Assessing the Risk of Repeat Victimization Using Structured and Unstructured Police Information

Following the EU Victim Directive, Dutch police officers are obliged to assess a victim’s vulnerability to repeat victimization. This study explored the utility of unstructured police information for the prediction of repeat victimization, as well as its incremental value over and above structured police information. Police records over a period of 6 years were retrieved for a sample of 116,680 victims. Unstructured information was transformed into numeric features using count-vector and TF/IDF methods. Classification models were built using decision tree and random forest models. AUC values indicate that a combination of structured and unstructured police information could be used to correctly classify a majority of repeat and non-repeat victims.

‘…her aim was to ruin my reputation’: Cyberstalking Victimization Experiences among University Students in Nigeria

While global knowledge about cyberstalking is growing, intellectual engagement of the phenomenon in Nigeria is still at infancy and focused mainly on awareness. Scanty attention has however been paid to the nature of victimization experiences and its effects on victims. Against this background, this study investigated the nature and effects of cyberstalking among victims at the University of Ibadan. Using purposive and snowball sampling techniques, 30 victims of cyber stalking were subjected to indepth interview. Results indicated that their active online activities and the anonymity guaranteed in cyberspace contributed to their victimization. While one of the social and psychological effects of cyberstalking is social estrangement of victims, most victims failed to report to the Police owing to fear of repeat victimization and lack of trust in the policing institution. Instead, they accessed informal coping mechanisms from friends and family.

A Comparison of Burglary Near Repeat Victimization Between Rural and Urban Areas Using a Target-Based Assessment of Criminal Opportunity

Numerous studies have shown that near repeat victimization of burglaries can account for a substantial minority of burglaries in urban settings. Using a method based on the distribution of potential targets to determine the size of spatial bandwidths, the presence of burglary near repeats in rural areas was examined and compared to the level of near repeats in urban areas. A significant burglary near repeat pattern was observed in rural areas, but was restricted to the spatial and temporal bands that were closest to and most recently after a previous burglary. The proportion of all burglaries that were near repeats in this nearest spatial and temporal bands was greater than that observed in urban areas. The findings lead to extending how the boost account and offender foraging principles may apply in rural settings, and the identification of crime prevention opportunities that counter near repeats in rural areas.

Justice-System Monitoring Technologies and Victim Welfare

The evolution of criminal justice technologies is inextricably linked to the emergence of new modes of electronic and digital governance that have become essential components of a surveillance and crime control culture continually seeking out novel responses to actual and perceived threats. The slow emergence of these technologies in the second part of the 20th century was often theorized through a discourse of order and control that has subsequently evolved in the 21st century to emphasize the protective potential of technologies oriented toward the interests of victims. The potential of criminal justice technologies to improve public safety and address issues of repeat victimization has now been subjected to significant scrutiny from scholars across the globe. While it would be conceptually inaccurate to split offenders and victims into two discrete groups, there has been an increase in analytical focus upon the intersections between victims of crime and technology within the context of criminal justice processes that had traditionally been oriented toward offenders. A more sophisticated understanding of the psychological and behavioral potential of criminal justice technologies has emerged that has permanently adjusted the landscape of crime and disorder management and has had a transformative impact upon the relationship between victims, technology, and criminal justice. Yet, at the same time, the integration of digital technologies into the crime control and criminal justice infrastructure still is at an early stage in its evolution, with future trends and patterns uncertain.

Comparing the lifestyles of victims: A routine activity theory assessment of repeat victimization in Canada

This paper simultaneously explores the relationship between social status, routine activity theory, and repeat victimization. This study compares the effects of lifestyle with key social status variables like gender, race, and sexuality, on varying degrees of victimization to answer the question: do routine activities or social status predict repeat victimization? This research is a secondary data analysis using two waves of the Canadian Victimization Survey from 2004 and 2009. Both a logistic regression and multinomial logistic regression are used to analyze the possible causes of repeat victimization. Overall, social status is influenced by lifestyle when predicting victimization; however, key social status variables predict high levels of victimization such as identifying as gay or lesbian or being an Aboriginal Canadian. The most powerful indicator of victimization was if a victim had been previously arrested themselves. The results of this study suggest that, while lifestyle is a strong predictor of victimization, minority groups are still at risk of being victimized at higher levels.

