2012 - Victimology

Victimology

This course provides students with the basic principles and practice standards of forensic victimology-the scientific study of victims for the purposes of addressing investigative and forensic issues. It provides case-based coverage with original insights into the role that victimology plays in the justice system, moving beyond the traditional theoretical approaches already available. The purpose of this course is to distinguish the investigative and forensic aspects of victim study as a necessary adjunct to the field of victimology.

Dr. Michael Thompson

Constructing Victim Profiles

Constructing a victim profile: 12 steps

Elisabeth Jacobs

The standard of practice for the forensic victimologist consists of twelve steps. It helps reduce bias, encourages the employment of analytical logic and the scientific method, and requires the formation of hypotheses and conclusions in accordance with known evidence.

Firstly, the forensic examiner must strive diligently to avoid bias. There are two kinds of bias. Observer bias is the conscious or unconscious tendency to see or find what one expects to see or find. A specific kind of observer bias is confirmation bias which consists of conscious and unconscious tendency to seek only evidence which affirms preexisting theories, opinions, or findings. Secondly, the forensic examiners are responsible for requesting all relevant evidence and information in order to render an adequate victim profile and form related opinions. This evidence includes reports and documentation regarding the crime scene, any evidence collected and tested, investigative efforts and interviews, and forensic examinations on the victim. Thirdly, the forensic examiners are responsible for determining whether the evidence they are examining is of sufficient quality to provide the basis for an adequate examination. If they don’t receive adequate information about the victim they must document this as well, because this is also of a high degree of relevance to the case.

Fourthly, forensic examiners must, whenever possible, visit the crime scene. The kind of information that can be discovered is the sight, smells, and sounds on the crime scene. Furthermore, through direct observation and experience with potential transfer evidence (vegetables, soils, fibers, ….). Also, discovery of evidence that was previously missed. Fifthly, forensic conclusions and their basis must be provided in a written format. So, a forensic victimologists must be able to write a report with all the conclusions he or she made. Sixthly, the forensic examiners must demonstrate an understanding of behavioral science, forensic science, and the scientific method. The victimologists should satisfy a few minimum criteria’s. He must have at least an undergraduate education. Furthermore advanced study of the methods, procedures and requirements of a criminal investigation, also advanced knowledge of published literature of forensic sciences, victimology and criminal profile.

Seventhly, all conclusions must be based on established facts, which may not be assumed for the purpose of analysis. If the underlying facts have not been established through investigative or crime scene documentation, examination of physical evidence, or corroborating eyewitness testimony, then any reconstruction of those facts is not valuable. Eightly, conclusions must be valid inferences based on logical arguments and analytical reasoning. Any opinions or conclusions must be reasonable free from logical fallacies and incorrect statements of fact. Ninely, conclusions must be reached with the assistance of the scientific method. The scientific method consists of falsification. The scientific analysis designs experiments intended to disprove their hypothesis, not to prove them.

Tenthly, conclusions must demonstrate an understanding of and clearly distinguish between, individuating findings and all others. Individuation is the assignment of uniqueness to an item. To individuate an item it must be described in such a manner as to separate it from all other items in the universe. Eleventhly, Forensic examiners must demonstrate an understanding of the conditions of transfer (Locard’s exchange principle and evidence dynamics). They have to establish the source of any physical evidence and the conditions it was transferred under. Twelfth is any evidence, data, or findings on which conclusions are based must be made available through presentation or citation. Data, research, and evidence must be detailed to the point where others reviewing the work may easily identify it. Also, the evidence that can’t be given to the court should not be in the victimologist conclusion.

Finally, the forensic victimologists primary value is their devotion to the scientific method, and it demands as much objectivity and intellectual honesty as can be brought. The victimologist helps determine what actually happened and under what circumstances, using the available evidence.

