Victims of Crime CRJS 352 || A+ Score Secured.
When did Victimology originate? correct answers 1940's when sociologists began to investigate
the offender-victim relationship
When was Victimology offered to study in North America? correct answers 1990's
What are the two broad areas of inquiry for Victimology? correct answers victim suffering and
the related issues of harm reduction and offender management, and the offender-victim
relationship. Your book uses the term victim-victimizer relationship; however, you may prefer
the term offender-victim relationship because it is more consistent with correctional and criminal
justice language in Canada.
How is Victimology related to Criminology and Sociology? correct answers Victimology
emerged as an extension of criminology, a sub-discipline of sociology.
What is sociology? correct answers Sociology is the study of social relationships. These
relationships can be between people, between social institutions, and/or between people and
social institutions. In essence, sociology is the study of society.
What is Criminology? correct answers Criminology is the study of crime on both the social and
individual levels.
What is Victimology? correct answers Victimology studies the victim, the offender, and society
from the victim's perspective.
What are the three areas that Victimologist study? (Karmen 2007, textbook chapter 1) correct
answers The study of variables that increase the risk of victimization. Typically, these studies
seek to understand the decisions that led a victim into a dangerous situation. Residential choices,
for example, can be influenced by a number of variables and can increase the risk of
victimization.
,The study of systemic responses to victimization. Here, the focus is on how the criminal justice
system (e.g., the courts, the police) treats victims of crime. The goal, presumably, is to generate
information that can be used to improve victim services.
Effectiveness evaluations for societal efforts to reimburse victims for their losses and to address
the needs of victims.
What is Opportunity Theory? correct answers Opportunity theory (referred to in your textbook as
the opportunity model of victimization) reflects a synthesis of two simpler theories: lifestyle
theory and routine-activities theory. The basic premise of opportunity theory is that the following
five variables will determine the likelihood that an individual will be victimized:
Exposure to potential offenders. The rate of exposure is determined chiefly by lifestyle "choices"
(which are sometimes illusory). Economic hardship, for example, can force someone to live in a
high-crime area. Choice, in this case, would be an illusion. Alternatively, the decision to attend a
social function in a crime-ridden neighbourhood is a legitimate choice that would increase the
danger of victimization.
Guardianship. This variable is a protective factor that reduces the likelihood of victimization.
Guardianship can refer to personal or sociological characteristics. Frequent police patrols in a
neighbourhood, for instance, can provide a guardianship function.
Proximity. This variable is concerned simply with the physical distance between offender
populations and potential victims. Greater proximity leads to a higher danger of victimization.
Returning to an earlier example, living in a high-crime neighbourhood increases proximity to
offender populations and, by extension, the risk of victimization.
Target attractiveness. The more appealing a target, the greater the risk of victimization. An
expensive sports car parked in a high-risk neighbourhood, for example, is more likely to be
stolen than a broken-down jalopy.
Definitions of specific crimes. This is an unnecessarily cumbersome term that simply refers to
the fact that certain crimes (e.g., theft) are more difficult to commit than other crimes (e.g.,
burglaries).
Name the 5 components of Opportunity Theory? correct answers Exposure to potential
offenders, Guardianship, Proximity, Target attractiveness, definitions of specific crimes
, In the Opportunity theory, what would be considered the highest risk for Victimization? correct
answers the risk of victimization would be highest in a situation that included the possibility of
an easy crime in a context characterized by low guardianship, high proximity, high exposure, and
high target attractiveness.
In the 1940's-50s, who were the theorists to start Victimology? correct answers Victimology first
emerged in the 1940s and 1950s, when several criminologists (notably Hans von Hentig,
Benjamin Mendelsohn, and Henri Ellenberger)
Who started Criminology? correct answers November, 1871, in Italy. Cesare Lombroso, a
psychiatrist and prison doctor at an asylum for the criminally insane, performed an autopsy on an
infamous criminal named Giuseppe Villella. During the autopsy, Lombroso discovered an
unusual indentation near the base of Villella's skull. Based on this single observation, Lombroso
concluded that criminals were physically different from non-criminals.
First critical dates in history of Victimology? correct answers 1750 b.c.—Code of Hammurabi
adopted. considered one of the first known attempts to establish a written code of conduct
What is Primitive law? correct answers Primitive law was a system of rules used by preliterate
societies to govern the tribe, clan, or other gathering of individuals. These rules or regulations
represent the foundation upon which the modern legal system is built. Primitive laws usually
contained three premises: (1) acts that injured others were considered private wrongs, (2) the
injured party was entitled to take action against the wrongdoer, and (3) this action usually
amounted to in-kind retaliation. These types of laws encouraged blood feuds and revenge as the
preferred methods of making the victim whole.
Describe the development of Stare decisis and common law? correct answers The Norman
Conquest under William the Conqueror established royal administrators who rode circuit and
rendered justice. These royal judges would use local custom and rules of conduct as a guide in
rendering their judgments. This system, known as stare decisis (Latin for the phrase "to stand by
the decided law"), would have far-reaching effects on modern American criminal law.
