unlawful acts, and focuses on the interaction between the victim and the offender. In the same vein, Fattah (1991) distinguishes between criminal and non-criminal Victimisation. Although criminal Victimisation is defined as ‘victimization caused by, or resulting from, a criminal offense, which is act committed in violation of the criminal law’ (Fattah, 1991, p. 10), non-criminal Victimisation would involve other types of harmful acts. For Fattah (1991) this distinction is necessary in order to delineate clearly the area of study: victimology as a branch of criminology.

  Given these distinctions, the question emerges of whether different types of Victimisation will lead to different types of consequence. As Fattah (1991) points out, the question here is not whether one type of Victimisation is more serious or harmful, but rather it refers to identifying the specificity of criminal Victimisation. Some have argued that there are reasons to believe that Victimisation in the context of crime may have specific consequences that justify an independent and specific scientific field of research. One of these authors is Strobl (2010). He argues that to consider a situation as fitting into the definition of (criminal) Victimisation, there are five required criteria: (a) an identifiable single event, (b) an individual’s negative evaluation, (c) the uncontrollable character of the event, (d) the attribution to a personal or social offender, and (e) the violation of a socially shared norm.

  This list suggested by Strobl (2010) opens the door to a discussion about the essence of criminal Victimisation. Although some of these principles may be shared by other traumatic events (e.g. an earthquake is a single, negative and uncontrollable event), not all of them seem to be valid for certain types of Victimisation. For example, a female adolescent who has been raped by her progenitor since her early childhood has certainly experienced a Victimisation that cannot be attributed to a unique and single event. Last, we could argue that what seems to be a unique characteristic of a criminal Victimisation experience is its attribution to a personal or institutional offender, that is criminal Victimisation involves an interaction in which harm has been caused by another human being.

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  Student Handbook of Criminal Justice and Criminology

  • John Muncie, David Wilson(Authors)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Routledge-Cavendish

    (Publisher)

  epistemologies) that have underpinned social research in general. We call these positivist (or orthodox), interpretivist and critical theories of knowledge into which categories the wide number of theoretical perspectives on crime and victims (and indeed all aspects of social life) can be placed. This schema quite closely follows that provided by Walklate (1998), although we will identify some important points of difference.

  Finally, we will illustrate the ways in which different theories of knowledge have been used in relation to the consideration of victims by examining two important areas of Victimisation: domestic violence and corporate crime. It is through the consideration of these issues that we will question the notion that the state takes all Victimisation equally seriously.

  Key Terms

  The false dichotomies of the ‘victim’; victimology – the positivist, interpretivist and critical approach; domestic violence; justice for victims.

  Introduction: Conceptualisation Of The Term ‘Victim'

  It is taken for granted that the term ‘criminal’ is the product of various processes and institutions involved in the term's social construction (Heidensohn, 1989 ). The traditional representation of the criminal is restrictively associated with demonic images of urban working class youth, such that the notion of criminality becomes synonymous with youth. Yet, however misconceived this association, it has consistently informed criminal justice policy. The messages inherent in a policy which so closely associates crime with young people support the construction of a ‘discourse of difference’, which articulates ‘youth’ as a problem to adult society rather than as citizens (Brown, 1998 and see Chapter 15 ). In other words, policy-makers can employ the term ‘criminal’ to confer not just a legal but also a social status in order to isolate and socially exclude those labelled.

  Similarly, the term ‘victim’ is also the product of social construction. It too confers a status and assigns a role for those so labelled. The term carries very significant social messages associated with vulnerability, powerlessness and passivity within interpersonal relationships. ‘Victim’ is a word which Quinney (1972) notes is loaded with meaning, and ‘concern with the victim has become a powerful motif in contemporary western societal responses to crime’ (Bottoms, 1983 : 172). The common sense meaning projects an idealised image of the young, the old and the infirm. Those members of society who fit this idealised image as ‘innocent victims’ are those most able to claim legitimacy as victims and thus entitlement to sympathy, support or compensation. ‘The ideal victim is, in my use of the term, a sort of public status of the same type and level of abstraction as that for example of a “hero” or “traitor”’ (Christie, 1986

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  The SAGE Handbook of Criminological Theory

  • Eugene McLaughlin, Tim Newburn, Eugene McLaughlin, Tim Newburn(Authors)
  • 2010(Publication Date)
  • SAGE Publications Ltd

    (Publisher)

