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The Criminal Victimization of Immigrants pp 11–28Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Theories of Criminal Victimization

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Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Victims and Victimology ((PSVV))

Abstract

There are two kinds of theories of criminal victimization: individual (micro) and aggregate/structural (macro) correlates. Victimologists have focused upon the characteristics of victims and victim-precipitated crime. Findings that young, unmarried males had higher rates of victimization than their demographic counterparts led to theories about lifestyles/routine activities. The association between social structures and aggregate victimization rates supported the theory of collective efficacy and clarified the social disorganization theory advanced by Shaw and McKay. Opportunity theory and Blau’s theory of heterogeneity help explain the effects of heterogeneity and residential segregation.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Von Hentig (1940/1941) , (1948).

  2. 2.

    McDonald (1970).

  3. 3.

    Criminal victimization surveys were pioneered by President Lyndon Johnson’s Crime Commission. See Ennis (1967).

  4. 4.

    See e.g., Doerner and Lab (2005), Shichor and Tibbetts (2002), Goodey (2005), and Kennedy and Sacco (1998).

  5. 5.

    Smith and Jarjoura (1989).

  6. 6.

    Hindelang (1976), Hindelang et al. (1978) , Cohen et al. (1980), (1981).

  7. 7.

    Ennis (1967), Hindelang (1976).

  8. 8.

    Cohen and Cantor (1981), Sampson (1987), Smith and Jarjoura (1989), Miethe and Meier (1994).

  9. 9.

    Shaw et al. (1929) , Shaw and McKay (1942), Lander (1954), Bordua (1958), Chilton (1964), Shaw and McKay (1969).

  10. 10.

    Simcha-Fagan and Schwartz (1986), Sampson and Groves (1989), Bursik and Grasmick (1995), Sampson et al. (1997), Bellair (1997), Lauritsen (2001).

  11. 11.

    Benyon (1935) .

  12. 12.

    Kornhauser (1978: 119).

  13. 13.

    Kasarda and Janowitz (1974: 330).

  14. 14.

    Morenoff et al. (2001), Sampson et al. (1997).

  15. 15.

    Sampson and Groves (1989), Lauritsen (2001). In attempting to explain racial and ethnic disparities in violence, Sampson et al. (2005) found that “for individuals living in neighborhoods that are 40% immigrant, the relative odds of their perpetrating violence were about four fifths lower (odds ratio [OR] = 0.81; 95% CI = 0.72, 0.91) than for otherwise similar individuals living in neighborhoods with no immigrants” (Sampson et al. 2005: 230).

  16. 16.

    Turner (1978: 704).

  17. 17.

    Von Hentig (1940/ 1941: 303).

  18. 18.

    Von Hentig (1948).

  19. 19.

    Mendelsohn (1956) .

  20. 20.

    Von Hentig (1948: 415).

  21. 21.

    Von Hentig (1948: 404–438).

  22. 22.

    Wolfgang (1958) .

  23. 23.

    Birkbeck and LaFree (1993).

  24. 24.

    Curtis (1975).

  25. 25.

    Amir (1971) .

  26. 26.

    Amir (1971: 262).

  27. 27.

    For criticisms of his methodology see Temkin (1987).

  28. 28.

    Zedner (1997: 579).

  29. 29.

    Morris (1987), Walklate (1989), Zedner (1997).

  30. 30.

    Fattah (2002).

  31. 31.

    Kennedy and Sacco (1998: 104).

  32. 32.

    Hindelang et al. (1978) .

  33. 33.

    Cohen and Felson (1979) .

  34. 34.

    Cornish and Clarke (1986) , Clarke and Felson (1993).

  35. 35.

    L amborn (1981: 118). Originally published in 1968.

  36. 36.

    Glaser and Strauss (1967).

  37. 37.

    H indelang et al. (1978).

  38. 38.

    C ohen and F elson (1979: 593).

  39. 39.

    M iethe and M eier (1994).

  40. 40.

    M iethe and M eier (1990: 245).

  41. 41.

    M iethe and M eier (1994: 51).

  42. 42.

    C ornish and C larke (1986).

  43. 43.

    M iethe and M eier (1994: 41).

  44. 44.

    M iethe and M eier note that crime is possible—albeit less likely—even when only one of these components is present (p. 64).

  45. 45.

    S ykes and M atza (1957).

  46. 46.

    D ollard et al. (1939), B lalock (1967).

  47. 47.

    Tolnay and Beck (1992).

  48. 48.

    Green et al. (1998).

  49. 49.

    Wacquant (1999).

  50. 50.

    Brown and Warner (1995).

  51. 51.

    Chiricos et al. (1997).

  52. 52.

    Blumer (1958), Quillian (1995).

  53. 53.

    Cave (2004).

  54. 54.

    American researchers commonly measure it as ethnic heterogeneity, for example, the percent black and non-black in a census tract.

  55. 55.

    Howard and associates (Howard et al. 2002) have argued that Blau’s concept of population diversity is even more complex than Blau allowed. They identify four types of population diversity and two underlying dimensions, the complexity of diversity and the integration of diversity. In their cross-national study, they found that the complexity of diversity served as a precipitator of violence while the integration of diversity operated as a buffer against violent crime.

  56. 56.

    B lau (1977: 113).

  57. 57.

    B lau (1977: 9).

  58. 58.

    This proposition is consistent with Benyon’s (1935) observation that immigrant enclaves that were isolated from the larger community had lower crime rates.

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  1. Department of Sociology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA

    William F. McDonald

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McDonald, W.F. (2018). Theories of Criminal Victimization. In: The Criminal Victimization of Immigrants. Palgrave Studies in Victims and Victimology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69062-9_2

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