David Finkelhor
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195342857
- eISBN:
- 9780199863631
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195342857.001.0001
- Subject:
- Social Work, Children and Families, Crime and Justice
This book presents a vision of childhood victimization, one that unifies the conventional subdivisions like child molestation, child abuse, street crime, bullying, and exposure to community violence. ...
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This book presents a vision of childhood victimization, one that unifies the conventional subdivisions like child molestation, child abuse, street crime, bullying, and exposure to community violence. It shows how children are the most criminally victimized segment of the population, with over one-in-five facing multiple, serious “poly-victimizations” during a single year. Developmental Victimology, the book’s term for this new integrative perspective, looks at how victimization changes across the span of childhood and offers insights about how to categorize juvenile victimizations and how to think about risk and impact developmentally. It presents new data about unexpected declines in childhood victimization during the 1990s and early 2000s and suggest some of the reasons for this drop. The book also provides a new model of society’s response to child victimization — the Juvenile Victim Justice System — and a fresh way of thinking about barriers that victims and their families encounter when seeking help.Less
This book presents a vision of childhood victimization, one that unifies the conventional subdivisions like child molestation, child abuse, street crime, bullying, and exposure to community violence. It shows how children are the most criminally victimized segment of the population, with over one-in-five facing multiple, serious “poly-victimizations” during a single year. Developmental Victimology, the book’s term for this new integrative perspective, looks at how victimization changes across the span of childhood and offers insights about how to categorize juvenile victimizations and how to think about risk and impact developmentally. It presents new data about unexpected declines in childhood victimization during the 1990s and early 2000s and suggest some of the reasons for this drop. The book also provides a new model of society’s response to child victimization — the Juvenile Victim Justice System — and a fresh way of thinking about barriers that victims and their families encounter when seeking help.
Michelle L. Meloy and Susan L. Miller
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199765102
- eISBN:
- 9780199944187
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199765102.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
This book presents a balanced and comprehensive summary of the most significant research on the victimizations, violence, and victim politics that disproportionately affect women. The chapters ...
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This book presents a balanced and comprehensive summary of the most significant research on the victimizations, violence, and victim politics that disproportionately affect women. The chapters examine the history of violence against women, the surrounding debates, the legal reforms, the related media and social-service responses, and the current science on intimate-partner violence, stalking, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape. They augment these victimization findings with original research on women convicted of domestic battery and men convicted of sexual abuse and other sex-related offenses. In these new data, the chapters explore the unanticipated consequences associated with changes to the laws governing domestic violence and the newer forms of sex-offender legislation. Based on qualitative data involving in-depth, offender-based interviews, and analyzing the circumstances surrounding arrests, victimizations, and experiences with the criminal justice system, the book makes great strides forward in understanding and ultimately combating violence against women.Less
This book presents a balanced and comprehensive summary of the most significant research on the victimizations, violence, and victim politics that disproportionately affect women. The chapters examine the history of violence against women, the surrounding debates, the legal reforms, the related media and social-service responses, and the current science on intimate-partner violence, stalking, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape. They augment these victimization findings with original research on women convicted of domestic battery and men convicted of sexual abuse and other sex-related offenses. In these new data, the chapters explore the unanticipated consequences associated with changes to the laws governing domestic violence and the newer forms of sex-offender legislation. Based on qualitative data involving in-depth, offender-based interviews, and analyzing the circumstances surrounding arrests, victimizations, and experiences with the criminal justice system, the book makes great strides forward in understanding and ultimately combating violence against women.
Rami Benbenishty and Ron Avi Astor
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195157802
- eISBN:
- 9780199864393
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195157802.001.0001
- Subject:
- Social Work, Children and Families, Crime and Justice
The book explores and differentiates the many manifestations of school violence, such as verbal, social, threats, bullying, physical, sexual harassment, and weapons possession, as well as ...
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The book explores and differentiates the many manifestations of school violence, such as verbal, social, threats, bullying, physical, sexual harassment, and weapons possession, as well as staff-initiated violence against students. It presents a socio-ecological model of school violence in context, and explores the role of culture, religion, neighborhood, family, school characteristics (such as size), age, and gender. The model outlines how aspects of school climate, including anti-violence policies, teacher-student relationships and student participation mediate the effects of the outside context and influence levels of victimization, feelings of safety and fear. The book presents a large scale nationally representative study of school violence conducted among Jewish and Arab students in Israel. A nested design (students within schools) was used to gather data from the multiple perspectives of students, teachers, and principals. Hierarchical regressions, multi-level analyses (HLM), and structural equation models (EQS) are used to assess the relative impact of culture, religion, poverty, school characteristics, and student gender and age. Finally, the book outlines a series of detailed recommendations to advance theory, research, monitoring of schools, and violence prevention policies and interventions.Less
The book explores and differentiates the many manifestations of school violence, such as verbal, social, threats, bullying, physical, sexual harassment, and weapons possession, as well as staff-initiated violence against students. It presents a socio-ecological model of school violence in context, and explores the role of culture, religion, neighborhood, family, school characteristics (such as size), age, and gender. The model outlines how aspects of school climate, including anti-violence policies, teacher-student relationships and student participation mediate the effects of the outside context and influence levels of victimization, feelings of safety and fear. The book presents a large scale nationally representative study of school violence conducted among Jewish and Arab students in Israel. A nested design (students within schools) was used to gather data from the multiple perspectives of students, teachers, and principals. Hierarchical regressions, multi-level analyses (HLM), and structural equation models (EQS) are used to assess the relative impact of culture, religion, poverty, school characteristics, and student gender and age. Finally, the book outlines a series of detailed recommendations to advance theory, research, monitoring of schools, and violence prevention policies and interventions.
