NCJ Number
189554
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 45 Issue: 4 Dated: August 2001 Pages: 449-468
Date Published
August 2001
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article is the first in a two-part series and discusses international victimization research and the victimization risk in Germany; studies on victimization of foreigners, women (rape), children (child sexual abuse), and elderly persons (physical abuse); and victimological theories.
Abstract
Victimization studies include international victimization surveys of populations of numerous countries, national victimization surveys, local victimization studies of a region or city, and specialized victimization surveys focusing on family violence, school violence, or victimization related to a specific offense. A second victimological method consists of interviewing known victims of crime. International victimization studies concluded in 1989, 1992, and 1996 in 52 countries revealed that the rates of victmization over the past 5 years were highest in Latin America and Africa; at an intermediate level in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe; and lowest in Asia. The risk of victimization risk in Germany varied from one region to another due to social and structural differences in terms of economic conditions and levels of community-oriented lifestyles. Internationally, nearly all individuals experience theft or property damage during their lifetime and almost all males experience one incident of physical violence. However, victimization risk is not distributed randomly, coincidentally, or evenly over space and time and within the population. Victimological theories focus on social/structural, cultural, and institutional victimization and on situational factors. 147 references