Chapter 10 Answers to "Test Your Knowledge" and "Questions for Critical Thought" questions

The hierarchy of victimization is the tendency to bestow victim status on some and not others when they are victimized by crime. Those at the margins of society – the mentally or physically ill, the drug or alcohol addicted, the sexually divergent, the racialized communities, and the poor – are typically at the bottom of the hierarchy.

Neighbourhoods with high levels of residential instability never have the chance to form close social bonds. The protective qualities granted by strong social bonds are harder to find, and in this vacuum, crime flourishes.

Undocumented workers are working and living in Canada illegally. By reporting crimes to authorities, they risk being discovered and deported.

Hate-motivated crimes are “motivated by bias, prejudice, or hate based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, or any other similar factor,” according to the Criminal Code of Canada. Recent surveys show that hate-motivated crimes against the Black population are the most common. Hate-motivated crimes against LGBTQ+ people are also trending upwards.

True. After steadily decreasing for nearly 30 years, the crime rate across Canada has increased slightly in the past three years.

False. Immigrants experience lower rates of violent victimization than those born in Canada.

True.

True. Women are more likely to experience sexual assault, while men are more likely to be the victims of homicide and aggravated assault.

1) d; 2) e; 3) f; 4) a; 5) c; 6) b

You should first identify some of the common misconceptions about crime and victimization. For example, there is a false belief that cities are dangerous places filled with crime, when in fact crime rates are often higher in rural districts and smaller cities than in large cities like Toronto. Since one of the major causes of misconceptions is the mainstream media, you can discuss how people’s media consumption habits or the media itself can be improved upon to disprove or prevent such misconceptions. When discussing community-level strategies, you can look towards grassroots organizing, such as creating awareness campaigns, or community-based interventions, such as creating greater understanding and communication among community members to prevent the spread of misinformation. The key here is focusing on group-oriented solutions that target a specific, local area. When discussing national-level strategies, you can look towards the government’s unique ability to legislate and enact policy. The government can pass laws or initiate informational campaigns to prevent the dissemination of harmful or inaccurate information. The government can set regulations to oversee large, influential media companies that hold a lot of influence in the public eye. The main focus here is on the macro-level – specifically, leveraging the powers of government to enact more sweeping changes.

You can discuss the multiple ways that poverty might affect a person’s life and, therefore, produce crime. For example, people experiencing poverty are likely to experience residential instability, due to moving frequently or being unable to secure safe shelter. In neighbourhoods with high levels of residential instability, people are unable to form close social bonds. Social bonds can help create community oversight and protection for community members, and therefore create an environment where crime is not as likely to flourish. In brainstorming societal methods to counter the effects of poverty on crime, you can consider policy, activism and awareness, social services, culture, causes of poverty, rehabilitation and justice, and education, as just a few examples.

You can consider how some people’s lifestyles might make them more likely to encounter dangerous situations or people, or how they might be subject to forms of victimization such as hate crimes. You can consider the varying vulnerability of different lifestyles and how socioeconomic factors might increase or decrease this vulnerability. You can look at particular groups of people, such as women and Indigenous Peoples, who sometimes experience increased victimization from working in the sex industry, whether out of choice or forced compliance. However, in addressing ways to reduce these risks, you can acknowledge how the government should recognize the systemic issues at play, such as colonialism and misogyny, that may force these vulnerable populations into these lifestyles – and therefore, increase their exposure to victimization – regardless of their own volition. You can discuss practical changes such as increasing funding for police investigations surrounding missing and murdered Indigenous women. More systemic changes could involve the government addressing the ways in which settler colonialism contributes to disproportionate rates of violent victimization for Indigenous women.

You can discuss – even based on personal experience if you are comfortable – how people of different genders might feel unsafe in specific situations. For example, a woman who is walking home alone at night might be more cautious than a man. She, unlike a man, might experience the dark and empty streets as a dangerous place. This is also an opportunity to discuss intersectionality. How might intersecting identities influence how someone experiences safety? In answering the second half of this question, you can discuss what you think are the current reasons for the gendered nature of sexual assault and domestic violence. In identifying these, you can then consider how these factors might change, or if they are even changeable. For example, one contributing factor could be misogyny, where women are not viewed or treated with the same respect as men. Such perceptions can devalue women and make them more susceptible to victimization. This factor would be incredibly difficult to completely eradicate due to its deeply entrenched roots within society; however, you can point to gains by feminist movements to demonstrate how this factor might still be changeable.

You should identify one theoretical perspective that stands out to you and elaborate on why you find it to be true or helpful. The options are: strain theory, differential association theory, social disorganization theory, conflict theory, social constructivism, and feminist theory. You should then discuss real-life examples, personal or not, that reflect these perspectives in practice. For example, if you subscribe to social constructivism, you can give an example of a moral panic that affects society, such as the belief that hip-hop and rap are increasing crime.