The next major development in the history of law was the acknowledgment of the existence of
common law. Early English common law forms the basis for much of our present-day legal
When did Victimology originate? correct answers 1940's when sociologists began to investigate
the offender-victim relationship
When was Victimology offered to study in North America? correct answers 1990's
What are the two broad areas of inquiry for Victimology? correct answers victim suffering and
the related issues of harm reduction and offender management, and the offender-victim
relationship. Your book uses the term victim-victimizer relationship; however, you may prefer
the term offender-victim relationship because it is more consistent with correctional and criminal
justice language in Canada.
How is Victimology related to Criminology and Sociology? correct answers Victimology
emerged as an extension of criminology, a sub-discipline of sociology.
What is sociology? correct answers Sociology is the study of social relationships. These
relationships can be between people, between social institutions, and/or between people and
social institutions. In essence, sociology is the study of society.
What is Criminology? correct answers Criminology is the study of crime on both the social and
individual levels.
What is Victimology? correct answers Victimology studies the victim, the offender, and society
from the victim's perspective.
What are the three areas that Victimologist study? (Karmen 2007, textbook chapter 1) correct
answers The study of variables that increase the risk of victimization. Typically, these studies
seek to understand the decisions that led a victim into a dangerous situation. Residential choices,
for example, can be influenced by a number of variables and can increase the risk of
victimization.
,The study of systemic responses to victimization. Here, the focus is on how the criminal justice
system (e.g., the courts, the police) treats victims of crime. The goal, presumably, is to generate
information that can be used to improve victim services.
Effectiveness evaluations for societal efforts to reimburse victims for their losses and to address
the needs of victims.
What is Opportunity Theory? correct answers Opportunity theory (referred to in your textbook as
the opportunity model of victimization) reflects a synthesis of two simpler theories: lifestyle
theory and routine-activities theory. The basic premise of opportunity theory is that the following
five variables will determine the likelihood that an individual will be victimized:
Exposure to potential offenders. The rate of exposure is determined chiefly by lifestyle "choices"
(which are sometimes illusory). Economic hardship, for example, can force someone to live in a
high-crime area. Choice, in this case, would be an illusion. Alternatively, the decision to attend a
social function in a crime-ridden neighbourhood is a legitimate choice that would increase the
danger of victimization.
Guardianship. This variable is a protective factor that reduces the likelihood of victimization.
Guardianship can refer to personal or sociological characteristics. Frequent police patrols in a
neighbourhood, for instance, can provide a guardianship function.
Proximity. This variable is concerned simply with the physical distance between offender
populations and potential victims. Greater proximity leads to a higher danger of victimization.
Returning to an earlier example, living in a high-crime neighbourhood increases proximity to
offender populations and, by extension, the risk of victimization.
Target attractiveness. The more appealing a target, the greater the risk of victimization. An
expensive sports car parked in a high-risk neighbourhood, for example, is more likely to be
stolen than a broken-down jalopy.
Definitions of specific crimes. This is an unnecessarily cumbersome term that simply refers to
the fact that certain crimes (e.g., theft) are more difficult to commit than other crimes (e.g.,
burglaries).
Name the 5 components of Opportunity Theory? correct answers Exposure to potential
offenders, Guardianship, Proximity, Target attractiveness, definitions of specific crimes
, In the Opportunity theory, what would be considered the highest risk for Victimization? correct
answers the risk of victimization would be highest in a situation that included the possibility of
an easy crime in a context characterized by low guardianship, high proximity, high exposure, and
high target attractiveness.
In the 1940's-50s, who were the theorists to start Victimology? correct answers Victimology first
emerged in the 1940s and 1950s, when several criminologists (notably Hans von Hentig,
Benjamin Mendelsohn, and Henri Ellenberger)
Who started Criminology? correct answers November, 1871, in Italy. Cesare Lombroso, a
psychiatrist and prison doctor at an asylum for the criminally insane, performed an autopsy on an
infamous criminal named Giuseppe Villella. During the autopsy, Lombroso discovered an
unusual indentation near the base of Villella's skull. Based on this single observation, Lombroso
concluded that criminals were physically different from non-criminals.
First critical dates in history of Victimology? correct answers 1750 b.c.—Code of Hammurabi
adopted. considered one of the first known attempts to establish a written code of conduct
What is Primitive law? correct answers Primitive law was a system of rules used by preliterate
societies to govern the tribe, clan, or other gathering of individuals. These rules or regulations
represent the foundation upon which the modern legal system is built. Primitive laws usually
contained three premises: (1) acts that injured others were considered private wrongs, (2) the
injured party was entitled to take action against the wrongdoer, and (3) this action usually
amounted to in-kind retaliation. These types of laws encouraged blood feuds and revenge as the
preferred methods of making the victim whole.
Describe the development of Stare decisis and common law? correct answers The Norman
Conquest under William the Conqueror established royal administrators who rode circuit and
rendered justice. These royal judges would use local custom and rules of conduct as a guide in
rendering their judgments. This system, known as stare decisis (Latin for the phrase "to stand by
the decided law"), would have far-reaching effects on modern American criminal law.
The next major development in the history of law was the acknowledgment of the existence of
common law. Early English common law forms the basis for much of our present-day legal
