Essay On Prior Victimization

Studies have shown a clear correlation between childhood sexual assault (CSA) and negative sexual experiences later in life. Of relevance to the criminal justice system, these later forms of sexual victimization include sexual assault and sex work. The relationship between CSA and adverse sexual development is a correlation between two things, not a direct pathway from cause to effect. While survivors of sexual assault are at a higher risk of experiencing these later forms of victimization, this correlation represents a highly complex process involving a wide range of mediating factors and the intersections between them. Any experience of sexual assault is highly traumatic. Survivors of CSA, however, represent a unique population, because their trauma occurs near the start of the human developmental process and therefore alters all development thereafter.

For the purpose of this essay I will be considering Nils Christie’s (1986) concept of the ‘ideal victim’. In considering this concept, I will discuss what is meant by an ‘ideal victim’ and will also be focusing on the high profile Australian criminal case of Anita Cobby in Blacktown on 2nd of February 1986. Anita Cobby was only 26 years old when she was abducted, brutally raped and murdered by four ‘ideal offenders’. This essay will also consider, the ways in which the media and criminal justice system have constructed Anita Cobby as an ‘ideal victim’.

An ‘ideal victim’ is someone who has played no part in their victimisation by an offender who was wholly responsible for the incident. The public can relate to the ‘ideal victims’ ordeal and although they have been through an awful sometimes incomprehensible experience society views the ‘ideal victim’ “as pure, blameless (hence passive) people against whom an evil act was omitted by a depraved individual” (Spalek, B. 2006 p25). Although most people can relate to an ‘ideal victim’ there is a ‘positivist perspective’ in victimology that defines the behaviour and circumstances of people can have a direct contribution to their victimisation. However, the ‘feminist perspective’ would argue that by suggesting a victim had aided in their

The formative experiences that define a child's home life will have a lasting impact on the individual as he or she enters the later stages of childhood, adolescence and adulthood. The degree to which one's family life is loving, nurturing, supportive and attentive is a substantial determinant in emotional, social and intellectual development. Accordingly, a home which is abusive, violent, negative and neglectful is more than likely to have deleterious effects for the child both while and well after maintaining residence there. This turns us toward the focus of the present study, which is the impact levied by domestic violence on children.

Rape is a crime in which one person forces another person with threats, physical force or deception to have sex or sexual contact. In many cases rape is often through penetration, but victims are submitted to rape under different circumstances, such as oral sex, therefore rape has many muddled definitions. The various definitions of rape is a consequence of different cultural backgrounds and stereotypes. Sexual assaults have an effect on everyone either directly or indirectly, especially when victim blaming. Rape is not biased, for it can occur to any person despite their age, gender, religion, education level, sexual orientation or ethnicity. “According to the Department of Justice the average number of rape cases reported annually is approximately 89,000, but many victims are fearful to report their case to the police, for they do not want to be blamed for their assault.” (The Offender 's) Victim blaming in rape cases is a direct correlation to stereotypes. Some stereotypes that affect victim blaming is sexual orientation, promiscuity, gender roles, and race. “These contributing factors are stemmed from the much larger problem of society 's idea of gender and race stereotypes.” (Gill)

The abuse is usually frequent enough that the victim internalizes it. This leaves the victim feeling fearful, insignificant, untrusting, emotionally needy, and unlovable. Survivors of this form of abuse have a hard time understanding why they feel so bad (Munro, K. 2001.).

There are significant signs of psychological trauma due to any kind of abuse. Children experience feelings of low self esteem and depression. Many exhibit behavioral problems including aggression towards other children. Other emotional problems include hostility, fear, humiliation and the inability to express feelings. The social impacts of physical abuse include inability to form relationships, poor social skills, poor cognitive language skills, distrust of others, over-compliance with authority figures, and tendency to solve interpersonal problems with aggression. (2008, p. 1). Verbal and physical abuse has a cumulative impact on children’s socialization. Abused children are caught in damaged relationships and are not socialized in positive, supportive way (Craig & Dunn, Ex.: 2010, p. 196). They learn defiance, manipulation and other problem behaviors that are used to escape any maltreatment. In turn they will learn to exploit, degrade and terrorize.

Victimization comes in many different forms such as assault, child physical/sexual abuse, stalking, theft, rape, sexual harassment, and domestic/relationship violence. There are several negative outcomes that have been linked with childhood abuse and neglect such as neurobiological changes, emotional and psychiatric disorders, interpersonal issues and substance abuse problems (Min, Singer, Minnes, Kim, & Short, 2012). According to Reid and Sullivan (2009), children and adolescents are very vulnerable and are the most highly victimized individuals of the population and the kinds of victimization that they experience can come in many forms (Finkelhor et al., 2009). This victimization is known as poly-victimization (Finkelhor et al., 2009).

