Role of Victimology Victimology in its most simple form is the study of the victim or victims of a particular offender. It is defined as "the thorough study and analysis of victim characteristics" (Turvey, 1999) and may also be called "victim profiling" (Holmes, 1996). In essence criminal profilers are studying the harm the victim endured during the crime, plus its physical and emotional aspects. Victimologists are people who are in essence investigators, researchers, and observers of the victimized persons and their connection to the crime (Karmen, 2007). Holmes & Holmes (2009, p290) stated “To appraise a crime without some knowledge of the victim is certainly remiss.” The victim constitutes half of the crime therefore victimology should be heavily looked at in order to connect them to the offender (Douglas, Burgess, Burgess, & Ressler, 1992).Victimology is important to an investigation process in that, it is not just learning about the victim’s personal history and personality, but it also why the victim was chosen (Petherick, 2010).
Victimology: A Study of Crime Victims 1 Victimology is an important element in the process of learning about crime victims, the needs of the victims, and even about the perpetrator of the crime. It identifies the victims, reveals their physical and mental state before and after the crime, their social interactions, and ideas as to why they were a victim. Victimology does not give the reasons why a particular person is chosen by an offender, however it will give general overview of victim selection (Petherick, “Victimology” 2010) The definitions of victimology vary in the use of words within the definition, such as victim, crime victim or behavior of crime victim. Victimology as an academic term containing two elements; the Latin word “victima” which translate into victim and the Greek word “logos” which means a system of knowledge (Dussich “Victimology ‘Past, Present and Future’”2000). In it’s simplest definition, victimology is the study of the victim or victims of a particular offender (Wallace & Roberson 2011: 3).
Examine the scene for what? To ascertain if the "theory" of the case is substantiated by what the crime scene technician observes. Examining the scene to identify possible items of evidentiary nature, identify point of entry and point of exit, and getting the general layout of the crime scene. Photograph the crime scene is the third step in the protocol. Photographing the crime scene to record a pictorial view of what the scene looks like and to record items of possible evidence.
Crime is know as any behavior which breaks known laws. This behavior can be learned and usually stems from aggression or anti social behavior. There are various theories for crime and the cause of it but they all fit into 3 main catorgries psychological, social, and biological. One theory of crime is eysnecks personality theory. He has composed a test to measure different aspects of a persons character.
Definition of Key Concepts 2.1 Criminal Profiling ( Hard evidence profiling) According to Turvey 1999, the process of inferring distinctive personality characteristics of individuals responsible for committing criminal acts has been commonly referred to as ‘criminal profiling.’ These include biographic details of the perpetrator, crime-scene analysis, and so on. 2.2 Criminological Profiling (Soft evidence profiling) According to Joubert, Hesselink & Marais 2003, criminological profiling is the assessment of criminal behaviour which includes assessing the victims’ credibility, motives & causes of the crime, modi operandi, personal & family background, post offence behaviour & appearances. 2.3 Risk Assessment The assessment of risk involves predicting how likely it is that the individual will in the future commit crime, or reoffend. 3. Main Views The main purpose of the profile is to investigate a crime in order to successfully apprehend the perpetrator, provide investigators with relevant leads & strategies & to help gain insight into the offenders state of mind before, during & after the commission of the crime, whereas the main objective of prediction is to identify the risk factors that are involved in reoffending &
Assess the usefulness of official statistics to our understanding of social problems. Illustrate your response with sociological arguments and evidence. To assess the usefulness of official statistics to our understanding of social problems, I will first look at what official statistics are, I will then look at crime and suicide as two examples of social problems. I will look at how both Positivists and Interpretativists use these statistics and how useful each of these sociological approaches find them. Official statistics is the name given to the numbers of crimes reported to or unveiled by the police themselves, which lead to a conviction, caution or are dealt with in some formal way by the law.
These concept explain crime at levels of the society, the individual, and the group. An individual’s potential for criminality depends on the competition between associations that treat criminal behavior positively and those who treat it negatively (Vandelay, 2010, p.1) The main points of Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory are the nine propositions which are one that criminal behavior is learned second which is similar to the first proposition is that criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other people in an attempt to communicate. The third main point or proposition is that the principal part of the learning of criminal behavior occurs within intimate personal groups. The fourth main point is that when criminal behavior is learned, the learning includes; the techniques of committing the crime which are sometimes complicated or very simple and the specific motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes. The fifth main point is the specific direction of motives and drive is learned from the definition of the legal codes whether it is favorable or unfavorable.
FEBRUARY 3, 2013 INVESTIGATIVES METHODOLOGY IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE A crime laboratory - often shortened to crime lab - is a scientific laboratory, using primarily forensic science for the purpose of examining evidence from criminal cases. These labs generally use forensic science to examine evidences. After examination, they provide reports and opinion testimony. The testimony and reports are presented before a court of law. In the U.S., crime laboratories are operated both at public and private levels.
Are official statistics a reliable source of information about crime in Britain? Official criminal statistics are defined as “Statistical data compiled by the police and the courts and routinely published by governments as indices of the extent of crime” (Munchie, 2001, p194). “The working class, the young males, and members of some ethnic minorities are all more likely to commit crimes than the middle class, the elderly, females and whites – according to official statistics”. (Haralambos and Holborn, 2004, p338). In assessing the question “Are official statistics a reliable source of information about crime in Britain?” several factors will be considered: including how the statistics are collected, the divide between males and females in crime statistics, the over representation of ethnic minorities and any problems in looking at the true extent of crime using statistics as an indicator for this.
Typology for crime uses defined characteristics, such as motivation, situation, behavior-both victim and offender-, and aspects unique to the offense. 2. What are the key issues to be considered in explaining patterns of homicide? * When trying to explain homicide, socio-demographics need to be examined. Using cultural norms, weapons availability, gang activity, geographic region, victim-offender relationship, as well as individual characteristics as considerations can give a much greater idea of statistics and causes.