Jill Duerr Berrick
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- April 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195113754
- eISBN:
- 9780199893546
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195113754.001.0001
- Subject:
- Social Work, Children and Families, Social Policy
Most Americans are insulated from the poor; it is hard to imagine the challenges of poverty, the daily fears of crime and victimization, the frustration of not being able to provide for a child. ...
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Most Americans are insulated from the poor; it is hard to imagine the challenges of poverty, the daily fears of crime and victimization, the frustration of not being able to provide for a child. Instead, we are often exposed to the rhetoric and hyperbole about the excesses of the American welfare system. These messages color our perception of the welfare problem in the United States and they close the American mind to a full understanding of the complexity of family poverty. But who are these poor families? What do we know about how they arrived in such desperate straits? Is poverty their fate for a lifetime or for only a brief period? Faces of Poverty answers these questions as it dispels the misconceptions and myths about welfare and the welfare population that have clouded the true picture of poverty in America. Over the course of a year, the author spent numerous hours as a participant-observer with five women and their families, documenting their daily activities, thoughts, and fears as they managed the strains of poverty. We meet Ana, Sandy, Rebecca, Darlene, and Cora, all of whom, at some point, have turned to welfare for support. Each represents a wider segment of the welfare population, ranging from Ana (who lost a business, injured her back, and temporarily lost her job, all in a short period of time) to Cora (who was raised in poverty, spent ten years in an abusive relationship, and now struggles to raise six children in a drug-infested neighborhood). As the author documents these women's experiences, she also debunks many of the myths about welfare: she reveals that welfare is not generous (welfare families remain below the poverty line, even with government assistance); that the majority of women on welfare are not long-term welfare dependents; that welfare does not run in families; that “welfare mothers” do not keep having children in order to increase their payments (women on welfare have, on average, two children); and that almost half of all women on welfare turned to it after a divorce. At a time when welfare has become a hotly debated political issue, Faces of Poverty gives us the facts. The debate surrounding welfare will continue as each of the 50 states struggles to reform their welfare programs, and this debate will turn on the public's perception of the welfare population. The author offers insight into each of the reforms under consideration, and starkly demonstrates their implications for poor women and children. She provides a window into these women's lives, portraying their hopes and fears, and their struggle to live with dignity.Less
Most Americans are insulated from the poor; it is hard to imagine the challenges of poverty, the daily fears of crime and victimization, the frustration of not being able to provide for a child. Instead, we are often exposed to the rhetoric and hyperbole about the excesses of the American welfare system. These messages color our perception of the welfare problem in the United States and they close the American mind to a full understanding of the complexity of family poverty. But who are these poor families? What do we know about how they arrived in such desperate straits? Is poverty their fate for a lifetime or for only a brief period? Faces of Poverty answers these questions as it dispels the misconceptions and myths about welfare and the welfare population that have clouded the true picture of poverty in America. Over the course of a year, the author spent numerous hours as a participant-observer with five women and their families, documenting their daily activities, thoughts, and fears as they managed the strains of poverty. We meet Ana, Sandy, Rebecca, Darlene, and Cora, all of whom, at some point, have turned to welfare for support. Each represents a wider segment of the welfare population, ranging from Ana (who lost a business, injured her back, and temporarily lost her job, all in a short period of time) to Cora (who was raised in poverty, spent ten years in an abusive relationship, and now struggles to raise six children in a drug-infested neighborhood). As the author documents these women's experiences, she also debunks many of the myths about welfare: she reveals that welfare is not generous (welfare families remain below the poverty line, even with government assistance); that the majority of women on welfare are not long-term welfare dependents; that welfare does not run in families; that “welfare mothers” do not keep having children in order to increase their payments (women on welfare have, on average, two children); and that almost half of all women on welfare turned to it after a divorce. At a time when welfare has become a hotly debated political issue, Faces of Poverty gives us the facts. The debate surrounding welfare will continue as each of the 50 states struggles to reform their welfare programs, and this debate will turn on the public's perception of the welfare population. The author offers insight into each of the reforms under consideration, and starkly demonstrates their implications for poor women and children. She provides a window into these women's lives, portraying their hopes and fears, and their struggle to live with dignity.
