Victimology: Basic Theoretical Concepts and Practical Implications (From Report for 1989 and Resource Material Series No. 37, P 254-264, 1990 -- See NCJ-135691)

• NCJ Number: 135704
• Author(s): H J Schneider
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 11 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: Japan

Annotation

Victimology is both an academic field and a modern social movement and involves two fundamentally different theoretical approaches; one is based on Mendelsohn's view that victimology is an independent academic discipline that includes accidents and natural disasters as well as crimes, while the other rests on von Hentig's view that victimology is a subfield of criminology and concerned with crime only.

Abstract

The two approaches contain different research areas, start from different theoretical assumptions, and, in some cases, lead to different practical implications. They consider the victim prior to the victimization process, during the situation of primary victimization, and in terms of reaction to the victimization. Although victimological research can aid the understanding and recording of criminal offenses, and overemphasis on victims can result in criminality being dramatized and emotionalized. Such result could endanger the possibility of rehabilitating and resocializing offenders. 70 references