Origins of Victimology
The study of victims dates back to the early 1940s, when Hans von Hentig developed the first breakdown of the relationship between criminals and their victims. Hentig’s theory was that the victim was to blame and was guilty. In many cases, eleven types of victim classification were developed for victims, including psychologically challenged young people, the elderly, women, migrants, minorities, those with mental illness, lonely people, and victims of other victims. Benjamin Mendelson, who claimed to be the first person to investigate the victim case in 1960, worked on relationships involving rape victims and attackers. He developed a type of victim, including an innocent victim; he did not fully know the possibility of becoming a victim.
Crime Data and Offender-Victim Relationships
It requires reliable sources of crime to study violence and victimization. Details of crime reports include sources of crime, frequency, populations affected by them, and the relationship between criminals and victims. In this analysis, the focal point is a review of the main sources of crime data, as well as the terms and theories of the victim. The analysis will also look at the trends and consequences of victims of crime. The main crime figures in the United States are the National Incident Reporting System (NIBRS) and the EU Crime Reports (UCR) (Source of the Crime Sources, 2009). NIBRS reports on the arrests for all crimes. The NIBRS reports on these crime factors, such as the nature of victims of crimes and offenses, their relationships, the weapons used, and the crime scene. Other types of information include injuries and arrests in relation to the incident. On the other hand, Misuse of Crime Reports (UCR) is used to report crimes for political decision-making. The types of crimes reported by UCR include robbery, murder, rape, theft, attack, and theft under conflicting circumstances.
Definitions and Meaning of Victimization
Victimization is the result of a person or organization’s deliberate actions to use, prevent, or deny others or to unlawfully destroy other property. The Latin term for victim means “sacrificial animal,” but the term victim has come to cover a range of targets, for example, oneself, another person, home, work, state, or environment. Criminal victimization is usually a criminal or civil law violation, but it does not necessarily require overcoming the law. The loss can include psychological/emotional damage, physical or sexual injury, or economic loss.
Uniform Crime Reports as a Data Source
One of the main victim data sources is the Crime Equality Report (UCR). The Executive Investigation Bureau (FBI) has administered UCR since 1930. In the United States, this is the longest-running data collection. UCR provides a complete criminal census of personal offenses and property based on standardized definitions collected from jurisdictions in all 50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico. The number of crimes is reported for regions, states, counties, cities, and towns, as well as the whole country. UCR participation is voluntary, and more than 17,000 city, county, and state law enforcement bodies account for about 94% of the total United States population.
Part I and Part II Offenses
UCR infringements fall into two categories: crimes related to Part I and Part II. Category I crimes refer to indexing offenses and include more serious crimes, divided into violence and property categories. Part I violent crimes include murder and homelessness, violent rape, robbery, and intense attack. Part I property crimes include theft, stealing, molestation, and optimism of the cars. Part II crimes are more serious crimes, including simple attacks, drug-related crimes, and other offenses. In 1992, the FBI began investigating hate crimes. It also collects reliable, timely data on their scope and nature through UCR Presidency Reports.
Limitations of Official Crime Statistics
The UCR’s utility in measuring the “true” victim size is limited, as it looks at a dark crime figure; that is, it covers only recognized crimes of practitioners and reflects them in official crime statistics. The agency’s reporting methods, such as problems caused by the manipulation or reporting of offenses, are also part of the UCR. Other disadvantages are the lack of information about the victim or the crime.
Limitations of Victimization Surveys
Critics identify some important shortcomings in NCVS as a means of calculating crime statistics. Various crimes, including those under the NKVD, do not include workplace or homeless crimes or victim crimes. The second criticism of the survey methodology is that the NCVS is exposed to the widespread problems of criminal justice questionnaires concerning participants’ recollection of past events. The third issue is that the survey method proves some of the crimes that, according to the victim, they consider the offenders guilty of. In order to overcome these problems, a redesign was carried out in 1997 to develop the NCVS as a survey tool.
References
Hindelang, M. J., Gottfredson, M. R., & Garofalo, J. (1978). Victims of personal crime: An empirical foundation for a theory of personal victimization. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
Hope, T., Bryan, J., Trickett, A., & Osborn, D. R. (2001). The phenomena of multiple victimization: The relationship between personal and property crime risk. British Journal of Criminology, 41, 595–617.
Jansson, K. (2008). British crime survey—Measuring crime for 25 years. Retrieved from https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110218135832/rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/bcs25.pdf
Johnson, H., Ollus, N., & Nevala, S. (2007). Violence against women: An international perspective. New York: Springer.
S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2005). Criminal victimization, 2004. Washington, DC: Author.
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