NCJ Number
72717
Date Published
1979
Length
23 pages
Annotation
The concept of victimology, the significance of the victim's perspective and social control effects are discussed.
Abstract
The field of victimology which has developed since the 1960's, attempts to refocus the attention of the criminologists from offenders to victims. Goals are to establish how individuals become victims and how they react to this process. A function model for victimology studies must consider legal, everyday, and scientific definitions by social control agents, the community, social scientists, and victims; the victims' reactions; and assistance supplied by society. Of particular importance is the learning process which leads to becoming a victim. The main problem of victimology is that both its area of research and its target group are indeterminate. The victim may be viewed with disdain, from an impersonal or objective standpoint, or from the perspective of the victim himself. Generally offenders employ one or several rationalizations to justify their actions: refusal to assume responsibility; denial that damage has been done; and denial that the victim has been victimized, having gotten what he deserved. Analysis of victimization processes brings the victimologist closer than any other specialist to the actual living situation of the victim. Most frequently victims are social rejects condemned to further isolation and victimization by society's failure to render assistance. The reaction of society can, in fact, be classified as secondary victimization. Social control often reduces the status of the victim as well as the status of the offender, causing an actual modification of the victim's personality. Emphasis on the role of the victim can reveal built-in indirect forces of the social system which suppress the developmental potential of certain individuals. Notes and a 47-item bibliography are supplied.