Should there be any limitations on who is defined as a ‘victim’ for the purposes of the discipline of victimology? Does the discipline extend beyond the traditional study of victims of crime, to include, for example, the study of victims of natural disasters, poverty, HIV/AIDS, and all forms of repression and discrimination? While this issue was frequently discussed in the earlier years of modern victimology, since the agreement of the UN General Assembly to the 1985 UN Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power (the ‘Declaration’), debate on this issue seemed to have subsided. The title of the Declaration suggests that a consensus emerged that victimology should only include victims of crime and victims of abuse of power, each of these terms having specific definitions as found in the Declaration.
However, it appears that many victimologists do not necessarily accept the definitions and limitations of the Declaration. They argue that victimology ought to be concerned with all forms of human suffering, regardless of their origin. This article aims critically to assess the arguments and counter-arguments to this perspective. It concludes that there is no strong justifiable reason to limit the scope of the discipline, although for practical reasons it will often be necessary for particular research projects, victim advocacy and courses to establish clear parameters around which types of victims they will be concerned.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BardM.SangreyD. (1986). The Crime Victims Book. 2nd ed.Brunner/Mazel Publishers; New York.
2.
BayleyJ.E. (1991). The Concept of Victimhood. In To Be a Victim: Encounters with Crime and Justice (SankD.CaplanD.I., eds). Insight Books; New York.
3.
BienkowskaE. (1992). What is Victimology? Some Reflections on the Concept of Victimology. In International Faces of Victimology: WSVN 1990–1992 (DavidS.KirchhoffG., eds) pp. 81–88. WSV Publishing; Monchengladbach.
4.
CohenS. (1993). Human Rights and Crimes of the State: the Culture of Denial. Australia and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 26 (2), 97.
5.
CunneenC. (1999). Criminology, Genocide and the Forced Removal of Indigenous Children from their Families. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 32 (2), 124.
6.
DavidS.KirchhoffG. (Eds) (1992). International Faces of Victimology: WSVN 1990–1992. WSV Publishing; Monchengladbach.
7.
DaviesM. (2002). Asking the Law Question: The Dissolution of Legal Theory, 2nd ed.Law Book Co; Sydney.
8.
The Declaration (1985). United Nations Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power, GA Resolution 40/34 of 29 November 1985.
9.
DussichJ. (2001). The Past Millennium's Abuse of Power: An Analysis of Offenders and Victims. In 10th International Symposium on Victimology: Selected Symposium Proceedings (GaudreaultA.WallerI., eds) pp. 255–275. Association Quebecoise Plaidoyer-Victimes; Montreal.
10.
DussichJ. (2003). History, Overview and Analysis of American Victimology and Victim Services Education. Paper submitted to 11th International Symposium on Victimology 13–18 July, and available at www.victimology.co.za/papers.htm.
11.
EliasR. (1986). The Politics of Victimization: Victims, Victimology and Human Rights. Oxford University Press; New York & Oxford.
12.
EliasR. (1993). Victims Still: The Political Manipulation of Crime Victims. Sage; Newbury Park, Ca.
13.
EliasR. (1996). Paradigms and Paradoxes of Victimology. In International Victimology: Selected Papers from the 8th International Symposium. Conference Proceedings Series No. 27 (SumnerC.IsraelM.O'ConnellM.SarreR., eds) pp. 9–34. Australian Institute of Criminology; Canberra.
FattahE. (1994). Some Problematic Concepts, Unjustified Criticism and Popular Misconceptions'. In International Faces of Victimology: WSVN 1993–1994 (KirchhoffG.KosovskiE.SchneiderH.J., eds) pp. 82–103. WSV Publishing; Monchengladbach.
16.
FattahE. (2001). Does Victimology Need Deontology? Ethical Conundrums in a Young Discipline. In 10th International Symposium on Victimology: Selected Symposium Proceedings (GaudreaultA.WallerI., eds) pp. 129–154. Association Quebecoise Plaidoyer-Victimes; Montreal.
17.
GaudreaultA.WallerI. (Eds.) (2001). 10th International Symposium on Victimology: Selected Symposium Proceedings. Association Quebecoise Plaidoyer-Victimes; Montreal.
18.
von HentigH. (1948). The Criminal and His Victim. Yale University Press; New Haven, CT.
19.
