Stump the Chump Answers

1. Stump the Chump Answers • NCVS data has “household” as unit of analysis • BUT, only in the sense that a household can be victimized (doesn’t count if household member was victim of crime). • Also, be aware the NCVS is only residential households (no commercial property).

2. Leftover Stuff From Last Class • Continuity in Criminal Behavior • Why? • Paradox of change and continuity • Age-Crime Curve Revisited • Only arrest data (don’t arrest 7 year olds typically) • Aggregate data (hide different groups?)

3. Victims and Victimology Level of Victimization Profile of a “Crime Victim” Theories of Victimization Effects of Victimization

4. The Emergence of Victimology • Until the 1960s, offenders were studied almost exclusively • What changed? • Feminist Movement (rape, intimate violence) • “Law and Order” concerns (Dirty Harry) • The NCVS

5. Defining “Crime Victims” • Focus almost exclusively on “Street” crimes • NCVS • Is what we know about street crime generalizable to white collar crime (e.g., Enron Victims)

6. Profile of Victims • Where do crimes tend to take place? • Who tends to be victimized? • Age, Race, Gender, Social Class • Victim-Offender relationships • NOTE: THERE TEND TO BE EXCEPTIONS BASED ON TYPE OF CRIME

7. The General “Where” • In U.S., West has highest violent and property crime rates, NE lowest • Different from UCR (South higher in UCR, and Midwest lower) • Urban, Suburban, Rural (property and violent) • Certain neighborhoods • Hot Spots

8. NCVS: VIOLENT OFFESNES

9. What Demographic Characteristics are Related to Victimization? • Gender (Female less than male) • But- rape and intimate violence exceptions • Social Status • Lower social status more likely to be victims, but... • Age • Younger more likely to be victimized • Race/Ethnicity • Blacks more likely to be victimized

10. Age and Violent Victimization

11. Gender and Violent Victimization

12. Age, Race, and Gender Homicide Victimization, 1997

13. Victim-Offender Relationships • Crime tends to be intra-racial rather than inter-racial • Myth of Black crimes against whites • In violent crimes, the victim is at least “well known” to the offender in 40% of the cases. • Much less often in property cases

14. Theories of Victimization • Explain who gets victimized and/or why • Lifestyle Theories/Routine Activities Theory • Deviant Lifestyles (Equivalence Hypothesis) • Physical Proximity • Victim Precipitation

15. Lifestyle Theories • To predict “direct predatory crime” • Routine Activities Theory: The convergence in time and space of: • Motivated Offenders • Suitable Targets • Lack of Capable Guardianship

16. Deviant Lifestyle • The Equivalence Hypothesis • Offenders and Victims are the same “group” of folks harming each other • Chance of being murdered greater for youths who are members of gangs • College students more vulnerable to victimization if they report smoking weed and threatening others

17. Physical Proximity • Live in or near a “high crime” area • Independent of “lifestyle”

18. Victim Precipitation? • Active (e.g., take the first swing) vs. Passive • Wolfgang homicide study • Rape? • Difference between empirical documentation and normative statements • Empirical facts do not “excuse” or justify

19. Immediate Problems of Crime Victims • Financial Loss • Property • Wages • Medical Expenses • Physical and Emotional Pain • Depression, PTSS… • Double Victimization

20. Exam 1 • 50-60 Multiple Choice Questions • Majority = in both book and on slides/notes • Some = slides/notes only • A few = book only • TA Study/Review Session • Sunday Evening (6pm) in Boh 90