Today, there are several theories on why people commit crimes. I will examine the rational choice theory and trait theory to get a better understanding of why people become violent offenders. According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, “violent crime is composed of four offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault” (fbi.gov). The UCR describes the following violent crimes: “Murder and non-negligent manslaughter are defined as the willful killing of one person by another. Forcible rape is defined as the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.
Another example of how strain applies to these women can be seen in Agnew’s writings when he said “Data suggest that child abuse and neglect negative school experiences, chronic unemployment, and residence in deprived communities are important causes sate anger and that such anger explains much of the effective of strains on crime.” (Agnew, Chp. 9) The presentation of negative stimuli or in the case of the African American battered women this was the abuse they received, regularly, which will cause large amounts of strain. The way most of these women dealt with the abuse was through drug and alcohol
Criminal Profiling August 13, 2012 CJ230 Police operations and Administration Criminal Profiling Criminal profiling defines as the investigation of a crime with the hope of identifying the responsible party, based on crime scene analysis, investigative psychology and behavioral evidence analysis. Many claim that criminal profiling is a science or an art. Criminal profiling’s use helps law enforcement make positive evaluations. Behavioral scientists and criminologists use the criminal profiling technique to examine criminal behavior. In the future criminal profiling will go further to help investigations and help in the predictions for future actions of criminals.
A victim of rape (primary victimisation), for example, may be subjected to victim blaming and ostracism as the result of the attack; those who become disabled (primary victimisation) may be subjected to non-accommodation, medicalization, and segregation; and those who develop mental disorder (primary victimisation) may be subject to institutionalisation, that in each case may be far more victimising to these individuals and limiting of their life opportunity than the primary victimising stigmatic condition itself, and are thus called secondary victimisation. The disregards of victims’ needs following a crime against them can sometimes be so traumatic that it is called the “second rape” (in the case of rape) or “second assault”. Victims will feel let down and isolated by the criminal justice body, the medical body and any other institution that is meant to help them, but instead causes the victim in certain cases to start believing that it was in fact their fault or that they had a hand in causing the crime. During the court process, secondary victimisation takes place at various levels. Examples of this are where the victim is not afforded private waiting or report-taking facilities.
Social isolation, poor housing, unemployment and poverty are all linked to mental ill health. So stigma and discrimination can trap people in a cycle of illness. The situation is exacerbated by the media. Media reports often link mental illness with violence, or portray people with mental health problems as dangerous, criminal, evil, or very disabled and unable to live normal, fulfilled lives. 2.2 How mental illness can have an impact on the individual: Psychologically: - person may become paranoid and therefore exclude him or her self -person may become paranoid and therefore hurt others who she/he fears will try to hurt him/her -person may become isolated and therefore out of touch with other people and reality in general -person may feel unloved even if it is not true -person may feel like he/she is a threat to society and therefore attempt suicide emotionally: -person may feel isolated, unloved, paranoid, panicked and non-human (read Francis Kafka's The Metamorphosis)
Victims can also play an indirect role in a criminal incident, such as when a woman adopts a lifestyle that continually brings her into high-crime areas (Siegel 2011). The discovery that victims play an important role in the crime process has prompted the scientific study of victims, or victimology. Criminologists who focus their attention on crime victims refer to themselves as victimologists(Siegel 2011). Victimization’s Toll on Society The costs of victimization can include such things as damaged property, pain and suffering to victims, and the involvement of the police and other agencies of the justice system. The pain and suffering inflicted on an individual can result in the need for medical care, the loss of wages from not being able to go to work, and reduced quality of life from debilitating injuries and /or fear of being victimized again, which can result in not being able to go to work, long term medical care, and counseling.
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).
However, the reality is that the result of some hate crimes does affect the victims in a monetary way. Of the 7,164 reported hate crimes 41.8 percent were against property (fbi.gov, 2013). Acts carried out were cross burnings, defacement of property, and destruction of property that have cost the victims a great deal of money to repair. There are cases when the damage or intimidation has caused the victims to relocate or purchase fire arms to protect themselves (Barnes & Ephross, 1994), which is another expense directly contributed to the crime. Not only does the person(s) under attack financially suffer, but the city and community loose too.
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).
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. Only offences which are dealt with by one of the above are actually recorded in official statistics. These offences can vary from minor incidents such as a window being broken to, an offence of a more serious nature such as rape or murder. These are social problems that are constructed by society, something that goes against the 'normal' runnings of society. The statistics can give us an understanding as to the levels of these crimes and as to why or where they are most likely to occur.