Abstract
Victimology is the study of victims and victimization. It is a distinct area of the criminal justice system, which has tended to focus only on criminals. The field began in the 1940s and initially focused on “blaming the victim.” There has been a paradigm shift in these theories. Many now begin to question if the shift has made the system unfair for the criminal as the victim is given so many programs and rights in the system. With regards to domestic violence, they have often been the ones who are blamed the most.
Introduction
As with all fields, theories in the criminal justice field have evolved from the early theories into the modern theories. This includes the theories that regard victimization. This paper will discuss the early theories of victiiazation versus the modern theories of victimization. It will compare and contrast these theories, particularly in relation to their application to the victims of domestic violence.
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"Victimization Theories".
Early Theories of Victimization
The early theories of victimization were developed before the 1960s and 1970s. These theories did not focus on ways to help the individual overcome the crime that occurred against them. The initial theory of victimology began in the 1940s and 1950s. At this point, one of the major theories was to focus on the victim simply because he or she was one-half of the concept of criminal justice. Any effort into studying the victim did not focus on helping the victim. Rather it focused on determining why the criminal chose that victim. If not for the victim, a crime would not be committed. Essentially, the victim was considered one-half of the criminal dyad. This is how the mentality of blaming the victim began (Karmen, 2009, p. 15). This was particularly true for domestic violence; if the woman had not caused the man to hit her, she would not have been a victim.
A second theory focused on the need for victims to be strong despite having been victims. This theory examined the idea that a “cult of victimology” had been created. This evolved after the idea that a victim should be blamed. It was a backlash to the attempts to improve the condition of how victims were treated by society. This was particularly true with domestic violence since the backlash occurred with the backlash against feminism (Karmen, 2009, pp. 15-16).
Modern Theories of Victimization
Since the early theories developed, there has been a paradigm shift; this shift has moved away from the “blame the victim” mentality with regards to domestic violence. The movement has shifted towards an affirmative approach. This affirmative approach focuses on improving the lives of the victims and offering them programs that help them to regain their sense of normality and stability in their lives. There are a number of programs that are offered by the government in an effort to accomplish this (Office for Victims of Crime, 2014).
One interesting theory is that a victim should be offered the chance to “reclaim” his or her life. This is normally done during the victim impact statement, during which time the victim can publicly state in court how the crime has impacted his or her personal life. This is often used when determining what the sentence should be. However, many are beginning to question if this is fair to the defendant as it may prejudice the court unfairly. The movement to give all rights to the victim may actually take rights away from the criminal. This is currently the theory: that the victim should have the rights. Unfortunately, since many victims of domestic violence do not see “their day in court,” this is not as applicable to them (Moriarty, 2008, p. 115).
Conclusion
Victimology is a field that began in the 1940s. The initial efforts of the field focused on blaming the victim as one-half of the crime duo. There has seen been a paradigm shift to recognize the rights of the victims.
- Karmen, A. (2009). Crime victims: an introduction to victimology. Belmont: Cengage Learning.
- Moriarity, L. (2008). Controversies in victimology. New York: Lexis.
- Office for Victims of Crime. (2014). Overview. Retrieved from: http://www.ovc.gov/help/index.html
