Lifestyle Theory: Why People Become A Victim

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Lifestyle Theory focuses on why a person became a victim, what made them be chosen out of anyone that is the vicinity of the crime. The theory is the routine of a person’s life, how they live their live, who they associate with, if they are out of the house a lot or home, etc. Lifestyle theory is based on three elements, social roles that the victim plays, where the person is in the social structure of the community, and last is if they show behaviors that is best for a person to use commit the crime against the victim. In each element there is a behavior that shows how susceptible a person is to being victimized. Social roles are how victims act around other people in their lives. Such as when they are at work they act as a co-worker, if they are a boss, they act as a boss. Then once they are home they act as father, husband, and friend. Each role a victim plays brings out a different perspective of the person. …show more content…
Such as, if there is a teen that spends time with people who drink often and partake in the use of substances than that teen is in theory more likely to become a victim. If there is an older couple were one partner is home most of the time while the other works at an athletic trainer. As they work and spend time with it each other it limits their chance of victimization. In theory the teen is more likely to be victimized compared to the couple with a career. Lifestyle theory prospective accounts for how some victims partake in risky behavior like using drugs and drinking alcohol. This also explains why there is a greater chance for victimization to happen when there are substances involved in either part of the abuse. By the victim interacting in risky behavior it makes the risk higher and when someone is partaking in risky behavior they associate with those who do the same. This makes the vulnerability higher than if the victim stayed away from certain people. (Gover,