Question

6.      People take some measures to avoid becoming victims of crime. Can the probability of becoming a victim be reduced to (virtually) zero? If so, why don’t people eliminate that probability? What does the underlying logic of your answer suggest about the cost of committing crimes and the crime rate?

Answer 1

Victimology is the study of the risk factors for and
consequences of victimization and criminal justice
approaches dealing with victims and victimization.
The risk factors for victimization are basically the
same as the risk factors for victimizing in terms
of gender, race, age, SES, personal characteristics,
and neighborhood.
■ Although the NCVS tells us much about victimiza-
tion in the United States, there is little informa-
tion relating to victimization occurring in the two
places we spend most of our time—at work or
school. Workplace violence usually occurs against
people who deal with the public in a protective or
supervisory capacity or against those who work
alone with money.
■ Serious physical victimization in our schools is rel-
atively rare, but electronic bullying is ever grow-
ing and can have even more hurtful consequences
(including suicide) than physical bullying.
■ The most insidious form of victimization today is
arguably human trafficking, which in effect is a
modern form of slavery. People of all ages and
sexes are trafficked, but the vast majority are girls
and women who are used primarily as captive
prostitutes.
■ The sexual assault of children is possibly the most
prevalent crime against humanity in the United
States, with estimates of 20% of girls and 5% of
boys being victimized. The greatest risk for child
victimization is living with a male who is not the
biological father of the child.
■ Domestic violence (mostly intimate-partner vio-
lence) is the most prevalent form of violence in
the United States today. Much of it is driven by
jealousy and real or imaged infidelity and is most
likely to be committed by competitively disadvan-
taged males.
■ Theories of victimization such as victim precipita-
tion theory and routine activities/lifestyle theory
examine the victim’s role in facilitating or precipi-
tating his or her victimization. This is not “victim
blaming,” but rather an effort to understand and
prevent victimization. Victimologists apportion
responsibility within the victim/offender dyad on
a continuum from complete victim innocence to
victim precipitation.
■ The consequences of victimization can be dev-
astating both physically and psychologically.
Although the severity of the psychological con-
sequences of the same sort of victimization can
vary widely according to the characteristics of the
victim, consequences can range from short-lived
anger to post-traumatic stress disorder, especially
for victims of rape.
■ Until fairly recently victims were the forgotten party
in a criminal justice system that tended to think of
them only as “evidence” or witnesses. Things have
changed over the last 25 years with the passage of
a victim’s rights bill by the federal government and
all 50 states. There are also various victim-centered
programs designed to ease the pains of victimiza-
tion, such as victim compensation.

So we people can't able to eliminate the probability of getting victimized.

As much as people goes on making crimes crime rate goes on increasing.