Arie Nadler, Thomas Malloy, and Jeffrey D. Fisher (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195300314
- eISBN:
- 9780199868698
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195300314.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
The book begins with an overview by Herbert Kelman, discussing reconciliation as distinct from related processes of conflict settlement and conflict resolution. Following that, the first section of ...
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The book begins with an overview by Herbert Kelman, discussing reconciliation as distinct from related processes of conflict settlement and conflict resolution. Following that, the first section of the book focuses on intergroup reconciliation as consisting of moving beyond feelings of guilt and victimization (i.e., socio-emotional reconciliation). These processes include acceptance of responsibility for past wrongdoings and being forgiven in return. Such processes must occur on the background of restoring and maintaining feelings of esteem and respect for each of the parties. The chapters in the second section focus on processes through which parties learn to co-exist in a conflict free environment and trust each other (i.e., instrumental reconciliation). Such learning results from prolonged contact between adversarial groups under optimal conditions. Chapters in this section highlight the critical role of identity related processes (e.g., common identity) and power equality in this context. The contributions in the third part apply the social-psychological insights discussed previously to an analysis of real world programs to bring reconciliation (e.g., Tutsis and Hutus in Rwanda, Israelis and Palestinians, and African societies plagued by the HIV epidemic and the Western aid donors). In a concluding chapter Morton Deutsch shares his insights on intergroup reconciliation that have accumulated in close to six decades of work on conflict and its resolution.Less
The book begins with an overview by Herbert Kelman, discussing reconciliation as distinct from related processes of conflict settlement and conflict resolution. Following that, the first section of the book focuses on intergroup reconciliation as consisting of moving beyond feelings of guilt and victimization (i.e., socio-emotional reconciliation). These processes include acceptance of responsibility for past wrongdoings and being forgiven in return. Such processes must occur on the background of restoring and maintaining feelings of esteem and respect for each of the parties. The chapters in the second section focus on processes through which parties learn to co-exist in a conflict free environment and trust each other (i.e., instrumental reconciliation). Such learning results from prolonged contact between adversarial groups under optimal conditions. Chapters in this section highlight the critical role of identity related processes (e.g., common identity) and power equality in this context. The contributions in the third part apply the social-psychological insights discussed previously to an analysis of real world programs to bring reconciliation (e.g., Tutsis and Hutus in Rwanda, Israelis and Palestinians, and African societies plagued by the HIV epidemic and the Western aid donors). In a concluding chapter Morton Deutsch shares his insights on intergroup reconciliation that have accumulated in close to six decades of work on conflict and its resolution.
David Finkelhor
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195342857
- eISBN:
- 9780199863631
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195342857.003.0002
- Subject:
- Social Work, Children and Families, Crime and Justice
This chapter sketches the outlines of the field of Developmental Victimology — a field intended to help promote interest in and understanding of the broad range of victimizations that children suffer ...
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This chapter sketches the outlines of the field of Developmental Victimology — a field intended to help promote interest in and understanding of the broad range of victimizations that children suffer from, and suggest some specific lines of inquiry that such an interest should take. It contends that the problem of juvenile victimization can be addressed in many of the same comprehensive and conceptual ways that the field of juvenile delinquency has addressed the problem of juvenile offending. This chapter addresses a variety of issues: how to define and categorize and juvenile victimizations, what is known about the epidemiology of child victimization in broad terms, and how victimization changes across the developmental span of childhood.Less
This chapter sketches the outlines of the field of Developmental Victimology — a field intended to help promote interest in and understanding of the broad range of victimizations that children suffer from, and suggest some specific lines of inquiry that such an interest should take. It contends that the problem of juvenile victimization can be addressed in many of the same comprehensive and conceptual ways that the field of juvenile delinquency has addressed the problem of juvenile offending. This chapter addresses a variety of issues: how to define and categorize and juvenile victimizations, what is known about the epidemiology of child victimization in broad terms, and how victimization changes across the developmental span of childhood.
Onora O'Neill
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198289647
- eISBN:
- 9780191596698
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198289642.003.0006
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
O’Neill investigates the relationship between capability and vulnerability in forms of dependence and victimization, arguing that the satisfaction of preferences ought not to be taken as a normative ...
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O’Neill investigates the relationship between capability and vulnerability in forms of dependence and victimization, arguing that the satisfaction of preferences ought not to be taken as a normative criterion in political economy. Defending the capabilities approach by connecting it to a strand of Kantianism, O’Neill contends that Kant's categorical imperative continues to be a valuable test in social policy and supplies a powerful safeguard against the exploitation of vulnerability.Less
O’Neill investigates the relationship between capability and vulnerability in forms of dependence and victimization, arguing that the satisfaction of preferences ought not to be taken as a normative criterion in political economy. Defending the capabilities approach by connecting it to a strand of Kantianism, O’Neill contends that Kant's categorical imperative continues to be a valuable test in social policy and supplies a powerful safeguard against the exploitation of vulnerability.
