Victimology is the study of victimization, including the psychological effects on victims, the relationship between victims and offenders, the interactions between victims and the criminal justice system—that is, the police and , and corrections officials—and the connections between victims and other social groups and institutions, such as the media, businesses, and social movements.[Andrew Karmen, 2003, Crime Victims: An Introduction to Victimology, Wadsworth Publishing, .]
Victim of a crime
In
criminology and
criminal law, a victim of a crime is an identifiable person who has been harmed individually and directly by the perpetrator, rather than by
society as a whole. However, this may not always be the case, as with victims of white-collar crime, who may not be clearly identifiable or directly linked to crime against a particular individual. Victims of white-collar crime are often denied their status as victims by the social construction of the concept.
The Supreme Court of the United States first recognized the rights of crime victims to make a victim impact statement during the sentencing phase of a Criminal law in the case of Payne v. Tennessee.[ Payne v. Tennessee .]
A victim impact panel, which usually follows the victim impact statement, is a form of community-based or restorative justice in which the crime victims (or relatives and friends of deceased crime victims) meet with the defendant after conviction to tell the convict about how the criminal activity affected them, in the hope of rehabilitation or deterrence.
Theories
Richard Quinney has argued "the victim" is a
social construct because in order for a person to be labeled a victim, some societal agreement needs to exist. Societal power dynamics affect collective perceptions of victimization.
Nils Christie classifies "ideal victims" as those most likely to obtain “the complete and legitimate status of being a victim” when harmed. Christie writes that this is most likely to occur when the victim is perceived as weak, was participating in a reputable activity, not seen as accountable for playing a part in their victimization, and the offender is large and evil and not known to the victim.
Consequences of crimes
Emotional distress as the result of crime is a recurring theme for all victims of crime. The most common problems, affecting three-quarters of victims, were psychological problems, including
fear, anxiety, nervousness,
self-blame,
anger,
shame, and difficulty sleeping.
[Sebba, L., (1996). Third Parties, Victims and the Criminal Justice System. Ohio State University Press, Columbus.] These problems often result in the development of chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Post-crime distress is also linked to pre-existing emotional problems and sociodemographic variables. This has been known to become a leading case of the elderly being more adversely affected.
Victims may experience the following psychological reactions:
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Increase in the realization of personal vulnerability.
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The perception of the world as meaningless and incomprehensible.
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They view themselves in a negative light.
The experience of victimization may result in increasing fear on the part of the victim, and the spread of fear in the community.
Victim proneness
Environmental theory
The environmental theory posits that the location and context of the crime bring the victim of the crime and its perpetrator together.
[Harrison on the environmental theory, at Environmental Theory] Research published between 2010 and 2025 gives some credence to this theory.
Studies in the early 2010s showed that crimes are negatively correlated to trees in urban environments; more trees in an area are congruent with lower victimization rates or violent crime rates.
A study in the 2020s showed a strong positive association between "routine maintenance and repair of urban public places (e.g. street construction projects) with a reduction in community violence, proxied by violent crime incidents."
Quantification of victim-proneness
There have been some studies recently to quantify the real existence of victim-proneness.
[David Thissen (The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas) and Howard Wainer (Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey), ] Contrary to the popular belief that more women are repeat victims, and thus more victim-prone than men, actually men in their prime (15- to 34-year-old males) are more likely to be victims of repeated crimes.
In the case of juvenile offenders, the study results also show that people are more likely to be victimized as a result of a serious offense by someone they know; the most frequent crimes committed by adolescents towards someone they know were sexual assault, common assault, and homicide. Adolescents victimizing people they did not know generally committed common assault, forcible confinement, and armed or unarmed robbery.
Sex workers are, anecdotally, thought to have an abnormally high incidence of violent crime committed against them, and such crimes frequently go unresolved, but there are few victimological studies of the matter.
