SOCI2663 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Innocent Victim, Victimless Crime, Victim Blaming
September 26,28,30 2016
Typologies of Victim-Victimizer
Who is responsible of victimization?
What happened?
Why did it happen?
Understanding the event
What would we do in the same situation?
We may ask ourselves if the victim and offender action were reasonable
Victim blame
Are victim innocent or responsible of what happened to them?
oAre they contributing to the event?
Instead of focusing on damage that offenders cause energy is put towards identify
to what extent victims could be held responsible for being victimized
Victim vulnerability (early victimologist)
Hans von Hentig (1948)
Beniamin Mendelsohn (1940’s)
Stephen Schfer (1968)
Marvin Wolfgang (1957)
Menachenm Amir (1958-60)
Hans von Hentig (1948)
Recognized the importance of investigating what factors underpin why certain
people are victims
Some characteristics that produce crime can also produce victimization
Considers it is necessary to at the victim and criminal not in isolation but together
Victims may provide victimization, acting as agent provocateurs in light of certain
characteristics
To know one we must be acquainted with the other complementary partner
Relationship between the victim and offender “doer and the sufferer”
Victim typology
oYoung: children and infants
oFemales: all women
oOld: elderly
oImmigrants: from another country unfamiliar with the culture
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oMentally defective/ deranged: idiots, imbecilic, feeble minded, drug
addicts, alcoholics
oDull normal: simple minded, uneducated, and often poor
oMinorities: racially disadvantage
oDepressed: various psychological disorders
oThe acquisitive: the greedy, those who look for quick gains
oWanton: promiscuous persons
oThe lonesome and heartbroken: widows, those in mourning
oTormentor: often found in families, an abusive parent/spouse
oThe blocked, exempted, and fighting: victims of blackmail, extortion
oThe activating suffered: the sexually abused who became a sexual
offender, one who is raised by an alcoholic tormentor, torments their own
family and becomes an alcoholic
Psychological strength of the victim
oReciprocal operation
oApathetic, lethargic
oSubmitting, conniving, passively submitting
oCo-operative, contributory
oProvocative, instigative, soliciting
Provocative status of victims
oWhat’s the problem?
Victims wish on some level to be victimized and will cause the event
Assumption that victims has control over the predators actions
Wrong to presume that a persons engagement in any activity warrants
his victimization
Beniamin Mendelsohn (1940s)
Father of Victimology he introduced the term in 1947
Lawyer by profession
While preparing his cases, he noticed that often the victim and offender knew
each other
Interested in both victim and offender
Determining the offenders culpability understand the role of victim
Typology (6 types)
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o1. Completely innocent victim: victim if free of any contribution to the
criminal act
Example: small children, those attacked out of the blue
o2. The victim with minor guilt/ victim do to ignorance: the victim
foolishly did something that put them in harms way
Example: a person who is attacked while walking alone late at
night in a high crime area
o3. The victim as guilty as the offender/ voluntary victim: victims who
commit suicide or who receive injury due to the involvement of victimless
crimes
Example: a person who engages in prostitution, and drug or
alcohol use
o4. The victim is more guilty than the offender: the victim provokes the
attack
Example: a person who starts a fight but ends up losing t
o5. Most guilty victim: victim is injured while engaging in crime
Example: a person who is injured while carrying out an illegal
drug sale
o6. Simulating or imaginary victim: individuals who are not victims but
who lead others to think that they have victimized
Example: a person who lost a significant amount of money in a
card game but states they were mugged
oEmphasis degree of culpability recognizing that some victims bear no
responsibility for their victimization
oLaw based on what reasonable individuals would do in any given situation
oVictims responsibility suggests that he or she did not act reasonably and
may be responsible for what happened
Study of victim is necessary to understand crime as it is with criminology
Better understanding of dynamic activities, events that are considered as crimes
Introduction to concepts
oVictimity/ criminality
oVictimal receptivity: an unconscious propensity in individuals to being
victimized (various degrees)
oPenal couple: refers to the understanding that the victim and the offender
share many characteristics and enter into an often short relationship,
complete with assigned roles during the act of victimization
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Document Summary
We may ask ourselves if the victim and offender action were reasonable. Instead of focusing on damage that offenders cause energy is put towards identify to what extent victims could be held responsible for being victimized. Recognized the importance of investigating what factors underpin why certain people are victims. Some characteristics that produce crime can also produce victimization. Considers it is necessary to at the victim and criminal not in isolation but together. Victims may provide victimization, acting as agent provocateurs in light of certain characteristics. To know one we must be acquainted with the other complementary partner. Relationship between the victim and offender doer and the sufferer . Psychological strength of the victim: reciprocal operation, apathetic, lethargic, submitting, conniving, passively submitting, co-operative, contributory, provocative, instigative, soliciting. Victims wish on some level to be victimized and will cause the event. Assumption that victims has control over the predators actions.
