There are countless arguments theorizing the criminal behaviors of offenders. Lifestyle-Exposure Theory, also known as Lifestyle Theory, acknowledges the differences in an individual life on a day-to-day basis. Lifestyles are patterned, regular, recurrent routine activities. Lifestyle can be defined as an activity that a person would engage in on a daily basis, including both obligatory activities, such as work or school, and leisure activities (Lifestyle, 2011). This theory of victimization recognizes that every person takes different paths, has different routines, and life exposures. Lifestyle Theory takes a unique approach by focusing and studying the crime victim rather than just the perpetrator. The main issue is that victims of crime …show more content…
The six categories include the completely innocent victim, the victim with minor guilt, the victim who is as guilty as the offender, the victim who is guiltier than the offender, the guiltiest victim, and the imaginary victim (Wallace & Roberson, 2011). Only one typology from Mendelsohn’s theory considers a victim one hundred percent innocent, the completely innocent victim, which tends to consist of children and those who are unconscious at the time of the crime (Wallace & Roberson, 2011). The other five typologies assigned some kind of responsibility to the victim for contributing to their own injury (Dietrich, 2008). For example, a victim would be classified as guilty if he or she acts aggressively causing further victimization, or if the victim aided in or assisted the crime in any way the individual would be considered guilty according to …show more content…
Again, these factors can include age, race, sex, choice of residents, or even normal daily activities, such as traveling to work or school. This theory emphasizes that criminal victimization follows those who do not use their intelligence and rational thought in the social environments (Lifestyle, 2011). Empirical evidence has shown that risky lifestyle activities, such as drinking, using drugs, and frequenting bars or clubs, may put individuals, particularly women, at a higher risk of victimization (Henson, Wilcox, Reyns, & Cullen,
Routine activity theory provides insights by explaining that a crime requires the presence of a suitable target (Shymko),without such a target, the motivated offender lacks the necessary incentives to commit a crime (Shymko). Motivated offenders consider two primary factors when determining an individual as a suitable target. The first factor is the absence of an effective guardian who can prevent criminal acts. In the absence of one, the likelihood of criminal activity increases significantly (Shymko). Potential offenders are aware that there is no one to hold them accountable or prevent their actions.
In F. T. Cullen, J. P. Wright & K. R. Blevins (Eds.), Taking stock: The status of criminological theory, advances in criminological theory (Vol. 15, pp. 251–273). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction. Kramer, R. C. (1985). Defining the concept of crime: A humanistic perspective. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 12(September), 469–487.
Between 1978 and 2001 “at least 65 women disappeared from the Downtown Eastside district of Vancouver, British Columbia” (Robert Pickton Case 2016). Robert Pickton, the most infamous serial killer in Canadian history, admitted to a cell mate that he murdered forty-nine of those women. Pickton was charged with twenty-six counts of second-degree murder and convicted of six. He never plead guilty to any of these charges in court and has shown no remorse for the brutality he released on these victims. The factors included in the Pickton case are his childhood, Victimology Theory, Routine Activity Theory, and Social Process Theory, as well as the advancement of Geographical Profiling this case brought.
Jails and prisons have a greater responsibility that incapacitation. The focus should be placed on factors that the most significant factors that are attributed to criminal conduct. After the determination of the risks of the offender, the focus should be placed on factors that are the most important influences that are attributed to criminal conduct. Many issues may be considered a factor; however, priority should be put on those that are known to reduce recidivism. According to O'Riordan and O'Connell (2014), personality factors are much more linked to a crime that socio-economical class (98).
The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) emerged in 1973 as an improved assessment of criminal offenses, victims, and the trends related. One on the most notable reasons for this was in order to address the issue of non-reported crimes amongst other concerns. The survey is conducted each year by the U.S. Bureau of the Census only to individuals 12 years of age and older. Currently is the primary source information on the frequency of victimization suffered by individuals and/or their households. Missing data of other crimes not initially assessed led to changes that were incorporated in 1993, to include information of offenses such as: rape, sexual assault, personal robbery, aggravated and simple assault household burglary, theft, and motor vehicle theft (Siegel & Welsh, 2015, p. 45).
