Victims and Victimization, Research Paper Example

Introduction

Victims of crime fall under a broad range of catagories. This may vary from acts of assault, rape, homicide, blackmail etc. The legal remedies will vary in accordance with the severity of the crime perpetrated. Victimization is more associated with a person being persecuted or bullied for reasons of prejudice, stereotyping etc. Juvenile crime has been cited as one area of increased criminal behaviour and you are at increased risk of being a victim in Urban City dwellings like that of Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit etc.

Violent Crime in the USA falls under a number of different catagories: – 1) that associated with Juvenile crime 2) Drug related crime 3) Homicides 4) Organised crime syndicates. 5) Bodily assault and rape. These are the main areas that account for the more serious violent crimes carried out in the US today.

With virtually 1 in 100 Americans being sent to Jail is violent crime in the USA increasing to a point where the Government are starting to lose control of the situation ? How may the current trends be reversed and is it time to recognise that we have more of a social problem that that of a criminal one. (Jerin & Moriarty, 1998)

Problems Sustained by Victims

Victims of Crime offer suffer some form of injury. These can range from actual physical wounds i.e. as the direct result of a personal assault or attack. Equally, that of trauma conditions and psychological injury may occur. A girl who is followed by a stalker may develop psychological fears of going outside, being afraid of people and particularly men or other forms of paranoia. A person who is badly beaten from an assault may lose a great deal of self-esteem and confidence and develop a fear of going out at night.

People often place themselves at risk by failing to do an assessment of their vulnerability. For example there are certain places that have known high crime rates that you may not care to frequent or visit. Girls going in bars need to be careful of their drinks and be familiar with the concept of ‘date rape’ drugs and the dangers these represent. In addition to the act of rape the girl may also be exposed to HIV/AIDS thereby adding an additional threat to the problem. Juveniles tend to be at their worst behaviour in gangs at night and the darkness gives them a degree of protection from discovery. Such places should be avoided for risk of assault, robbery or potential rape victims. (Davis, R.C. 2007)

Most of juveniles arrested are repeat offenders and as such have a record of violence and petty crime. The system does not provide adequate social welfare for these offenders and as such crimes often escalate into cases of homicide and serious assault. As such police have the right of detention until the person arrested cab be formally charged and duly processed through the court systems

Caring for Victims

The range of care for victims will vary from that of Hospital treatment, consultation with the Doctor to that of counselling and psychiatric treatment. Assault victims will almost certainly require some form of medical assistance. This is often accompanied by trauma after the event. This can occur immediately or even months to years after the event and can lead to post traumatic stress disorder. Soldiers exposed to battle conditions are most vulnerable to this psychological condition. If left untreated this condition can lead to serious mental illness problems.

Victims from incidents of Rape may require extensive counselling and psychological treatment in order to deal with both trauma and the psychology of being brutally attacked and violated. These incident can leave lasting mental scars and take many years to recover a degree of normality after such a situation. (Waller, I. 2011)

Most of the current research effort in psychopathic behaviour is aimed towards forecasting why this type of behaviour pattern occurs. i.e. the utility of measures. There have been some interesting debates taking place on precisely what constitutes psychopathic behaviour. One argument states ‘an integral part of psychopathy is an emergence of an early and persistent patter of problematic behaviour’ whereas another viewpoint stated that criminal behaviour is mainly rooted in anti-social behaviour (Skeen, J.C., 2010

Conclusions

The criminal justice system in the USA is an essential part of the legal apparatus for maintaining law and order in society. It is necessary to have a set of legal standards and regulations to protect the majority of citizens from the minority that seek to disrupt and displaying violent and criminal behaviour to other members of society. In addition, it also provides a means of transforming such criminal elements into law-abiding citizens and prevents the moral decline of society into a state of anarchy, where only the strong survive.

People react differently to crime incidents. This is an important part of behavioural research and an important source of data for developing public policy in response to criminal behaviour. Many states have not been able to provide adequate security for its citizens and this has created different reactions to crimes including the formation of vigilante groups and vendettas for homicide cases.

References

J.C., S. (2010). Is criminal behaviour a central component of psychopathy, conceptual directions in resolving the debate. Juvenile Offendors and Victims, 433-441.

Jerin, R. A., & Moriarty, L. J. (1998). Victims of Crime. Chicago: Nelson-Hall Publishers.

Robert Carl Davis, A. J. (2007). Victims of crime. London: Sage.

Waller, I. (2011). Rights for victims of crime: rebalancing justice. In I. Waller, Rights for victims of crime: rebalancing justice (pp. 77-80). Plymouth UK: Rowman and Littlefield.