References:
- Turvey, Brent E & Petherick, Wayne Forensic Victimology: examining violent crime & victims in investigative and legal, First edition, Elsevier, 2009
- http://english.abusoemocional.com/victim.html
- http://www.thelamplighters.org/llblog01/abuse-victim-profile-2/

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The Victim as a Crime Scene

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Lifestyle Risk

Holly Koehn
Lifestyle Risk

In our life we have the choice to be a cautious person and know what is happening and being very aware of what is around us or the complete opposite. Whatever type of life style we choose sets us up for what will happen in our life. This would be considered our lifestyle risk. There are three main types of categories which are, low risk, medium risk, and high risk. What we do in our everyday lives determines which category we fit into. Victim lifestyle exposure is the study of the potential damaging elements that exist in a people’s everyday life. This can be from the victim’s biological, environmental, and past decisions.

Low risk victims have close family and friends that they are in touch with several times a week. This ensures that a person is being “watched” and if is not heard from for a day or so the close people in their life know something is not right. A person that does not travel alone puts them in the low risk category. A person in the medium risk category is a person who sometimes travels alone, make decisions without letting others know, and are not always being on top of what is surrounding them. A high risk victim like stated from tru tv would be a prostitute. They come into contact with strangers often, are out on the streets late at night asking for trouble, sometimes partaking in drug and alcohol situations, maybe putting themselves as risk in a money situation, and going off to strange places. A person with an aggressive personality, anger, emotional outbursts, hyperactivity, impulsive actions anxiety and maybe even low self-esteem are putting themselves at a higher rick for being a victim.
There are three lifestyle factors that also influence a person being victimized. First is how they handle conflict with others. What a person does in their home, at work, and in the public can also be a factor to being a victim. If a person dresses inappropriately they can attract sinful thoughts from others even if they do not mean to. Also when a person is in the public eye, the way that they act or treat others reflects how others will treat them back. Being rude to the wrong person might cost you your life. Not everyone is patient and sometimes the person you blame for something not happening is not always their fault. Therefore people have to be patient everyday with others and that could save their life. Second is, putting themselves in situations around offenders. Being in bad parts of a town where it is known that it is lots of crime puts you at a higher risk. People from low income places are more likely to victimize because they are in need and are desperate. Most of the time people from low income areas are willing to do whatever they need to do, to get what they need. Last, letting an offender see your weaknesses. If a victim studies the person they are planning on attacking, they will either see that they have picked a strong target and will look for a new target or see that they have picked the best victim, one which is weak and not being aware about their surroundings. For example, of a person is walking into a store looking at their phone the entire time then the victim is distracted and is an easier target. If the victim is assertive and aware of his/her surroundings then the offenders is and more than likely to leave you alone.

References:

- Turvey, Brent E & Petherick, Wayne Forensic Victimology: examining violent crime & victims in investigative and legal, First edition, Elsevier, 2009

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/profiling/victimology/5.html

http://www.pscj.appstate.edu/vitalifestyles.html

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Situational Risk

Kathy Brooks

Vigalante or Victim

The shooting death of Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old African American, has brought Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law into the national spotlight.

The “Stand Your Ground” law is based on the castle doctrine. It basically states that a person has the right to use deadly force to defend himself, his family, his property, if he feels threatened. (Florida Statutes, Title XLVI, Crimes. Chapter 776. Justifiable Use Of Force, 776.032) It grants immunity to anyone who has to use deadly force and can reasonably claim self defense.

Trayvon was shot by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch commander, on February 26, 2012. Mr. Zimmerman had seen the young man walking thru the gated community where he lived. Trayvon was on his way back to his dad’s from a local store. Zimmerman called 911 and reported Trayvon. “This guy looks like he is up to something,” Zimmerman told the operator “He is wearing a dark hoodie.” (Smolowe, Jill, et al. “A Fatal Attraction”. PEOPLE, 9 April 2012. Pgs 61-64. Print). The operator told Zimmerman to stop following Trayvon and that the cops were on the way.

No one is sure exactly how things got out of control. Zimmerman claims that Trayvon turned and confronted him. In his version of events, Trayvon knocked him to the ground and began slamming his head into the curb. Mr. Zimmerman was carrying a gun. According to Zimmerman he pulled his gun and fired two shots, one of them struck Trayvon in the chest.

