Criminology Discovery of the Victim

Question: Discuss about theCriminologyfor Discovery of the Victim. Answer: Introduction: In this essay we discuss the change in the definition of crime and also state the basic aspects behind this change such as positivist and classical theory, change occurred in our understanding related to causes of victimization, and data which is collected from both the sources that is official and unofficial. Subsequently this essay is concluded with brief conclusion. Criminology: In criminal justice and public policy system, institutions recognized the needs and experiences of victims important because of change in the definition of crime. Today, criminal acts extend beyond the limits and it become impossible to reduce the effect of criminal actions on society (Hunt, n.d.). There are two schools which have great impact on the criminology department, and the main purpose of these schools is prevention of crime and to clearly differentiate between criminal as well as non criminal acts. The two schools are classic theory and positivist theory. In 18th century, classic theory was introduced by Cesare Becarria and Jeremy Bentham during the period of enlightenment. Before the introduction of classical theory, law system was brutal and unfair. Therefore, the main focus of author was to create justice system which is fair and equal for general public also. This concept does not focus on commitment of crime but it mainly emphasize on perfect system of justice. This theory also state the concept of free will which means peoples have right to do whatever they want to do. The positivist theory was introduced in 19th century by Cesare Lombroso, Raffael Garofalo and Enrico Ferri. The main aim behind the introduction of this theory was to understand the crime and criminals by using scientific methods, and according to this theory every criminal behavior was affected by factors related to psychological, biological and social which are not in the control of individual. The main difference between these two theories is based on free will which means classical theory states crimes as choice and whereas positivism criminology argues that crime is not a choice (Gottfredson, 1981). In recent years, there are number of factors which contribute in the increasing visibility of crime victims because of attention of the media and public policy. In this paper we examined the concept of victim in both terms that is idealized imagery and empirical data. In terms of idealized imagery facts are deployed when we consider the position of victims, and in case of empirical data it includes those victims which are who are featured in victim surveys (Christie, 1986). In general data related to criminals and crimes are collected from both sources that is official and unofficial because all crimes are not reported and recorded on official records, and for accurate number it is necessary to collect data from both sources. Conclusion: At last we conclude that it is necessary to identify the victim by use various methods and for this purpose it necessary that we identify the victim and reach every source of information. References: Christie, N. (1986). The ideal victim. E. Fattah (ed.) From Crime Policy to Victim Policy. Basingstoke: Macmillan. Gottfredson, R. M. (1981). On the Etiology of Criminal Victimization. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vol 72(2). Hunt, D. Preventing Criminal Victimisation: The case for an Intersectoral Response to Victimisation a South Australian Perspective. Available at: https://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/proceedings/27/hunt.pdf. Accessed on 23rd February 2017.