Victimization and Police Legitimacy
Crime involves two or more parties: the offender and the victim. Victimization happens where an individual is exposed to the crime or action in question, making them a victim. An individual may become a victim deliberately or unwillingly due to circumstances. Circumstances that may make an individual a victim unwillingly include those that are beyond the control of the individual. On the other hand, deliberate victimization happens where an individual is not conversant with their rights and thinks that the offender has the power to victimize the victim. The theory of victimization explains why an individual may become a candidate for victimization regardless of the situation surrounding their lifestyle. A supporting theory to the victimization theory is the theory of police legitimacy, where individuals benefit from support from victimization and other forms of crime due to obedience and cooperation with the police.
Criminologists view victimization in two dimensions. First, victimization can be seen from the offender’s perspective where an offender exploits another person and thus makes them a victim. The second perspective appears from the receiver’s position where an individual is exploited unwillingly and becomes a victim (Minnaar, 2016). However, attention is always directed towards the relationship that exists between the victim and the act behind victimization. The role of a victim in the criminal act is given significant attention since victimization happens after both parties have taken part (Wortley & Townsley, 2016). For example, a victim must be involved in one way or another, so that victimization can be said to have occurred. The victim is assessed for knowledge on the intensity of the criminal act.
Moreover, criminologists aim at getting a better understanding of the crime and the parties involved. Also, the factors behind the victimization process are studied to come up with strategies of helping the victim in recovery. Police legitimacy applies extensively along with victimization.
The police are expected to protect the general public from possible danger. Society is, on the other side, expected to accord the police the support needed in a bid to make the protection process successful (Bradford, Hohl, Jackson & MacQueen, 2015). Some of the assistance required by the police includes reporting suspicious actions as well as deliberate attempts to harm other people. The theory of police legitimacy comes into play as a way of explaining the relationship between the police and the general public. Generally, people accept the responsibility of obeying and cooperating with the police without resistance (Wolfe, Nix, Kaminski & Rojek, 2016). Police legitimacy should be protected at all costs since the loss of legitimacy renders the police unable to fight crime. However, police legitimacy suffers differently due to the impact of different groups. Generally, police legitimacy can play a crucial role in dealing with cases of victimization.
Victims need support and assistance in dealing with the effects of victimizations. Some acts of victimization make individuals feel shocked and traumatized, and special services are required for the full recovery of the victims (Day, 2018). Victim support agencies should be in a position to address all the problems caused by victimization and protecting the victims from further harm. Moreover, cooperation with security agencies such as the police plays a crucial role in making the recovery process successful (Engström & Kronkvist, 2018). Victim support services may work to alleviate fear and anxiety from the victims as well as protecting other people from being affected by the same experience. For example, police officers and other service providers are not immune to trauma and could be affected by interacting with a traumatized person. Therefore, attempts to assist a victim should be carried out strategically.
My placement in the in a victim support agency gave me experience with victims of trauma. One of my clients was a man who would have gone through a case of robbery with violence. The experience at gunpoint had made my client traumatized, and he urgently needed attention to recovering from the intense trauma. The crime had happened one year earlier but the client had not managed to overcome the trauma caused by the experience. Police legitimacy came in when the police and some of his friends found my client outside at midnight and were determined to help him with whatever he was going through. As a criminologist, the challenge was to assist the client in overcoming the guilt he had for having gone through the experience. The client needed to be helped to accept that he was not responsible for anything that had happened to him.
In sum, the victimization theory may work in collaboration with police legitimacy theory to assist in times of victimization. The most common challenge for most victims is the failed attempt to overcome the trauma caused by some criminal acts. The factors behind the victimization process are studied to come up with strategies of helping the victim in recovery. Generally, Victim support agencies should be in a position to address all the problems caused by victimization and protecting the victims from further harm.
References
Bradford, B., Hohl, K., Jackson, J., & MacQueen, S. (2015). Obeying the rules of the road: Procedural justice, social identity, and normative compliance. Journal of contemporary criminal justice, 31(2), 171-191.
Day, E. (2018). The application of machine learning, big data techniques, and criminology to the analysis of racist tweets(Doctoral dissertation, Canterbury Christ Church University).
Engström, A., & Kronkvist, K. (2018). Situating fear of crime: The prospects for criminological research to use smartphone applications to gather experience sampling data. In Community-Oriented Policing and Technological Innovations(pp. 85-93). Springer, Cham.
Minnaar, A. (2016). Research, theory and a developing criminology for rural crime. Acta Criminologica: Southern African Journal of Criminology, 29(1), i-v.
Wolfe, S. E., Nix, J., Kaminski, R., & Rojek, J. (2016). Is the effect of procedural justice on police legitimacy invariant? Testing the generality of procedural justice and competing antecedents of legitimacy. Journal of quantitative criminology, 32(2), 253-282.
Wortley, R., & Townsley, M. (Eds.). (2016). Environmental criminology and crime analysis. Taylor & Francis.