Victimization is a person’s predisposition to be a victim. At the same time, there is a difference between social predisposition, where the likelihood of becoming a victim depends on the crime situation in the region, as well as psychological victimization, when characterological and personality traits acquired as a result of upbringing or psychological traumas received contribute to provoking behavior.
The victim's victimization due to psychological factors has been seriously criticized by many authors and is practically discredited in jurisprudence, where only one party bears responsibility for the crime committed. To prove this, facts are cited that the victim’s behavior is perceived as a provocation exclusively by the criminal and is not objective. That is why this concept is not used in court cases of murder and rape, but has a place in practical psychology. It makes sense to talk about victimization when a person has an increased likelihood of getting into trouble, which is caused by various internal reasons.
Areas of study
Before talking about such a social phenomenon as victimization, as well as identifying the reasons for its development and influence on other processes of social development, it is necessary to clarify the basic concepts of this term. It must be said that this problem is dealt with in such areas of scientific knowledge as psychology, sociology, pedagogy, jurisprudence, etc., which elevates this topic to the ranks of the most pressing.
Literature
Dissertations
- Adigyuzelov K. A.
Problems of victimization of the population (based on materials from the Republic of Dagestan): Author's abstract. diss... cand. legal Sci. - Makhachkala, 2002. - 28 p. - Konovalov V.P.
Victimization from crime and its statistical expression: Abstract of thesis. diss... cand. legal Sciences / All-Union Scientific Research Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. - M., 1979. - 22 p. - Leletova M.V.
Prevention of criminal victimization of small businesses: Author's abstract. diss... cand. legal Sci. - Nizhny Novgorod, 2006. - 35 p.
Books
- Polubinsky, V.I.
Criminal victimology: Monograph. — 2nd ed. - M.: All-Russian Research Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 2008. - 53 p.
Articles
- Arutyunova, A. B.
Criminological problems of the process of victimization of minors // Investigator. - 2002. - No. 6 (50). — pp. 27-29. - Batagov S. R.
Main trends in the development of economic crime and victimization from it at the present stage // Law and Politics. - 2008. - No. 6. - P. 1459-1462. - Vandyshev V.
V. Situations of victimization of citizens from theft of personal property in the sphere of everyday life // Fight against crime and problems of neutralizing criminogenic factors in the sphere of family and everyday life. - L.: Leningrad State University Publishing House, 1985. - P. 54-63. - Vishnevetsky K.V.
Urbanization and its influence on the processes of victimization of the population // Legal world. - 2006. - No. 3. - P. 65-70. - Vishnevetsky K.V.
Terrorism as a factor of mass victimization of the population // Bulletin of the Moscow University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. - 2006. - No. 4. - P. 85-90. - Research in Germany on sexual victimization of women. // Fighting crime abroad. - 2004 - No. 8. - P. 20-27 (Published in: Kriminalistik. - 2002. - No. 4. - S. 241-245.
- Leletova M.V.
Problems of improving the system for preventing victimization of small businesses // Investigator. - 2007. - No. 3. - P. 38-43. - Leletova M.V.
Prevention of victimization // Investigator. - 2007. - No. 4. - P. 42-45. - Nevsky N. N., Nevsky A. N.
The influence of the victimogenic situation on victimization // Bulletin of the Vladimir Law Institute. - 2008. - No. 1. - P. 184-186. - Fenveshi Ch.
Violence in criminal proceedings: Subjects of secondary victimization // Journal of Russian Law. - 2003. - No. 2. - P. 136-142. - Fortova L.K.
Victimization of minors as a legal phenomenon // Law and State. - 2007. - No. 8. - P. 136-140.
General concept
Victimization is a social process by which a person becomes the victim of a crime. Simply put, it is the result of the offender's actions towards the victim. Here it is worth defining the concept of victimization. It refers to the tendency to become a victim. Thus, victimization and victimization are inseparable concepts, in which the former is a characteristic of the latter. It can be measured by the number of cases of harm and the totality of characteristics of the victims of the crime.
Literature
Books
- Polubinsky, V.I.
Criminal victimology: Monograph. — 2nd ed. - M.: All-Russian Research Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 2008. - 53 p. - Odintsova M.A.