Citing the “Stand Your Ground” law, the Sanford police department did not arrest Mr. Zimmerman that night. They allowed Mr. Zimmerman to maintain possession of the firearm. They did not check Mr. Zimmerman for drugs, which is standard practice. Nor did they check Trayvon’s cell phone records. Trayvon’s girlfriend claims that she was on the phone with him when Mr. Zimmerman started following him.

Florida Representative Dennis Baxley, one of the laws cosponsors, says the law does not apply to this case. “There is nothing,” he says “that provides for pursuit and confrontation.”(63)

George Zimmerman was arrested in April and charged with second degree murder. His defense team has implied that they will be using the “Stand Your Ground” law as his defense.

This leaves a lot of questions unanswered. What if Trayvon felt threatened by this man following him? If so, according to the law, he had the right to defend himself.

In my opinion Florida needs to take a long look at this law. The language of the law is vague and full of holes. The Second Amendment gives us the right to bear arms and to defend what is ours. It does not give us the right to kill someone because we thought they might harm us. This is not the wild west. Mr. Zimmerman is not Pat Garrett and Trayvon Martin was not Billy the Kid.

Psychodynamics
Psychodynamics
Candy Bryant

Dynamic psychology, also known as psychodynamics was first discussed and brought to light by Sigmund Freud. As the study of interrelationships within the mind as the unconscious level of forces (emotional, mental, and motivational), it is interesting to note that this interrelationship governs nearly every aspect of a humans life, from mate selection, to the internalization of one’s goals.
With that being said, it seems that via reasoning from the reading of Freud and his colleges, that the sexual behavior and the general psyche of an offender might well be connected to this unconscious level of forces. With the internalization of goals, once set, if in a motivational methodology of perpetration, the offender were to connect not only mentally but also emotionally to the crime in the form of a sexual deviance allowing for gratification upon completion much the same way elation happens during the euphoric aftermath of copulation, the prevalence of said offence would escalate.
In other words, if the offender were to have or create an emotional bond with goal of which ever crime they chose, the motivation behind it would only grow stronger as he/she starts the process of mentally placing each step.
The law of physics while not necessarily a mental computation applies also in this case if once considers that a force in motion remains in motion until an outside force is applied. Whereas not all offenders are generally considered psychotic or otherwise mentally ill, and it is generally known that most offenders are also highly intelligent. It would stand to reason that once the mental force connects with the emotional force to fuel the motivation to commit the predetermined crime that this combination will only cease due to an outside force.
The question for me lay in at what point the end goal becomes the offense. If the general human being has the ability to unconsciously bend these forces to their will or as their will demands where does the line become crossed causing the offense? Granted I know that a criminal who is not motivated is not very successful, nor is one who is mentally or emotionally detached from their deemed task at hand. However, were does the line in the sand seem to be drawn? Is it as long as none or thing is hurt or destroyed it is fine? I guess while Freud’s research along with that of his colleges and those who looked into this relationship of the areas of the psyche it would take by far more information than I have available to me at this time.
I find this topic fascinating and for me it tends to explain much about non offenders in as much as it does offenders. In general if a human is not emotionally and mentally attached to something, the motivation for completion is nearly nonexistent. Whether it be in the workplace, or home it is very hard to connect with accomplishing a few goals, however it is expected and I would guess that motivation might well work in reverse causing the connection to the mental and emotional aspect respectively.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychodynamics
http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Sadomasochism

False Allegations

Ashli Jones

Treyvon Martin Case

False Allegations

On February 26, seventeen year old Treyvon Martin was shot and killed in Sanford, Florida. The police reports say that George Zimmerman called and reported that a black man wearing a hoodie, neither in jeans or sweats in white shoes was suspiciously walking around and possibly up to no good. As the dispatcher was asking questions it was brought up that Zimmerman was following the boy and they advised him not to. When Zimmerman confronted Martin he claims that Martin jumped him and started pounding his head into the sidewalk, breaking his nose; however a video of him released by Sanford police last week did not seem to show any injuries when he arrived in handcuffs at the police station. Zimmerman also claims that that a voice heard on one nine one one call crying out for help was his. Although voice analysis results came to the conclusion that the voice calling out for help was not Zimmerman’s.