When a crime has been committed, the criminal justice system recognizes two parties to the case: the defendant and the state. The defendant is prosecuted at the hands of the state, and the victim becomes allocated as a third party. When this happens, the victim’s role becomes delegated to that of a witness and the trauma of victimization is overlooked. However, there are apparent problems with neglecting the relevance of crime victimization. Victims commonly suffer from the aftereffects of both violent and nonviolent crimes. Aside from physical and financial injuries, victims are at risk for numerous psychological issues ranging from negative feelings and anxiety to posttraumatic stress and depression. Victims are also at risk for secondary

Dr. Carla O’Donnell discusses Rational Choice Theory as the thought processes encountered when people engage in delinquent, (youthful offenders,) or criminal behavior. They have a sense that crime pays and this is the easiest way to get ahead in life. Such a criminal mindset does not consider the exact consequences of their maladaptive behavior. Criminal offenders use rational choice to commit a crime, and may perceive only the means to an end. These individuals take the time to think out a plan for the crime from start to finish and consider only an easy self-centered profit motive. There is no regard or consideration for victims or

However, all forms of child abuse carry emotional consequences because the child's psychological and emotional development inevitably suffers from all forms of abuse. An intervention model that would focus on emotional abuse could also focus on preventing other forms of abuse because violent behavior towards children often comes from the same underlying causes, and most risk factors for child maltreatment are associated with caregiver, family, and environmental factors (McDonald, 2007). With this in mind, a possible solution would have to include early detection, but the intervention would most likely focus on factors that cause all types of child abuse. Despite the widespread occurrences of all forms of abuse, emotional neglect or maltreatment are practically impossible to detect while they occur and impair the child's normal development and social integration. Emotional abuse includes includes verbal, mental, and psychological maltreatment of children, and it is frequently overlooked by the community and mental health professionals who do not define emotional abuse as a suitable factor for diagnostic purposes (as cited in Schneider, Baumrind, & Kimerling, 2007). In reality, emotional abuse is frequently used in many families, it occurs in several worldwide cultures, and it carries significant consequences that should not be overlooked.

Victimization from various crimes, for instance rape or sexual assault, is more common among young, female, college students than what the public want to grasp. The realization of one’s parents sending their child off into a bigger world of freedom, adulthood and independence, knowing their precious child no longer needs the influence of their guidance can be a scary transition for both the young college student and the parents. College is suppose to exist as a second home to those ambitious enough to make those steps towards achievement aimed at the future. A place for young adults to feel guarded, and yet still have the freedom to walk to proudly in the direction of being taken seriously as a grownup.

There were examinations made by theorists that suggest some people are, in fact, victim prone and argue that, similar to the concept of ‘born criminals’, there are ‘born victims’ (Moriarty, 2003). Born victims are individuals who seem to be self-destructive and studies have proclaimed that they are responsible, to some degree, for their own victimization. There is a continuous ‘reciprocal action’ between predators and victims (Moriarty, 2003). There are two main ways precipitative behavior can come about, this being both actively and passively. In active precipitation, explained by Wolfgang, it states that the victim is behaving in a threatening, violent, almost intolerable, manner with the offender, which can have the victim involve themselves

a) Heather Pollett writes in The Connection Between Violence, “a history of childhood physical abuse has significantly higher rates of anxiety disorders, alcohol dependence, and antisocial behavior and are more likely to have one or more disorders than were those without such a history”

Research conducted in the United States of America clearly identifies an interaction between victim age and abuse characteristics (USDHHS, 2003). There exists a negative correlation between the onset and prevalence of physical neglect and victim age, for instance, indicative of a young child's dependency upon the caregiver for supervision and nurture (Mash & Wolfe, 2005). The incidence of physical and emotional abuse is also most prominent during developmental periods of independence, specifically the early, pre-school and adolescent transitional stages of development (ibid). Sexual abuse has prevailed most consistently, however, from an onset of age 3 throughout childhood, highlighting the vulnerability of children across the age-spectrum (ibid). Nevertheless, victim gender is emphasised as an influential variable within the incidence and nature of sexual abuse; for females have accounted for up to 80% of reported victims and are more likely to be abused by male family members in contrast to male victims, where the perpetrator of abuse is more likely to be a non-family male offender (USDHHS, 2003; Berliner & Elliott, 2002).