Types of victim behavior: Role-based victimization questionnaire. - Samara: Publishing house "Bakhrakh", 2013. - 160 p.
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This page was last edited on March 18, 2021 at 04:22. Sources used:
- https://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/ruwiki/625512
- https://atlasprava.ru/kriminologicheskaya-viktimnost/
- https://studme.org/82399/pravo/ponyatie_vidy_viktimnosti
- https://studopedia.ru/2_117117_vopros—viktimnost-i-ee-vidi.html
- https://wiki2.org/ru/victimization
Victimization: concept and types
The founder of such a subject as victimology was L. V. Frank. In fact, without his influence the concept of victimization would not have emerged. So, Frank introduces his definition of the term. According to him, victimization is the process of becoming a victim, as well as its result, regardless of whether this is an isolated case or a mass one.
However, immediately after this, a barrage of criticism falls on Frank. Other researchers note that the concepts of process and its result should be different from each other, and not be a single whole.
For example, Riveman argues that victimization is the act in which a crime committed against a person has an impact on the development of his propensity. And if a person turns from a potential victim into a real one, then this process is called “victimization-result”.
Notes
- ↑Dodonov V.N., Ermakov V.D., Krylova M.A. and others. Large legal dictionary. M.: Infra, 2001 [1]
- ↑Luneev V.V. VICTIMOLOGY // Great Russian Encyclopedia. Volume 5. Moscow, 2006, p. 307 [2]
- ↑General psychology: words. / ed. A. V. Petrovsky. — M.: Per Se; St. Petersburg : Rech, 2005. - 250 pp.; — (Psychological lexicon: encyclical words in 6 volumes). [3]
- ↑Zhmurov, V. A. Great encyclopedia of psychiatry / V. A. Zhmurov. — 2nd ed. - M.: Dzhan-gar, 2012. - 864 p. [4]
- ↑ABC of a social psychologist-practitioner: reference and encyclopedic publication / M. Yu. Kondratyev, V. A. Ilyin. - Moscow: Per Se, 2007. - 463 p. [5]
- ↑James Dignan. Understanding Victims and Restorative Justice. NY: Open University Press, McGraw-Hill Education, 2005. P. 23
- ↑Post-crime victimization or secondary victimization (undefined)
.
Comprehensive Criminal Justice Terminology
. Prentice Hall. Archived March 10, 2013. - ↑ Campbell R., Raja S.
Secondary victimization of rape victims: insights from mental health professionals who treat survivors of violence (English) // Violence Vict: journal. - 1999. - Vol. 14, no. 3. - P. 261-275. - PMID 10606433. - ↑ Doerner, William.
Victimology (undefined). - Burlington, MA: Elseiver, Inc., 2012. - ISBN 978-1-4377-3486-7. - ↑Simon, George K (1996). In Sheep's Clothes: Understanding and Dealing with Manipulative People. ISBN 978-0-9651696-0-8.
- ↑Evans, Katie & Sullivan, J. Michael Dual Diagnosis: Counseling the Mentally Ill Substance Abuser (1990)
- ↑Petruska Clarkson, Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy
(London 1997) p. 217 - ↑Eric Berne, Games People Play
(Penguin 1964) p. 92 and p. 141-2
Process communication
To prove this, it is worth noting that these two phenomena are inextricably linked. Any action aimed at achieving the state of victim has its logical conclusion.
This means that at the moment when a person is attacked, regardless of what the outcome of the event was, he automatically acquires the status of a victim. In this case, the attack itself is victimization in the process concept. And the person against whom the crime was committed is the result.
That is why victimization is the process of influence of one event on another. The more crimes occur, the higher the risk of becoming a victim.
Victimization Case Study
In order to understand under what circumstances an ordinary person becomes a victim of crime, it is necessary to conduct a number of studies.
Victimization and its degree are determined if total data on the number of all victims is available. This does not depend in any way on the severity of the crime, its outcome or the presence of other factors that provoked the incident.
Simply put, victimization is the totality of all cases in which an object suffered moral or physical damage.
In addition, thanks to the study of the degree of predisposition to becoming a victim, we can talk about such a concept as crime. If we draw parallels between the cause and effect of these phenomena, the conclusion suggests itself. The more victims, the higher the crime rate, which means that human destructiveness is actively developing as an element of the social life of society.
