Answer

Comparison of Criminology and Victimology

Abstract

There is always an expectation that in case of crime, the offenders should face the law to bring justice to the victims. However, research shows that in some cases, offenders do not face prosecution through dubious means prohibited within the law. This does not mean that the criminal justice system does nothing to minimize such incidents and bring sanity to the system. In this quest, criminology and victimology concepts have proved beneficial in developing a precise understanding of the complications in this sector. To understand how useful they are, we have to develop a concise definition and examine their interaction to provide a broader perspective of criminal justice. Therefore, this paper seeks to undertake a comparative research to assist in providing information that expresses the interdependence of these concepts as well as reveals their interaction. Besides, through their similarities and differences, their contribution to the United States’ criminal justice operations becomes explicit.  

Introduction

The criminal justice system plays a significant role in solving crimes and serving justice while also helping crime victims. Therefore, criminal justice professionals do more than just put criminals away to ensure society becomes better through approaches grounded on victimology. In essence, victimology refers to the study of victimization, which includes a broader scope of determining the relationship between offenders and victims (Rothe & Kauzlarich, 2016). Despite both criminology and victimology focusing on the studies of crime and the victim, they have significant differences with criminology concentrate on developing an in-depth understanding of the criminal’s motives and the causes of crime. In contrast, victimology seeks to help the victim-overcome crime and heal from experience (Fattah, 2016). Nonetheless, this paper aims to examine the relationship between these essential concepts by providing information that reveals their interaction and role in the U.S justice system.

Criminology and the theories of criminology

Criminology refers to the study of law enforcement and the criminal justice system. Necessarily, criminology focuses on the study of crime with the primary aim of understanding the criminal’s motives and the underlying causes of crime. In the criminal justice system, they make a difference by examining the location of crimes, crime frequency, social reactions to crimes, and behavior to help conceptualize the types of crimes. This has a significant relationship to the psychological theories of crime, including social learning theories, which presumes that behaviors are usually learned from social contact within the family, media, and peer groups (Wortley & Townsley, 2016). Through the psychology theories and social theories such as differential association, criminology gets to develop a broader scope of why people behave the way they do.

Interaction between criminology and victimology

The importance of these concepts in the criminal justice system is explicit in their interaction, which, although different in aim and scope, focuses on fighting crime, serving justice, and helping the victims go through the process (Fattah, 2016). This makes differentiating the concepts very critical as that helps in expanding their interaction. Primarily, criminology aims to conceptualize the social impact of crime by utilizing psychology and social theories to examine the conceivable aspects of deviant behavior (Churchill, 2017). Both of these interact in criminal justice to minimize the incidences of crime and impact on society. Crime experience can be very traumatic, but as one aspect seeks to understand the motive, it must consider mechanisms through which these experiences can build the person and the justice system. Therefore, they not only consider the crime itself, but also become more dynamic to incorporate psychological, environmental, and social factors of crime.

Criminology and criminal profiling

In the criminal justice system, there are situations when there is not enough evidence to pin anyone to a given crime. That is, evidence may not be sufficient to profile anyone against the committed crime. However, this does not stop the quest for justice since the criminal justice system has to make every effort to ensure that the offenders face justice. This is what leads to criminal profiling, which refers to the process by which the nature of crime can be used to make inferences concerning the likely offender. The process requires a deeper understanding of scientific methods necessary to ensure the right person faces justice, while also necessitating the conceptualization of the science of logic, and the ability to know when someone is wrong (Churchill, 2017). In all these factors, criminology plays a significant role since it empowers the criminologists to undertake the process. While this technique seeks to observe and reflect upon the analysis of the collected crime pieces of evidence, it also focuses on identifying and interpreting crime behavior to predict the likely offender and their underlying motive.

Victimology and criminology influence on victim profiling

Victim profiling refers to the various techniques used to predict an unidentified offender’s characteristics through the proper scientific analysis of the evidence acquired from the crime scene (Rothe & Kauzlarich, 2016). Since victims do not choose to be victims, it is essential to determine the underlying factors. In some cases, criminal offenders follow a particular pattern in identifying their targets. Therefore, when such are identified in time, it can be possible to prevent the anticipated crime. Besides, through this process, it can be easy to help the victims go through the traumatic experience while also serving justice, which then brings in the concepts of victimology and criminology. 

Conclusion

The criminal justice system can, in some cases, become very complicated, with criminal offenders playing the role of victims to attain sympathy and escape justice. By adopting the persona of the victim, the offenders seek to evade the rule of law with convincing pleas. Besides, there are instances where the criminal justice system has to go the extra mile in investigations and subsequent trials of criminal offenders. These explain the importance of victimology, criminology, which, despite their difference in aim and purpose, seeks to ensure crime, is solved, and justice served (Wortley & Townsley, 2016). Therefore, these sociological concepts and theories are useful in explaining the basics of crime and the best way to enhance the chances of servicing justice despite the complications and helping the victims go through the experience.