  That could be pressure to tell a more lurid story or it might be pressure to back off. Victims by definition will be emotionally vulnerable. A proportion come from disadvantaged sections of society and will be of modest intellectual and educational attainment. And a journalist, Patience Wheatcroft, dismissed what was envisaged as mere pandering, and proceeded to claim in The Times (2 September 2005) that it was ‘just another of those dangerous consequences of misguided populist moves from which this Government never seems to learn’. The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary defines victim as a sacrifice, ‘A person killed or tortured by another; a person subjected to cruelty, oppression, or other harsh or unfair treatment or suffering death, injury, ruin, etc., as a result of impersonal agency. ... A person who is taken advantage of; a dupe.’ It is a word that evokes images of submissiveness, pain, loss of control and defeat. Those bereaved by APPROACHES TO VICTIMS AND Victimisation 469 murder and manslaughter have certainly told me of the primitive fear and embarrass-ment they believed they could excite, how people would not know what to say to them, sometimes crossing the road in an attempt to avoid them lest their bad luck become contagious (Rock, 1998a). Victims are riddled with taboos. Their very existence is disturbing because it can challenge the belief in a just world where people should not expect to incur harm unless they have somehow earned their suffering through their own misdeed or fool-ishness (see Lerner, 1980). To think otherwise would turn beliefs in any sort of effective moral order quite upside down. THE ORIGINS OF VICTIMOLOGY There is a conventional account of the genesis and evolution of victimology (see Maguire, 1991: 374) and, although there may be room for dispute about some of its particulars, its very acceptance has become a shaping academic and ideological influence that must be taken seriously.

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  Criminology

  The Basics

  • Sandra Walklate(Author)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Taylor & Francis

    (Publisher)

  vulnerability . We shall discuss each of these in turn.

  Primary Victimisation refers to the direct impact that a crime has on the victim. That impact may vary with the nature of the crime, of course, from physical injury, to financial loss, to loss of earnings as a result of the required involvement in the criminal justice process. However for some people this kind of impact is made worse by the stress, shock, and sense of invasion of privacy that may go along with burglary, along with feelings of fear, difficulty in sleeping, to the post-traumatic stress syndrome reported by some victims of rape. This kind of impact can sometimes be made worse by the way in which the criminal justice system responds to such victims. This is what is referred to as secondary Victimisation. Research has indicated that individuals who are involved in the criminal justice process, as either victims or witnesses, frequently feel let down by that process. This can happen in different ways from not being kept informed of what was happening in their case, to being treated unsympathetically by the professionals working in the criminal justice process, to not being believed when they are giving their evidence. These kinds of experiences all, arguably, add to the feelings of Victimisation. In other kinds of cases, like for example murder, the families of both the murderer and the murder victim can also feel victimised by their experiences both in relation to feelings of bereavement, to maybe being under suspicion themselves for what has happened, as well as just not being able to make sense of what has happened. All of this is referred to as indirect Victimisation. However, the extent to which any individual may experience crime in any of these ways is frequently connected with their personal or structural vulnerability. In other words, not all victims of crime will experience their Victimisation in the same way or with the same level of impact. Criminologists refer to the variations that can be found in people’s experiences as their vulnerability.

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  Exploring Green Crime

  Introducing the Legal, Social and Criminological Contexts of Environmental Harm

  • Matthew Hall(Author)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Red Globe Press

    (Publisher)

  Following South and Beirne’s (2006) edited collection progress towards understanding environmental crime/harm from a victimological perspective ENVIRONMENTAL Victimisation 163 continued to stall. Thus in White’s (2009) reader on environmental crime, three years later, the only chapter dedicated to Victimisation was another reprint of Williams’ (1996) paper. A further edited collection from White (2010) has no specific chapter on Victimisation, although South (2010) reflects upon the unequal impact of climate change on various groups of (usually poor) victims, and the possibility that some ‘environmental rights’ are being breached. This discussion contradicts one of Williams’ views that the impacts of environmental harm are more evenly spread between rich and poor. White (2011) has more recently dedicated a chapter to environmental victims in which he emphasises the socio-cultural context of understanding and responding to environmental harm: Ultimately the construction of [environmental] victimhood is a social process involving dimensions of time and space, behaviours involving acts and omissions, and social features pertaining to powers and collectivises. (p.122) Again this would suggest that a social constructivist approach should be adopted by green criminologists and green victimologists. More recently, Spencer and Fitzgerald (2013) have offered fresh insight into environmental victims by essentially taking the argument beyond its (predominantly, they argue) Marxist roots to apply more poststructuralists thinking. In particu-lar they apply Felix Guattari’s (2008) critique of what he called integrated world capitalism to the question of corporate environmental offending and subsequent Victimisation: using the 2010 BP Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as a case study. Thus, the authors argue, this Victimisation event can be understood in terms of environmental, social and mental ecologies.

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