Introduction to

Victimology
+Victimology
+
+ Victimology is the scientific study of the psychological
effects of crime and the relationship between victims and
offender. It examines victim patterns and tendencies; studies
how victims interact with the police and the legal system; and
analyzes how factors of class, race, and sexual orientation
affect the perception of the victim by different constituents,
including the public, the court system, and the media.
+ Victimology, branch of criminology that scientifically
studies the relationship between an injured party and an
offender by examining the causes and the nature of the
consequent suffering. Specifically, victimology focuses
on whether the perpetrators were complete strangers,
mere acquaintances, friends, family members, or even
intimates and why a particular person or place was
targeted. Criminal victimization may inflict economic
costs, physical injuries, and psychological harm.
+Victimology is enriched by other fields of study,
particularly psychology, social work, sociology,
economics, law, and political science. Whereas lawyers,
criminal justice officials, counselors, therapists, and
medical professionals provide the actual services,
victimologists study the kinds of help injured parties
need and the effectiveness of efforts intended to make
them “whole again,” both financially and emotionally.
+Forensic victimology: the study of violent crime victims for
the purposes of addressing investigative and forensic
questions. It involves the accurate, critical, and objective
outlining of a victim’s lifestyles and circumstances, the events
leading up to an injury, and the precise nature of any harm or
loss suffered.
+
+General victimology: the study of victimity in the broadest
sense, including those that have been harmed by accidents,
natural disasters, war, and so on.
+To understand this concept, first, we must understand
what the terms victim and perpetrator mean.
+ The victim is a person who has been harmed by a
perpetrator. The perpetrator, also known as
the offender, is an individual who has committed the
crime against the victim. Law enforcement agencies use
the study of victimology and the theories of victimology
to determine why the victim was targeted by the
offender.
+ Who is a victim of crime
+ A victim is defined as a person who has suffered physical or emotional harm,
property damage, or economic loss as a result of a crime. Crime victim generally
refers to any person, group or entity who suffered from injury or loss due to
illegal activity. The harm can be physical, psychological or economic.
+
+ Legally , “ Victim” typically includes the following :
+ a. A person who has suffers direct or threatened physical, emotional, or financial
harm as a result of the commission of a crime.
+ b. In the case of a victim being an institutional entity, any of the same harms by
an individual or authorized representative of another entity.
+
History of Victimology

+The fathers of Victimology are two criminologist

Benjamin Mendelson and Von Hentig.
+
+ Benjamin Mendelson –
+ He coined the term Victimology in the year 1947 by deriving from the latin
term “victim” and the Greek term “logos” meaning science of victims. The term
“Victimology,” therefore, relates to the term “victim.” The term “victim” dates back
to ancient cultures and civilizations.
+
+ Benjamin Mendelson was a Romanian attorney, whose first study on victims
was published in Belgium Criminology journal in the year 1937. This study was
based on the result of such way that he made amongst the criminals, their families
and their victims. The result of the survey convinced him that the personality of
the victim was crucial in attracting the criminal. He created a ''victim typology''
which became controversial because of its emphasis that, in most criminal cases, it
is the victim's attitude that leads them to be victimized.
 Mendelsohn’s Typology of Crime Victims
Someone who did not contribute to the victimization and is
Innocent in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is the victim we
victim most often envision when thinking about enhancing victim
rights.

The victim Does not actively participate in their victimization but contributes to
with minor it in some minor degree, such as frequenting high-crime areas. This
guilt would be a person that continues to go to a bar that is known for
nightly assault.
The guilty Victim and offender may have engaged in criminal activity together.
victim, guilty This would be two people attempting to steal a car, rob a store, sell
offender drugs, etc.
The guilty The victim may have been the primary attacker, but the offender
offender,
guiltier victim won the fight.
The victim instigated a conflict but is killed in self-defense. An
Guilty victim example would be an abused woman killing her partner while he is
abusing her.
Imaginary Some people pretend to be victims and are not. This would be
victim someone falsifying reports.
+Hans Von Hentig
+ Hans Von Hentig took a similar approach in his
article “remark on the Interaction of perpetrations and
victim” in which he wrote that possession of money has
to do with robbery. He advanced a dynamic conception
of the genesis of crime viewed from the perspective of
criminology.
 He argued that crime victims could be placed into one of 13
categories based on their propensity for victimization:
Immature, under adult supervision, lack physical strength
Young people and lack the mental and emotional maturity to recognize
victimization

Females/elderly Lack of physical strength

Mentally ill/intellectually disabled Can be taken advantage of easily

Immigrants Cannot understand language or threat of deportation makes them

vulnerable
Minorities Marginalized in society, so vulnerable to victimization.

