CRIMSOC3-HUMAN BEHAVIOR

AND
VICTIMOLOGY

Module 15: Introduction to Victimology

Welcome Notes:
WELCOME CRIMINOLOGY STUDENTS

I. INTRODUCTION:

This module presents concepts, models, theories and research studies concerning
victimology, victims, and rights of victims. This topic consists of the definition of victimology who is
crime victim, history of victimology, theories of victimization and victimology versus criminology.

II. OBJECTIVES:

At the end of this module, you will be able to:

 Identify the definition of victimology, victim, and victimization.
 Determine the Theories of Victimization.
 Explain victimology versus criminology.

III. PRELIMINARY ACTIVITIES:

Before you proceed to the main lesson, let’s complete this activity.

Directions: Read the summary of the video about Introduction to Victimology

CRIMSOC3-HUMAN BEHAVIOR
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VICTIMOLOGY

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5_j0BB2N4U

In this course, the student will

analyze and discuss the basics of
victimology, as well as the relation
between the victim and the victimizer. The
student will study the nature and extent of
the victimization phenomenon and how it
affects family members and society in
general. Furthermore, the student will
identify the agencies offering services to
crime victims and learn what to do when
they work a situation of this nature.

Figure 1 - Victimology
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=g5_j0BB2N4U

You may now

IV. DEVELOPMENT OF THE LESSON

Victimology

 branch of criminology that scientifically studies the relationship between an injured party and an
offender by examining the causes and the nature of the consequent suffering.
 the study of the ways in which the behaviour of crime victims may have led to or contributed to
their victimization.
 It measures crime by studying victimization, patterns of victim-offender relationships and the role
of the victim within the criminal and juvenile justice.
CRIMSOC3-HUMAN BEHAVIOR
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VICTIMOLOGY

Victimology encompasses the study of:

- Victimization
- Victim-offender relationship
- Victim-criminal justice system relationships
- Victims and the media
- Victims and the costs of crime
- Victims and social movements

Figure 2 – Definition of Victimology

Source: https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=victimology+images

WHO IS CRIME VICTIM?

Crime victim

 It generally refers to any person, group, or entity who has suffered injury or loss due to illegal
activity. The harm can be physical, psychological, or economic. Legally, “victim” typically includes
the following:
 A person who has suffered direct, or threatened, physical emotional or pecuniary harm a s a result
of the commission of a crime; or
 In the case of a victim being an institutional entity, any of the same harms by an individual or
authorized representative of another entity.

You may visit the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d6sl3Ha_4o for the related video.
CRIMSOC3-HUMAN BEHAVIOR
AND
VICTIMOLOGY

Figure 3 - Victimization Rate

Source: https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=who+is+crime+victim&sxsrf=

Who is likely to become a crime victim?

HISTORY OF VICTIMOLOGY

 It is often said that crime is as old as mankind. But if crime is an age-old phenomenon, it is only
recently that researchers have turned their attention to victims of crime. In fact, the word victim did
not appear in the English language until 1497.
 Derived from the Latin word victima, the word originally did not refer to crime victims but to a living
creature killed and offered as a sacrifice to a deity or supernatural power (Oxford Dictionary, 1983)
We can still find traces of this original meaning of the word victim in modern languages such as
Dutch and German.
 In Dutch, the word for victim is slachtofffer. This word consists of two parts: slacht refers to
slaughter and offer refers to offering. Similarly,
 In German the word for victim is opfer; which represents a person or thing that is offered in
sacrifice. It was not until 1660 that the word victim was first used to in the sense of a person who is
hurt, tortured or killed by another.
 In other words, the concept of victim of crime did not exist until well into the 17th century. Why
were victims ignored for so long? And what led to their recognition after centuries of obscurity? In
this chapter we will examine the origin of victimology and its evolution.

You may visit the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayti_wRwlAg for the related video.
CRIMSOC3-HUMAN BEHAVIOR
AND
VICTIMOLOGY

Figure 4 – History of Victimology

Source: https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=history+of+victimology&sxsrf=

VICTIMOLOGY VS CRIMINOLOGY

Victimology - focuses on helping victims heal after a crime, while criminology aims to understand the
Criminal’s motives and the underlying causes of crime. Criminologists “look at every conceivable aspect of
deviant behavior.

This includes the impacts of crime on individual

victims and their families, society at large, and even
criminals themselves; according to The Balance.
Criminologists study elements like the frequency,
location, causes and types of crime, then work to
develop for ”ffective and humane means of preventing
it.”

Victimologists - are concerned with fostering recovery,

while criminologists seek prevention.
Criminologists seek to understand
the social impact of crime.

Figure 5 – Victimology Vs. Criminology

Source: https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=victimology+and+criminology =
CRIMSOC3-HUMAN BEHAVIOR
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VICTIMOLOGY

VICTIMITY AND VICTIMIZER

Victimity- refers to the state, quality, or fact of being a victim while Victimizer - refers to a person who
victimizes others.

You may visit the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBvufpVU4Xc for the related video.

Figure 6 – Victimity and Victimizer

Source: https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=victim+and+victimizer&sxsrf= _

THEORIES OF VICTIMAZATION
First Generation: Early Victimologists

1. Hans Von Hentig

 His notion that victims contributed to their victimization through their actions and
behaviours led to the development of the concept of “victim-blaming” and is seen by many
victim advocates as an attempt to assign equal culpability to the victim.

