Victimization can be defined as the unfair treatment of an individual by placing them in a bad situation. There are four key victimization theories that are used to understand criminal events by providing strategies that can be used in identifying the offender and the victim. They include the victim precipitation model, lifestyle approach, routine activity, and the deviant place theories. These models vary on how they consider the victim in a criminal situation. For instance, the victim precipitation model presumes that the victim may have enticed the offender to commit an offense. Contrastingly, the lifestyle theory suggests that individuals are targeted because of their life choices and as such they expose themselves to criminal offenders. The deviant place theory states that more considerable exposure to dangerous places makes someone a victim of the crime. Additionally, the routine activity theory concentrates on the necessary conditions of the crime, availability of fit targets, the absence of competent guardians, and the offender's presence. It is imperative to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each theory as it aids in comprehending how they assess criminal situations.
Strengths
The victimization theories have several strengths. First, the victim precipitation model provides an in-depth understanding of how offenders become victims and vice versa. This approach is important because it explains the mechanism of these associations as they can be unclear in some situations. Additionally, it also illustrates the risks connected not only to initial victimization and to possible re-victimization (Lasky, 2019) . Second, the routine model uses a macro-level analysis, hence emphasizing on a shift in the offender's and victims' patterns of behavior. This theory helps to focus on specific crime proceedings and offender decisions. In addition, the approach assists in giving an interactive view and an assessment of the reoccurrence of victimization by the offender. It widely assists in explaining the proportion of victimization by highlighting individual habits that lead to the crime. Third, the deviant place theory is vital as it normalizes society by describing the characteristics of disciplinary social control and their relationships (Helle, 2014) . Additionally, it helps to determine why certain behaviors are deviant while others are not. Fourth, the lifestyle theory’s predictions are more accurate considering the life of the offender (Pratt & Turanovic, 2016) . This is because their lifestyle highly illustrates the kind of results expected. Additionally, it covers a wide range of analyses on the victim's behavior. These strengths are vital in understanding the impacts of a crime to a victim.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Weaknesses
The victimization theories have several weaknesses. First, the victim precipitation theory is controversial as it may justify some criminal activities. Furthermore, this theory mainly focuses on the perception of criminals who identify themselves as victims. It centers its argument on the idea that the occurrence of a crime is caused by the victim (Lasky, 2019) . For instance, in rape cases, the theory may place its blame on wronged victim instead of focusing on the occurrence (Lasky, 2019) . Second, the routine theory is a macro model of crimes and victimization that does not explain how offenders become annoyed. In addition, this approach is ambiguous and unexplainable because humans commit many activities routinely –for instance, going to work, brushing their teeth, online work, and cleaning their cars (Leukfeldt & Yar, 2016) . It would, therefore, be illogical to claim that each activity comes with a risk of victimization. Third, the lifestyle theory is a new model that is undergoing observed testing, however, its maturation has been affected by many problems looming theories of victimization. These include inadequate measures of the central concepts, insufficient attention to the type of crime, reduced links between theory and data. Additionally, this analysis varies across levels of a neighborhood. This theory also magnifies issues in the least disadvantaged areas. Furthermore, the lifestyle model, has an increase in the risk of personal victimization and thus it may have a negative effect regardless of the individual level of offense (Pratt & Turanovic, 2016) . Fourth, the deviant place theory does not explain measures that lower the risk of victimization in neighborhoods where most of the victims cannot escape crimes (Helle, 2014) . This theory implies less deviant to less crime. It stipulates that individuals should be in the right areas. For instance, Ohio is well known for its gangs and a high level of crimes and therefore according to the theory people should not be loaming in such areas (Helle, 2014) . It suggests that the more an individual venture in that city, the more likely they are to become a victim. There is some inequality that finds more minorities in the victim position (Helle, 2014) . These weaknesses indicate how the theories fail to account for a crime’s impact on victims.
In conclusion, these theories were informative and provided various concepts that relate to victimization theories. It helps in understanding how different views are used to solve victimization crises when they arise. These are routine activity, lifestyle, victim predication, and deviant place theories. This paper has highlighted that these theories can have many adverse effects on the victim. Fortunately, other means can be used to study victimization. Some strategies that can reduce these vices include developing measures and creating awareness. These concepts will provide useful and profound knowledge in creating better policies, resources, and programs to address the problems more comprehensively. Furthermore, this will help in the identification of victims and offenders. Victimization theories should be incorporated into complete integrated theories. It has been observed that in the victimization context, structural constraints are either real or significant hence future research should highly find ways that takes care of the victims.
References
Helle, K. (2014). The significance of place and gender: an Ohio violent crime victimization study (Doctoral dissertation, Youngstown State University).
Lasky, N. V. (2019). Victim Precipitation Theory. The Encyclopedia of Women and Crime , 1-2.
Leukfeldt, E. R., & Yar, M. (2016). Applying routine activity theory to cybercrime: A theoretical and empirical analysis. Deviant Behavior , 37 (3), 263-280.
Pratt, T. C., & Turanovic, J. J. (2016). Lifestyle and routine activity theories revisited: The importance of “risk” to the study of victimization. Victims & Offenders , 11 (3), 335-354.