Reasons et al. , (2016) found that, “offending and victimization are a consequence of multiple risk factors,
While a few theories are not as regular, others have developed and are utilized as a part of numerous criminal reviews today. Cutting edge criminologists consolidate the most important aspects of sociology, psychology, anthropology, and biological theories to advance their comprehension of criminal behavior. Rational choice theory, psychological, biological, and strain theory are used to analyze the
Within the past couple of decades, criminologists have developed different criminological theories that apply to the social behaviors and decisions of criminals. One of the earliest theories developed regarding criminality is the rational choice theory, in which describes the rationalization of determining if the rewards from committing the crime outweigh the consequences. In Scarver’s case, his decision to engage in criminal activities outweighed the potential consequences, or the other alternatives if he did not engage in such criminal activities. In addition to the rational choice theory, Scarver’s criminality can be related to the social disorganization theory, which describes the influence of one’s social and physical environment on one’s decision to commit a crime. Lastly, the strain theory can be related to Scarver’s criminality as well, as it is used to describe an individual who lacks the means to obtain such goals, and aspirations, so therefore, he or she engages in criminal activities to acquire the goals.
A study concerning integrated theory where data used came from two waves of surveys that contained multiple life domain, offending, and demographic measures, examined if life domains could predict victimization with contemporaneous effects, lagged effects, interactive effects, and a measure of prior victimization (Gubb, 2015). The results from the research found a significant level of support for the fourth hypothesis, the temporal ordering of victimization and offending. The most consistent and important findings discovered related to peer domain, offending, and prior victimization variables. The research pointed to the influence of a reduced model where victimization might be predicted generally by facets of routine activity theory and involvement in risky lifestyle (Gubb,
People living in urban areas had much higher rates of crime than people living in suburbs and rural areas. Those who live in single family homes have lower rates of crime than people living in apartments (National Crime Survey). To summarize, our chances for violent victimization are more controlled by what we do than by
Youth crime in Canada has decreased overall but that does not mean crime has disappeared as there are cases where youths. Studies have shown that the “typical” method of justice, through incarceration has not made a huge impact on juvenile offenders ( S.M. Tarolla et al. 127). Which makes this topic so important because if young offenders are not given the right help and treatment they could continue onto the adult criminal justice system. Furthermore, if there is a way to identify recidivism, and provide help for young offenders then we would be adhering to the goals of the criminal justice system which is to rehabilitate and put people back into society as productive peoples.
It does not consider other factors such as criminal associations, individual traits, and inner strains, which plays a significant role in determining punishment for the individuals in committing crimes. It is observed that this theory endeavours to know that whether the activities of crime as well as the victim’s choice, criminals commit the activities on start from rational decisions. The theory also determines that criminals consider different elements before committing crime. They engage in the exchange of ideas before reaching on any final decision. These elements consist of consequences of their crimes, which include revealing their families to problems or death, chances of being arrested, and others elements, which comprises of placement of surveillance systems (Walsh & Hemmens, 2010; Lichbach,
Furthermore, the psychology of criminal behavior, psychology, and criminology all have a primary objective of achieving an understanding of the variation in the criminal behavior of individuals (Andrews and Bonta , 2010). Empirically, the study of variation in criminal behavior is done by the studying of covariates (Andrews and Bonta , 2010). The primary covariates that PCC studies are biological, social, and psychological (Andrews and Bonta , 2010). Although, criminology tends to assess criminality at an aggregate level, in comparison to the psychology of criminal conduct’s focus on an individual level. Additionally, a psychology of criminal conduct involves applying what is learned by the studying of psychological information and methods to the predicting and influencing the propensity of criminal behavior on an individual
The disadvantage of this approach is the fact that it does not focus on the victim instead it justifies the offender’s actions by regarding them as patients and victims of dysfunctional societies Restitution
Sugeny Genao Writing Assignment 3 SOCI 321 February 18, 2018 Why are some successful? Why do some commit crimes? Society has general laws, offenders who break those laws are known as being deviants. Society views robbery, assault, and murder, as deviant acts. Cultural Deviance Theory is a, “branch of social structure theory that sees strain and social disorganization together resulting in a unique lower-class culture that conflicts with conventional social norms” (Siegel, 2018, P. 581).