Victimology

Victimology Quiz Crafted by -

Rashika Gupta

GSOC Operator, ServiceNow Software Development

M. Sc. Criminology (Specialized in Forensic Psychology),

National Forensic Sciences University,

Ghandinagar, Gujarat.

Introduction to Victimology

Victimology is the scientific study of victims. Victimologists focus on a range of victim-related issues, including estimating the extent of different types of victimization, explaining why victimization occurs to whom or what, the effects and  consequences of victimization, and examining victim’s rights within the legal system. Victimology is characterized as an interdisciplinary field- academics, practitioners, and advocated worldwide from the fields of criminology, economics, forensic sciences, law, political science, public health, psychology, social work, sociology, nursing, and medicine focus on victims’ plight. The latin word victim means “sacrificial animal”, but the term victim has evolved to include a variety of targets, including oneself, another individual, a household, a business, the state, or the environment. Victimization is the outcome of deliberate action taken by a person or institution to exploit, oppress, or harm another, or to destroy or illegally obtain another’s property or possessions.  The act committed by the offender is usually a violation of a criminal or civil statue but does not necessarily have to violate a law. Harm can include psychological or emotional damage, physical or sexual injury, or economic loss.

Now Let’s see the questions with their Answers and explanations:

Que 1. The Book Criminal and His Victim is authored by:

a) Benjamin Mendelsohn

b) Hans Von Hentig

c) Marvin Wolfgang

d) Enrico Ferri.

Answer- (b) Hans Van Hentig

Explanation: Hans Von Hentig was a German criminologist who developed a typology of victims contributed to causing the criminal act. Examining the psychological, social, and biological dynamics of the situation, he classified victims into 13 categories depending on their propensity or risk for victimization. His typology included the young, female, old, immigrants, depressed, wanton, tormentor, blocked, exempted, or fighting. His notion that victims contributed to their victimization through their actions and behaviours led the development of the concept of “victim-blaming” and is seen by many victim advocates as an attempt to assign equal culpability to the victim.

Que 2. Restitution is the term applies to

a) Cash or kind paid by the offender to the Victim.

b) Cash or kind paid by the Government to the Victim.

c) Cash or kind paid by the Non-Governmental organization to the Victim.

d) Cash or kind paid by the victim to the offender.

Answer- (a) Cash or kind paid by the offender to the Victim

Explanation: Restitution is designed to compensate crime victims for their losses. Courts have the ability to order that a defendant pay restitution—which this article focuses on—in order to compensate a victim for financial losses related to a crime.

Que 3. Who has propounded Routine Activity Theory of Victimology?

a) Felson and Cohen

b) Young Rifai

c) Mendelsohn

d) Stephen Schafer.

Answer- (a) Felson and Cohen

Explanation: Felson and Cohen (1979) formulated routine activities theory to explain changes in aggregate direct-contact predatory (e.g. murder, forcible rape, burglary) crime rates in the United States from 1947 through 1974. Routine activities theory posits that the convergence in time and space of a motivated offender, a suitable target, and space of a motivated offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian provide an opportunity, if not prevent it altogether. Routine activities theory does not attempt to explain participation in crime but instead focuses on how opportunities for crimes are related to the nature of patterns of routine social interaction, including one’s work, family, and leisure activities.

Que 4. Which section of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) deals with Victim Compensation Scheme.

a) Section 357 A CrPC

b) Section 345 CrPC

c) Section 401 CrPC

d) Section 455 CrPC

Answer-(a) Section 357 CrPC.

Explanation: Section 357A of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)

Que 5. Who among the following has used the term “Penal Couple” for the first time in Victimology?

a) Hans Von Hentig

b) Talcott Persons

c) John Howard

d) Benjamin Mendelsohn.

Answer- (d) Benjamin Mendelsohn.

Explanation: Benjamin Mendelsohn (1976), an attorney, has often been referred to as the “Father of victimology”.  Intrigued by the dynamics that take place between during the course of preparing a case for trial. Using these data, he developed a six-category typology of victims based on legal considerations of the degree of a victim’s culpability. This classification ranged from the completely innocent victim (e.g. a child or a completely unconscious person) to the imaginary victim (e.g. persons suffering from mental disorders who believe they are victims).

Que 6. The Principle of LexTalionis had been laid down in:

a) Arthashashtra

b) Code of Hammurabi

c) Mosaic Code

d) Smritis

Answer-(b) Code of Hammurabi       

Explanation: Hammurabi’s Code is one of the most famous examples of the ancient precept of “lextalionis,” or law of retribution, a form of retaliatory justice commonly associated with the saying “an eye for an eye.” Under this system, if a man broke the bone of one his equals, his own bone would be broken in return. Capital crimes, meanwhile, were often met with their own unique and grisly death penalties. If a son and mother were caught committing incest, they were burned to death. Even a relatively minor crime could earn the offender a horrific fate.