Fundamental attribution error
In social psychology, the fundamental attribution error (also known as
correspondence bias or
attribution effect) describes the tendency to over-value
or personality-based explanations for the observed
behaviors of others while under-valuing situational explanations for those behaviors. The term was coined by
Lee Ross[Ross, L. (1977). The intuitive psychologist and his shortcomings: Distortions in the attribution process. 'In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (vol. 10, pp. 173–220). New York: Academic Press.] some years after a now-classic experiment by Edward E. Jones and Victor Harris (1967).
The fundamental attribution error is most visible when people explain the behavior of others. It does not explain interpretations of one's own behavior—where situational factors are often taken into consideration. This discrepancy is called the actor–observer bias. As a simple example, if Alice saw Bob trip over a rock and fall, Alice might consider Bob to be clumsy or careless (dispositional). If Alice later tripped over the same rock herself, she would be more likely to blame the placement of the rock (situational). Victim proneness or victim blaming can be a form of fundamental attribution error, and more specifically, the just-world phenomenon.
The just-world phenomenon or Just-world fallacy is the belief that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get, which was first theorized by Melvin Lerner (1977).[Gilbert, D.T., & Malone, P.S. (1995). The correspondence bias. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 21–38. PDF ] Unfortunately, the just-world fallacy also results in a tendency for people to blame and disparage victims of a tragedy or an accident, such as victims of rape
Victim facilitation
Victim facilitation, another controversial sub-topic, but a more accepted theory than victim proneness, finds its roots in the writings of criminologists such as
Marvin Wolfgang. The choice to use victim facilitation as opposed to "victim proneness" or some other term is that victim facilitation is not blaming the victim, but rather the interactions of the victim that make them vulnerable to a crime.
The theory of victim facilitation calls for study of the external elements that make a victim more accessible or vulnerable to an attack.[Hickey, Eric W. (2006). The Male serial murderer. In Serial murderers and their victims (4th ed., pp. 152–159). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Group] In an article that summarizes the major movements in victimology internationally, Schneider expresses victim facilitation as a model that ultimately describes only the misinterpretation by the offender of victim behavior.
In Eric Hickey's Serial Murderers and their Victims, a major analysis of 329 serial killers in America is conducted. As part of Hickey's analysis, he categorized victims as high, low, or mixed regarding the victim's facilitation of the murder. Categorization was based upon lifestyle risk (example, amount of time spent interacting with strangers), type of employment, and their location at the time of the killing (example, bar, home or place of business). Hickey found that 13–15% of victims had high facilitation, 60–64% of victims had low facilitation and 23–25% of victims had a combination of high and low facilitation.[Hickey, Eric W. (2006). Victims. In Serial murderers and their victims (4th ed., pp. 260–262). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Group] Hickey also noted that among serial killer victims after 1975, one in five victims were at greater risk from hitchhiking, working as a prostitute, or involving themselves in situations in which they often came into contact with strangers.
There is importance in studying and understanding victim facilitation as well as continuing to research it as a sub-topic of victimization. For instance, a study of victim facilitation increases public awareness, leads to more research on victim-offender relationship, and advances theoretical etiology of violent crime.
Victimization rate in United States
The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is a tool to measure the existence of actual, rather than reported, crimes—the victimization rate.
The National Crime Victimization Survey is the
United States' "primary source of information on crime victimization. Each year, data is obtained from a nationally representative sample of 77,200 households comprising nearly 134,000 persons on the frequency, characteristics and consequences of criminal victimization in the United States. This survey enables the (government) to estimate the likelihood of victimization for
rape,
sexual assault,
robbery,
assault,
theft, household burglary, and motor vehicle theft for the population as a whole as well as for segments of the population such as women, the elderly, members of various racial groups, city dwellers, or other groups."
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the NCVS reveals that, from 1994 to 2005, violent crime rates declined, reaching the lowest levels ever recorded.
Property crimes continue to decline.
are waning in particular, and according to a 2020 ABA Journal report, it's in large part because "people are less vulnerable than in the past."
Victimization in Canada
In Canada the Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime (OFOVC) is an independent resource for victims of
crime. It was created in 2007 to ensure the federal government meets its responsibilities to victims of crime. The ombudsman provides information to victims about their
rights under Canadian federal law, the services available to them, or to make a complaint about any federal agency or federal
legislation dealing with victims of crime. The ombudsman also works to ensure that policy makers and other
criminal justice personnel are aware of victims' needs and concerns and to identify important issues and trends that may negatively impact victims. Where appropriate, the Ombudsman may also make recommendations to the federal government.