The report also said that in the boy’s hands they found an Arizona Ice Tea and Skittles. Something is telling me that this young man did not show any harm to Zimmerman. Watching one news report I heard a phone call from a lady talking to a dispatcher and she said it sounded like a man screaming for help.

Zimmerman has been held and not realized and now has admitted shooting the seventeen year old dead. Zimmerman claims Martin attacked him and the shooting was in self-defense. Now having a confession I do think investigations should be taken into further actions to figure the story of what had happened to Martins name will be cleared and his family can morn in peace.

Watching videos on this tragedy has made me come to the thought of racism being involved with the law. I say this because I found this quote on : Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton pointed out that one of the reasons their son was wearing the hoodie was because it was raining. “He was protecting himself from the rain,” Tracy Martin said. “If being suspicious, walking in the rain with your hoodie on is a crime, then I guess the world is doing something wrong.” Making an assumption or a remark on the boys color seems out of place to me. I also say the remark “Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera, said he was trying to warn parents that when young black men wear hoodies they can give off a wrong image. “But I never intended to hurt anyone’s feelings and certainly, Sybrina and Tracy, I never intended to hurt your feelings. I want to personally convey my deepest apologies to both of you. I am sorry if anything I said, Tracy, added to your misery.”

After a few months in publication and in the media authorities think George Zimmerman, is under false allegations. False allegations means to make false or incorrect, or to represent falsely. Zimmerman made the statement that Martin attacked him and this statement is false.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/01/new-interim-police-chief-for-sanford-fla/
http://www.newsmax.com/US/trayvon-martin-geraldo-hoodie/2012/04/02/id/434523

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Intimate Violence

Holly Koehn
Intimate Violence

Domestic violence is when there is a physical aggression between family members, household members, or intimates. Intimate violence is when an intimate relationship becomes violent. This means that the man or the woman has aggressive behavior or maybe even both. In domestic violence drugs and alcohol play a huge role in many situations. One partner feels as if they need to control the other one and feels the only way to get their partner to listen to them is to abuse them. If they are putting their partner in danger than maybe the partner will listen to them.

There are four major different types of intimate violence. They are physical violence, sexual violence, threats of physical or sexual violence, and psychological/emotional violence. Physical violence is when a partner has the need or wants to use force with their partner. Here they have the possibility for causing harm or maybe even death. Sexual violence has three categories. Using the force and strength to attempt to get someone to do a sexual act that they do not want to do, taking advantage of someone that is not in the right state of mind to choose for themself, and having abusive sexual contact. Threats of physical or sexual violence are when a partner says they are going to harm or kill another with their own strength and ability or with the use of weapons. Being a threat this is just verbal and does not include actually doing harm just saying they will. Psychological and emotional violence is when a partner wounds their partner by doing acts or threating acts that hurts them not physically but emotionally. Examples of this would be embarrassing the victim, controlling what the victim does, withholding information, separating the victim from friends and family, and even denying access to possessions that are there’s like money.
A person that is stalked by a passed intimate partner or maybe even a current intimate partner can be considered violence. Stalking can be reflected of being harassed and threated.
Today you can find a list of warning signs of domestic violence. If you believe that a close friend, family member, coworker, or someone you don’t even know is a victim of abuse there are things you can do to help. For people that are close in general to your life, if you notice that they don’t show up at regular events and are trying to explain why this happened or what caused this, this is a RED flag and if you care you need to look into this more. Watch for people who try to explain everything, show fear when someone gets angry, blame themselves for things you know they didn’t do, have a big change in their personality or isolate themselves. These are all red flags and need to be addressed if seen.
When a partner feels that they can no longer be in charge of what is going on they feel the need to abuse something they think they can control. These emotions are driven by all sorts of things including their childhood, past bad relationships, or a big change in their life where they feel they need control. This is a learned patterned and if not stopped it can harm and may even cause death to lot of innocent people in our world.
References:

