Crime Victims: An Introduction to
Victimology
Sixth Edition
By Andrew Karmen
Chapter One: What is
Victimology?
1
VICTIMOLOGY
“Scientific study of physical, emotional, and
financial harm people suffer because of
illegal activities.”
Included in this definition is the victimization
occurring for victims within the criminal justice
system.
2
Victimization
“Is an asymmetrical interpersonal
relationship that is abusive, painful,
destructive, parasitical, and unfair.”
Law forbids certain forms of victimization—
oppressive and exploitative acts—but not
ALL types of harmful activities.
3
VICTIMOLOGY
 Victims—Individuals who experience loss, injury,
or hardship for any reason
 Crime Victims—Above as result of an illegal act
 Direct/Primary—Experiences criminal act and its
consequences first hand
 Indirect/Secondary—Family and those who suffer
emotionally or financially but are not immediately
involved or physically injured
4
Studying of Victimization
Scientifically
 Subjective Approach
– Issues are approached from standpoint of
morality, ethics, philosophy, personalized
reactions, and emotions
 Objective Approach
– Requires observer to be fair, open-minded,
even-handed, dispassionate, neutral, and
unbiased
5
Studying of Victimization
Scientifically
 Why should victimologists NOT be provictim?
 “Ideal Victim”: person who suffered harm
was weaker than aggressor, acting
virtuously or not looking for trouble or
breaking any laws, and wrongdoer was a
stranger acting illegally and was unprovoked
6
Victims or Offenders?
 Who is the victim and who is the offender?
 Not always clear cut—consider the
following:
– Subway Vigilante
– Menendez Brothers
– Bobicks
7
Criminals as Victims
 Predatory persons prey on each other
Organized crime “takes out a contract”
“Drive-by” shooting between two gangs
“Drug deal gone bad”
8
Cycle of Violence
 Cycle of violence over time can transform a
victim(s) into victimizer(s)
– Group of picked on students may gang up
against the bully
– Battered wife may launch a vengeful attack
against husband
– Convicts much more likely to have been abused
physically or sexually as children
–Violence Begets Violence
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Victims vs. “Good Guys”
 Victimologists do not limit their studies to clashes
between victims and offenders
 They also consider the social reaction to
victimization
 Victims outraged by media coverage—
sensationalism
 Investigation of charges in high profile cases
require victimologists to be detached and
disinterested in carrying out analysis
10
Victimology’s Undeserved
“Bad Reputation”
 Victimology during the 90s and into the
twentieth century has become to many a
“dirty word.”
 (Paglia, 1993) A critic of contemporary
feminism declared on national TV, “I hate
victimology. I despise a victim-centered
view of the universe…”
11
Victimology’s Undeserved
“Bad Reputation”
 (Leo, 1994) a news magazine commentator
complained, “We are deep into the era of the
abuse excuse. The doctrine of victimology—
claiming victim status means you are not
responsible for your actions—is beginning to warp
the legal system.”
 An author of a book about race relations called a
well-known preacher who is a civil rights activist a
“professional Victimologist.” (Dreher, 2001)
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Victimology’s Undeserved
“Bad Reputation”
 (Harrop, 2003) A review of a book noted,
“The art of victimology requires three easy
steps: (1) Identify a group suffering from real
or perceived injustices (2) Exaggerate the
problem (3) Blame the problem on a group
you don’t like. Conservatives have long
condemned the ‘victimology industry’ as a
racket, especially when practiced by women
and minorities.”
