Which Gender Influences Patterns And Processes Of...

This essay will discuss the ways in which gender influences patterns and processes of victimisation, identifying key victimological perspectives and typologies. It will consider key authors in the discipline and offer definitions of terms used. The essay will identify three issues which may impact on gendered victimisation before acknowledging the argument that radical victimology offers a more balanced approach to gendered victimisation than positivist or critical viewpoints. The Sage Dictionary of Criminology (2013) defines victimisation as â€Å"†¦a term originally used to designate an area of study concerned to address the relationship between the victim and offender.† It should be noted however that since the late 1970s, the term has†¦show more content†¦In response to this movement, more support services were established for victims and measures were provided allowing victims greater involvement in the criminal justice process through a variety of means. This increased the need for research into the effects of crime on victims and how best their needs can be met. Victimology draws together academics, activists, and policymakers from a variety of backgrounds and identifies three main victimological perspectives. Positivist victimology dates back to the emergence of victimology as a discipline in the 1940s. It looks to understand the process of victimisation and why people become victims of crime by examining the relationship between the victim and offender through an agency lens. Newburn (2013) identifies positivists such as Miers (1989) who see victimisation as being causal in nature and identify three key features: †¢ Identification of factors (individual or environmental) which produce patterns of victimisation. †¢ They focus mainly of interpersonal crimes of violence. †¢ The identification of victims who contribute to their own victimisation. Positivist victimology has made a fundamental contribution to the study of victimology by ensuring the development and refinement of quantitative victimisation. It emphasises the role of the state, criminal justice agencies and the voluntary sector in responding to the needs of victims of crime. It is however