Asha Goldweber, Lisa M. Broidy, and Elizabeth Cauffman
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195310313
- eISBN:
- 9780199871384
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310313.003.0010
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
This chapter reviews evidence documenting a persistent female offender group and their characteristics. Though small, this group has some defining characteristics. Overall, the evidence shows that ...
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This chapter reviews evidence documenting a persistent female offender group and their characteristics. Though small, this group has some defining characteristics. Overall, the evidence shows that fewer girls compared to boys follow the early onset, chronic offending pathway. For persistent female offenders, delinquency begins early and is more serious, frequent, and consistent than average female offending. However, the offending trajectories of this group end more abruptly in adulthood compared to those of persistent male offenders. Compared to their male counterparts, chronic female offenders also tend to engage in more nonviolent (particularly drug) offenses. Despite some gendered variation in offending patterns, research indicates that the majority of risk/protective factors are gender invariant. The chapter does, however, highlight those risk factors that are particularly salient for girls (e.g., brain asymmetry, comorbid mental health problems, early interpersonal victimization, and adversarial interpersonal relationships). We then examine how female persisters fare in adulthood, both in general and compared to their male counterparts. Among the most troubling outcomes for this group are violent relationships, early/poor parenting, and higher mortality rates. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the interpersonal and societal costs of chronic female offending and a call for more research and policy attention directed toward this particularly troubled group.Less
This chapter reviews evidence documenting a persistent female offender group and their characteristics. Though small, this group has some defining characteristics. Overall, the evidence shows that fewer girls compared to boys follow the early onset, chronic offending pathway. For persistent female offenders, delinquency begins early and is more serious, frequent, and consistent than average female offending. However, the offending trajectories of this group end more abruptly in adulthood compared to those of persistent male offenders. Compared to their male counterparts, chronic female offenders also tend to engage in more nonviolent (particularly drug) offenses. Despite some gendered variation in offending patterns, research indicates that the majority of risk/protective factors are gender invariant. The chapter does, however, highlight those risk factors that are particularly salient for girls (e.g., brain asymmetry, comorbid mental health problems, early interpersonal victimization, and adversarial interpersonal relationships). We then examine how female persisters fare in adulthood, both in general and compared to their male counterparts. Among the most troubling outcomes for this group are violent relationships, early/poor parenting, and higher mortality rates. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the interpersonal and societal costs of chronic female offending and a call for more research and policy attention directed toward this particularly troubled group.
Geoffrey Campbell Cocks
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199695676
- eISBN:
- 9780191738616
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199695676.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
Broad and deep historical trends concerning body, self, mind, and medicine intersected in Germany in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It was within this pervasive and powerful nexus ...
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Broad and deep historical trends concerning body, self, mind, and medicine intersected in Germany in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It was within this pervasive and powerful nexus that matters of illness and health would turn systematically lethal after 1933. State organization of medical service and supervision was particularly well advanced in German lands in the modern period. At the same time, the body was a location of knowledge not simply imposed from above but distributed through one's self and one's family, friends, and community. Health and illness became a space of concern, hope, negotiation, conflict, arrangement, and repair between the self and increasingly organized options and constraints. The First World War augmented a culture of nervousness and physical victimization and disability to which medicine, psychiatry, and both political left and political right responded problematically after 1918.Less
Broad and deep historical trends concerning body, self, mind, and medicine intersected in Germany in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It was within this pervasive and powerful nexus that matters of illness and health would turn systematically lethal after 1933. State organization of medical service and supervision was particularly well advanced in German lands in the modern period. At the same time, the body was a location of knowledge not simply imposed from above but distributed through one's self and one's family, friends, and community. Health and illness became a space of concern, hope, negotiation, conflict, arrangement, and repair between the self and increasingly organized options and constraints. The First World War augmented a culture of nervousness and physical victimization and disability to which medicine, psychiatry, and both political left and political right responded problematically after 1918.
Geoffrey Campbell Cocks
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199695676
- eISBN:
- 9780191738616
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199695676.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
The Nazis attempted to recast pain as sign and seal of heroism and sacrifice for the nation and race. But their regime and their war only reproduced the realities of the modern experience of pain ...
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The Nazis attempted to recast pain as sign and seal of heroism and sacrifice for the nation and race. But their regime and their war only reproduced the realities of the modern experience of pain distinguished from the modern material aim of pleasure. Modern Germans were consumers of pain medications and the German military medical services were organized to fight pain by chemical means. Nazi propaganda portrayed wounded German soldiers as heroic inspiration for civilian sacrifice, but the ever-growing numbers of badly disabled soldiers rehabilitated for employment on the home front had a depressing effect on the populace. The last months of the war saw the greatest number of military and civilian dead and injured and so impressed upon Germans a sense of their own victimization that lasted into the post-war era.Less
The Nazis attempted to recast pain as sign and seal of heroism and sacrifice for the nation and race. But their regime and their war only reproduced the realities of the modern experience of pain distinguished from the modern material aim of pleasure. Modern Germans were consumers of pain medications and the German military medical services were organized to fight pain by chemical means. Nazi propaganda portrayed wounded German soldiers as heroic inspiration for civilian sacrifice, but the ever-growing numbers of badly disabled soldiers rehabilitated for employment on the home front had a depressing effect on the populace. The last months of the war saw the greatest number of military and civilian dead and injured and so impressed upon Germans a sense of their own victimization that lasted into the post-war era.