“Look who is laughing now”: Physical capital, boxing, and the prevention of repeat victimisation

This paper’s aim is to further current thinking around young men’s perceptions and understanding of violence, and the use of boxing as a vehicle in the prevention of repeat victimization. The focus is on the use of bodily or physical capital, and the ways in which men draw upon this resource to ward off attacks to identity and psyches, especially those perceived as disrespectful. It will draw on data from The Criminology of Boxing, Violence and Desistance (Jump 2020), and present overarching ideas from Tyrone, a psychosocial case study highlighting the underpinning theory and its development. This paper disrupts common discourses that argue that boxing is a panacea for all violence, and thus presents more subjective nuanced accounts of men’s lives in the gym, and the streets. In using the term “physical capital”, I employ Wacquant’s (1995) theory, and suggest that boxers not only use their body as a “form of capital” (p. 65), but that the physical capital accrued through the corporeal praxis of boxing, is actually a way to disavow prior victimization, and invest in the prevention of repeated traumatic scenarios. El objetivo de este artículo es ayudar al avance de la reflexión sobre las percepciones y concepciones de los hombres jóvenes sobre la violencia, y el uso del boxeo como vehículo para prevenir la victimización reiterada. La atención prioritaria es sobre el uso del capital corporal o físico, y cómo los hombres recurren a él para prevenir ataques a la identidad o a la psique, sobre todo aquellos percibidos como irrespetuosos. Se parte de datos de The Criminology of Boxing, Violence and Desistance (Jump 2020), y se presentan ideas generales de Tyrone, un estudio de caso psicosocial que arroja luz sobre la teoría subyacente y su desarrollo. El artículo rompe con el discurso común de que el boxeo es la panacea para toda violencia, y así presenta testimonios matizados más subjetivos de las vidas de hombres en el gimnasio y en las calles. Al usar el término “capital físico”, utilizo la teoría de Wacquant (1995) y sugiero que los boxeadores no sólo usan su cuerpo como una “forma de capital” (p. 65), sino que el capital físico adquirido a través de la praxis corporal del boxeo es en realidad una forma de negar victimizaciones previas y de invertir en la prevención de escenarios traumáticos reiterados.

The potential role of network-oriented interventions for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence among asylum seekers in Belgium

Background Social support and social network members have been identified as an important factor in mitigating the effects of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and improving the coping process for many survivors. Network oriented strategies have been advocated for among domestic violence survivors, as they help build on improving social support and addressing factors that alleviate repeat victimization. There are opportunities to implement such strategies among asylum seekers who are survivors of SGBV in asylum centres, however, this has not been fully explored. This study sought to identify key strategies and opportunities for developing peer-led and network-oriented strategies for mitigating the effects of SGBV among asylum seekers at these centres. Methods Twenty-seven interviews, were conducted with service providers (n = 14) / asylum seekers (n = 13) at three asylum centres in Belgium. A theoretical model developed by the research team from a literature review and discussions with experts and stakeholders, was used as a theoretical framework to analyse the data. An abduction approach with qualitative content analysis was used by the two researchers to analyse the data. Data triangulation was done with findings from observations at these centres over a period of a year. Results Many of the asylum seekers presented with PTSD or psychosomatic symptoms, because of different forms of SGBV, including intimate partner violence, or other trauma experienced during migration. Peer and family support were very influential in mitigating the effects and social costs of violence among the asylum seekers by providing emotional and material support. Social assistants were viewed as an information resource that was essential for most of the asylum seekers. Peer-peer support was identified as a potential tool for mitigating the effects of SGBV. Conclusion Interventions involving asylum seekers and members of their network (especially peers), have the potential for improving physical and mental health outcomes of asylum seekers who are SGBV survivors.

Does Change in Binge Drinking Reduce Risk of Repeat Sexual Assault Victimization? Evidence From Three Cohorts of Freshman Undergraduate Women

Many college students who experience sexual assault experience subsequent (i.e., repeat) sexual assault incidents. There is also an established relationship between sexual assault and binge drinking. The “once bitten, twice shy” (OBTS) hypothesis suggests that those who experience alcohol- or drug-related (AOD) sexual assault would reduce how frequently they binge drink in an effort to avoid repeat victimization. We test this hypothesis by analyzing two years of survey data collected from a panel of three cohorts of freshmen women. Supportive of OBTS, our analyses reveal that students who experienced an AOD-related sexual assault at time 1 only reduced the number of days they binge drank from time 1 to time 2 and that this change significantly differed from repeat victims. Implications for efforts to reduce sexual victimization against college women are discussed.