Victimology
Victimology is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of crime victims, exploring why certain individuals and groups are more likely to become victims of crime. Emerging in response to a shift in criminological research, victimology aims to understand the impact of victimization and the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in addressing victims' needs. It encompasses a range of fields, including sociology, psychology, and legal studies, and emphasizes how different lifestyles and social factors influence victimization risk.
Victimologists conduct research on diverse populations, including children, women, the elderly, immigrants, and marginalized communities, such as LGBTQ+ individuals. Their studies often examine the consequences of violent crimes and the interactions between victims, offenders, and the justice system. Additionally, victimology investigates public perceptions of victims, often shaped by media portrayals, and the role of advocacy groups that support victims' rights and response to crime. Prominent initiatives, like the National Crime Victimization Survey, provide valuable data that informs victimology research and helps develop long-term solutions to prevent victimization.
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Subject Terms
Victimology
Definition: Scientific study of victims of crime
Significance: Studying the victims of crime is an essential part of any study of criminal justice.
The discipline known as victimology emerged at a time when some of the traditional research found within the field of criminology was shifting from studies of those who commit crimes to those who are adversely affected by crimes committed against them. “Victimology” was quickly acknowledged as a branch of criminology and later became an independent discipline dedicated to studying the reasons why certain individuals and members of certain groups become victims of crime.
Victimology is now a rapidly growing academic field with interests that incorporate sociology, criminology, psychology, criminal justice, legal studies, and rehabilitative sciences. Victimology differs from these other fields in developing theories about how different lifestyles can affect the chances that individuals or members of groups have of becoming victims of crime. The goal of victimology studies is to promote long-term solutions to stop victimization from occurring.
Victimologists study the effectiveness that the criminal justice system has upon the public, specifically those individuals who have had crimes committed against them. The earliest victimologists studied the effects of violent crime on victims of rape and murder. Current victimologists tend to study children, women, the elderly, immigrants, indigenous peoples, and frequently persecuted people whose sexual orientations are nonheterosexual: gay men, lesbian women, bisexuals, and those who are transgendered. Studies of hate crimes and the impact that these crimes have upon members of persecuted communities are excellent examples of research done by victimologists.
Victimologists research not only the impact of physical harm and personal loss experienced by victims, but also the handling of such victims by the criminal justice system itself. Often, the actual roles of law-enforcement officials, especially police officers, lawyers, judges, and probation officers, are studied and compared to their ideal roles. Broadly speaking, victimologists explore interactions between victims and offenders, victims and the criminal justice system, and victims and society.
Finally, victimologists study public reactions to victims of crime, as portrayed by the mass media. Victimologists research legal issues raised by the public along with new advocacy groups that emerge in response to crimes and victimization. Such advocacy groups include Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), one of the largest organizations devoted to victims of crime. Other manifestations of the fruits of public campaigns undertaken by advocacy groups are laws that are named after highly publicized victims of crime. One of the best-known examples is New Jersey’s Megan’s Law, which requires convicted sex offenders to register with local police departments after they are released from prison.
Since the 1970s and the beginning of the victim movement, the Bureau of Justice Statistics has issued the National Crime Victimization Survey, which creates a comprehensive registry of data about the trends of the crimes being committed and the victims of those crimes. The survey is administered to roughly ninety thousand households, which translates to about 160,000 individuals. This survey is the primary source of victimology data.
Bibliography
Beloof, D. Victims in Criminal Procedure. Raleigh, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 1999.
Bergen, R., ed. Issues in Intimate Violence. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1998.
Johnstone, Gerry. Restorative Justice: Ideas, Values, Debates. Portland, Oreg.: Willan, 2002.
Karmen, Andrew. Crime Victims: An Introduction to Victimology. 5th ed. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 2004.