How to get rid of victimization
The increased tendency to become a victim is not an innate quality, but accordingly can be corrected. In situations where the frequency and intensity of losses becomes significant, the condition is stabilized with tranquilizers and antidepressants with simultaneous psychotherapeutic correction.
If the situation is not so critical, then only psychotherapy aimed at restoring adequate self-esteem and developing new behavioral strategies is indicated. One of the main tasks is to shift the regulatory role of actions from an external source to an internal one. This means that before you make a decision or follow the advice, request or even order of someone, you need to correlate what is happening with your needs. In a healthy state, a person will not perform actions that cause him harm, no matter who asks for it, even his direct boss. This implies a greater share of responsibility for one’s life and its course. From this perspective, it is no longer possible to blame others for failures that have occurred or to look for excuses for why the misfortune occurred. Finding support in his feelings and decisions, a person himself begins to organize his life in a safe way, calculating the consequences in advance.
The absence of exposure to external manipulation is necessary so that others cannot play on feelings of guilt, pity or inferiority. A girl who knows her strengths and weaknesses is unlikely to agree to the offer “who needs you besides me, sit down.” The ability to refuse in any area of life is excellent training against victimization. The more the skill of tactful confrontation develops, the less chance there is of unknowingly becoming a victim.
It is necessary to start monitoring your own thoughts, because the more an individual feels sorry for himself and appears helpless and unhappy in his own eyes, the more such a state is transmitted to others. In essence, these are also provocations, because if someone complains the first time, they help him, the second time they don’t pay attention, and the third time it can cause very specific aggressive actions.
Types of victimization
Like any other phenomenon, the process of becoming a victim is divided into types. Thus, by its nature it can be individual or mass.
In the first case, it is implied that the harm is caused to one specific person.
In the second case, we are talking about a social phenomenon - a set of both victims of crime and the acts of harm themselves, subject to certainty of place and time, as well as the presence of qualitative and quantitative characteristics. Another such mass phenomenon is defined by the term “crime”.
Also, depending on the degree of social coordination of both crime itself and the subject’s predisposition to it, the following types of this process are distinguished:
1) Primary. It means causing harm to a specific person at the time of the crime itself. It does not matter whether it was moral, material or physical damage.
2) Secondary victimization is indirect harm. It may be associated, for example, with the immediate environment, when all members of his family suffer from the theft of property from one person. There are other ways to indirectly cause harm. It is expressed in labeling, accusations of provoking illegal actions, alienation, humiliation of honor and dignity, and other actions aimed at desocializing the victim.
3) Tertiary. It refers to the influence on the victim with the help of law enforcement agencies or the media for one’s own purposes.
Sometimes they also distinguish quaternary, understanding by it such a phenomenon as genocide.
The concept of victimization in victimological science
annotation
. The article is devoted to the study of issues of victimization under various circumstances. The author examines the concept of “victimization” within the framework of the science of victimology, and also analyzes different categories of persons most likely to be subject to criminal attacks in certain circumstances.
Keywords
: victimology, victimization, victimization, victim, victim, crime, personality.
When considering victimological science, you should pay attention to one of its main terms, which was introduced into scientific circulation by L. Frank - victimization. The scientist called victimization the process as a result of which a person becomes a real victim, or the final result of such a process. According to the position of L. Frank, victimization is a certain predisposition that is realized by a criminal act, i.e. in essence, it is the ability of a particular person to become a victim of a crime under certain circumstances, or, in other words, the inability to avoid danger where it was objectively preventable” [1].
For the first time, definitions of some concepts of victimology were given by B. Mendelssohn. The scientist used derivative terms from “victim” when defining these concepts. According to the author, victimization is the extent to which the victim is susceptible to the effects of an offense and is unable to resist it at the time of its commission, both from a physical, mental and social position.
Thus, victimization is considered to be the increased ability of both one person and a social group (community) to become a victim of a criminal attack in certain circumstances. And the process itself, when a person (or a group of people) becomes a victim, constitutes victimization.
As soon as criminal victimology began to develop, almost immediately two radically opposing approaches emerged in the scientific literature on the issue of the nature of the crime victim and what role she plays in the illegal actions committed against her. Let's consider both approaches.
