Discussion #2

The relationship between victimization and offending is that people who have been
victims of violent crime, especially in their youth, are likely to be offenders later in their lives
(Mallicoat, 2014). This relationship is supported by the fact that most women in prison have
histories of abuse. There exists, in their lives, a cycle of abuse and offending.
I reviewed a journal article that reports the findings of an empirical study. The study
involved fifteen Portuguese mothers who were victims of intimate partner violence (IPV). It
sought to understand why such mothers stayed in or left abusive relationships. The
researchers found four reasons for staying in an abusive relationship: the shame of leaving a
relationship, especially a marriage; the belief that marriage is meant to last forever; fear for
children and the belief that the offending partner will change his behavior for the better (Sani
& Pereira, 2020). Meanwhile, they also found four reasons for leaving an abusive
relationship: family support, weariness and intolerance of the situation, the need to protect
children, and children’s requests.
Of the theories of victimization discussed in Part II of the lecture, the theory of
victimology can best be applied to the article I reviewed. This theory focuses on the role of
the victim in their victimization. Thus, while the study participants may have been innocent
victims of IPV, as per Mendelsohn’s categorization of victims (Brotto, Sinnamon, &
Petherick, 2017), they had it in their power to leave their abusive relationships. Also, in
accordance with von Hentig’s conceptualization of the theory of victimology, the study
participants possessed certain social factors that made them vulnerable to IPV (Miah, 2021) .
For instance, most of them had low levels of education. Of the fifteen, only four had
secondary education or higher.

DISCUSSION #2 3

References

Brotto, G., Sinnamon, G., & Petherick, W. (2017). Victimology and Predicting Victims of
Personal Violence. In W. Petherick, & G. Sinnamon, The Psychology of Criminal and
Antisocial Behavior: Victim and Offender Perspectives (1 st ed.) (pp. 79-144).
Cambridge: Academic Press.
Mallicoat, S. L. (2014). Women and Crime: A Text/Reader (2 nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: SAGE
Publications, Inc.
Miah, S. (2021). Criminology and Victimology: An Introduction. Sylhet: Leading University.
Sani, A. I., & Pereira, D. (2020). Mothers as Victims of Intimate Partner Violence: The
Decision to Leave or Stay and Resilience-Oriented Intervention. MDPI Social
Sciences, 9(174), 1-13.