International Crime Victims Survey
Many countries have such victimization surveys. They give a much better account for the volume crimes but are less accurate for crimes that occur with a (relative) low frequency such as homicide, or
victimless crime such as drug (ab)use. Attempts to use the data from these national surveys for international comparison have failed. Differences in definitions of crime and other methodological differences are too big for proper comparison.
A dedicated survey for international comparison: A group of European criminology started an international victimization study with the sole purpose to generate international comparative crime and victimization data. The project is now known as the International Crime Victims Survey (ICVS). After the first round in 1989, the surveys were repeated in 1992, 1996, and 2000 and 2004/2005.
Society as crime victim
One train of thought supposes society itself is the victim of many crimes, especially such
felony as
murder,
homicide and
manslaughter. Many lawyers, judges, and academics have espoused this sentiment.
Penal couple
The
penal couple is defined as the relationship between perpetrator and victim of a crime. That is, both are involved in the event.
["Criminology Today" (4th ed. Prentice Hall), found at Criminal Justice Glossary at the Prentice Hall website . Retrieved April 1, 2009.] A sociologist invented the term in 1963.
[Robert Harris, Crime, criminal justice, and the probation service, (Routledge, 1992) , at 56 (citing Mendelsohn 1963), found at Google Books. Retrieved April 1, 2009.] The term is now accepted by many
.
[Pawanjit, "Hiring Domestic Help Without Verification," Premier Shield Newsletter, found at Premier Shield Newsletter (pdf). Retrieved April 1, 2009.] The concept is, essentially, that "when a crime takes place, it has two partners, one the offender and second the victim, who is providing opportunity to the criminal in committing the crime."
The victim, in this view, is "a participant in the penal couple and should bear some 'functional responsibility' for the crime."
[M. C. Sengstock & J. Liang, "Elderly Victims of Crime – A Refinement of Theory in Victimology," (AARP study 1979), found at National Criminal Justice Reference service (NCJRS) Abstracts – a United States government website. Retrieved April 1, 2009.] The very idea is rejected by some other victimologists as
Victim blaming.
[Daniel W. Van Ness, Crime and its victims: what we can do, (InterVarsity Press, 1986) at 29, found at Google Books. Retrieved April 1, 2009.]
Rights of victims
In 1985, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power.
Also, the International Victimology Institute Tilburg (INTERVICT)
and the World Society of Victimology developed a UN Convention for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power.
The
World Society of Victimology (WSV) is an international, non-governmental organization, holding special category consultive status with the Economic and Social Council of the
United Nations as well as with the Council of Europe. Its international membership includes front-line victim service providers, academics and researchers in related social sciences, government representatives, lawyers, law enforcement, and other interested parties. The purpose of the WSV is to advance the research of victimology and practices on an international level; and to improve cooperation between global, national, and local organizations that serve victims.
[ World Society of Victimology]
Under Indian Law, there is a de minimis compensatory measure to victims of crimes.[India Criminal Procedure Code, Section 357.]
See also
Further reading
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Acker, James R., and Karp, Daniel R., Wounds that Do Not Bind: Victim-based Perspectives on the Death Penalty, Carolina Academic Press, 2006
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Croall, H. (2001) Understanding White Collar Crime (Open University Press). Croall, H. (2001) "The Victims of White Collar Crime," in Lindgren, S. (ed) White Collar Crime Research. Old Views and Future Potentials, National Council for Crime Prevention, Sweden. Both noted at Glasgow Caledonian University website page for Hazel Croall, Professor of Criminology, School of Law & Social Sciences
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David Lisak, "Understanding the Predatory Nature of Sexual Violence," 12 pages, n.d., at Middlebury College website
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Ruhs, Florian: "Foreign Workers in the Second World War. The Ordeal of Slovenians in Germany", in: aventinus nova Nr. 32 29.05.2011
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External links
