At all times there has been a criminal and his victim. But only in the twentieth century, the regularity took shape in a single concept, which served as the beginning of such a subject of research as victimology. The basis of the theory is that any victim has a certain set of characteristics that make him become the object of the committed crime. However, more about everything.
Fields 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 such areas of scientific knowledge as psychology, sociology, pedagogy, jurisprudence, etc., deal with this problem, which elevates this topic to the ranks of the most relevant.
General concept
Victimization is a social process in which a person becomes a victim of a crime. Simply put, it is the result of the actions of the perpetrator in relation to the victim. It's worth it heredefine the concept of victimization. It refers to the propensity to become a victim. Thus, victimization and victimization are inseparable concepts, in which the first is a characteristic of the second. At the same time, it can be measured by the number of cases of harm and the totality of the characteristics of the victims of the crime.
Victimization: concept and types
The founder of such a subject as victimology was L. V. Frank. Actually, without his influence, the concept of victimization would not have developed. 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 a single case or a mass one.
However, immediately after this, a flurry of criticism falls on Frank. Other researchers note that the concepts of the process and its result should be different from each other, and not be a single whole.
For example, Rivman argues that victimization is an act in which a crime committed against a person influences 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”.
Process communication
In proof of what has been said, it is worth noting that these two phenomena are inextricably linked. Any action aimed at achieving the state of the victim has its logical conclusion.
This means that at the moment when a person was attacked, no matter whatoutcome of the event, he automatically acquires the status of a victim. In this case, the attack itself is victimization in the concept of a process. And the person against whom the crime was committed is the result.
This is why victimization is the process of influencing one event on another. The more crimes that occur, the higher the risk of becoming a victim.
Victimization research
In order to understand under what circumstances an ordinary person becomes a victim of a crime, a number of studies are needed.
Victimization and its degree are determined in the presence of summary data on the number of all victims. This does not depend on the severity of the crime, its outcome and the presence of other factors that provoked this incident.
To put it simply, victimization is the totality of all instances in which an object was harmed morally or physically.
To everything else, thanks to the study of the degree of predisposition to becoming a victim, we can talk about such a thing as crime. If we draw parallels between the cause and effect of these phenomena, the conclusion suggests itself. The more victims, the higher the level of crime, which means that human destructiveness is actively developing as an element of the social life of society.
Types of victimization
Like any other phenomenon, the process of becoming a victim is divided into types. So, by its nature it can be individual or mass.
In the first caseit is implied that the harm was done to one specific person.
In the second case, we are talking about a social phenomenon - the totality of both the victims of the crime and the acts of harm themselves, subject to the 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 agreement of both crime itself and the subject's predisposition to it, the following types of this process are distinguished:
1) Primary. It refers to 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 can 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 harm. It is expressed in labeling, accusations of provoking illegal actions, alienation, humiliation of honor and dignity, and other actions aimed at desocialization of the victim.
3) Tertiary. It refers to influencing the victim with the help of law enforcement agencies or the media for their own purposes.
Sometimes they also distinguish the Quaternary, understanding by it such a phenomenon as genocide.
Types of victimization
Since the concepts of process and result are inseparable from each other, it is also necessary to clarify the typeslast.
Victimization happens:
1) Individual. It 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) Bulk. It refers to a set of people who have a number of qualities that determine their degree of vulnerability to criminal acts. At the same time, each individual person acts as an element of this system.
At the same time, mass victimization has its subspecies, including group, object-species and subject-species.
Psychological theories of victimization
As discussed above, the concept of victimization has puzzled many disciplines. Including psychology. Many scientists have put forward their theories to explain why a person becomes a victim. Consider 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 orientation goes not only outward, but also on itself.
Freud also adhered to this concept, however, he explained that without conflict there can be no development. The concept of confrontation between two instincts: self-preservation and self-destruction also fits here.
Adler at the same time says that every person has an inherent aggressive attraction. A typicalbehavior is a reflection of inferiority. It doesn't matter if it's real or imaginary.
Steckel's reasoning is also interesting. In his opinion, in dreams a person shows his hatred, a real attitude towards the surrounding reality and a tendency to manifest a desire for 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 neurosis and, as a result, the difficulty of social functioning.
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 in total:
1) The period of intrauterine development, when the influence is through the parents and their wrong way of life.
2) Preschool. Ignoring parents' need for love, misunderstanding of peers.
3) Junior school period. Excessive guardianship or, conversely, its absence on the part of parents, the development of various defects, rejection by teachers or peers.
4) Adolescence. Drinking, smoking, drug addiction, corruption, the influence of criminal groups.
5) Early youth. Unwanted pregnancy, attribution of non-existent defects, alcoholism, relationship failures, peer bullying.
6) Youth. Poverty, alcoholism, unemployment, relationship failure, learning disability.
Conclusion
Thus, we have determined what victimization and victimization are, the concept and types of this phenomenon. The presence of certain personality traits gives grounds to classify it as a risk group when faced with various illegal actions. The only way out of this situation is the help of specialists, aimed at both preventing this phenomenon and eliminating its consequences.