HughesR. (1992). The Fraying of America. Time Magazine, February 3, p. 44.
20.
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission of Australia. (1997). Bringing Them Home: National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families. Commonwealth of Australia.
KarmenA. (2001). Crime Victims — An Introduction to Victimology. 4th ed.Wadsworth Publishing; Belmont, CA.
23.
KennedyL.SaccoV. (1998). Crime Victims in Context. 2nd ed.Roxbury Publishing; Los Angeles, CA.
24.
KirchhoffG. (1989). Victimology — A Superfluous Endeavor? On the Difficulties to Define a Science. World Society of Victimology Newsletter, 7, 40.
25.
KirchhoffG.KosovskiE.SchneiderH.J. (Eds) (1994). International Faces of Victimology: WSVN 1993–1994. WSV Publishing; Monchengladbach.
26.
KumarC.R. (2003). Victims of Economic and Social Rights Violations in India: Judicial Responses and Civil Society Challenges. Paper presented to the 11th International Symposium on Victimology, 13–18 July.
27.
LambS. (1999). Constructing the Victim: Popular Images and Lasting Labels. In New Versions of Victims: Feminists Struggle with the Concept (LambS., ed.). New York University Press; New York & London.
28.
LambornL. (1987). The United Nations Declaration on Victims: Incorporating “Abuse of Power”. Rutgers Camden Law Journal, 19, 59.
29.
LambornL. (1988). The United Nations Declaration on Victims: The Scope of Coverage. In Victimology: International Action and the Study of Victims (SeparovicZ.R., ed.) pp. 173–180. Samobor Publishing; Zagreb.
30.
LimaM. (1999). Victimology and Abuse of Power. In Caring For Crime Victims: Selected Proceedings of the Ninth International Symposium on Victimology (Van DijkJ.KaamR.WemmersJ., eds) pp. 247–270. Criminal Justice Press; Monsey, New York.
31.
MacKinnonC. (1993). On Torture: A Feminist Perspective on Human Rights. In Human Rights in the Twenty-First Century: A Global Challenge (MahoneyK.MahoneyP., eds). Martinus Nijhoff; Dordrecht.
32.
MbaliM. (2003). HIV, Aids, Stigma and Victims Rights: Challenges for Victimology. Paper presented to the 11th International Symposium on Victimology, 13–18 July.
33.
MendelsohnB. (1956). A New Branch of Bio-Psychological Science: La Victimology. Revue Internationale de Criminologie et de Police Technique, 10, 782.
34.
Oxford English Reference Dictionary. (1996). 2nd ed.Oxford University Press; Oxford & New York.
35.
SchaferS. (1968). The Victim and His Criminal: A Study into Functional Responsibility. Random House; New York, NY.
36.
SeparovicZ.P. (1985). Victimology: Studies of Victims. Samobor; Zagreb.
37.
SeparovicZ.P. (Ed.) (1988). Victimology: International Action and the Study of Victims. Samobor; Zagreb.
38.
SeparovicZ.P. (2001). The Victim Declaration: A Substantial Moral Victory for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power. In 10th International Symposium on Victimology: Selected Symposium Proceedings (GaudreaultA.WallerI., eds) pp. 277–280. Association Quebecoise Plaidoyerictimes; Montreal.
39.
SinghM. (2003). HIV/Aids. The SAPS Voluntary Care and Treatment Programme. Paper presented to the 11th International Symposium on Victimology, 13–18 July.
40.
SumnerC. (1999). Victims of Crime & Criminal Justice. Journal of the Australasian Society of Victimology, 2 (1), 31–85.
41.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission. (1998). Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report of South Africa. Juta & Co; Cape Town.
42.
United Nations Blue Book Series: Volume VII. (1995). The United Nations and Human Rights 1945–1995. Department of Public Information United Nations; New York.
43.
Van DijkJ.M. (1999). Introducing Victimology. In Caring For Crime Victims: Selected Proceedings of the Ninth International Symposium on Victimology (Van DijkJ.KaamR.WemmersJ., eds) pp. 1–12. Criminal Justice Press; Monsey, New York.
44.
WallaceH. (1998). Victimology: Legal, Psychological and Social Perspectives. Allyn & Bacon; Boston.
45.
WeinribF. (1988). Legal Formalism: On the Immanent Rationality of Law. Yale Law Journal, 97 (6), 949.
