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The Role Of Victimology In The United States

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Victimology is defined as, “Victimology is the scientific study of victimization, including the relationships between victims and offenders, victims and the criminal justice system, and victims and other social groups and institutions, such as the media, businesses, and social movements. Victimology studies victims of crimes and other forms of human rights violations that are not necessarily crime.” (US Legal, 2016) Victimology began in Europe after World War II ended. In the early stages of victimology, it was stated that victim’s attitude and conduct were the cause of criminal behavior. It wasn’t until the late 1960s when victimology increased in the United States. The first national victimization survey was conducted after an increase of …show more content…

The United States saw their safe house for battered women in the early 1970s which was the Women’s Advocates in St. Paul, Minnesota. Women’s Advocates, which opened in 1973 was co-founded by Sharon Rice Vaughan and Susan Ryan. Vaughan and Ryan were tasked with starting a phone service where women could call and ask questions about divorce and other family-law matters. According to Hamre, “quickly realizing that multiple interrelated problems were usually at play, conducted a resource survey so they could give women at least a phone number to call about health care, employment or other concerns. In the process, they learned there was no place for abused women and children to stay - other than a seedy hotel.” (2016) This is when they realized a house was needed for women and kids who were in a bad situation. The United States saw their first rape crisis center in the early 1970s which was the Washington D.C. Rape Crisis Center. The Washington D.C. Rape Crisis Center, which opened in 1972 was formed by grassroots activism. The Civil Rights movement has played a major role in antidiscrimination efforts and the establishment of hate crime legislation and policy. Groups as well as individuals have banned together in efforts to change laws and pass new laws which pertained to hate crimes. In 2009, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was passed. According to the Human Rights Campaign the Hate Crimes Prevention Act was created due to, “federal law has covered a narrow class of hate crimes: those committed on the basis of race, religion, national origin and because the victim was engaged in a federally protected activity, such as voting. This important civil rights law does not cover crimes motivated by bias

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