Corinne May-Chahal and Emma Kelly
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781447354505
- eISBN:
- 9781447354512
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447354505.003.0005
- Subject:
- Social Work, Children and Families
This chapter examines the concepts of ‘vulnerability’ and ‘resilience’, noting that most research focuses only on an individualised understanding of these terms. What can be known from empirical ...
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This chapter examines the concepts of ‘vulnerability’ and ‘resilience’, noting that most research focuses only on an individualised understanding of these terms. What can be known from empirical research is reviewed through the lens of intersectional theory, which accentuates the need for a whole-system approach to afford children greater protection. Just as online child sexual victimisation (OCSV) is not homogenous, neither are children. Their age, gender, race, sexualities, migration status, and class intersect and change over time. Vulnerability and resilience can be time and identity specific. They can also be fluid; a prior victimisation does not necessarily result in vulnerability, and resilience to one form of OCSV may not provide resilience to another. From a child's perspective, OCSV experience holds similarities and important differences in terms of perpetration and consequences, requiring tailored intersectional responses at the appropriate level.Less
This chapter examines the concepts of ‘vulnerability’ and ‘resilience’, noting that most research focuses only on an individualised understanding of these terms. What can be known from empirical research is reviewed through the lens of intersectional theory, which accentuates the need for a whole-system approach to afford children greater protection. Just as online child sexual victimisation (OCSV) is not homogenous, neither are children. Their age, gender, race, sexualities, migration status, and class intersect and change over time. Vulnerability and resilience can be time and identity specific. They can also be fluid; a prior victimisation does not necessarily result in vulnerability, and resilience to one form of OCSV may not provide resilience to another. From a child's perspective, OCSV experience holds similarities and important differences in terms of perpetration and consequences, requiring tailored intersectional responses at the appropriate level.
Michelle L. Meloy and Susan L. Miller
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199765102
- eISBN:
- 9780199944187
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199765102.003.0009
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
In recent years much academic literature exists to educate people about crime victims' experiences and the obstacles that limit their choices and abilities to prevent or handle their victimization. ...
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In recent years much academic literature exists to educate people about crime victims' experiences and the obstacles that limit their choices and abilities to prevent or handle their victimization. Blatant victim blaming has fallen out of vogue. Laws have been enacted to reflect a movement away from victim precipitation or provocation theories. Protocols used by police and prosecutors to respond to crime victims have been revamped, reflecting a change from traditional beliefs about shared victim responsibility to a new awareness of the support a victim needs when navigating the criminal justice system. Yet despite these best efforts, victim blaming and myths about victims persist. This book presents the major debates, controversies, quagmires, unintended consequences, and unanswered questions about victims, victims' rights, and victim-centered policies. Instead of taking a more gender-neutral approach, it focuses on crimes of personal violence committed by (mostly) men against (mostly) women and girls, such as sexual assault and rape, battering, and, to a lesser extent, stalking.Less
In recent years much academic literature exists to educate people about crime victims' experiences and the obstacles that limit their choices and abilities to prevent or handle their victimization. Blatant victim blaming has fallen out of vogue. Laws have been enacted to reflect a movement away from victim precipitation or provocation theories. Protocols used by police and prosecutors to respond to crime victims have been revamped, reflecting a change from traditional beliefs about shared victim responsibility to a new awareness of the support a victim needs when navigating the criminal justice system. Yet despite these best efforts, victim blaming and myths about victims persist. This book presents the major debates, controversies, quagmires, unintended consequences, and unanswered questions about victims, victims' rights, and victim-centered policies. Instead of taking a more gender-neutral approach, it focuses on crimes of personal violence committed by (mostly) men against (mostly) women and girls, such as sexual assault and rape, battering, and, to a lesser extent, stalking.
Michelle L. Meloy and Susan L. Miller
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199765102
- eISBN:
- 9780199944187
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199765102.003.0010
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
Victims were the forgotten piece of the criminal act, largely ignored by the police and prosecutors unless they were viewed as valuable tools in the apprehension or prosecution of offenders. This ...
