Victimology
Sociology: AQA A Level, topic 10.3.4
Positivist Victimology
Positivist victimology states that there are characteristics which make someone more likely to be a victim.
Victimisation
- Positivist victimology states that there are characteristics which make someone more likely to be a victim.
- This approach focuses on interpersonal crimes of violence and aims to identify people who have contributed to their own victimisation.
Hans Von Hentig
- Positivist victimologists discuss the idea of victim proneness.
- Hans Von Hentig argues that there are 13 characteristics which make someone more likely to be a victim of crime.
13 characteristics
- Young.
- Female.
- Old.
- Immigrants.
- Depressed.
- Mental illness.
- The acquisitive.
13 characteristics cont.
- Dull normal.
- Minorities.
- Lonesome.
- Heartbroken.
- Tormentor.
- The blocked/The fighter.
Victim precipitation
- They also discuss victim precipitation.
- Wolfgang looked at murders in the USA.
- He found that 26% of 588 homicides in Philadelphia involved victim precipitation.
- This means that the victim triggered the events leading to the murder.
Critical Victimology
Critical victimologists argue that the proletariat are victims of both the exploitation by the bourgeoisie and the state.
‘Structural powerlessness’
- Critical victimologists argue that the proletariat are victims of both the exploitation by the bourgeoisie and the state.
- Mawby and Walklate argue that victimisation is a form of ‘structural powerlessness’.
The state
- The state has power to define who they decide is a victim and as a result the state labels some people as victims, but not others.
- E.g. before 1991 it was legal to rape your wife, therefore a wife was not a victim.
Theories
- This type of victimology is dominated by theories such as Marxists, feminists and labelling theorists.
Health and safety
- Marxists, Tombs and Whyte argue employers tend to manipulate ‘safety crimes’ where injured workers are often blamed for their actions instead of the company taking responsibility for their negligence of health and safety procedure.
- This is referred to as the ‘hierarchy of victimisation’.
Test yourself on Victimology
Which of these is NOT one of the 13 characteristics which make someone more likely to be a victim of crime?
Which sociological approach does NOT favour the critical victimology?
Who studied the ‘hierarchy of victimisation’ in relation to 'safety crimes'?