- Turvey, Brent E & Petherick, Wayne Forensic Victimology: examining violent crime & victims in investigative and legal, First edition, Elsevier, 2009

http://www.nij.gov/topics/crime/intimate-partner-violence/
http://www.medicinenet.com/domestic_violence/article.htm

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Victims of Stalking

Cameron Crocker
Victims of Stalking

Imagine a beautiful night, stars are brightly shining, and a nice breeze rolls in through the window. Now imagine that when you go to close the window you see the same person sitting outside your house, that was there three hours before, when you opened your window. Victims of stalking are extremely common, and generally stem from the end of a relationship, or one that the other party wanted, but you yourself did not. Stalking By definition is an abnormal or long-term pattern of threat or harassment that:
(a) is directed repeatedly toward a specific individual
(b) is experienced as unwelcome or intrusive
(c) is reported to trigger fear or concern

Stalking isn’t always done in person. For example it can come from unwanted gifts such as, flowers, stuffed animals or even jewelry. Sometimes stalking can be from receiving messages, letters, or emails. Texting is now an extremely common form of stalking, as is Facebook. Cyberstalking has grown in popularity sense it is nearly untraceable and not always known by the one being stalked. Cyberstalking is “the use of technology to stalk victims—shares some characteristics with real-life stalking.” according to the National Institute of Justice.

Stalking may also occur by police. In the Denver Post there was a story about a police officer whom was arrested for allegations of harassment and stalking. “Court and police records show that Christian Dale McCracken, 32, of Frederick, was arrested early Saturday by Broomfield police on suspicion of stalking, a class 5 felony, and harassment, a class 3 misdemeanor. Broomfield police said the incident occurred at 9:29 p.m. Friday in the 3400 block of Molly Circle.” Says the Denver Post. The officer had been injured the year before this by a drunken college student.

Being a Victim of stalking can be hard to handle. When you begin receiving gifts and unwanted messages the first thing you should do is notify the police. If the stalker has gone out of his way to follow you be sure to notify the authorities of the urgency of the matter and give them all the information you have about the man/woman who is stalking you.

Sources:
http://www.nij.gov/topics/crime/stalking/welcome.htm

http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/Group/BussLAB/stalkinghelp/StalkingAmI.html#Whatisstalking

http://www.denverpost.com/popular/ci_20515026?source=pop_neighbors_colorado

Workplace Violence

Cameron Crocker
Workplace Violence

As civilians we all have responsibilities. We are expected, as we get older, to obtain jobs. Whether it be a summer job when your in high school, a full time job, or a part time job, we at any point can become victims of workplace violence. Workplace violence, by definition, is “violence or the threat of violence against workers. It can occur at or outside the workplace and can range from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and homicide, one of the leading causes of job-related Deaths.” according to OSHA. No matter your age or job description you may become a victim of workplace violence.
Victimization in the workplace may occur by robberies, attempted robberies, destruction of property, or severely aggravated customers. Attempted robberies, may seem like a small form of “violence” but the mental stress caused by them can be extremely hard to handle. When robberies occur, whomever is directly attack, whether it is a counter clerk at a gas station or the manager at a walmart, it has a huge affect both physically and mentally on the victim and the owner of the store. Store owners often face the loss of profits from robberies, and also the destruction of property. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health list ten ways to aid in the prevention of such worries. They are: Use physical barriers to protect yourself, Install silent alarm systems, panic buttons, Use mirrors, raised platforms and make sure that the area where money is exchanged can be seen, Use bright and effective lighting, Make sure that you have enough staff members, Use drop safes so that there is only a limited amount of cash on hand. Make sure that you post signs telling people that you only have a limited cash supply, Use height markers on exit doors, Use video surveillance equipment so that activity is always being monitored, Control or limit access to the facility, and Install locks on doors that lead to staff-only areas.
Workplace Violence can’t always be prevented, but with help it can be far less prevalent. Workers everyday face the risk of violence, and whether or not you are prepared for it, you could be next. Take the precautions offered, and find out what you can do if you become a victim.