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Victims were the forgotten piece of the criminal act, largely ignored by the police and prosecutors unless they were viewed as valuable tools in the apprehension or prosecution of offenders. This trivialization led victims to become more reluctant to seek help from the criminal justice system or participate in criminal proceedings. The 1960s and especially the 1970s saw a growing recognition that victims were erased or denigrated by representatives of the criminal justice system, which ignited a national victims' rights movement to create more balance between crime victims' needs and offenders' rights. This chapter traces the different images of victims and discusses how these images relate to our understandings of victimization and victim blaming. It explores the competing ideological positions about the status and reality of victims and victims' issues and the ensuing victim backlash that occurred after the “successes” of the contemporary victims' rights movement. It also discusses the commodification of victimhood, victim culture, victim culturists/social commentators versus “radical” feminists, and victim empowerment.Less
Victims were the forgotten piece of the criminal act, largely ignored by the police and prosecutors unless they were viewed as valuable tools in the apprehension or prosecution of offenders. This trivialization led victims to become more reluctant to seek help from the criminal justice system or participate in criminal proceedings. The 1960s and especially the 1970s saw a growing recognition that victims were erased or denigrated by representatives of the criminal justice system, which ignited a national victims' rights movement to create more balance between crime victims' needs and offenders' rights. This chapter traces the different images of victims and discusses how these images relate to our understandings of victimization and victim blaming. It explores the competing ideological positions about the status and reality of victims and victims' issues and the ensuing victim backlash that occurred after the “successes” of the contemporary victims' rights movement. It also discusses the commodification of victimhood, victim culture, victim culturists/social commentators versus “radical” feminists, and victim empowerment.
Michelle L. Meloy and Susan L. Miller
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199765102
- eISBN:
- 9780199944187
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199765102.003.0011
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
Legal remedies in addition to efforts at education, prevention, and direct intervention have painstakingly become a reality in a society slow to acknowledge violence against women. Yet ...
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Legal remedies in addition to efforts at education, prevention, and direct intervention have painstakingly become a reality in a society slow to acknowledge violence against women. Yet intimate-partner violence remains a fact of life for far too many women. Not all violent relationships escalate to a murderous situation, but approximately 33% of all murdered women are killed by their husband or partner. In comparison, only 3% of all murdered men are killed by an intimate partner. Furthermore, of all the cases identified as intimate-partner homicide, three out of every four victims was a female. This chapter provides an historical overview and critique of the research on crimes of sexual and interpersonal violence committed against women: sexual assault, battering, and stalking. The findings from empirical studies presented in this chapter assist with the debunking of claims and myths about victimization.Less
Legal remedies in addition to efforts at education, prevention, and direct intervention have painstakingly become a reality in a society slow to acknowledge violence against women. Yet intimate-partner violence remains a fact of life for far too many women. Not all violent relationships escalate to a murderous situation, but approximately 33% of all murdered women are killed by their husband or partner. In comparison, only 3% of all murdered men are killed by an intimate partner. Furthermore, of all the cases identified as intimate-partner homicide, three out of every four victims was a female. This chapter provides an historical overview and critique of the research on crimes of sexual and interpersonal violence committed against women: sexual assault, battering, and stalking. The findings from empirical studies presented in this chapter assist with the debunking of claims and myths about victimization.
Michelle L. Meloy and Susan L. Miller
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199765102
- eISBN:
- 9780199944187
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199765102.003.0012
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
Mainstream media sources are one of our most influential storytellers. Public sentiment regarding women, crime, and victimization is directly influenced by the media's linguistics, visual images, and ...
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Mainstream media sources are one of our most influential storytellers. Public sentiment regarding women, crime, and victimization is directly influenced by the media's linguistics, visual images, and case selection and by the gendered nature of the profession. These factors express causality, establish or reestablish social norms, present ways of interpreting certain events, and affect how these variables exert an impact on women's daily lives. This chapter describes the media's fascination with and representation of some crimes of violence committed against women and children. It also addresses victim myths, as disseminated by mainstream media, and how language plays a powerful role in inflaming passions about victimization events. Moreover, it examines the media's overreliance on crime stories in their broadcasts, and ways in which the industry's organizational priorities impact crime reporting. It concludes with examples of how accurate and responsible media reporting can legitimize the existence of social problems, increase public awareness and education, and empower crime victims.Less
Mainstream media sources are one of our most influential storytellers. Public sentiment regarding women, crime, and victimization is directly influenced by the media's linguistics, visual images, and case selection and by the gendered nature of the profession. These factors express causality, establish or reestablish social norms, present ways of interpreting certain events, and affect how these variables exert an impact on women's daily lives. This chapter describes the media's fascination with and representation of some crimes of violence committed against women and children. It also addresses victim myths, as disseminated by mainstream media, and how language plays a powerful role in inflaming passions about victimization events. Moreover, it examines the media's overreliance on crime stories in their broadcasts, and ways in which the industry's organizational priorities impact crime reporting. It concludes with examples of how accurate and responsible media reporting can legitimize the existence of social problems, increase public awareness and education, and empower crime victims.
Michelle L. Meloy and Susan L. Miller
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199765102
- eISBN:
- 9780199944187
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199765102.003.0013
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
There are several characteristics that designate a crime (that is, being unusual), an offender (being famous), or a victim (being important) as “newsworthy.” With child sexual victimizations, ...