13
Victimology’s Undeserved
“Bad Reputation”
 Victimology is a new academic discipline that only
means “the study of” victims
 It is focused on the research about people harmed
by criminals
 It does not impose a partisan point of view or a set
or predictably biased conclusions
 The ideology of “victimism” is a coherent,
integrated set of beliefs that shapes interpretations
and leads to political action
 Do not confuse “victimism” with “victimology”
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Victimology’s Undeserved
“Bad Reputation”
 Victimological research must tell the whole
truth regardless of who is disappointed or
insulted
 Three types of biases undermine the ability
of any social scientist to achieve
objectivity—They include:
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Three Types of Bias
1. May arise from personal experience, taking
the form of individual preferences and
prejudices
2. Derives from the history of the discipline
itself
– Pioneers in the study of victimology first introduced the
concept of victim-blaming
– Today, majority of victimologists are pro-victim
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Three Types of Bias
3. A subtle bias traced back to the mood of
the times
60s-70s: a demand for government to devise
ways to help victims get back on their feet
financially, medically, and emotionally
80s: a theme of self-reliance and a reduction
in government social spending and tax cutting
gained popularity
17
The Origins of Victimology
 Box 1.1, Page 14, provides highlights in the
brief history of Victimology and Victim
Assistance
 Significant gains in the United States when
the President’s Commission on Law
Enforcement and the Administration of
Justice urged criminologists to pay more
attention to victims
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The Origins of Victimology
 By the 70s victimology became a recognized field
of study
 By 1990, 240 colleges and universities offered
courses in victimology
 Most states passed crime victim rights
amendments to their state constitution
 2004—Congress enacts the Crime Victims’ Rights
Act which provides for fair treatment and
opportunities for input in federal court proceedings
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Victimology vs. Criminology
 Victimology is best viewed as an area of
specialization within criminology
 Criminology embraces the scientific study of
crimes, criminals, criminal laws and the
justice system, societal reactions, and crime
victims
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Victimology vs. Criminology
 Criminologists ask why certain individuals
become involved in lawbreaking while
others do not
 Victimologists ask why some individuals,
households, and entities are targeted while
others are not, and why over and over again
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Victimology vs. Criminology
 Criminologists apply their findings to devise
crime prevention strategies
 Victimologists use patterns and trends to
develop victimization prevention strategies
and risk-reduction tactics
 Both criminologists and victimologists study
how the criminal justice system actually
works versus how it is supposed to work
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Victimology vs.. Criminology
 Boundaries
– Boundaries are clear cut for Criminology
– Boundaries for Victimology still unclear
– Overlap due to lack of boundaries
 Crime rates vs. victimization rates
23
Divisions Within The Discipline
 Political ideologies shape policy
recommendations:
– Conservative
– Liberal
– Radical
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Divisions Within The Discipline
 Conservative Influence
– Focuses on basically street crimes
– Everyone to be held accountable for their
decisions and actions
– Emphasis on self reliance, NOT government
– Individual responsibility for preventing, avoiding,
resisting and recovering from criminal acts
– Strictly punish offenders on behalf of their
victims
25
Divisions Within The Discipline
 Liberal Influence
– Scope of field to extend beyond street crimes
– Endorse government intervention
– Extend ‘safety net’ mechanisms for all kinds of
misfortunes
– Look to wrongdoers repaying their victims to
allow for reconciliation
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Divisions Within The Discipline
 Radical/Critical/Conflict Influence
– Victimization is a result of oppressive social
system
– Scope of the field to include:
 industrial polluters, hazardous workplaces, fraudulent
advertisers, brutally violent law enforcement
agencies, poverty, malnutrition, family dysfunction,
unemployment and substance abuse; these are
social problems of which the CJ system is part of the
problem
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What Victimologists Do
 Victimologists explore the interactions
between victims and offenders, victims and
the criminal justice system, and victims and
society
 Four step process victimologists follow when
carrying out their research:
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What Victimologists Do
 Step 1: Identify, Define, and Describe the
Problem
 Step 2: Measure the True Dimensions of the
Problem
 Step 3: Investigate How Victims Are
Handled
 Step 4: Gather Evidence to Test Hypotheses
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Chapter One Key Terms
Victim
Victimization Victimology
Direct/Primary
Victims
Survivors
Indirect/
Secondary
Victims
Subjective
Approach
Objectivity
Sensationalism
Victimism
Ideology
Criminology
Post
Traumatic Stress
Disorder
Best
Practices
Just
Desserts
Bullying
Muggability Stockholm
Syndrome
Ratings
Lifetime
Profile
Likelihoods
Incidence
Rates
Prevalence
Rates
Needs
Assessment
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