Representatives of the first approach name important factors of victimization in a crime situation such as the character of the victim, her physique and the actions that she performs. It is obvious here that supporters of this theory see the biological basis of the “victim-criminal” relationship as a priority; a person’s genetic predisposition to becoming a victim comes to the fore.
Representatives of the second approach put forward the idea that not only the behavior of the victim leads to the implementation of his actions by the criminal: they do not associate the behavior of a potential victim with genetics, biological heredity, but, on the contrary, argue that the behavior of an individual is directly influenced by the way of social life, society, in in which a person lives and is raised. Proponents of this approach believe that people do not inherit good or evil, but are formed under the influence of social development and upbringing, since the natural inclinations with which a person is endowed “can serve with equal success the ugliest and most sublime and the ugliest and repulsive” [3] .
The position taken by V. Polubinsky can also be considered quite rational and justified. The author, defining the concept of victimization, operates on the personal abilities of a person, which are interconnected with his special characteristics, behavior or the presence of a specific relationship with the criminal. The scientist is also of the opinion that a person can become a victim of a criminal attack not only with a set of certain personality qualities, as well as his victimized dangerous or non-dangerous behavior, but also as a result of a confluence of other objective factors, which may be time, place, situation, etc. .d., the presence of which in their totality creates a victim situation [5].
But there is another, radically opposite point of view, the author of which is considered to be D. Riveman. He argues that individual victimization is a person's predisposition, under certain circumstances, to become a victim of a crime, or a person's inability to resist a criminal. Such an ability (or inability), according to Riveman, always has many factors that can make it either objective (independent of the victim’s behavior) or, conversely, subjective [2].
But L. Riveman did not stop there, he began to conduct more and more research, thanks to which he subsequently created a classification of the types of potential victims of criminal attacks based on the nature and severity of personal qualities. The classification created by the scientist included the following types of personalities:
1) A type with clearly expressed personality traits that determine his high vulnerability to various types of crimes. This type of personality is called universal or universal-victim.
2) Individuals with increased vulnerability to specific types of crimes. This type in Riveman’s classification is called selective or selective-victim.
3) Individuals with an average degree of victimization who may become victims of a crime due to a combination of certain circumstances. This type of personality is called situational, also known as situational-victim.
4) If a person became a victim due to a random combination of circumstances, then his personality can be attributed to the random or accidental victim type.
5) If a person is susceptible to criminal acts because of his chosen occupation (profession), then this type is called professional or professional-victim.
By studying certain types of crimes, we can come to the conclusion that victimization is due to both the personal qualities of the potential victim (innate or acquired) and objective ones, i.e. – time, place, situation in which the person finds himself, etc. Taken together, all of the above factors form a victimogenic situation, which in Frank’s understanding is presented as “a special case of a criminal situation” [4]. Success in the study of personal victimization depends on whether the relationship with the peculiarities of the emergence, formation, and structure of the victimogenic situation, which contributes to the realization of the possibility of causing harm to a person, is taken into account.
One should take into account the fact that the number of crimes is steadily increasing, which leads to an increase in victimization (almost every person is a victim). But individuals are victimized to the greatest extent.
If we analyze victimization, i.e. the extent to which a person is capable of becoming a victim, it must also be noted that this ability is not intent. In other words, they distinguish between guilty, innocent and careless victimization. But the victim never becomes such on purpose. What do the above degrees of victimization mean? Thus, innocent victimization is characterized by deliberately “weak” victims who, due to physical characteristics, are unable to resist. Such victims can be the elderly, minors, and in some cases women. As for careless victimization, it is inherent in all crimes committed through negligence. But if we are talking about culpable victimization, then here the behavior of the victim itself is already provocative or completely illegal (for example, the victim was in a state of alcohol or drug intoxication).
However, one should not unambiguously interpret victimization in, for example, a respectable citizen, or an unreliable citizen to one degree or another (guilty or innocent), since one and the same person can actually show different victimization under different circumstances, because the degree of victimization and Victimization itself is a dynamic phenomenon. But at the same time, victimization has the ability to predict: for example, even a non-victimized person has a chance of becoming a victim of a crime.