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There are several characteristics that designate a crime (that is, being unusual), an offender (being famous), or a victim (being important) as “newsworthy.” With child sexual victimizations, additional patterns emerge when examining the media's selection of cases, especially among the crimes with the highest profile. All fifty states now require sex offender registration and community notification, and as of this writing forty-six states report using GPS monitoring to supervise sex offenders residing in the community. This chapter focuses on sexual victimization and social reaction to it. It discusses features that separate sex crimes from other forms of violence and how these differences manifest in unique legislative responses. In addition to covering the history and scientific information on sex offender laws, the chapter delves into the thought processes of convicted sex offenders and how they perceive their victims. It also considers policy implications and best practices for responding to sexual violence.Less
There are several characteristics that designate a crime (that is, being unusual), an offender (being famous), or a victim (being important) as “newsworthy.” With child sexual victimizations, additional patterns emerge when examining the media's selection of cases, especially among the crimes with the highest profile. All fifty states now require sex offender registration and community notification, and as of this writing forty-six states report using GPS monitoring to supervise sex offenders residing in the community. This chapter focuses on sexual victimization and social reaction to it. It discusses features that separate sex crimes from other forms of violence and how these differences manifest in unique legislative responses. In addition to covering the history and scientific information on sex offender laws, the chapter delves into the thought processes of convicted sex offenders and how they perceive their victims. It also considers policy implications and best practices for responding to sexual violence.
Michelle L. Meloy and Susan L. Miller
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199765102
- eISBN:
- 9780199944187
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199765102.003.0015
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
This chapter examines several complex victim-related issues that were not extensively addressed elsewhere in the book, such as the politics of victimization and topics germane to the social and legal ...
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This chapter examines several complex victim-related issues that were not extensively addressed elsewhere in the book, such as the politics of victimization and topics germane to the social and legal labeling of crime victims and victimizations. It raises unresolved questions about female victims and the politics of the victimization discourse, debating whether the responses are largely symbolic or whether they offer real reform. It also analyzes the policy outcomes associated with Violence Against Women Act monies and reviews several promising state-level prevention programs aimed at reducing the victimization of women and children. In addition, it offers some overall recommendations regarding the future directions of the victims' rights movement aimed at ending violence against women. The chapter concludes by considering alternatives to victims' use of the formal criminal justice system, looking at the potential of restorative justice and other dispute resolution alternatives.Less
This chapter examines several complex victim-related issues that were not extensively addressed elsewhere in the book, such as the politics of victimization and topics germane to the social and legal labeling of crime victims and victimizations. It raises unresolved questions about female victims and the politics of the victimization discourse, debating whether the responses are largely symbolic or whether they offer real reform. It also analyzes the policy outcomes associated with Violence Against Women Act monies and reviews several promising state-level prevention programs aimed at reducing the victimization of women and children. In addition, it offers some overall recommendations regarding the future directions of the victims' rights movement aimed at ending violence against women. The chapter concludes by considering alternatives to victims' use of the formal criminal justice system, looking at the potential of restorative justice and other dispute resolution alternatives.
Martin Killias, Santiago Redondo, and Jerzy Sarnecki
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199828166
- eISBN:
- 9780199951208
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199828166.003.0010
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
This chapter summarizes European research that covers the various topic areas included in this book. It starts with an overview of European longitudinal studies, which have been conducted far beyond ...
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This chapter summarizes European research that covers the various topic areas included in this book. It starts with an overview of European longitudinal studies, which have been conducted far beyond the small number of countries that are routinely included in international reviews of research. The chapter also gives an overview of transnational European crime victimization surveys and comparative research on self-reported juvenile delinquency. European countries differ substantially with respect to the volume, trends, and explanations of criminal victimization, violence against women, juvenile delinquency, and homicide. Among the factors routinely addressed is the nexus between migration and crime where Europe’s and America’s experiences differ in many respects. With respect to responses to offending, Europe has a long history of favouring therapeutic rather than punitive approaches, although evaluations often are unsatisfactory or entirely missing. Europe’s remarkably varying crime and incarceration rates, which are well-documented, allow us to asses to what extent prison populations are driven by crime rates or the length of sentences. The findings suggest that both variables play an important role and that especially the rate of inmates convicted of murder strongly affects a country’s prison population. The chapter concludes with a short discussion of the impact on crime of alcohol, drug and welfare policies.Less
This chapter summarizes European research that covers the various topic areas included in this book. It starts with an overview of European longitudinal studies, which have been conducted far beyond the small number of countries that are routinely included in international reviews of research. The chapter also gives an overview of transnational European crime victimization surveys and comparative research on self-reported juvenile delinquency. European countries differ substantially with respect to the volume, trends, and explanations of criminal victimization, violence against women, juvenile delinquency, and homicide. Among the factors routinely addressed is the nexus between migration and crime where Europe’s and America’s experiences differ in many respects. With respect to responses to offending, Europe has a long history of favouring therapeutic rather than punitive approaches, although evaluations often are unsatisfactory or entirely missing. Europe’s remarkably varying crime and incarceration rates, which are well-documented, allow us to asses to what extent prison populations are driven by crime rates or the length of sentences. The findings suggest that both variables play an important role and that especially the rate of inmates convicted of murder strongly affects a country’s prison population. The chapter concludes with a short discussion of the impact on crime of alcohol, drug and welfare policies.
