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  • Essay / Victimology: one of the branches of criminology

    Victimology or the study of victimization is a branch of criminology that separates the victim from the perpetrator and focuses on the victim rather than the crime. It took off in 1970, before victimology was originally used by the scholar Mendelsohn. Benjamin Mendelsohn was the founder and first person to actively use the term "victimology". Mendelsohn discovered that there was a relationship between the victim and the criminal that needed to be explored further. In 1947, Mendelsohn began writing about the concept of victimology in his article "A new branch of bio-psycho-social science, victimology." In his article, he had the idea of ​​creating an international society of victimology. He wanted victimology to be a distinct component of criminology, focused primarily on the victim. This was the beginning of victimology and the creation of institutions. He is today considered by many criminologists as the father of criminology. Mendelsohn was obsessed with the attitude of victims and the role it played in their victimization. This essay will continue to examine victims and victimology and its historical development within criminology. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Benjamin Mendelsohn proposed the typology of victim blaming and stated that there are six categories to which a victim is to blame. It must be suggested that Benjamin felt that a large majority of victims were partly to blame, as only one of the six categories is a "completely innocent" victim. According to Mendelsohn, a completely innocent victim was usually a child or someone attacked while unconscious. Assuming that a conscious adult, aware and yet to some extent the victim of a criminal offense, was “asking for it”. One area he worked on was women's consent and how it was handled in the criminal justice system. He explained how statutory rape and when a child is a victim, they can be considered an “innocent victim.” Sengstock, M. C. (1976). “Victim through ignorance” This is a victim who, without knowing it, exposes themselves to the risk of being victimized. Evidence has shown that women's clothing can be interpreted as part of their character and willingness to have sex, provoking a man's attention and the possibility of sexual assault. A survey was conducted by 449 universities in which they were asked how much they would agree on a woman's character by her clothing. They agreed with the statement “You can tell a girl's character by the way she dresses,” implying that clothing is linked to rape risk. Here is the “voluntary victim”. This is a victim involved in a dangerous scene. An example of this would be suicide, someone who commits suicide is a willing victim because they choose to commit an act that makes them a victim. Victims who are more guilty than the aggressor would be someone who provokes the aggressor, not necessarily the main aggressor, although they end up in a worse situation. An illustration of this is seen in Fiona Levericks's "Killing in Self-Defense", where she talks about a woman pleading for self-defense as she "kills to prevent rape". Most guilty victim is one of the last of six categories in which a person provokes an assault but ends up becoming a victim, taking an example of sexual assault, the offender killed by the victimultimately makes the offender “the most guilty victim” The imaginary victim. This is a victim who makes false statements, depending on the case this could be due to psychological problems. Digging deeper into the history of victims and victimology, it was reported that in 1660 the word victim was first used. It was originally used to describe someone who had been tortured or killed and the term "victim" shows an appearance of passivity when the victim was originally considered the "victim". Victims were often marginalized, and families were left to heal and find a solution themselves. They should also find justice themselves instead of resorting to the criminal justice system as individuals do today. Victims were often considered the forgotten ones of the justice system, as they were largely underestimated, ignored and underestimated. Looking back in history, women were also seen more as marginalized victims, but men had a sense of toxic masculinity that prevented them from speaking out against crimes. “What’s going on behind closed doors? » Historically, police officers did not intervene in domestic matters because it was considered the man's job to resolve many cases of domestic violence that were never reported. Another reason victims have been forgotten is due to the idea that catching a criminal is justice enough. This does not take into account the emotional and physical well-being of a victim. The etiology of positivism focuses on the attempt to measure the level of victimization. It focuses on three fears, identification in an environment that shows risk of non-random victimization, emphasis on "interpersonal crimes of violence, and identification of victims" who can be held responsible for their victimization. Positivist victimology examines why certain victims are more likely to be victimized, based on their nature or upbringing. Hans von Hentig is a key figure in the development of victimology, he was interested in the relationship between victim and aggressor. In his book “The Criminal and His Victim,” he suggests that there are “psychological or social variables that make an individual prone to victimization.” Von Hentig explained that the relationship between a victim and their handler is not random but there is a connection between them. He also characterized the victim's role in his victimization as "causal," provoking or creating a situation leading to the crime. Cohen and Felson formed the routine activity. Depending on routine activity, there are three main areas that must be exposed for a criminal event to take place. The first key area is a motivated offender, the second is a suitable target and the third is the lack of competent guardians. Many tests have been carried out on theories of offender motivation, but there are not enough experiments on preventive measures by people and organizations. A criticism of positivist victimology is that routine activity was created at a time when the majority of criminologists and their theories focused primarily on the etiology of crime or the characteristics of individuals who commit crimes. Another criticism concerns the reliability of crime data, which also does not take into account the grim crime figures. Victimology is an important part of criminology because it separates victims from perpetrators. The media focuses primarily on criminals, and occasionally the criminal justice system pays more attention to them when trying to achieve justice. The victims feel.