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Understanding the plight of victims has long been a focus of feminists in the field of criminology. Feminists have made a number of contributions to the study of victims, and here we highlight the contributions that coalesce around three central themes: (1) the gendered nature of criminal victimisation, (2) the relationship between women’s victimisation and offending and (3) violent victimisation of women (and threat of victimisation) as a means of informal social control. In this chapter, the authors trace the development of these themes, highlighting both early feminist work and modern instantiations, paying particular attention to how theoretical developments in the field of feminist victimology have contributed to the understanding of these themes. The authors conclude by discussing the contested nature of ‘feminist victimology’, examining whether such a thing can exist given the androcentric foundations on which the broader field of victimology is based.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of social exposure activities, risk awareness measures, individual and family characteristics and the socioeconomic environment where the individual resides on the probability of property crime victimization.

A state preference model of crime is employed using victimization surveys data for several years complemented with municipality level data from population census. Logit regressions for the probability of victimization are run for males and females separately and using different specifications.

Regression estimates show that self-protection measures do not offset significantly the probability of victimization and that the likelihood of repeat victimization is highly significant. The most likely victims of property crime in Mexico do not live in highly marginalized communities. Finally, the covariates related to income are stronger predictors of victimization than the level of social exposure.

Further research is needed that considers other types of crime and complements the victimization data with police resources data.

This paper helps to obtain a better understanding of property crime in Mexico and its victims. The main results can help policy makers to allocate scarce resources more efficiently and design more efficient measures to fight property crime in Mexico.

The data set used combines individual and family data from several victimization surveys and complements it with municipality level characteristics from population census. The analysis of victimization is made for the entire country and not for large cities only.

Purpose – This paper updates a review of research on crime among migrants in Switzerland, published in 1997.

Methodology – Review of national survey data and statistics published since 1997.

Findings – Recent statistics as well as surveys (of victimization and self-reported delinquency) show disproportionate levels of offending among migrants. Data from victimization surveys further show that victims do not report offences more often to the police whenever they suspect the offender being a foreign national. Self-report surveys show that delinquent involvement is, particularly for violent offences, higher among migrant youths than among Swiss-born juveniles. According to comparative international survey data, offending among migrant youths from Balkan countries is far more common in Switzerland than among adolescents living in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Implications – The conditions of socialization within the immigration context may be more important than cultural factors.

Value – Combining statistics, victimization surveys and self-report studies at the national level, with survey data from areas where migrants come from.

Purpose – Statistics about the level of crime continue to attract public and political attention but are often presented in conflicting ways. In England and Wales, police-recorded crimes are no longer considered “national statistics” and, instead, the crime survey of England and Wales (CSEW) is used. However, it is not clear why partial population data (e.g., police-recorded crime) are considered less reliable or valid for measuring temporal crime trends in society than inferential statistical estimation models that are based on samples such as CSEW. This is particularly the case for approximating rare events like high-harm violence and specific harmful modus operandi (e.g., knife crime and firearms). In this chapter, the authors cross-reference victim survey and police-recorded data to determine similarities and contradictions in trends.

Methods – Using police data and CSEW estimates, the authors contrast variance and logarithmic trend lines since 1981 across a range of data categories and then triangulate the results with assault records from hospital consultations.

Findings – Change in crime rates in recent years is neither as unique nor extreme as promulgated in media coverage of crime. Moreover, analyses show conflicting narratives with a host of plausible but inconclusive depictions of the “actual” amount of crime committed in the society. The authors also conclude that neither source of data can serve as the benchmark of the other. Thus, both data systems suffer from major methodological perils, and the estimated crime means in CSEW, inferred from samples, are not necessarily more valid or accurate than police-recorded data (particularly for low-frequency and high-harm crimes). On the other hand police-recorded data are susceptible to variations in recording practices. As such, the authors propose a number of areas for further research, and a revised taxonomy of crime classifications to assist with future public interpretations of crime statistics.

Originality – There is much public and academic discourse about different sources of crime measurement yet infrequent analysis of the precise similarities and differences between the methods. This chapter offers a new perspective on long-term trends and highlights an issue of much contemporaneous concern: rising violent crime.

This paper aims to examine factors that influence the decision to report by victims of identity theft victimization. The study of victim decision-making is not new within the field of criminology; however, a majority of the research has focused on decision-making surrounding victims of intimate partner violence and other violent offenses. With the increase of identity theft, knowledge on how a growth in such a crime influences victims is of great concern.

