Victimology: Historical Overview, Victim Precipitation, General and Critical Victimology, Victim Movements, and Victimization Survey Data

This article provides an overview of victimology, covering topics such as victim precipitation, general and critical victimology, victim movements, and victimization survey data. It discusses the historical development of victimology and the different types of victims and crimes associated with them. The article also explores the limitations of the Uniform Crime Report and the advantages of victimization survey data.

Running head: VICTIMOLOGY
Victimology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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1. There is a historical overview of the change from a Victim Justice System to a Criminal
Justice System. It can be stated that the original discipline of victimology was born out of a
desire for studying the victims for answering all kinds of legal and social questions. The term
victimology can be defined as a preventive issue that is linked to the social health. Presently,
it has developed to a criminal justice system where the texts are treated as a presumed
victimhood for all the existing numbers that can be applied and acts as an objective for the
offender-victim relationship. However, the concept of the victim study is relatable to the legal
conflict. From the introduction of victimology till the Middle Ages the burden of the justice
system generally fell on the victim. Hence, it was observed that the justice system had
operated as per the principle of lextalionis. This suggested a theory where a criminal will be
punished according to their acts and will cause equal amount of harm. When the victim
justice system has developed in the criminal justice system, a retributive justice theory is
applied as it holds the best replies to a crime that is proportional to the offence. In the
criminal justice system, it can be said that a convicted offender can get an order of restitution
from the Court. Restitution is given on the criminals, as it is a state government program.
Previously, a set of criminologists, legal scholars and sociologists stated a similar theory
where the victims were being overlooked as a source of information regarding the criminals
and crimes. The gemeinschaft home acts a restorative justice while dealing with the
offenders. The restorative justice is a concept that has developed over the years.
2. The term Victim precipitation covers the basic degree according to which the victim is
usually held laible for her or his own victimization. As per the views of the scholars, the
typology involved with this issue implicates the contribution of the victims as a causative
factor when the crime is committed. The concept of victim precipitation deals with the
patterns of criminal behavior. For instance, there have been plenty of homicides that have
occurred due to victim precipitation. In case of victim precipitation, there has been an
interpersonal relationship between the offender and the victim. Criminal behavior also
includes rape incidents that take place in the society. There are existing factors that usually
helps in precipitating the criminal acts of the offenders. The victim can therefore state
whether precipitated rape was an essential factor. Various scholars have opined differently
regarding the concept of victim precipitation. According to the views of Amir, the victims
associated with the crime can psychologically standards of behavior. However, it might vary
between males and females. The idea of victim precipitation should not be abandoned as per
the knowledge of Cooler. Thereafter, the victim precipitation assumes in the scenario that the
offender gets activated only when the offender emits a few specific signals. The behavior of
the victim is sufficient and essential for causing a criminal act (Camp and Van). Hence, an
individual must conceive of the concept of victim precipitation as a factor of contribution.
Critical victimology refers to other factors and crimes that are associated with the victims. It
consists of war crimes, deportation, smuggling, privacy and human slave trade. Thus, these
shortcomings help in underlining the approach of victim precipitation.
3. There have been lack of theoretical advances that brings the genuine tension form the
concepts of victimology including both general and critical. According to Mendelsohn,
general victimology must come out of the provincial backwaters of criminology and the
domain, which it owns. Therefore, over the years, victimology was independent from the
term criminology (Walklate). General victimology deals with five kinds of victims. They are
the social environment, technology, a criminal, natural environment and one’s self. The
victims of social environment help in incorporating class and group oppression. Individuals
who do the scientific innovations in the society are regarded to be technological victims.
Natural environment deals with the natural calamities, which consist of hurricanes, floods and
earthquake. These were the major concerns of general victimology. Critical victimology

