Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Although recent years have witnessed a growing number of studies in victimology, relatively little attention has been paid to the development of classification systems in this field. This paper reviews the existing typologies and points at their primary limitation, namely, their unidimensionality. Hence, the field presently lacks a systematic conceptual framework. After suggesting a revised definition of victim, a multidimensional victimological typology is proposed comprising the following eleven dimensions: the source of victimization: legal framework: intentionality of the perpetrator: identification of the victim: victim vulnerability: the victim's perception of victimization: others' perception of victimization: type of victimization: the severity of victimization/harm: the victim-offender relationship: and the victim's contribution to the event. The various categories within these dimensions are discussed and suggestions are put forward for further developing and refining this conceptual framework.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Amir

(1971). Patterns in forcible rape.University of Chicago Press; Chicago.

Clinard

M.B.

Abbott

D.J.

(1973). Crime in developing countries: a comparative perspective. Wiley; New York.

Conklin

J.E.

(1972). Robbery and the criminal justice system. Lippincott; Philadelphia.

Conklin

J.E.

(1986). Criminology. Macmillan; New York.

Curtis

L.A.

(1974). Criminal violence: national patterns and behavior. D.C. Heath; Lexington, Mass.

Fattah

E.A.

(1967). Vers nne typologie criminologique des victims. Revue Internationale de Police Criminelle, 162–169.

Flynn

E.F.

(1982). Theory development in victimology: An assessment of recent progress and continuing challenges. In The Victim in International Perspective ( Schneider

, ed.) pp. 97–104. de Gruyter; New York.

Hagan

(1987). Modern criminology. McGraw-Hill; New York.

Hentig

Hans von

(1948). The criminal and his victim. Yale University Press; New Haven.

10.

Hentig

Hans von

(1974). Remarks on the interaction of perpetrator and victim. In Victimology. ( Drapkin

Viano

, eds.) pp. 45–53. D.C. Heath; Lexington, Mass.

11.

Hindelang

M.J.

(1976). Criminal victimization in eight American cities: a descriptive analysis of common theft and assault. Ballinger; Cambridge, Mass.

12.

Inciardi

J.A.

(1984). Criminal justice. Academic Press; New York.

13.

Knudten

R.D.

(1988a). The scope of victimology and victimization: towards a reconceptualization of the field. Paper presented at the 6th International Symposium of Victimology, Jerusalem, Israel, August–September, 1988.

14.

Knudten

R.D.

(1988b). A dynamic theory of victimization: Modified version 1.2. Paper presented at the 6th International Symposium of Victimology, Jerusalem, Israel, August–September, 1988.

15.

Landau

S.F.

(1974). The offender's perceptions of the victim. In Theoretical issues in victimology ( Drapkin

Viano

, eds.) pp. 137–154. D.C. Heath: Lexington, Mass.

16.

Landau

S.F.

Drapkin

Arad

(1974). Homicide victims and offenders: An Israeli study. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 65, 390–396.

17.

Lindsey

(1984). Officials cite a rise in killers who roam U.S. for victims. The New York Times, January 21, pp. 1, 7.

18.

Luckenbill

D.F.

(1977). Criminal homicide as a situated transaction. Social Problems, 25, 176–186.

19.

Mendelsohn

(1974). Victimology and the technical and social sciences: A call for the establishment of victimology clinics. In Victimology: a new focus ( Drapkin

Viano

, eds.) pp. 25–35. D.C. Heath; Lexington, Mass.

20.

Quinney

(1974). Who is the victim? In Victimology ( Drapkin

Viano

, eds.) pp. 103–119. D.C. Heath; Lexington, Mass.

21.

Russell

D.E.H.

(1982). Rape in marriage. Macmillan; New York.

22.

Schafer

(1974). The beginning of ‘victimology’. In Victimology ( Drapkin

Viano

, eds.) pp. 17–30. D.C. Heath; Lexington, Mass.

23.

Sellin

Wolfgang

M.E.

(1964). The measurement of delinquency. John Wiley and Sons; New York.

24.

Silverman

R.A.

(1974). Victim typologies: Overview, critique, and reformation. In Victimology ( Drapkin

Viano

, eds.) pp. 55–65. D.C. Heath; Lexington, Mass.

25.

Voss

H.L.

Hepburn

J.R.

(1968). Patterns of criminal homicide in Chicago. Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science, 59, 499–508.

26.

Weis

Borges

S.S.

(1973). Victimology and rape: The case of the legitimate victim. Issues in Criminology, 8, 71–115.

27.

Wolfgang

M.E.

(1958). Patterns in criminal homicide. University of Pennsylvania Press; Philadephia.

28.

Wolfgang

M.E.

Figlio

R.M.

Tracy

P.E.

Singer

S.I.

(1985). The national survey of crime severity. U.S. Government Printing Office; Washington.

29.

Wolfgang

M.E.

Singer

S.I.

(1978). Victim categories of crime. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 64, 379–394.

30.

Young-Rifai

M.A.

(1982). Victimology: A theoretical framework. In The victim in international perspective ( Schneider

, ed.) pp. 65–79. Walter de Gruyter; New York.

Classifying Victims: a Proposed Multidimensional Victimological Typology

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References