Guided by Donald Black’s theory of the behavior of law, this study will use the 2012 Identity Theft Supplement of the National Crime Victimization Survey to identify factors that influence whether victims of identity theft report the crime to credit agencies and/or authorities.

This study finds that measures that influence reporting behaviors differ based on the method of reporting (i.e. reporting to a credit card company, law enforcement or a credit bureau). These findings provide little support for Black’s theory of law, but have several theoretical and policy implications.

This study provides a partial test of Black’s theory of law, as it applies to identity theft victims. While providing little support for the theory, the findings identify many areas that agencies and researchers can use to help further inform their studies and practices.

This paper aims to examine demographic differences between individuals who do not take measures to protect themselves from identity theft victimization and those who do. A majority of the research on identity theft has focused on predictors of victimization, reporting behaviors of the victims and their health and mental outcomes. However, little remains known about the individuals who choose to take any identity-theft measures despite concerns over this fast-growing breed of crime.

Guided by Felson and Cohen’s routine activities theoretical framework (1979), this study uses the 2014 Identity Theft Supplement of the National Crime Victimization Survey to identify the demographic characteristics that influence the use of self-protection measures among individuals in the general population.

This study finds that these individuals are much more likely to be white, older, female and highly educated. The decision to undertake protection against identity theft is also influenced by the following factors: prior experience of misuse, possession of a bank account in the prior 12 months, current possession of at least one credit card and awareness that one is entitled to a free copy of one’s credit report.

This study addresses the gap in scholarship on identity theft prevention by applying the concept of guardianship in Cohen and Felson’s routine activity theory (1979) to the usage of self-protection measures in a general population. Future findings will identify the areas which agencies and researchers can focus on to inform policies that foster individuals’ own initiatives to take self-protection measures against potential identity theft.

This study expands the empirical understanding of financial fraud victims and the consequences that emerge as a result of financial fraud victimization. In addition, this study aims to assess the impact of the unique role victims play in financial fraud and the impact self-identifying as a victim has on the negative consequences they experience.

Data from the Supplemental Fraud Survey to the National Crime Victimization Survey are used to assess the negative consequences of financial fraud victimization.

Results suggest that victims of financial fraud experience increased distress and financial complications following their victimization experience. In addition, self-reported victim status is found to significantly increase a respondent’s likelihood of reporting emotional distress and financial complications. Implications for research, theory and policy are discussed.

While empirical studies on the consequences of identity theft victimization have been increasing in recent years, financial fraud victimization remains understudied. Given the victim involvement in financial fraud, the consideration of financial fraud independent of identity theft fraud is vital.

Purpose – In the midst of the second wave of data collection for a Comprehensive School Safety Initiative (CSSI) research project, a mass shooting occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. This tragic incident provoked responses across the United States, including intense political discourse, organized student protests, and active shooter drills. In order to assess the potential influence of a major threat to school safety on the perceptions of adolescents, this chapter analyzes the survey responses of middle and high school students in St. Louis County.

Methodology/approach – Approximately one-third of the sample was surveyed prior to the shooting and the remaining students completed surveys within three months after the shooting. The authors examines the potential influence of the shooting on students’ reports on a number of school safety issues, including fear and perceived risk of victimization, likelihood of reporting guns on campus, and engaging in avoidance behaviors.

Findings – Results indicate that the shooting significantly influenced students’ perceptions of school disorder and likelihood of reporting a weapon at school, especially in white, less disadvantaged schools. The results also reflect meaningful effects based on the timing of data collection post-shooting, with many of the significant changes appearing within three weeks after February 14, 2018.

Originality/value – This study explores how external events may influence student perceptions of school safety. Moreover, this study offers a methodological contribution by demonstrating an assessment of the Parkland shooting as a potential threat to internal validity.

To identify intervening factors between perceptions of community policing and reduction of crime fear among citizen, which can provide a better understanding of the causal linkage between these two variables.

The present study employs the research data from the 1998 study “Criminal Victimization and Perception of Community Safety in 12 United States Cities,” which was conducted as a supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). This study used only the personal data, which included information on respondents' demographic characteristics, personal crime and victimization experiences, perceptions of neighborhood crime, and experience and satisfaction with local police.

The finding reveals that while vulnerability variables (indirect victimization model) do not affect the relationship between community policing and fear of crime, the perception of incivilities (perceived disorder model) and the dissatisfaction with life‐quality (community concern model) in the neighborhood intervene between community policing and fear of crime.

Despite the abundant research in the area of community policing, less attention has been paid to the causal process between community policing activities and its presumed effect, reduction of crime fear in communities. This study helps us to understand how fear of crime is reduced by the implementation of community policing.