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refers to the situation where the general approach was outlined in the preceding section. The
work of the critical victimologists tends to be more interested in expanding the field of
victimology. It provides a wider social context where the versions of victimology have
become more dominant as compared to the others. The major victim oriented initiatives helps
in perpetuating the basic definitions of the crimes arising in the society. The critical
victimology offers and essential view, which carries great potential for the field of
victimology. The socio-cultural discussions include why violence occur and the
investigations of the victim programs (Doerner and Lab). Hence, various authors have opened
on the concept of general victimology and critical victimology.
4. Victimology movement has influenced both indirectly and directly by a variety of other
social and political movements. The major concern of the victim movements is for the
victims well being and the reaction to the charges of victim complicity in the offence.
Various kinds of movements of the earth and contributed to the renewed interest in the plight
of the victim (Daigle). The basic movements of victimology includes efforts in establishing
the children’s rights, movement of the women, concerns of the over growing crime problem
and the legal reforms. With the help of the sociological perspective, the women's movement
included a large component of it while dealing with the victims. They have been arguments
of the victim blaming which dealt with sexual assault and rape.
In this matter, victims are mutually female who find themselves and the lifestyle on
trial whenever and of indivisible apprehended. The criminal justice therefore must be strong
enough to take or give a fair judgment regarding such criminal issues. For the benefit of the
women, there must be a development of the rape crisis centre, counseling for abused men and
their children and Shelters for the battered women. If the concerns are viewed in a
sociological manner, every child of the society must be given the rights of the children, which
they can execute and exercise (Paul Elliott Rock, and McLaughlin). Child abuse is an old age
practice that has become worse over the years. Political movements must look after the
specific children’s bureaus within the criminal justice Agencies where the expanded order
established are growing with the recognition of child maltreatment. Hence, Shelters should be
created to house children from such abusive situations. It is the duty of the society to take
care of the juveniles and secure them by providing them shelter and home as they were the
emerging new class of victims of both abuse at home as well as society in general. United
States have faced the rate of growing crime problem. However, victim issues were a major
focus of the 1967 Presidents commission on law enforcement and the administration of
Justice (Clevenger). The problems and issues must therefore be identified and solved as it has
been increasing in the present times.
5. The method of telescoping is such that it takes place when criminal events are bought
mistakenly on the part of the respondents. However, the time of occurrence must have been
different which may be outside the prescribed time or within the server period. For instance,
mention can be made about a victimization survey that has been supposedly taken for the part
of the research. In this regard certain questions asked by the interviewer to the interviewee
taking part in such survey. The questions may be categorized as whether the interviewer has
stolen any car during the past 12 months. However, in reality the automobile was actually
taken four months before. In these cases, the person taking part in the survey cannot
memorize the incidents that actually occurred to him in the past years (Dale). Therefore,
advice can be given to the interviewer that the interviewee taking parts in the survey in fact a
victim of the crime.

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One of the major drawbacks in this survey was faulty memory. The nature of memory
decay is such that it can be evidenced from the reports provided by modern researchers buy
depending upon the reviews given by respondents who were victimized during the prescribed
time frame. However, most of the respondents could not provide appropriate answers to the
survey questions because most of them could not memorize the actual events (Hall).
In the survey process, the most significant concern was regarding the selection of
appropriate respondents. Form the very beginning, the study emphasized upon the process of
selection of respondents and ensured that these respondents are not selected randomly from
the existing households and locality. They made sure that individuals aged below 18 would
be excluded from the survey unless and until they were married. Additionally, all domestic
offences were addressed as major crimes against the head of the households. However, the
underlined and existing facts could be biased towards the end outcomes. Despite all the
preceding concerns, there prevailed other imperfections which created unfavorable impact
upon the findings. It is worthwhile to refer here that certain definitional issues arose in the
survey questions, which created an inability on the part of the field workers while locating the
actual area of crimes.
6. In recent years, there has been a growing Reliance on the concept of victimization Survey
data for assessing the nature of criminal activities in a long term. It is worth mentioning that
the underlined reason for such change is actually based upon the realization that the UCR has
been suffering from systematic and prevailing limitations (Pemberton, Mulder, and Aarten).
Since time immemorial the criminologist, they have identified that the official reports
January underestimated on how much time actually occurred. The basic only victims always
helped in uncovering much more crime as compared to UCR. The victim surveys help in
capturing the data on the victim and the situations that surrounds the criminal event. On the
other hand, the NCVS stated that 21 million tribes were committed in the year 2014. When
both UCR and NCVS are compared, the USR tabulated fewer than half as compared to
NCVS. Victims however revealed to the interviewers about the incidents that did not come to
the attention of the police. The incidence that recently took place includes robbery, motor
vehicle theft, aggravated assault and the other cases of theft that were usually reported to the
police. The rate of crimes can be derived and compare graphically of both UCR and NCVS.
According to the survey, the NCVS reveals essential higher levels of offence that has major
differences appearing in burglary and theft. (Wals and Jorgensen) The survey of victimization
also provides the excess information that are not addressed by the USR. For instance, the
male individuals are happened to be more violent crime victims as compared to the female.
7. The Hierarchy rule helps in obtaining the highest level of offence and by avoiding all the
other ones. It is only applicable to the process of crime reporting which has not affect on the
number of charges. UCR is therefore regarded as a worldwide cooperative statistical effort
having colleges, universities and federal law enforcement agencies by reporting the data on
crimes. It is therefore a complex process. Both the separation of time and space rule is dealt
with the FBIs. It is their law and order, which is exercised for identifying the crimes. The
pros of this method are that it keeps a track of the crimes committed.
8. In the given scenario, the hierarchy rule will be applicable since it required counting the
highest offences occurred and the number of charges for which the defendant can be
prosecuted in the Courts. Therefore, since Jennifer dies die to strangulation and the other two
daughters of smoke inhalation, William can make a survey and take the matter to the Courts.

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