Dull normals Reasonably intelligent people who are naive or vulnerable in some
way. These people are easily deceived.

Gullable, easily swayed, and not vigilant.

The depressed
Greedy and can be targeted for scammers who would take
The acquisitive
advantage of their desire for financial gain.

The lonesome and broken-hearted Often prone to victimization by intimate partners. They desire to be
with someone at any cost. They are susceptible to manipulation.

Tormentors Primary abusers in relationships and become victims when the one
being abused turns on them.
Blocked, exempted, and fighting Enter situations in which they are taken advantage such as
victims blackmail.
+Marvin Wolfgang
+ Marvin Wolfgang ,(born November 14, 1924,
Millersburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died April 12, 1998,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), American criminologist who
was described by the British Journal of Criminology as
“the most influential criminologist in the English-
speaking world.”
+The phrase 'victim precipitation' was first introduced
by 20th century criminologist Marvin Wolfgang, in his
article entitled Victim Precipitated Criminal Homicide.
Victim precipitation theory is most commonly associated
with crimes like homicide, rape, assault, and robbery. In
this theory, Wolfgang describes the victim as the first in
the homicide drama to use physical force against his
subsequent slayer. He reported that in Philadelphia, 26
% of homicide cases are victim participated.
+ This happens in two ways: first, the victim is the participant
in the crime who acts first; and second, the victim encourages or
provokes the offender to commit the crime. These are the primary
components of the victim precipitation theory.
+Three factors common to victim-precipitated homicides:
+(1) The victim and offender had some prior interpersonal
relationship,
+(2) there was a series of escalating disagreements between the
parties, and
+(3) The victim had consumed alcohol.
+Stephen Schafer
+ Moving from classifying victims on the basis of
propensity or risk and yet still focused on the victim–
offender relationship, Stephen Schafer’s (1968)
typology classifies victims on the basis of their
“functional responsibility.” Victims’ dual role was to
function so that they did not provoke others to harm
them while also preventing such acts. Schafer’s seven-
category functional responsibility typology ranged .
+Developed typology of victim responsibility for crime
-unrelated victims (no responsibility)
-provocative victims (share responsibility)
-precipitative victims (some degree of responsibility)
-biologically weak victims (no responsibility)
-socially weak victims (no responsibility)
-self victimizing (total responsibility)
-political victims (no responsibility)
+
+Menachem Amir
+Several years later, Menachem Amir (1971) undertook one of
the first studies of rape. On the basis of the details in the
Philadelphia police rape records, Amir reported that 19% of all
forcible rapes were victim precipitated by such factors as the
use of alcohol by both parties; seductive actions by the victim;
and the victim’s wearing of revealing clothing, which could
tantalize the offender to the point of misreading the victim’s
behavior. His work was criticized by the victim’s movement and
the feminist movement as blaming the victim.
Theories in Victimology
+ Victimology does not have many theories
exclusively from the perspective of victims. However,
some of the theoretical explanations from Criminology
of crime causation are borrowed by Victimologists to
understand 19 crime victimization.
+
+Lifestyle Exposure Theory
+ They theorized that an individual’s demographics (e.g., age,
sex) tended to influence one’s lifestyle, which in turn increased
his or her exposure to risk of personal and property victimization.
For instance, according to Hindelang et al., one’s sex carries with
it certain role expectations and societal constraints; it is how the
individual reacts to these influences that determines one’s
lifestyle. If females spend more time at home, they would be
exposed to fewer risky situations involving strangers and hence
experience fewer stranger-committed victimizations.
+Using the principle of homogamy, Hindelang et al. (1978) also argued that
lifestyles that expose people to a large share of would-be offenders increase
one’s risk of being victimized. Homogamy would explain why young persons
are more likely to be victimized than older people, because the young are
more likely to hang out with other youth, who commit a disproportionate
amount of violent and property crimes.
+ Lifestyle theory suggests that certain people may become the victims
of crimes because of their lifestyles and choices. For example, someone with
a gambling or substance addiction could be as an “easy victim” by a con
artist. Walking alone at night in a dangerous area, conspicuously wearing
expensive jewelry, leaving doors unlocked and associating with known
criminals are other lifestyle characteristics that may lead to victimization
+The equivalent group hypothesis: victims and criminals share
similar characteristics because they are not actually separate groups,