Xavier L. Guadalupe-Diaz
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781479832941
- eISBN:
- 9781479893836
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479832941.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
This book focuses on the stories of eighteen transgender survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) and how their accounts challenge conventional understandings of this form of abuse. By examining ...
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This book focuses on the stories of eighteen transgender survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) and how their accounts challenge conventional understandings of this form of abuse. By examining the contexts in which abuse occurs, the book anchors transgender experiences with IPV within a largely trans-antagonistic culture. The dynamics of abuse, as told by survivors, are largely informed by an existing transphobic and genderist society. The prevalent themes in the accounts describe how transphobic and genderist attacks manifested as distinct patterns of abuse. When reflecting and making sense of their reality, survivors saw many of their experiences with abuse as attempts by abusers to control their gender transition and define them on the abusers’ own terms. The book discusses a prominent dynamic of the abuse as controlling transition, in which victims felt that abusers wanted to regulate their identities. This control occurs through two generic strategies: (1) discrediting identity work, redefining the situation to focus on participant-defined insecurities, a form of altercasting; and (2) targeting sign vehicles, including regulating gender transition treatments and controlling through props. Finally, survivors described what is referred to as walking the gender tightrope in which respondents used gendered language in the processing of their victim identity. Additionally, they discussed various help-seeking strategies and how they navigated genderist boundariesand barriers to these resources. The book works toward characterizing the distinct experiences of transgender survivors of IPV while also identifying differences across the intersections of race, class, and gender identities.Less
This book focuses on the stories of eighteen transgender survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) and how their accounts challenge conventional understandings of this form of abuse. By examining the contexts in which abuse occurs, the book anchors transgender experiences with IPV within a largely trans-antagonistic culture. The dynamics of abuse, as told by survivors, are largely informed by an existing transphobic and genderist society. The prevalent themes in the accounts describe how transphobic and genderist attacks manifested as distinct patterns of abuse. When reflecting and making sense of their reality, survivors saw many of their experiences with abuse as attempts by abusers to control their gender transition and define them on the abusers’ own terms. The book discusses a prominent dynamic of the abuse as controlling transition, in which victims felt that abusers wanted to regulate their identities. This control occurs through two generic strategies: (1) discrediting identity work, redefining the situation to focus on participant-defined insecurities, a form of altercasting; and (2) targeting sign vehicles, including regulating gender transition treatments and controlling through props. Finally, survivors described what is referred to as walking the gender tightrope in which respondents used gendered language in the processing of their victim identity. Additionally, they discussed various help-seeking strategies and how they navigated genderist boundariesand barriers to these resources. The book works toward characterizing the distinct experiences of transgender survivors of IPV while also identifying differences across the intersections of race, class, and gender identities.
Basia Spalek
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781861348043
- eISBN:
- 9781447301899
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781861348043.003.0011
- Subject:
- Social Work, Crime and Justice
This book has shown how the construction of social identities might best be conceptualised as consisting of the interplay, tensions and contradictions between modernity's ‘imperative of order’, ...
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This book has shown how the construction of social identities might best be conceptualised as consisting of the interplay, tensions and contradictions between modernity's ‘imperative of order’, including the expression of collective identities and interests, and the fragmentation, individualisation and fluidity of identities associated with conditions of late modernity. Both processes are at play, and serve to produce, perpetuate, deconstruct and influence the nature of identity formations within particular contexts. This book has also highlighted the fact that equality and diversity issues feature significantly in the policies and practices of all criminal justice agencies. The concern shown towards gender, ‘race’ and ethnicity, faith, sexual orientation, disability and age reflects wider social processes occurring in contemporary western societies, whereby questions of identity are increasingly important. Certainly, the subject of social identities in relation to crime, criminal justice and victimisation has much potential for criminology.Less
This book has shown how the construction of social identities might best be conceptualised as consisting of the interplay, tensions and contradictions between modernity's ‘imperative of order’, including the expression of collective identities and interests, and the fragmentation, individualisation and fluidity of identities associated with conditions of late modernity. Both processes are at play, and serve to produce, perpetuate, deconstruct and influence the nature of identity formations within particular contexts. This book has also highlighted the fact that equality and diversity issues feature significantly in the policies and practices of all criminal justice agencies. The concern shown towards gender, ‘race’ and ethnicity, faith, sexual orientation, disability and age reflects wider social processes occurring in contemporary western societies, whereby questions of identity are increasingly important. Certainly, the subject of social identities in relation to crime, criminal justice and victimisation has much potential for criminology.
