VICTIMS TYPOLOGY

The Criminal and His

Victim
 His typology focuses on victim vulnerability and
consists of thirteen categories which can be
roughly divided into two main dimensions:
 Biological, Demographic and Social
Categories.
 The young
 The female
 The old
 The mentally defective and other mentally deranged
 Immigrants
 Minorities
 Dull normals
 Psychological Categories.
 The depressed
 The acquisitive
 The wanton
 The lonesome and heartbroken
 The tormented
 Blocked, exempted and fighting victims
Mendelsohn Typology
 His victim typology based mainly on the amount of
guilt experienced by the victim in regard to his/her
victimization.
 The completely innocent victim (e.g. children and
those who suffer a crime while they are unconscious).
 The victim with minor guilt, and victimization
resulting from the victim’s ignorance (e.g. a woman
who ‘provokes’ a miscarriage and as a result pays
with her life).
 The victim as guilty as the offender, and the
voluntary victim (e.g. suicide committed by a couple:
desperate lovers or healthy husband and sick wife).
 The victim who is more guilty than
the offender (e.g. the ‘provoker victim’
or the ‘imprudent victim’).
 The most guilty victim, and the victim
who is guilty alone (e.g. the attacker who
is killed by another in self-defense).
 The simulating victim, and the
imaginary victim (e.g. paranoids,
hysterical or senile persons and children).
Fattah Victim typology
 Non-participating victims: victims who do
not contribute to the offense.
 Latent or predisposed victims: people
who because of certain predis­positions are
more likely than others to be victims of
certain types of offenses.
 Provocative victims: victims who play a
definite role in the etiology of the crime,
either by inciting the criminal to commit it or
by creating a situation likely to lead to crime.
 Participating victims: victims who play
their part while a crime is being
committed, either by adopting a passive
attitude or making the crime possible,
easier, or assisting the criminal.
 False victims: persons who are not
victims at all or are victims of their own
actions.
Sellin and Wolfgang
The Measurement of Delinquency

 Their typology consisting of five

categories based mainly on the victim-
offender relationship
 Primary victimization: personalized or
individual victims.
 Secondary victimization: commercial
establishments such as department
stores, railroads and chain stores, the
victim being impersonal, commercial, and
collective.
 Tertiary victimization: a very diffuse
victimization that extends to the larger
community and includes offenses against
the public order, social harmony or the
administration of government. Regulatory
offenses and violations of city ordinances
are typical.
 Mutual victimization: cases in which the
participants engage in mutually consenting
acts such as fornication, adultery, or
statutory rape.
 No victimization: offenses that could
not be committed by an adult and are
commonly referred to as ‘juvenile status’
offenses (e.g. running away from home
and truancy from school).
Young-Rifai
 Typology based on Once Environment.
 The biophysical victim: victims who
suffer injustices because of their physical
characteristics (e.g. race, hormones and
handicaps).
 Victims suffering injustices due to the
impact of their natural surroundings
(e.g. earthquakes, floods and drought).
 Victims who suffer the injustices
caused by the interface environment,
 the impact of man on the surrounding
environment (e.g. pollution of air, water and
soil).
 Victimization by the social milieu. This
category is further subdivided into political,
economic and cultural victimization.
Victimization by ‘conventional’ crime is
included here.
 Victims of the technological environment
(e.g. victims of car accidents, industrial
accidents and computer billing errors).
 A Conceptual Framework for Victimology:
The Dimensions and their Categories
 Simha F. Landau and Robert E. Freeman
 International Review of Victimology 1990
1: 267
 Source ofVictimization
 Individual
 Group
 Community
 State
 Corporate
 Technological Environment
 Interface Environment
 Natural Environment
 Legal Framework
 Criminal Law
 Civil Law
 Transnational/International Law
 No Legal
 Intentionality of Perpetrator
 Intentional
 Recklessness
 Negligence
 Accident
 Not Applicable
 Identification of the Victim
 Individual
 Social Group
 Corporate
 Nation(s)
 Mankind in in general
 Victim Vulnerability
 Age
 Sex
 Biophysical Characteristics
 Psychological Characteristics
 Social Characteristics
 Victim's Perception Of Victimization
 Accurate self­perception of victim
 Inaccurate self perception of victim
status
 Non perception of victim status
 Ignorance of the Victimization
 Other's Perception of Victimization
 Accurate perception of victim status
 Inaccurate perception of victim status
 Non­perception of victim status
 Ignorance of the victimization
 Type of Victimization
 Physical Harm/ Damage
 Sexual Abuse
 Economic Damage
 Psychological Damage
 Damage to Reputation
 Infringement of Civil/ Human Rights
 Severity of Victimization!
 Harm
 None
 Mild
 Moderate
 Severe
 Extreme
 Maximal
 Victim-Offender Relationship
 Family
 Acquaintance
 Professional
 Stranger
 Impersonal
 Not Applicable (Natural calamities)
 Victim's Contribution to the Event
 None
 Minimal
 Moderate
 High
 Maximal