Critical Victimology
Based on Marxist and feminist theory The state’s power over the ‘victim’ label
Structural factors ● Through CJS the state chooses who to apply the
● Poverty, patriarchy etc victim label to, such as police not pressing
● Places powerless groups at greater risk of charges
victimisation ● Tombs and Whyte argue in white collar crime
Criticisms employers try to blame ‘accident prone’ workers,
● Disregards role of victims in bringing their denying them victim status
● Hides crimes of the powerful. Hierarchy of
own victimisation. E.g. not securing their victimisation: powerless most likely to be
homes victimised
● Disregards victims’ roles in bringing their own
victimisation through offending
Positive Victimology
● Mainly focused on identifying patterns and Criticisms
trends in victims ● ONS and CSEW miss groups like homeless,
● Surveys by the office for national statistics who are more likely to be victims
(ONS) and crime survey for England and ● Identifies patterns of interpersonal victimisation,
Wales (CSEW) but ignores structural factors like poverty
● Early studies focus on victim proneness: idea ● Can easily tip into victim blaming
victims ‘invite’ victimisation ● Ignores crimes where victims are unaware of
● In Philadelphia, Marvin Wolfgang found 26% their victimisation, such as environmental crime
of homicide victims were the first to use
violence: victim precipitation.
Media and Crime
Marxists and left realists accuse the media of promoting greed and self-interest.
News values Media fallacies about crime
● Risk, immediacy, dramatisation, violence, ● Richard Felson
high status persons etc ● Age fallacy - all ages involved in crime
● Jason Ditton and James Duffy found 46% of ● Class fallacy - middle class as most likely
media reports were on violent/sexual crime. victims. Reality being the poor
Which made up 3% of crime reported by the ● Dramatic fallacy - overfocus on most violent
police crimes and women as victims
Exam point
Most sociologists agree linking the media to violence is too simplistic. Audiences differ in
many factors like age, class and intelligence. Violence is caused by a range of factors
Based on Marxist and feminist theory The state’s power over the ‘victim’ label
Structural factors ● Through CJS the state chooses who to apply the
● Poverty, patriarchy etc victim label to, such as police not pressing
● Places powerless groups at greater risk of charges
victimisation ● Tombs and Whyte argue in white collar crime
Criticisms employers try to blame ‘accident prone’ workers,
● Disregards role of victims in bringing their denying them victim status
● Hides crimes of the powerful. Hierarchy of
own victimisation. E.g. not securing their victimisation: powerless most likely to be
homes victimised
● Disregards victims’ roles in bringing their own
victimisation through offending
Positive Victimology
● Mainly focused on identifying patterns and Criticisms
trends in victims ● ONS and CSEW miss groups like homeless,
● Surveys by the office for national statistics who are more likely to be victims
(ONS) and crime survey for England and ● Identifies patterns of interpersonal victimisation,
Wales (CSEW) but ignores structural factors like poverty
● Early studies focus on victim proneness: idea ● Can easily tip into victim blaming
victims ‘invite’ victimisation ● Ignores crimes where victims are unaware of
● In Philadelphia, Marvin Wolfgang found 26% their victimisation, such as environmental crime
of homicide victims were the first to use
violence: victim precipitation.
Media and Crime
Marxists and left realists accuse the media of promoting greed and self-interest.
News values Media fallacies about crime
● Risk, immediacy, dramatisation, violence, ● Richard Felson
high status persons etc ● Age fallacy - all ages involved in crime
● Jason Ditton and James Duffy found 46% of ● Class fallacy - middle class as most likely
media reports were on violent/sexual crime. victims. Reality being the poor
Which made up 3% of crime reported by the ● Dramatic fallacy - overfocus on most violent
police crimes and women as victims
Exam point
Most sociologists agree linking the media to violence is too simplistic. Audiences differ in
many factors like age, class and intelligence. Violence is caused by a range of factors
