Influence of Victim Offender Relationship on Crime Characteristic

Influence of Victim - Offender Relationship on Crime Characteristic
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Influence of Victim - Offender Relationship on Crime Characteristic
Violent crime against relatives is common, with one of the most prevalent crimes being domestic violence. Rape cases by intimate partners continue to raise alarms in the criminal justice system (Alfredsson, Ask & Borgstede, 2014). Sexual assault against women by relatives or intimate partners is still a problem in many parts of the world. In fact, the WHO asserts that most cases of child rape are perpetrated by family members (Stromwall, Alfredsson & Landstrцm, 2013). This shows that victim-offender relationships have an influence on crime characteristic.
Richardson is 45 year-old man African-American who has been married for 17 years. Together with his wife (Hannah) they have three children and they live St. Louis, Missouri. He is currently in police custody for sexually assaulting his wife and physically abusing her using a blunt object. He is a jobless, substance abuse addict and has been repeatedly beating his wife and sexually abusing her for a long time. His wife has not been reporting the cases of abuse because of the fear of exposing her husband and family. However, after the recent assault and serious violence where she broke her limb, she had to report the matter to the police. Hannah is ready to press on with the charges against her husband.
In reference to the case study, there are several factors that might have contributed to the victimization. One of the factors is that since the case is domestic in nature, the offender thought it was within his right to sexually assault, and beat his wife. Most men commit domestic violence because they assume their wives to be their properties (Benson & Fox, 2004). Moreover, he has been committing the same crime repeatedly, thus he might have thought that it would not land him in trouble. Another factor that might have contributed to the victimizati...