Crime in The United States - Crime Victimology

Crime Victimology

Patterns are found within the victimology of crime in the United States. Overall, the financially disadvantaged, those younger than 25 and non Whites were more likely to fall victim to crime. Income, sex and age had the most dramatic effect on the chances of a person being victimized by crime, while the characteristic of race depended upon the crime being committed.

In 2005, 2.7% of African Americans became the victim of a violent crime, compared to 2.0% of Whites. African Americans were overall 35% more likely to sustain a violent crime. The likelihood of being murdered was drastically higher for African Americans. In 2004 African Americans constituted roughly 13.4% of the general population, yet, nearly half, 49%, of all murder victims in 2005 were African American.

Sexual assault and rape rates were roughly the same for all races. Whites and African Americans also had approximately the same chances of falling victim to simple assaults.

In terms of gender, males were more likely to become crime victims than were females, with 79% percent of all murder victims being male. Males were also twice as likely to be carjacked as were females.

In terms of income, households with a 2008 annual income of less than $15,000 were significantly more likely to have their homes burgled.

Concerning age, those younger than twenty-five were more likely to fall victim to crime, especially violent crime. The chances of being victimized by violent crime decreased far more substantially with age than the chances of becoming the victim of property crime. For example, 3.03% of crimes committed against a young person were theft, while 20% of crimes committed against an elderly person were theft. Thus, one can conclude that the probability of becoming a violent crime victim decreases as income and age increase, in addition to being lower for European Americans and females.