Crime Victimization Research Program and Policy Planning in Developing Countries

• NCJ Number: 85265
• Journal: Victimology Volume: 5 Issue: 2-4 Dated: (1980) Pages: 193-200
• Author(s): V N Rajan
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Presented at the First World Congress of Victimology, Washington, DC August 20-24, 1980.

Annotation

Third World policy planners need more victimological research as they plan victim compensation programs so that financial costs of such programs can be determined and methodological and conceptual problems overcome.

Abstract

The Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science has taken the initiative to conduct victim-oriented surveys in India. One study is a crime victimization survey of murder cases in Delhi and Bangalore and deaths arising from motor vehicle offenses in Delhi. Israel has done some victimization surveys, but Zaire and Costa Rica appear to have done little research. Victimization surveys quantify the incidence of criminality of various types in particular areas, pinpoint and assess the impact on victims, rouse popular awareness of crime ramifications, and help policy planners formulate policy. Policy research is limited by such problems as subjects' forgetfulness, differential interview productivity, and interaction between sampling problems and response bias. No references are cited. (Author abstract modified)