Victimology
Victimology
I believe that crime negatively affects victims. For one, victims of crime usually experience psychological trauma. Following a crime, the individual may feel depressed, angry, isolated, fearful, and even experience insomnia and post traumatic disorder. Productivity at work or school may also be negatively affected. This particularly happens where the victim is depressed and lives under the fear of being attacked again. In such cases, their productivity in school or work reduces as they are not able to concentrate. Financial loss may result as well. For example, direct costs and inconvenience because of theft or property damage (encompassing time off work) leads to financial loss. The injury inflicted through violent crime can also be another effect of crime. My thoughts as described above are basically similar to what is described in the course materials.
Of the various methods of collecting crime data discussed, I believe that National Crime Victimization Surveys (NCVS) are best suited for use in researching victimology. This is because it creates a wide range of variables of victimization to study. As such, NCVS provides the researchers with an opportunity to comprehend specific crime trends that might be occurring in society. It collects data from households about the age, gender, race of victims and drug or alcohol abuse. It also obtains information about the offender in the incident, the crime context, and if a relationship exists between the victim and the offender.
Criminal Justice System, the media, the government and other organizations worsen the suffering of crime victims by exposing them to the public eye. This gives a leeway for the victims to be targets of attacks by the public. For example, a section of the public may blame the victims for the crime and this may add on to the stress that the victim is experiencing and even limit their social life or work life. Victims seeking legal help may be revictimized by perpetrators through threats of harm.
