criminal

Theorizing About Risk Factors: Figuring Out Why Certain Groups Suffer More Often Than Others Theoretical explanations start as hypotheses that answer questions that begin with “Why?” After making an empirical generalization (an observation based on patterns or trends that emerged when the data were analyzed) theorists are inclined to ask, “What accounts for this?” For […]

Prof Calls for Crackdown on Crime Victims There is so much talk about crime in the streets and the rights of the criminal that little attention is being paid to the victims of crime. But there is a current of opinion that our courts are being too soft on the victims, and many of them

The answers to these queries require careful research by victimologists. Facilitation, precipitation, and provocation are recognized as the blameworthy actions of specific individuals in particular incidents. However, the data presented in Chapter 4 from the UCR and the NCVS confirmed a widely held belief that certain entire groups of people are more likely than others

Applying Deterrence Theory to Victims For more than two centuries, since the time of Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham, the origina- tors of the classical school of free will or rational choice theory, a fierce debate has raged over whether would-be offenders are deterred by the prospects of apprehension, conviction, and punish- ment. Rarely, if

THE IMPORTANCE OF DETERMINING RESPONSIBILITY IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROCESS A wife returns home late at night after having a tryst with her landscaper at a motel. Her husband, an executive and former professor, becomes enraged and slams her face into the floor of the garage, splitting her head open. The police find her blood-soaked

TRANSCENDING VICTIM BLAMING AND VICTIM DEFENDING: SYSTEM BLAMING The analysis above of murders, robberies, burglar- ies, auto thefts, and identity thefts uncovered some strengths and weaknesses of both victim blaming and victim defending. Contrary to sweeping char- acterizations made by some victimologists, victim blaming is not inherently an exercise in scapegoat- ing, an example of

How Many Violent Crimes Were Precipitated or Provoked? The issue of the victims’ roles in street crimes was systematically explored in the late 1960s by the National Commission on the Causes and Preven- tion of Violence (NCCPV). As its name suggests, the blue-ribbon panel was searching for the roots of the problem and for practical

Red Flags That Indicate a Theft May Have Taken Place The Federal Trade Commission (2011) emphasizes the impor- tance of early detection as a way to minimize harm. It suggests that consumers monitor their accounts regularly and be on the alert for any suspicious activities, such as the following signs that impostors may have recently

Scrutinize bills and account statements for unautho- rized transactions. Request information about security procedures at doc- tors’ offices, businesses, educational institutions, and workplaces, such as who has access to databases, whether records are kept in a safe location, and how old files are disposed of. Don’t carry a Social Security card in a wallet or

VICTIM PRECIPITATION AND PROVOCATION Victim facilitation is a possibility in burglaries, motor vehicle thefts, and identity thefts. Charges of precipitation and provocation are hurled at vic- tims of murder, robbery, assault, and rape (see Chapter 10 for an extensive analysis). A husband-and-wife team, each with a history of robbery arrests and drug abuse, embark on