UNDERSTANDING THEORIES OF CRIMINAL VICTIMIZATION (FROM CRIME AND JUSTICE: A REVIEW OF RESEARCH, P 459-499, 1993, MICHAEL TONRY, ED. -- SEE NCJ-146350)

• NCJ Number: 146358
• Author(s): R F Meier; T D Miethe
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 41 pages
• Sale Source: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Research and Justice Volume 17

Annotation

This essay argues that the current reliance on victimization surveys brings with it major limitations in terms of theoretical and empirical research. Much of the previous research has been plagued by the use of inadequate measures of key concepts, few statistical controls, and the absence of multilevel models and contextual effects that could provide alternative explanations for the research results.

Abstract

An overview of the historical context of victimization theories is followed by a description of major sources of information concerning those theories, predominantly victimization surveys. Major current theories of victimization are identified; the two most widely accepted include the lifestyle and routine activities theories. The alternative theories suggested here include a structural-choice model of victimization and a target-selection process approach. The remainder of the discussion deals with major problems of victimization theories, the role of the context of crime in modeling victimization, and the prospects of integrating theories of victimization with theories of criminality. 2 figures and 86 references