Criminology
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What progress has been made since passing the Violence Against Women Act of 2013? Your response must be at least 200 words in length
In March 2013, it was observed that the Violence Against Women Reauthorization act was signed into law by President Obama. This law considers the tribe’s inherent power to exercise a particular form of jurisdiction regarding matters on domestic violence over the defendants, irrespective of whether they are Indians or non-Indians. Since it is enactment into law, VAWA 2013 has been in a position to celebrate several landmarks which include; the law has been in a place to ensure that there is the protection of women from the tribal lands and also there is the protection of immigrant and LGBT community members (Hale, Hayward, Wahidin, & Wincup, 2013). Another landmark for this law is that it has played a pivotal role in ensuring core funding and coordinated community responses in case of any form of violence. Major milestones released from the enactment of this law are;
- Three American tribes, mainly tribe of Tulalip tribe of Arizona, Umatilla Tribe of Oregon, and Pascua of Yaqui, became the first tribe to enjoy the rights of exercising a unique form of jurisdiction on certain crimes as well as domestic violence on the defendant of either Indian or non-Indian origin.
- The US Department of Housing has been able to ensure that there is the implementation of VAWA house protection provisions to deter acts related to domestic violence.
What is the difference between criminology and Victimology?
Criminology and victimization are considered to be somehow similar since they all focus on crimes and victims within a criminal justice system. In this part of the paper, we will focus on the difference between these two terms.
Criminology
This is a term derived from a Greek word, and it is used to refer to the study of crimes and defiant behavior. It is considered to be a disciplinary field which related to both behavioral as well as a social science. From the social perspective, criminology can be observed as examining individuals who have committed a particular crime, the motive behind committing such crimes, and the possible measures that need to be taken to deter such crimes. The end goal for criminology is mainly to determine the root cause of specific criminal behavior and develop effective techniques to prevent such an action (Carrabine, 2009).
Victimology
Victimology is considered a branch of criminology, a scientific study of the relationship between a particular offended and an injured party. It mainly examines the causes and the nature of the consequence that is likely to occur the offender. One thing to note is that Victimology also makes on whether the preparator of a particular crime was a stranger, a friend, or even a family member to the injured party. Victimology emerged in the late 1940s, and 1950’s when several craniologists started to examine the criminal offender relationship (Hale, Hayward, Wahidin, & Wincup, 2013).
one event contributing to the rise of the victims’ rights movement.
The modern crime victims’ rights movements are observed to have started 30 years ago and its main reason for its emergence was to ensure that there was fair treatment of victims in the criminal justice system. Research conducted in the market shows that this movement has since evolved to become of the leading civil liberty movement in the modern era. One of the major factors that led to development of victims’ rights happened in the early 1970s and 1960s. Criminal criminologists observed that most crimes that occurred were never reported to the police since they feared being involved in the criminal justice system. Another thing is that when the victims said about a particular crime, there was a higher probability that they got distressed by the police response and the tedious court experience. The worst of it is that there was a higher possibility that they could get retaliation from the offenders who had refused to testify in the court of law. The criminal justice system was in a position to note its significant failures, whereby it did not take time to apprehend its suspects or even secure their convictions. Hence, such factors are observed to have contributed to the formation of the victim’s rights movement to ensure fair treatment of victims in the criminal justice system (Williams, 2012).
- Explain the differences and similarities of von Hentig’s and Mendelsohn’s theories of victimization. Your response must be at least 200 words in length.
Hans Von Hentig
The theory was developed by a German criminologist Hans Von Hentig in the years 1948 to examine how a victim contributes towards causing a particular criminal act. This theory mainly looks at a specific crime from a social and biological perspective. Usually, its classification of a particular crime in 13 distinct classes depends on victimization risk level. He looked at the victim from several perspectives, such as young, depressed, an immigrant, blocked, fighting, exempted, among others (Vito, Maahs, & Holmes, 2006).
Mendelsohn Theory of Victimization
Benjamin Mendelsohn invented this theory in the year 1976. Benjamin was an attorney and was always referred to as the father of Victimology. The theory was developed to look at the dynamism, which takes place between a victim and an offender. Mendelsohn’s theory also classifies victims into six distinct categories, which are either an innocent victim to an imaginary victim who, in this case, might be a person who might be suffering from a mental disorder. One of the similarities we can note from these two theories is that they try to look at the victim’s behavior (Williams, 2012).
References
Carrabine, E. (2009). undefined. Taylor & Francis.
Hale, C., Hayward, K., Wahidin, A., & Wincup, E. (2013). undefined. Oxford University Press.
Vito, G. F., Maahs, J. R., & Holmes, R. M. (2006). Criminology: Theory, research, and policy. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Williams, K. S. (2012). Criminology textbook. Oxford University Press, USA.