Ideal Victim Of A Victim

Victimology is the scientific study of the physical, emotional, and financial harm people suffer from illegal activities. A common struggle Victimologists face is determining who the victim is. In general, crimes don 't have an “ideal victim”. The term ideal victims refer to someone who receives the most sympathy from society (Christie, 2016). An example of this would be a hardworking, honest man who on his way to work, had his wallet taken by force. Most people in society would have sympathy for him. He spent his life making an honest living to earn what he has and was a victim of a robbery. Victimologists study the interactions victims have with criminals, society, and the criminal justice system (Karmen, 2015). According to (Karmen, 2015)

The offender was her ex-husband. He monitored her coming and going and wouldn’t let her talk on the phone. Everything in his opinion was stupid, including the victim and her family. His mentality of life forced her into a constant struggle. Her days consisted of trying to fix things to meet his high level of expectations. Everything snowballed and escalated from there. The be it all was his threat to kill her. After she heard the threat it was difficult for her to put on her social face outside. It became difficult for her to go home because she feared for her life. Work and church were comfortable settings because no one would harm her. When she would get in her car to go home, she would have panic attacks. She defined her life after the death threat as “looking in from the outside”. She uses that phrase because by the time he threatened her she pushed everyone in her life to the side. She was too far into the relationship to see that he was an improper companion. Those times were difficult and lonely for her to get through. The reason she was with him was her belief that domestic violence wouldn’t happen to her. She thought it would happen to someone else with a different background or a movie star. One moment she was mad for allowing the abuse to continue for so long. The next minute she would feel happiness because she was away from him and the stress. In her opinion, the sexual abuse was the most

Like child abuse, it affects every American by impacting those we love the most. Awareness for domestic violence victims has evolved since the beginning of our country. In earlier times, it was a private matter, and took place “behind closed doors”. They helped them past their sufferings and place them back into mainstream culture. (Karmen, 2015) Claims one movement that assisted with the process is the Feminist Movement. This widespread movement took place during the 1970’s, and represented the “beaten women”. It helped them stand up for themselves during their distraught times. Domestic tranquility ensures women their safety at home under their husbands’ protection. The Feminist’s Movement questioned domestic tranquility and urged women to stand up for themselves (Karmen, 2015). They discovered the “silent crisis” that lived inside so many women at the time. The crisis was that the men they married gave into the times of “behind closed doors” and “look the other way”. Those times would stand no more, due to the feminist’s movement and widespread awareness. Laws and legislation have changed since the rediscovery of the victims of domestic violence. One example is restraining orders. Restraining orders set up a level of protection for the women from the male offenders. Another example of legislation is The Violence Against Women Act. Promulgated in 1994 the act mandates that all states enforce protective orders issued in a