Sources:
OSHA.gov
Crimeprevention.Rutgers.edu

School Violence

School shootings: the nomothetic approach

Elisabeth Jacobs

School shootings are a particular form of workplace violence. A school shooting occurs when anyone enters a campus and begins firing a weapon, such as a rifle, handgun, or shotgun. There are two approaches, the nomothetic and the idiographic. I will discuss the latter.

The nomothetic approach involves the study of the abstract, such as groups and universal laws. From this approach there is a widespread opinion that no consistent school shooter profile exists. However, one study, Angel (2001, 486-487) describes that there are some interesting themes that emerge in such cases (if only considers incidents with student offenders). The conclusion of this research shows that the generalization is that the shooter is usually a lovelorn and bullied white male adolescent. A second study Vossekuil et al. (2002) shows that 100% of the shooters were male. However a specific profile did not emerge, but planning and forethought were typical. There are 10 key findings from their study that beg further investigation and research.

– Incidents of targeted violence at school rarely are sudden, impulsive acts.
– Prior to most incidents, other people knew about the attacker’s idea and/or plan to attack
– Most attackers did not threaten their targets directly prior to advancing the attack.
– There is no accurate or useful profile of students who engaged in targeted school violence.
– Most attackers engaged in some behavior prior to the incident that caused others concern or indicated a need for help./
– Most attackers had difficulty coping with significant losses or personal failures. Moreover, many had considered or attempted suicide.
– Many attackers felt bullied, persecuted, or injured by others prior to the attack.
– In many cases, other students were involved in some capacity.
– Despite prompt law enforcement responses, most shooting incidents were stopped by means other than law enforcement intervention.

Except for this checklist there are a number of other checklists available for the purpose of identifying potential school shooters such as that of the National School Safety Center. The down point is that it may assist in determining why the incident occurred, but reveal little about how to identify an at risk person.

Furthermore, there exist psychological assessment tools, that are meant to provide a more rigorous and empirically sound approach to risk assessment. Three of the more common tools for this purpose are the PCL-R, the VRAG, and the Static-99. The critique on the PCL-R is that such tools promote the unjustified incarcerations of people who otherwise have posed a risk, it results in a large number of large positives. Also, the base rate for violence in many populations is generally so low that it is difficult to accurately predict whether one will be violent in the future. We can conclude that the research that has been conducted thus far shows that the use of the PCL-R to predict violent behavior involves substantial and unacceptable rates of error. The VRAG, Violence Risk Appraisal Guide and the Static-99 are other popular Actuarial Risk Assessment Instruments (ARAIs). These are also severely criticized, research showed that these two have poor precision. The margins of error for risk estimates made when using the tests were substantial, even at the group level. At the individual level, the margins of error were so high that the test is virtually meaningless.

Finally, we can conclude that the nomothetic approach is useful for forming possible theories and avenues of investigation, but these theories do not represent particular victims that exist in the real world. It represents possibility, not actuality.

References:
- Turvey, Brent E & Petherick, Wayne Forensic Victimology: examining violent crime & victims in investigative and legal, First edition, Elsevier, 2009
- http://holology.com/shooting.html
- http://youthviolence.edschool.virginia.edu/violence-in-schools/school-shootings.html

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Ashli Jones

Columbine High School

School Violence

On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris age eighteen, and Dylan Klebold age seventeen, walked into Columbine High School and Shot and killed thirteen students and one teacher, and wounded twenty four but they were hoping to kill thousands. After killing them they took their own lives. Under investigation the investigators found that their actions had been a plot for over a year. Looking further into depth they had also planned to blow up the school and kill over five hundred people. The Columbine massacre was recorded to be the deadliest school shooting in United States history.

