Exploring Victimology: Understanding Victims' Role in Criminology

For most of the 20th century the criminological gaze remained firmly focused on the criminal and the criminal justice system. In the latter stages, however, a combination of social, politica and academic concern led to the rediscovery of the crime victim as a critical source of information about the criminal, crime, and as a principal focus for crime prevention and policy initiatives. This module explores a range of theoretical approaches to understanding criminal victimisation – from the responsibility of individuals in avoiding victimisation to the role of the state in creating it – and evaluates their connections with contemporary victims policy and practice. Across the term we will conceptualise criminal victimisation as a psycho-social, cultural and political phenomenon, and evaluate the interrelationships between crime, criminal victimisation and a wide diversity of issues, including; gender, race and ethnicity, age, class, white collar and state crime, media representations, the criminal justice system, and the interpretation of crime data relating to the nature and extent of criminal victimisation in contemporary society.

WHAT WILL I BE EXPECTED TO ACHIEVE?

On successful completion of this module, you will be expected to be able to:

Knowledge and understanding:

• Outline the key historical and contemporary victimisation trends

• Describe critically the main theoretical frameworks through which criminal victimisation is understood. Skills:

• Engage with and critique an author’s work

• Identify and evaluate the different positions in a debate

• Make and support an argument

• Identify potential questions around a particular issue

• Synthesise a complex argument

• Analyse a text

• Engage in reasoned, respectful arguments using abstract concepts

• Identify the evidence required to support a particular argument. Values and attitudes:

• Demonstrate a clear understanding of the different challenges and debates to which the problem of criminal victimisation gives rise.

(a) to provide students with a critical overview of the social and political factors which led to the rediscovery of the victim in both academic and criminal justice discourses in the mid-20th century

(b) to familiarise students with the theoretical and methodological tools which have shaped the continuing development of the discipline of victimology

(c) to encourage students to develop their ability to research, analyse, and communicate critical and informed arguments relating to the theory, policy and practice underpinning the various strands of the victimological enterprise

Victimology Essay Questions

1. Critically evaluate the role that the concept of victim responsibility plays within positivist victimology.

2. Critically evaluate critical victimology’s focus on the relationship between victimisation and social injustice.

3. Critically evaluate the contribution that feminist scholarship is making to our understanding of victimology.

4. Will it ever be possible to apprehend the full extent of criminal victimisation in British society ?

5. Identify and examine the issues involved in constructing a victim-centred criminal justice system.

6. To what extent is the restorative justice process able to undo the harms experienced by victims of crime?

7. Why are some crime victims newsworthy, featuring prominently in the news media, whilst others are scarcely mentioned?

Assessment Criteria

Essays will be assessed on a variety of criteria. These include:

· the extent to which you have answered the question in an informed manner;

· the use of relevant research findings to support arguments;

· the use of your own examples to illustrate your arguments.

· critical understanding of the works of researchers covered on the course;

· the use of good referencing, reflected in citations, ideas, and arguments (which are correctly referenced and integrated into the text);

· the accuracy of the expression (it is important that all coursework is proofread several times before submission);

· imagination and originality (the extent to which you have been able to synthesise the works of others and develop your own view of their work).

What role if any did the victim play in criminological thinking before the mid-twentieth century?

Explain the circumstances that led to ‘rediscovery’ of the victim by criminologists in the mid-twentieth century