and a criminal lifestyle exposes people to increased levels of
victimization risks.
+ The proximity hypothesis: some people willingly put themselves
in jeopardy by choosing high risk lifestyles or because they are forced
to live in close physical proximity to criminals (they are in the wrong
place and the wrong time).
+ The deviant place hypothesis: there are natural areas for crime,
e.g., poor, densely populated, highly transient neighborhoods in which
commercial and residential property exist side by side.
+Routine Activities Theory ( Lawrence Cohen &
Marcus Felson 1979)
+ Routine activities theory does not attempt to explain
participation in crime but instead focuses on how
opportunities for crimes are related to the nature of
patterns of routine social interaction, including one’s
work, family, and leisure activities.
+ This theory says that crime occurs whenever three conditions come
together: (i) suitable targets; (ii) motivated offenders; and (iii) absence of
guardians.
+(1) suitable targets - and we'll always have suitable targets as long as we have
poverty;
+(2) motivated offenders - and we'll always have motivated offenders since
victimology, unlike deterministic criminology, assumes anyone will try to get
away with something if they can; and
+(3) absence of guardians - the problem is that there's few defensible spaces
(natural surveillance areas) and in the absence of private security, the
government can't do the job alone.
+
+Victim Precipitation Theory
+ Von Hentig’s work was the basis for victim precipitation. Victim
precipitation suggests many victims play a role in their victimization. The victim
precipitation theory suggests that the characteristics of the victim precipitate
the crime. That is, a criminal could single out a victim because the victim is of a
certain ethnicity, race, and sexual orientation, gender or gender identity.
+ This theory does not only involve hate crimes directed at specific groups of
people. It might also involve occupations or activities. For example, someone
who is opposed to his or her views may target a political activist. An employee
may target a recently promoted employee if he or she believes they deserved
the promotion.
+
+Victim precipitation examines the actions of the victim at
the time of the victimization. Dr. Larry Siegel, professor of
criminology, developed two types of victim precipitation that
contribute to situated transactions.
+ The first type is the active victim who starts the action
by threatening or using physical violence
+ The second type is the passive victim who finds
themselves in a vulnerable position based on promises of gifts,
rewards, or employment in exchange for some type of favor or
act demanded by the offender.
+Situated transaction model
+ Luckenbill's research found that in some homicide
cases there were collective situational transactions
between a victim, offender, and a third party. This three-
way transaction escalates the interaction between the
victim and the offender when each attempts to preserve
their honor in front of a group, ending with a homicide.
+ This model in homicides developed by Dr. David
Luckenbill, researcher and sociologist. The three factors
are
+the location of the victim and the offender
+the victim precipitates the confrontation
+an ensuing interaction and exchange between them
with a homicidal result
+The stages go like this:
+(1) insult - "Your Momma";
+(2) clarification - "Whaddya say about my Mother";
+ (3) retaliation - "I said your Momma and you too";
+(4) counter retaliation - "Well, you're worse than my Momma";
+ (5) presence of weapon - or search for a weapon or clenching
of fists;
+ (6) onlookers - presence of audience helps escalate the
situation.
+Benjamin & Master's Threefold Model
+ This one is found in a variety of criminological studies, from prison riots to strain
theories. The idea is that conditions that support crime can be classified into three
general categories:
+(1) precipitating factors - time, space, being in the wrong place at the wrong time;
+(2) attracting factors - choices, options, lifestyles (the sociological expression
"lifestyle" refers to daily routine activities as well as special events one engages in
on a predictable basis);
+(3) predisposing factors - all the sociodemographic characteristics of victims, being
male, being young, being poor, being a minority, living in squalor, being single,
being unemployed.
+
+ Deviant Place Theory
+ There is some overlap between the lifestyle theory and the deviant place theory.
The deviant place theory states that an individual is more likely to become the
victim of a crime when exposed to dangerous areas. In other words, a mugger is
more likely to target a person walking alone after dark in a bad neighborhood. The
more frequently a person ventures into bad neighborhoods where violent crime is
common, the greater the risk of victimization.
+ There is also some overlap between the deviant place theory and socioeconomic
approaches to victimization. Low-income households are more likely to be located
in or near dangerous areas of town, and individuals from poor socioeconomic
backgrounds are less capable of moving away from these dangerous areas.
+