Victimology

Catalog description

This course will explore the legal, emotional, and social responses to the process of victimization by offenders and third parties. CRIMJ 407 Victimology (3) (US) Victimology studies the victim-offender relationship. Victimization is analyzed using the Bible, Anglo-Saxon Law, Common Law, and legal precedent as a historical development of the status of "victim." Cultural changes during the 1950s and 1960s resulted in the reemergence of the victim and the designation of social services and community awareness for victims. Social scientific studies of the status of unique groups analyzed victimizations according to demographics and socioeconomic status. Political viability of victims in terms of restitution and community response are viewed in terms of Census data, the Department of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey and The Uniform Crime Reports, Morbidity Reports, Emergency Room Reports, and the Insurance Industry Reports. The above data is evaluated in terms of age, race, education, socioeconomic status, and gender. The development and merging of culture, sub-cultural liaisons, social relationships, leisure activities, and routine transactions are reviewed as they apply to personal and unique group victimizations. Comparative issues and transnational crime are addressed under the format of globalization, gender, economics, and cultural mores. Interdisciplinary evaluation of Victimology considers psychology, medicine, sociology, criminal justice, legal studies, and mass media. Documentaries, case studies, problem based learning, and popular films provide numerous activities for discussion, analysis, and integration in writing and for discussion.