HISTORY OF VICTIMOLOGY PIONEERS

Hans von Hentig • In his book The Criminal and His Victim: Studies in the
Sociobiology of Crime, Hans von Hentig (1948) recognized the importance of
investigating what factors underpin why certain people are victims, just as
criminology attempts to identify those factors that produce criminality • He
determined that some of the same characteristics that produce crime also
produce victimization.
Benjamin Mendelsohn • Known as the “Father of Victimology”. • coined the
term for this area of study in the mid1940s. • He then created a classification
of victims based on their culpability, or the degree of the victim's blame.
His classification entailed the following:
• 1. Completely innocent victim: a victim who bears no responsibility at all for
victimization; victimized simply because of his or her nature, such as being a
child.

• 2. Victim with minor guilt: a victim who is victimized due to

ignorance; a victim who inadvertently places himself or herself in harm's way
• 3. Victim as guilty as offender/voluntary victim: a victim who bears as much
responsibility as the offender; a person who, for example, enters into a suicide
pact
• 4. Victim more guilty than offender: a victim who instigates or provokes his
or her own victimization
• 5. Most guilty victim: a victim who is victimized during the perpetration of a
crime or as a result of crime
• 6. Simulating or imaginary victim: a victim who is not victimized at all but,
instead, fabricates a victimization event Mendelsohn's classification
emphasized degrees of culpability, recognizing that some victims bear no
responsibility for their victimization, whereas others, based on their behaviors
or actions, do

Stephen Schafer ➢
proposed a victim typology • He argued that people have a functional
responsibility not to provoke others into victimizing or harming them and that
they also should actively attempt to prevent that from occurring.
He identified seven categories and labeled their levels of responsibility as
follows:
1. Unrelated victims—no responsibility
2. Provocative victims—share responsibility
3. Precipitative victims—some degree of responsibility
4. Biologically weak victims—no responsibility
5. Socially weak victims-no responsibility
6. Self-victimizing—total responsibility
7. Political victims-no responsibility

Marvin Wolfgang • The first person to empirically investigate victim

precipitation was Marvin Wolfgang (1957) in his classic study of homicides
occurring in Philadelphia from 1948 to 1952.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF VICTIMOLOGY •
The concept of victim dates back to ancient cultures and civilization such as
the ancient Hebrews.
• The original meaning of victimology was rooted in the idea of sacrifice or
scapegoat.
• SACRIFICE/SCAPEGOAT is the execution or casting out a person or an animal
to satisfy a deity or hierarchy.
“Victimogenesis” refers to the origin or cause of a victimization; the
constellation of variables which caused a victimization to occur.
“Victim Precipitation” a victimization where the victim causes, in part or
totally, their own victimization.
“Victimization” refers to an event where persons, communities and
institutions are damaged or injured in a significant way.
“Vulnerability” is a physical, psychological, social, material or financial
condition whereby a person or an object has a weakness which could render
them a victim if another person or persons would recognize these weaknesses
and take advantage of them.
“General Victim” is a person who has been physically, financially or
emotionally injured and/or had their property taken or damaged by someone,
an event, an organization or a natural phenomenon.
Restorative Justice It is a systematic formal legal response to crime
victimization that emphasizes healing the injuries This process is a departure
from the traditional retributive form of dealing with criminals and victims
“Victim Trauma”
THEORIES OF VICTIMIZATION Victim precipitation theory The lifestyle theory
Deviant place theory, and The routine activities theory VICTIM
PRECIPITATION Concept : “victim blaming”
Wolfgang first introduced this concept in 1967. explains how an individual’s
behavior may contribute to his or her own victimization.
Two types of victim precipitation

1. Active precipitation exists when the victim knowingly acts in a

provocative manner, uses fighting words or threats, or simply attacks first.(e.g.
fighting words or threats, attacking first)

2. Passive precipitation occurs when the victim contains characteristics

that unknowingly motivates or threatens the attacker. (e.g. competing for love
interest, promotion, jealousy)

THE LIFESTYLE THEORY • This theory purports that individuals are targeted
based on their lifestyle choices, and that these lifestyle choices expose them to
criminal offenders and situations in which crimes may be committed.
. Four of the most wellknown theories related to Deviance and Criminology

A. Differential-association theory • differential association to

address the issue of how people learn deviance. • According to this theory, the
environment plays a major role in deciding which norms people learn to
violate. Specifically, people within a particular reference group provide norms
of conformity and deviance, and thus heavily influence the way other people
look at the world, including how they react.

B. Anomie theory • Anomie refers to the confusion that arises when social
norms conflict or do not even exist. • In the 1960s, Robert Merton used the
term to describe the differences between socially accepted goals and the
availability of means to achieve those goals.

C. Control theory - According to Walter Reckless's control theory, both

inner and outer controls work against deviant tendencies. People may want—
at least some of the time—to act in deviant ways, but most do not.

D. Labeling theory • Posits that self-identity and the behavior of

individuals may be determined or influenced by the terms used to describe or
classify them