Looking into this deeper the planning behind this tragedy had a lot of thought put into it. Just after 11 a.m. on April 20, Eric and Dylan carried a pair of duffel bags containing propane-tank bombs into Columbine's crowded cafeteria and another into the kitchen, then stepped outside and waited. If the bombs would have exploded, they would have killed potentially everyone eating lunch and brought the school's second story library down on top the cafeteria, police say. Armed with a pistol, a rifle and two sawed off shotguns, the pair planned to pick off survivors fleeing the carnage. One thing that was taken into note was a pair of gasoline bombs planted in Eric’s Honda and Dylan’s BMW had been rigged apparently to kill police, rescue teams, journalists and parents who rushed to the school. The pair had parked the cars about 100 yards apart in the student lot in conclusion the bombs didn't go off.

Linking this to victimology is easy, chapter twelve discuses school shootings. There are many different reasons why he/she might want to conduct such a heinous act but some of the reasons come down to school bullying, peer relationship problems, or even family problems. According to the book in most incidents, the attacker carries out the attacks alone is at eighty one percent, the attacker attacks on their own but has an assistant is at eleven percent, and lastly if there are two or more attackers is at eight percent. A school shooting is defined as when anyone enters campus and begins firing a weapon, such as a rifle, shotgun, or any handgun.

One action that has been done to help prevent school shootings is “Rachael’s Challenge.” Rachael’s Challenge is a program that schools show to help explain what happened at Columbine and share the victims story’s and sign a poster saying they are against bullying. Rachael’s Challenge was named after a victim that was shot and killed and her name was Rachael Scott. During this program they talk about what had happened during the shooting and informed the audience that bullying can lead to something as tragic as this. During the program they share that Rachael had the feeling she would never live to be very old and she wanted to have an impact on people and change others’ lives. She had this theory: “I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion then it will start a chain reaction of the same. She said it would set of like a chain reaction and it could change the world. Her story has gone a far way and she has had an effect on many people across the globe. Columbine is world class news, its sad and a depressing thing that it takes something like this to get attention of others and to realize bullying is a bad thing to do.

A total of thirty seven were physically affected, thirteen were killed, and twenty four were wounded. Columbine will forever be remembered for this tragic event.

http://acolumbinesite.com/victim/memoriam.html
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N.htm

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Premises Liability

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Stranger Violence

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Victims in the System

S.1925
Kathy Brooks

In 1994 the Violence Against Women Act was passed. VAWA has made major strides towards victim’s rights concerning domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault and dating violence. There has been a 51% increase in the reporting of domestic crimes. There has also been major decreases in murders by an intimate partner for both men and women.

S.1925 is basically a rewrite of the original bill. Even though S.1925 carries on the protection of victims, there are some amendments and substitutions that will reduce these provisions. Over 2000 advocates say that these substitutions will put the victims at risk.

Terry O’Neill, the president of the National Organization for Women, has drawn the proverbial line in the sand. “Politicians who obstruct passage of VAWA for political reasons will pay a price at the polls in November. S.1925 is a bipartisan bill with 61 sponsors, and senators in both parties need to continue making their best efforts to get this bill passed so that lives can be saved and communities across the nation will be safe for girls and women, boys and men. NOW members and supporters in every state stand with all senators who support VAWA without harmful or punitive amendments.”

Senators Chuck Grassley, Iowa, and Kay Hutchinson, Texas, offered the S.1925 substitute. Sneator Glassley is known for his stand on unnecessary government spending, yet some of his suggestions for S.1925 does just that. According to the thousands of professionals that work with victims on a daily basis, these provisions are unworkable, costly and will bring harm to the very people it is supposed to protect. Some of these substitutions include:

Harsh mandatory minimum sentences on a number of crimes that would have a chilling effect on victim reporting and would not help to hold perpetrators accountable.

“gender-neutral” language that ignores, rather than addresses, issues of LGBT victims.

