The Lifestyle Theory Free Essay Example, 1500 words

A person having a highly active lifestyle are prone to greater victimization since they tend to mix with greater number of people irrespective of whether they are good or bad, having no proper knowledge of their intentions. Hence victimization may be influenced. However the criminal victimization also depends on the individual’s incapability of not being able to predict the wrongdoers and the incorrect activities that might lead to crimes (Robinson, n.d. ). With the active lifestyles of individuals, particularly among the youth, there are greater risks of exposures to offenders in a society. This has been more associated with the assaults and criminal activities from strangers. For example, parental violence might also lead younger individuals to perform crimes. However such activities or crimes cannot be associated with the lifestyle theory. Lifestyle theory discusses about the cases where individuals spend large amounts of time out of their homes, with strangers, even at th e time of night and become prone to criminal victimization (Finkelhor & Asdigian, 1996, pp. 3-4). As studies of the FBI reveals, crime is an ever increasing problem in countries like America. The study of the policymakers are focused on the victims since only understanding the nature of the crimes and the criminals have not provided any solutions to the prevailing problems related to crimes. We will write a custom essay sample on The Lifestyle Theory or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now There are cases of crimes where an individual is victimized owing to his/her presence at the wrong place at a wrong time. However, in many other cases, individuals possessed and expressed activities that made them the active targets to criminal activities (Krejny, 1999, pp. 1-2). This is where the lifestyle theory may be associated with the victimization of individuals towards activities of crimes. When individuals are parts of a society or a community, there are certain roles and expectations that are expected to be fulfilled by them. These behaviors and roles however vary from individual to individual. Also, with gradual changes in the social structures and the roles and expectation, individuals tend to get hold of newer skills and outlooks enabling them to adapt to the constraints of the society. With such developments, individuals also develop their concepts and understanding of crime and the fear of criminal activities. Thus constraints and restrictions in behaviors are often incorporated in their lifestyles creating several limitations. This gives an understanding of how and why lifestyles vary among different people.