2. Benjamin Mendelsohn
 The term victimology is not new. In fact, Benjamin Mendelsohn first used it in 1947 to
describe the scientific study of crime victims. ... Just as criminology is the study of
criminals—what they do, why they do it, and how the criminal justice system responds to
them—victimology is the study of victims.
3. Menachem Amir
 Victim Precipitation Theory. "According to victim precipitation theory, some people may
actually initiate the confrontation that eventually leads to their injury or death." Examples:
CRIMSOC3-HUMAN BEHAVIOR
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VICTIMOLOGY

"In 1971, Menachem Amir suggested female rape victims often contribute to their attacks

by...Sep 16, 2016

4. Marvin E. Wolfgang
 The first empirical evidence to support the notion that victims are to some degree
responsible for their own victimization was presented by him, who analyzed Philadelphia’s
police homicide records from 1948 through 1952. He reported that 26% of homicides.
 Resulted from victim precipitation. Wolfgang identified three factors common to victim-
precipitated homicides:
a. The victim and offender had some prior interpersonal relationship,
b. There was a series of escalating disagreements between the parties, and
c. The victim had consumed alcohol.

5. Stephen Schafer
 Moving from classifying victims on the basis of propensity or risk and yet still focused on
the victim- offender relationship, He’s typology classifies victims on the basis of their
“functional responsibility”. Victim’s dual role was to function so that they did not provoke
others to harm them while also preventing such acts. Schafer’s seven category functional
responsibility typology ranged from no victim responsibility (e.g, unrelated victims, those
who are biologically weak ) to some degree of victim responsibility, ( e.g. precipitative
victims ) to total victim responsibility ( e.g. self-victimizing )

Second Generation: Theories of Victimization

 The second generation of theories shifted attention from the role of the victim toward an
emphasis on a situational approach that focuses on explaining and testing how lifestyles
and routine activities of everyday life create opportunities for victimization. The emergence
of these two theoretical perspectives is one of the most significant developments in the
field of victimology.

1. Lifestyle Exposure Theory

 Posits that persons with certain demographic profiles are more prone to experience
criminal victimization because their lifestyles expose risky situations. ... Lifestyles are
important because they increase the exposure to would‐be offenders without effective
restraints that can prevent a crime. Aug 23, 2019

2. Routine Activities Theory

 It is a sub-field of crime opportunity theory that focuses on situations of crimes. It was first
proposed by Marcus Felson and Lawrence E. Cohen in their explanation of crime rate
changes in the United States 1947 - 1974. The theory has been extensively applied and
has become one of the most cited theories in criminology. Unlike criminological theories of
criminality, routine activity theory studies crime as an event, closely relates crime to its
CRIMSOC3-HUMAN BEHAVIOR
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VICTIMOLOGY

environment and emphasizes its ecological process, thereby diverting academic attention
away from mere offenders.

3. Empirical Theory
 Researcher commonly have used lifestyle exposure and routine activity theories to test
hypotheses about how invidious’ daily routines expose them to victimization risk. These
theories have been applied principally to examine opportunities for different types of
personal and property victimizations using diverse samples that range from school-age
children, to college students, to adults in the general population across the United States
and abroad. The data are generally supportive of the theories, although not all studies fully
support the theories.

Third Generation: Refinement and Empirical Test of Opportunity Theories of Victimization

 This theoretical appraisal of the opportunity perspective provides a general overview of the
three main opportunity theories from criminology: the routine activity approach, crime
pattern theory, and the rational choice perspective. It also includes an explanation of ten
principles that govern the relationship between opportunity and crime. This report offers a
good introduction to opportunity as an explanation for criminal victimization and crime
events.

Fourth Generation: Moving Beyond Opportunity Theories

 Work by Schreck and his colleagues suggests that antecedents to opportunity, such as low
self-control, social bonds, and peer influences, have also been found to be important
predictors of violent and property victimization.

Theories of Victimization

1. Luckenbill’s (1977) Situated Transaction Model

 It is commonly found in the sociology of deviance textbooks, the idea is that at the
interpersonal level, crime and victimization is a contest of character.
2. Benjamin & Master’s Threefold Model
 It is found in a variety of criminological studies, from prison riots to strain theores. The idea
is that conditions that support crime can be classified into three general categories: a.
Precipitating Factors, b. Attracting factors, and
c. Predisposing factors
3. Lawrence Cohen & Marcus Felson’s (1979) Routine Activities Theory
 is quite popular among victimologists today who are anxious to test the theory. Briefly, it
says that crime occurs whenever three conditions come together: (a) suitable targets, (b)
motivated offenders, and (c) absence of guardians.

4. Victim Precipitation Theory

CRIMSOC3-HUMAN BEHAVIOR
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VICTIMOLOGY

 it was first promulgated by Von Hentig in 1941 and applies only to violent victimization. Its
basic premise is that by acting in certain provocative ways, some individuals initiate a
chain of events that lead to their victimization.

5. Lifestyle Theory
 Some criminologists believe people may become crime victims because their lifestyle
increases their exposure to criminal offenders. Victimization risk is increased by such
behaviors as associating with young men, going out in public places late at night and living
in an urban area: (a) the equivalent group hypothesis (b) the proximity hypothesis, and (c)
the deviant place hypothesis.

6. Deviant Place Theory

 According to deviant place theory, victims do not encourage crime but are victim prone
because they reside in socially disorganized high-crime areas where they have the
greatest risk of coming into contact with criminal offenders, irrespective of their own
behavior or lifestyle.

You can visit the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxDkcd5H0SM for related video.

Figure 7 – Theories of Victimization

Source: https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=theories+of+victimization