Victimology: Understanding Crime Victims and Investigation

Introduction to Victimology and Crime Victims

The term crime victim usually refers to any person, group, or entity that has suffered injury or loss due to illegal activity. The harm inflicted can be physical, psychological, or economic. The legal definition of a victim typically includes the following:

"A person who has suffered direct, or threatened, physical, emotional, or pecuniary harm as 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. Group harms are normally covered under civil and constitutional law, with 'hate crime' being an emerging criminal law development, although criminal law tends to treat all cases as individualized." (Victimology Theory, 2003)

Along with primary crime victims, there are also secondary crime victims. These are people who experience harm secondhand, such as intimate partners or significant others of rape victims, or children of a battered woman. There is also a category known as tertiary crime victims. These are people who experience harm vicariously — for example, through media accounts or from watching television. Many people feel that referring to themselves as a victim carries negative connotations, so they choose instead to define themselves as survivors (Victimology Theory, 2003).

Types of Crime Victims

Victimologists often use surveys of large numbers of people about crimes committed against them because official police statistics are frequently incomplete. Data is obtained from victimization surveys conducted each year by the Census Bureau on behalf of the Department of Justice through the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). Victimologists use this data to estimate victimization rates and risks in order to predict crime.

A general methodological framework for victimology can be described as follows:

Measuring Victimization: Surveys and Methodology

1. Define the problem — identify the irregularities, analyze the responsibilities, and explore the kinds of harm that have been done.

2. Measure the true dimension of the problem — analyze statistics to determine what kinds of people are involved and accurately gauge the extent of the harm that has been done.

3. Investigate how the criminal justice system handles the problem — examine what is being overlooked, ask what the victim wants, and analyze the effects of crime on victims.

4. Examine society's response to the problem — consider issues of constitutional rights, analyze proposed legislation, evaluate media reactions, and determine whether anyone is exploiting the situation (Victimology Theory, 2003).

Key Questions in Victim Analysis

There are many important questions that must be examined when studying victims of crime. Some of these include:

- Why was a particular person targeted for a crime?
- How were they targeted, or were they a victim of opportunity?
- What are the chances of that person becoming a victim at random?
- What risk did the offender take in order to commit the crime against that victim?
- How was the victim approached? Were they restrained and/or attacked?
- What was the victim's reaction to the attack?

The answers to these questions help provide insight into the offender's motive and may reveal other information about the offender. From this foundation, additional assessments can be made about the offender's likely background — including their knowledge of forensic and police procedures, possible occupation, physical characteristics, and social skills. Where possible, conclusions drawn by the profiler about the offender should be checked against other inputs, such as eyewitness accounts and information gathered from the crime scene (Petherick, 2008).

Conclusion

Petherick, W. (2008). Victimology: The study of victims in criminal investigations. Retrieved June 23, 2009, from TruTV Web site:

Victimology Theory. (2003). Retrieved June 23, 2009, from