Criminological Theory Of Victimology

Since the beginning of our nation, victims have always existed, and the categories of victims and types of suffering have expanded greatly. At our creation, more obvious examples of victims stood out, such as the Native Americans who first inhabited this land. The colonists may even consider themselves victims to the Crown. As we move throughout our history we continue to see widely-known examples of people suffering, from the disgusting era of slavery to the horrific terrorist attacks on our country's soil at Pearl Harbor and on 9/11. However, it was the day-to-day victimization that had yet to be known or explored. This speaks to the crimes occurring every day in our nation that result in the short-term and long-term suffering of victims.

Therefore, victimologists were born, criminologists who focus their attention on crime victims. Due to the continuance of crime in every society, it is important to study its aspects and find what can be done by government and by citizens to prevent people from becoming victims and how to assist those who are victims.
What is victimology?
Victimology is the study of crime victims. Furthermore, victimization refers to the victims and their relationship to the criminal process, aka, the victim's role in the crime problem. An obvious result of criminal activity is costs and this is not exempted from victimization. The costs of victimization include the following: damaged property, pain and suffering to victims, and involvement of the police and other agencies of the justice system. Economic loss is linked not only to the victim but also to their community (Siegel,

The first theory is victim precipitation. This theory infers that some people may actually initiate the confrontation that eventually leads to physical suffering. This initiation is either active or passive. Active initiation occurs when a victim acts provocatively, such as using threats/fighting words or actually making the first attack. Passive initiation occurs when the victim unknowingly carries some personal characteristic that either threatens or encourages the attacker (Siegel, 2012, p. 80). The second theory is the lifestyle theory, the belief that crime is not a random occurrence but rather a function of the victim's lifestyle. This does not always carry a negative aspect. An example of this would be a college student living on a college campus. The college student is a female and habitually drinks on campus surrounded by other people also drinking. Her lifestyle puts her at a higher risk of victimization as it has been found that sexual assaults on campus involving females usually involve the use of alcohol (Siegel, 2012, p. 81). The deviant place theory inserts the belief that the greater the exposure to dangerous places, the more likely people will become victims of crime and violence (Siegel, 2012, p. 82). Lastly, the routine activities theory insinuates that volume and distribution of predatory crime "are closely related to the interaction of three variables that reflect the