Essential Criminology and Legal Definitions

Secondary Victim Defined

A secondary victim is a person who suffers unintended consequences when others are victimized.

Understanding Polyvictimization

Polyvictimization refers to multiple instances of varied victimization. It has a more negative impact than being the victim of one type of chronic victimization.

Revictimization Explained

Revictimization is the continued victimization by the same offender committing the same crime.

Violence Against Women Act of 1994

The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 addressed concerns about violence against women, including sexual violence and domestic abuse.

Restorative Justice Principles

Restorative Justice is the philosophical basis of the victims' movement. It emphasizes offender accountability and victim reparation. Its community safety dimension recognizes that the justice system has a responsibility to protect people.

Wolfgang's 1958 Homicide Study

Marvin Wolfgang's 1958 study of homicides found that 25% of all homicides were between family members. Women were far more likely than men to be both offenders and victims within this category. Men were more likely to be killed by friends and strangers than by family members.

Felony Murder Rule

Felony Murder is a special category of murder. An offender who commits a crime during which someone dies can be found guilty of first-degree murder, even though the person committing the crime had no intention of killing anyone.

Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990

The Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990 mandated the collection of data on crimes motivated by religious, ethnic, racial, or sexual orientation prejudice.

Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994)

The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 added crimes motivated by biases against people with disabilities to the data collection.

Rape Shield Laws Explained

Rape Shield Laws are statutes intended to protect rape victims by ensuring that defendants do not introduce irrelevant facts about the victim's sexual past into evidence.

Defining Mass Murder

Mass Murder is the illegal killing of three or more individuals in a single event or during a short period of time.

Aggravated Assault Definition

Aggravated Assault is the unlawful attack by one person upon another wherein the offender uses a weapon or displays it in a threatening manner, or the victim suffers obvious or severe bodily injury.

Typology of Serial Killers

A common four-part typology for serial killers includes:

• Visionary: Driven by delusions or hallucinations.
• Comfort: Kills for financial gain or a comfortable lifestyle.
• Hedonistic: Kills for pleasure or sexual gratification.
• Power Seekers: Kills to exert control over victims.

Understanding Burglary

Burglary is the unlawful entry into a structure with the intention to commit a crime, typically a felony commission, generally a theft.

Juvenile Shoplifting Trends

Juveniles are overrepresented as shoplifters in self-report data.

What is a Ponzi Scheme?

A Ponzi Scheme is a form of fraud in which belief in the success of a nonexistent enterprise is fostered by the payment of quick returns to the first investors from money invested by later investors.

Money Laundering Process

Money Laundering is the process by which illegal gains are disguised as legal income.

Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) cracks down on corporate fraud.

Drug Trade Interdiction

Interdiction is the act of interrupting the drug trade.

Phishing Scams Explained

Phishing is the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information.

Data Encryption Fundamentals

Data Encryption translates data into another form, or code, so that only people with access to a secret key can read it.

Importance of Audit Trails

Audit Trails are manual or electronic records that chronologically catalog events or procedures to provide supporting documentation and history, used to authenticate security.