Modern Russian victimology classifies victimization based on social criteria: individual, species, group and mass victimization are distinguished. Let's move on to a more detailed consideration of each of the categories of victimization we have listed.
Speaking about individual victimization, we mean the property of an individual person, which was determined by his social, biological, physical and psychological qualities that contributed to the formation of conditions for causing harm.
If we are talking about species victimization, then this means the tendency of individuals to become victims of criminal attacks. The peculiarity of this form of victimization is that it can be realized in the forms of both individual and group, as well as role and personal victimization.
Group victimization is characterized by the fact that it affects certain groups of people united on some basis (most often professional). Thus, collection workers, police officers, security guards, cashiers, etc. can become victims of certain crimes.
Regarding mass victimization, it is worth noting that this is an opportunity that objectively exists for a certain social group of people (for example, due to national, religious characteristics) to become a victim of criminal attacks.
The clearest manifestation of victimization will be when we consider the possible victim of a crime, connecting it with his behavior, as well as internal and external factors that have a significant impact on victimization. Differences in the degrees of victimization can be seen, for example, if the victim behaves negatively, but there is no provocation in her behavior, or such behavior of the victim is provocative; victimization will also be different if the victim’s behavior is socially approved, but causes dissatisfaction in the criminal (for example , neighbors made a remark about a noisy drunken company in the yard).
Thus, for the most successful and accurate determination of the role of the victim in the genesis of the crime, as well as for the purpose of establishing the nature and degree of involvement of a person in the commission of a crime, establishing a fair punishment for the crime committed, it is important to carefully study victimization in all its appearances and take it into account victimological and socio-legal nature.
Analyzing the data of official statistics collected from criminal cases in recent years, we can conclude that the most victimized category of people by age are citizens from approximately 30 to 40 years old (approximately ¼ of the total). In second place are persons aged 25 to 29 years, whose number is approximately just over 20%. To a lesser extent, persons aged 18 to 25 years are victimized - only 8%, as well as minors under the age of 12 years, of whom only 5.5% [6]. In terms of property status, wealthy citizens are most susceptible to victimization, which is confirmed by the rapid spread of violence in business practices, as well as the flourishing of corruption. Also important is the fact that very often the victims of criminal attacks were completely ordinary citizens, who did not provoke criminal elements with their behavior, did not attract attention to themselves with their way of life and did not have criminal personalities among their acquaintances.
If we analyze the state of victimization in modern Russian society, the opinion of the population will be different. Thus, the overwhelming majority of crime victims do not consider themselves guilty of what happened to them, only that there were any provocative or careless actions on their part that led to the crime against them. But a third of the respondents admit their actions were wrong, which resulted in them causing bodily harm, as well as committing robberies, assaults, and extortion against them. What is typical for victims of fraudulent actions is that they consider themselves guilty more often than others - about half of such citizens.
Among those victims who have the most increased self-criticism, the most frequent cases are when such individuals blame themselves for showing excessive gullibility, imprudence, and carelessness.
There are many victims who became victims of persons previously known to them: a significant part of them are persons who received serious bodily injuries and were subjected to sexual violence. Moreover, until the crime was committed, the relationship between the victims and the criminals was friendly.
Thus, if we judge the specifics of criminal victimization, then its manifestations are reflected not only in how victimized the victim’s personality is, but also in how much in victim behavior and victimogenic deformation of his personality. It is also worth noting that a significant number of criminal intentions could have remained unfulfilled if not for the behavior of the victim, who succumbed to victimization in a pre-criminal and criminal situation. For example, fraud could have been avoided if the victim had not trusted casual acquaintances, but had shown restraint, the necessary caution and prudence when meeting them [7].
Speaking about the concept of victimization, we note that scientific and criminological sources connect it with the scale of crime and its consequences, focusing on the quantitative component. According to criminologist I.V. Limanskaya, this understanding of victimization leads to a narrowing of its semantic meaning and content.
Summarizing the above, we came to several conclusions:
— victimization in the scientific criminological literature is an ambiguous concept, which includes many components of both an objective (place, time, specific circumstances) and subjective nature (the behavior of the victim, her actions);
— the degree of victimization of a potential victim cannot be considered only with a biological (genetic) component, since heredity cannot influence whether a person will be susceptible to a criminal attack against him; here the influence of acquired (social) qualities occurs, as well as the above-mentioned objective factors;
— regarding the presented statistical data on the victimization of a certain group of people, it is worth noting that the statistical data may not be fully accurate, since not all victims of criminal attacks turn to law enforcement agencies.