Audit requirements that are excessive, burdensome and costly, when VAWA already has important reporting and oversight provisions both for grantees and for the Department of Justice.

Amendments to the immigration provisions that create obstacles for victims seeking to report crimes, increase danger for immigrant victims by eliminating important confidentiality protections, undermine effective anti-fraud protections, and roll back years of progress to protect immigrant victims.

Amendments that also undermine the ability of tribal courts to hold violent offenders accountable and burden tribal victims by forcing them to seek protective orders in federal court.

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, the National Council of Jewish Women, Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the National Congress of American Indians have all voiced their concerns with the substitutions and amendments. There are several other substitutions and amendments in the S.1925, most all of these fall short of protecting the victims. Most of these make it harder for certain victims to report the crime and receive the protection that they need.

To show that the Senate has reached a consensus and continue to protect the victims from violence, S.1925 must be passed as a bipartisan bill.

Sources

http://www.now.org
http://www.nij.com

Offenders & Their Victims
Offenders and Their Female Victims.
Candy Bryant

It is a common misconception that all perpetrators of crimes against women are committed by some stranger who randomly picked out their target. While in a relatively few cases this is true, it is by far more common for a female to be attacked by someone she is acquainted with. While Turvey states the importance of a good victim profile, he also illuminates that the most common offender is someone she has either met, or knows on some level. This is confirmed by Donna M. Morgan in her dissertation entitled “Femicide: The Impact of Victim/Offender Relationship on Crime Characteristics.” Donna further justifies her conclusions utilizing interviews with twelve offenders (five intimate, one family, five acquaintances, and one stranger).
Ms. Morgan looks at the victim/offender relationship with the basis of Durkheim’s theory that females lead a more secular life. This is also influenced by studying Wolfgang’s statement in 1958 suggesting that women are more likely to be killed by someone they are in primary relationship with. By looking at Wolfgang’s data, it would lead you to conclude that most femicides in Philadelphia 52% happen between family members (he counted husband and wife association as family. I do have a feeling that this is actually more accurately defined as most femicides happened during crimes of passion between a man and his wife. And to take it a bit further you could extend this to any part of the courtship as he also stated that 21% were between a boyfriend and girlfriend relationship.
While primary relationship members tend to be the ones perpetrating these crimes against females, it seems that also a racial line is drawn as well. Data suggests that ethnicities that have historical (religious or other) view of women as property have a higher incidence of femicide.
This relationship piece of the puzzle often is also illustrated by the place the victim was killed or attacked, the way in which she was attacked, and the aftermath. Where most intimate killings seem to take place in the bedroom, the methods employed vary from beating, to gunshot or stabbings as the primary three means of femicide.
Given that my family has been a victim of such a crime, it is difficult for me to fully wrap my mind around the concept of a loved on committing such a heinous crime against someone they supposedly hold dear. However I suppose I could understand that some violently jealous women have been known to do things such as cut off private members after finding out about affairs and the like, it would only stand to reason that men would also have such tendencies when they find that their woman is not performing as they demand. Such controlling behavior is difficult to endure in the best of times, in my opinion, however so many women choose or are brainwashed into remaining in such dangerous relationships that I can fully see the outcome being femicide.

I would wager to guess that the relationship between most who kill their female partner stems from some sort of jealousy or an over compensation for a diminished ability that she just happens to remind him of. While there are some stranger perpetrated femicides, the realization that your husband, boyfriend, father, or son could take the life of their female family member is a difficult concept, yet it is the leading population for such violence against women.
In conclusion, while femicide offenders can be the random stranger, it is by far more common that they are perpetrated by a member of the victim’s circle of acquaintances. This is why law enforcement seeks to eliminate family members from their suspect lists before seeking out a possible stranger. A quality victim profile will not only assist in solving such crimes, but it is very important when it comes to narrowing down the life of the victim to see just who is in her circle.
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/profiling/victimology/2.html
http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/~pzapf/classes/CRJ70000/Morgan.pdf

Victimology at Trial

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Candy Bryant