Repeat Victimization

A study using British crime survey statistics from 1992 (Pease & Farrell), came up with a fairly frightening statistic: 4% of people experience about 40% of all crimes. The conclusion(s) from the study, was that many victims of crime, had been previously targeted within a 12-month period i.e. there was repeat victimization of those who’d been sexually assaulted, the victims of car theft and burglary, and been domestically abused etc. The statistics would seem to suggest that being the victim of crime, increased the chances/likelihood that you’d be targeted in the future. The old saying that lightening doesn’t strike twice, doesn’t seem to apply where violence and crime are concerned, in fact it is more appropriate to say that lightening does strike twice, sometimes three times and more etc. In this blog article, I’m going to take a look at some of the reasons why victims of crime/violence are repeatedly targeted.

The first thing I would like to make clear is that I’m not a proponent of victim blaming; the person to blame for a crime is the criminal. In saying that, I do believe in “victim facilitation”, that there are things an individual can do, that puts them at risk, or aids a criminal in their activities e.g. if you leave your house in the morning without locking your doors and/or windows, if a burglar is looking for houses on your street to break into, then by giving them easy access to your property you have helped/facilitated them. You are not to blame, but at the very least you haven’t made it difficult for them. There are certain less obvious actions and behaviors that people engage in (both consciously and unconsciously), which help facilitate crime.    

Sometimes a person’s response to a crime, sets them up to be the victim of further crimes. If your house is burgled, you are more likely to be broken into again within the next 12 months, than a home that has not had a break-in. A burglar knows that at some point you will need to replace your stolen goods, either because your insurance will pay out for you to do so, or you will gradually/organically start to replace items such as your TV, computer, and other electronic goods etc. What might have been a 5 years old flat screen TV, will in all likelihood be replaced by the latest model etc. making your house an extremely attractive target – in fact more attractive than it was previously. It is also worth noting that many individuals believe that when they are broken into that is them done (they’ve become a statistic and it’s somebody else’s turn next), and they neglect to put in place any new/improved security measures e.g. they don’t invest in a burglar alarm, new locks etc. It is also true that initially new security habits/procedures may be put into place, such as an increased vigilance around locking doors/windows etc. however old habits die hard, and after a period of time where nothing has happened, people start to resort to their old habits and security standards slip. Burglars and other predatory individuals understand this, and know that given a period of time, previous victims (although currently vigilant) will soon default to their old behaviors.

When people are assaulted there is a reason, and it is rarely down to just being in the wrong place, at the wrong time etc. When you look at assaults in detail, you usually see there are many “potential” victims who are also in the wrong place at the wrong time, and who aren’t targeted. Either their behaviors and actions don’t put them on a predator’s radar, or there are more “attractive” victims in the environment, who demand the predator’s attention. Unfortunately, when a person is a victim of violent crime their attention goes towards upping their ability to handle a confrontation, rather than finding ways to avoid being targeted in the first place e.g. many people’s response to being assaulted, is to start carrying pepper spray, rather than to study and amend/adjust the actions and behaviors, which attracted the attention of their assailant in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, taking a precaution such as starting to carry pepper spray etc. is a great first step, and admirable etc. however it does little to harden you as a target – unless you change/adapt the actions and behaviors that put you on your assailant’s radar, you are likely to be on somebody else’s.

Sometimes the trauma of an event, changes a person’s outlook, and they begin to see victimization as inevitable, and future violence becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. This is especially true with children who are sexually abused, and go on to see further abuse by different, and new, predators as inevitable (and deserved). Trauma occurs when individuals are subjected to a highly stressful incident in which they had little or no control e.g. a small child who is sexually abused by an adult – in such a situation the child would have little or no control over the incident, and would have had to acquiesce to the socially, emotionally and physically superior abilities of their predator. Humans, are social creatures, who become ashamed when they are not able to control the situations they find themselves in – children are no different. Adult victims of sexual assault are ashamed of what happened to them, even though they know they are not to blame. One way of coping with shame, is to transfer it to guilt (private shame), however to do this, you need to come up with a reason/explanation as to why you were targeted, and this means blaming yourself e.g. it was something you did, said or the way you behaved, that caused you to become a victim; this gives you back control of the incident. In your mind you are now to blame for being targeted. In certain instances, this may cause you to act MORE like a victim than before, something predatory individuals are extremely adept at picking up on.

If you have been the victim of a crime or act of violence, don’t look to blame yourself, look for ways of lowering your profile and hardening yourself as a target. Don’t explain away what happened to you, your house or your car as random, but look to understand why that target was selected, and what you can do to change that in the future; because statistically – and none of us can escape the stats – you’re more likely to be targeted again.