NCJ Number
132478
Date Published
1991
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This chapter reviews and assesses research on crime victims in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR).
Abstract
In the 1960's research in the GDR focused on the offender-victim relationship in violent and sexual crimes. Friebel, Manecke, and Orschkowski (1970) addressed offender-victim relationships in sexual offenses with attention to the motive for such behavior and the guilt of the offender. Fikentscher, Hinderer, Liebner, and Rennert (1978) examined sexual crimes against children and juveniles. Their empirical analysis yielded information on the causes and conditions in which sexual crime occurs with an aim toward the development of preventive strategies. Littman (1985) examined forensic psychological expertise in relation to expert opinion on witness credibility in sexual crime cases. Szewczyk and Jahring (1986) considered the development of the offender-victim relationship in homicide cases on the basis of forensic-psychological-psychiatric expert opinions. In writing of victimology research in the GDR, Girod (1986) indicates that the majority of such studies stemmed from the specialized area of victimology that focuses on victim interests primarily from a criminological-legal or psychological-psychiatric perspective. Girod would like to see the focus extended to the application of the research knowledge to policy and practice. 27 references