Que 7. Who evolved the concept of Victim Precipitation?

a) Al Fattah

b) Marvin Wolfgang

c) Hentig

d) Mendelsohn

Answer- (b) Marvin Wolfgang

Explanation: Marvin E. Wolfgang: The first empirical evidence to support the notion that victims are to some degree responsible for their own victimization was presented by Marvin E. Wolfgang (1958), who analysed Philadelphia’s police homicide records from 1948 through 1952. He reported that 26% of homicides resulted from victim precipitation. Wolfgang identified three factors common to victim-precipitated homicides: 1) the victim and offender had some prior interpersonal relationship, 2) there was a series of escalating disagreements between the parties, and 3) the victim had consumed alcohol.

Que 8. Victimology is the study of the relationship between the Victim and the ….?

a) Crime

b) Offender

c) Law Enforcement

d) Family

Answer- (b) Offender

Explanation: Victimization is the process of being victimized, either from a physical or a psychological or a moral or a sexual point of view. Despite the crucial role of the victim, historically the victimization process was studied above all from the offender’s point  of view, in order to focus on their motivation and the causes of offending.

Que 9. Which theory best describes the relationship between the victim and the offender in the crime you witnessed on your way home?

a) Karmen's Theory of Victimology

b) Mendelsohn's Theory of Victimization

c) Pavlov's Law

d) Victim blaming

Answer- (a) Karmen's Theory of Victimology

Explanation: Andrew Karmen’s wrote a book called, “Crime victims- An Introduction to Victimology” in the year 1990. He mentioned that in the sphere of criminal justice, the word victim describes any person who has experienced injury, loss, or hardship due to the illegal action of another individual or organization. Victimology refers to the scientific study of victimization, including the relationships between victims and offenders, investigators, courts, corrections, media, and social movements.

Que 10. NOVA means:

a) National organization for Victim Assistance.

b) National operation for Victim Assistance.

c) National organization of Vulnerable Assistance.

d) Natural organization for Value Assistance.

Answer- (a) National Organization for Victim Assistance.

Explanation: The National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA) is a private, non-profit, 501(c) (3) organization of victim and witness assistance programs and practitioners, criminal justice agencies and professionals, and others committed to the recognition and implementation of victim rights and services. NOVA’s mission is to promote rights and services for victims of crime and crisis everywhere.

Que 11. Victim Advocacy means:

a) Dealing with Prosecution

b) Dealing with Judicial Process

c) Dealing with offender needs and Assistance

d) Dealing with victim needs, assistance and participation.

Answer-(d) Dealing with victim needs, assistance and participation

Explanation: Victim Advocates are professionals trained to support victims of crime. Advocates offer victims information, emotional support, and help finding resources and filling out paperwork. Sometimes, advocates go the court with victims. Advocates may also contact organizations, such as criminal justice or social service agencies, to get help or information for victims. Victim advocates may also be called service providers, victim/witness coordinators, or victim/witness specialists.

Que 12. Lifestyle Theory of Victimology based on which of the following concept:

a) Motivated offender and Absence of guardianship.

b) Target Victim and Motivated offender.

c) Motivated offender, Target Victim and Absence of Guardianship.

d) None of the above.

Answer- (c) Motivated offender, Target Victim and Absence of Guardianship

Explanation: Lifestyle Theory suggests that certain people may become the victims of crimes because of their lifestyles and choices. For example, someone with a gambling or substance addiction could be as an “easy victim” by a con artist. Walking alone at night in a dangerous area, conspicuously wearing expensive jewellery, leaving doors unlocked and associating with known criminals are other lifestyle characteristics that may lead to victimization.

Que 13. According to Mendelsohn and Wolfgang, Hapless Dupes means:

a) Victim precipitation

b) Victim who creates their own victimization

c) Who is unintentionally involved in their own victimization

d) All the above.

Answer-(d) All the above.

Explanation: They were two main victimologists who began the study of victimology after Marvin Wolfgang, Benjamin Mendelsohn and Hans von Hentig. They were considered “the fathers of victimology”. Benjamin Mendelsohn conducted a rape study in 1940, where he interviewed victims to obtain information. From that information he concluded that most victims had an “unconscious aptitude for being victimized”. Mendelsohn also created a typology of six types of victims. Only the first type which is called the innocent type doesn’t put the blame on the victim, they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The other five types represent the victim precipitation. Hans von Hentig focused mainly on homicides and also came up with his own typology of four types of homicide victims. These types were: the depressive type, the greedy type, the wonton type, and the tormentor type. Definition of hapless Dupes  according to Mendelsohn and Wolfgang includes all the above option.

Que 14. Father of Victimology is:

a) Hans Von Hentig

b) Stephen Schafer

c) Benjamin Mendelsohn

d) Zurr

Answer-(c) Benjamin Mendelsohn

Explanation: Benjamin Mendelsohn, an attorney, has often been referred to as the “Father of victimology”.

Que 15. What prevents future crime by removing the defendant from society?

a) Incapacitation

b) Retribution

c) Restitution

d) Reformation

Answer-(a) Incapacitation.

Explanation: Incapacitation refers to the restriction of an individual’s freedoms and liberties that would normally have in society. Within the criminal justice system, incapacitation is the response used when a person has committed a crime. By incapacitating the convicted offender, we prevent the individual from committing future crimes because he is removed from society and locked up or restrained somehow. Incapacitation only attempts to prevent crimes from being committed in the future.