Examine Some of the Factors That May Contribute to People Becoming Victims of Crime (12 Marks)

Examine some of the factors that may contribute to people becoming victims of crime (12 marks)

Nils Christie (1986) takes a different approach to defining victims. He highlights the notion that 'victim' is socially constructed; the stereotype of the 'ideal victim' favoured by the media, public and criminal justice system is a weak, innocent and blameless individual – such as an old woman – who is the target of a stranger's attack.

The study of victims is sometimes known as 'victimology', and there are two broad perspectives: positivist and criminal victimology.

Miers (1989) defines positivist victimology as having three features: it aims to identify the factors that produce patterns in victimisation, it focuses on interpersonal crimes of violence and it aims to identify victims who have contributed to their own victimisation.

The earliest positivist studies focused on the idea of victim proneness. They sought to identify the social and psychological characteristics of victims that make them different from, and more vulnerable than, non-victims. The implication is that the victims in some sense 'invite' victimisation by being the kind of person that they are; this can also include lifestyle factors such as victims who ostentatiously display their wealth.

As well as this, there is also repeat victimisation. This refers to the fact that is you have been a victim once, you are very likely to be one again. According to the British Crime Survey, around 60% of the population have not been victims of any kind of crime in any given year, whereas 4% of the population are victims of 44% of all crimes in that period.

An example of positivist victimology is Marvin Wolfgang's (1958) study of 588 homicides in Philadelphia. Wolfgang found that 26% involved victim precipitation – the victim triggered the events leading to the homicide., for instance by being the first to use violence.

Positivist victimology has been criticised for ignoring situations...