Bibliography
1. Alaukhanov, E. O. Criminology / E. O. Alaukhanov. - M.: Legal Center, 2021. - 608 p.
2. Zhalinsky, A. E. A. E. Zhalinsky. Selected works. In 4 volumes. Volume 1. Criminology / A.E. Zhalinsky. - M.: Higher School of Economics (State University), 2021. - 704 p.
3. How to avoid becoming a victim of crime, fraud and deception. - M.: Tekart, 2014. - 288 p.
4. Musaev, M. Victims of crimes in the light of the criminal law and procedural policy of the state. Educational and methodological manual. Statement of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation / M. Musaev. - M.: Olympia / Man, 2021. - 989 p.
5. Polubinsky V.I. Legal foundations of criminal victimology // Journal of Russian Law. - 2001. - No. 4.
6. Rivman D.V. On the issue of socio-psychological typology of crime victims // Victimological problems in the fight against crime. - Irkutsk, 1988.
7. Reshetnikov, A. Yu. Criminology and crime prevention. Textbook / A.Yu. Reshetnikov, O.R. Afanasyeva. - M.: Yurayt, 2016. - 166 p.
Types of victimization
Since the concepts of process and result are inseparable from each other, the types of the latter should also be clarified.
Victimization happens:
1) Individual. Consists of a combination of personal qualities and the influence of the situation. It is understood as a predisposition or already realized ability to become a victim in conditions where, objectively, the situation made it possible to avoid this.
2) Mass. It refers to a set of people who have a number of qualities that determine their degree of vulnerability to criminal acts. Moreover, each individual person acts as an element of this system.
At the same time, mass victimization has its own subtypes, including group, object-species and subject-species.
Psychological theories of victimization
As mentioned above, many disciplines are puzzled by the concept of victimization. Including psychology. Many scientists have put forward their theories to explain why a person turns into a victim. Let's look at the most popular of them.
According to Fromm, Erickson, Rogers and others, victimization is (in psychology) a special phenomenon inherent in every person due to the presence of destructive traits. At the same time, the destructive focus is not only external, but also towards oneself.
Freud also adhered to this concept, however, he explained that without conflict there can be no development. The concept of the confrontation between two instincts: self-preservation and self-destruction also fits here.
Adler says that every person has an aggressive drive. And typical behavior is a reflection of inferiority. It does not matter whether it is real or imaginary.
Stekel's reasoning is also interesting. In his opinion, in dreams a person shows his hatred, his actual attitude towards the surrounding reality and his tendency to manifest an attraction to death.
But Horney rather relates his reasoning to pedagogical activity. He says that personality is formed from childhood. Many factors can influence the manifestation of neuroses and, as a result, difficulty in social functioning.
Playing the Sacrifice [6]
There is also a voluntary acceptance of the role of a victim (self-victimization) due to various reasons (mental disorders) or benefits (attracting attention, Munchausen Syndrome, avoiding responsibility, justifying cruelty, receiving benefits, etc.).[10][11] Unscrupulous victim games are highlighted, for example, in transactional analysis, in such manipulative games as: “look how hard I tried” and “wooden leg”, where one’s own opportunities to improve one’s situation are ignored.[12][13]
Victimization is... in pedagogy
By the way, according to pedagogical theories, there are several age stages at which the risk of developing victimization is increased. There are 6 of them in total:
1) The period of intrauterine development, when the influence is exerted through parents and their incorrect lifestyle.
2) Preschool period. Ignoring parents' need for love, misunderstanding of peers.
3) Junior school period. Excessive care or, conversely, its absence on the part of parents, the development of various defects, rejection by teachers or peers.
4) Adolescence. Drunkenness, smoking, drug addiction, molestation, influence of criminal groups.
5) Early youth. Unwanted pregnancy, attribution of non-existent defects, alcoholism, failures in relationships, bullying by peers.
6) Youth. Poverty, alcoholism, unemployment, failures in relationships, inability to further study.
