Victimology/Criminology

Victimology includes the study of victimization, victim- offender relationships, victim- criminal justice relationships, victims and media, victims and costs of crime and victims and social movements.    It is a subfield of criminology.  Criminology is a broad field of study that includes the study of law making, law breaking and societal reactions to law breaking.  Victimology is a part of the subfield, societal reactions to law breaking in the study of criminology.  Victimology does not have any subfields like criminology.  The subfields of criminology are penology, delinquency, c comparative criminology and victimology.  Victimology has been defined by Andrew Karen as "The scientific study of victimization, including the relationships between victims and offenders, the interactions between victims and the criminal justice system -- that is, the police and courts, and corrections officials -- and the connections between victims and other societal groups and institutions, such as the media, businesses, and social movements." 

Some of the major events in the history of victimology and helping people are the fact that it used to be just the study of crime from the viewpoint of the victim.  Today it encompasses the study of behaviors and vulnerabilities of victims.  The creation of typologies of victims was made.  These are labeled as the innocent, which is a person in the wrong place at the wrong time.  The depressive type is considered an easy, unsuspecting careless type.  The greedy type is often duped due by their motivation for gain.  The wanton type is vulnerable to stresses such as juvenile victims.  The tormentor is the victim of attack such as the battered women.  These typologies provided the foundation to analyze victim-precipitation. 

The four movements throughout history that paved the way for victim’s rights movements were:

• Civil Rights Movement (1936-72);
• Anti-war Movement (1967-72);
• Women’s Movement (1970-Present);
• "Law and Order" Movement (1968-Present).

In 1965 the first victim’s compensation program was established in California.
In 1972, volunteers founded the first three victim assistance programs:


Aid for Victims of Crime, St. Louis, Missouri
Bay Area Women Against Rape, San Francisco, California      
Rape Crisis Center, Washington, D.C.

During the 60’s and 70’s many state and federal commissions were established to study crime and its consequences and following that the federal government established the first national crime survey.  In 1974 the first battered women’s shelter was opened in Denver.

As the years have gone by and public awareness is at an all- time high the changes in governmental policy and programs provided to victims have increased tenfold.   The attitudes towards victims has change significantly where they are no longer viewed in a negative light and have the power to speak up on their own behalf without fear of ridicule and retribution.