Crime Victims with Developmental Disabilities Report of a Workshop (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Risk Factors for People with Disabilities
Risk Factors for People with Disabilities
Pages 22-31
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From page 22... ...
The authors discussed the risk of victimization for persons with disabilities in a historical context of victimization studies generally. Their model is grounded in the fragile empirical research and case study material partially summarized in Chapter 2, but because of the lack of empirically tested risk factors to explain the increased incidence of violence against people with disabilities, the elements of the conceptual model should be considered as theoretical and untested.
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From page 23... ...
Used extensively between the 1960s and the 1990s, this model is fashioned on several premises: children with disabilities are more dependent on their caregivers; increased dependency increases the demands on caregivers; increased demands result in increased stress for caregivers; and caregivers abuse their charges because they cannot cope with the increased stress. Although this model appears to be logical, little research supports it, and some research seems to contradict it altogether (e.g., Benedict et al., 1992; Pillemer and Finkelhor, 1989; Starr et al., 19841.
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From page 24... ...
In their paper written for the workshop, Sobsey and Calder propose that explaining victimization requires an examination of a number of factors. Their multifactorial model synthesizes existing models and elements, drawing specifically on three models from other domains: (1)
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From page 25... ...
Combining the counter-control theory with this lifestyle model raises the hypothesis that institutionalization not only increases exposure to risk, but also increases the power differential by defining the roles of people with disabilities and staff in a manner that magnifies power differences. The Ecological Model The ecological model was developed by Bronfenbrenner (1977)
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From page 26... ...
Victim-Related Factors In attempting to understand why individuals with disabilities are victimized, some prefer not to examine the role of the victim, believing that such an examination shifts blame from the offender. Victimology, the study of the characteristics and behavior of people who are victimized, is relevant, however, for several reasons: evidence that blaming the victim is common is considerable; total denial that victim attributes and behavior influence risk suggests that individuals are powerless to reduce their risk; and evidence shows that factors such as age, gender, lifestyle, socioeconomic status, and disability affect the risk of victimization.
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From page 27... ...
Attractive Victims Although perceived vulnerability is a factor in the selection of an individual with a developmental disability as a victim, vulnerability by itself is rarely, if ever, sufficient to motivate a crime. The potential victim must have something the offender wants or have the ability to produce an event the offender finds desirable.
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From page 28... ...
Caregivers of individuals with disabilities have been known to kill their charges to gain control of money left by parents for the ongoing care of their offspring; medical negligence or other court awards; insurance settlements; life insurance policies; social security benefits; and the like (see, e.g., Norton, 19941. More commonly, however, such caregiver-offenders simply keep their victims alive in a state of fear and neglect, making money by collecting rent and other fees from them.
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From page 29... ...
Much of this can be explained by a lifestyles exposure model, that is, the clustering of people with disabilities into group living situations increases the exposure of potential victims with disabilities to potential offenders with disabilities. Two mechanisms may increase offensive behavior on the part of some people with disabilities.
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From page 30... ...
Environmental Factors Environmental factors can both lead to developmental disabilities and increase the risk of violence against those with disabilities. Sobsey and Calder noted as examples the following environmental factors: · Many people have disabilities that result, in whole or in part, from violence or severe neglect that caused physical damage or permanent neurological changes.
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From page 31... ...
Many people who have development disabilities do not drive and are therefore much more likely to rely on mass transportation, walking, or others to get where they need to go. One study analyzing patterns of the sexual abuse of children with disabilities and the sexual assault of adults with disabilities found that 5 percent of offenses were committed by specialized transportation providers and 10 percent of offenses took place in vehicles (Sobsey and Doe, 19911.
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