Victimization is ... The concept and types of victimization

At all times there was a criminal and his victim. But only in the twentieth century, law became a single concept, which served as the beginning of such an object of study as victimology. The basis of the theory is that any victim has a certain set of characteristics that make her become the object of a perfect crime. However, everything is more detailed.

Areas of study

Before talking about such a social phenomenon as victimization, as well as to identify the causes of its development and influence on other development processes of society, it is necessary to clarify the basic concepts of this term. I must say that this area is occupied by such areas of scientific knowledge as psychology, sociology, pedagogy, jurisprudence, etc., which raises this topic in 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, this is the result of the actions of the offender in relation to the victim. Here it is necessary to define the concept of victimization. It means a tendency to become a victim. Thus, victimization and victimization are inseparable concepts, in which the former is a characteristic of the second. In this case, 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 its influence, the notion of victimization would not have developed. Thus, 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 case is single or mass.

However, right after this, a flurry of criticism hits Frank. Other researchers note that the concepts of the process and its result should differ 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 inclination. And if a person turns from a potential victim into a real victim, then this process is called "victimization-result".

Relationship of processes

In support 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 an attack was committed on a person, regardless of the outcome of the event, he automatically assumes the status of a victim. In this case, the attack itself is a victimization in the concept of the process. And the person for whom the crime was committed is the result.

That is why victimization is the process of the influence of one event on another. The more crimes occur, the higher the risk of becoming their victim.

Case study of victimization

In order to understand the circumstances under which an ordinary person becomes a victim of a crime, it is necessary to carry out a series of studies.

Victimization and its degree are determined by the availability of summary data on the number of all victims. This does not depend on the gravity of the crime, its outcome and the presence of other factors that provoked the incident.

Simply put, victimization is the totality of all cases when an object was inflicted with moral or physical damage.

In addition, due 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 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 species. So, by its nature it can be individual or mass.

In the first case it is meant that the harm is caused to one particular person.

In the second case, it is 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, and the availability of qualitative and quantitative characteristics. Still such mass phenomenon is defined by the term "criminality".

Also, depending on the degree of social harmonization of both the crime itself and the predisposition of the subject to it, the following types of this process are distinguished:

1) Primary. It means harm to a particular 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 damage. It can be connected, for example, with the nearest environment, when from theft of property one person suffers all members of his family. There are other ways of indirect harm. It is expressed in labeling, accusing of provoking unlawful actions, alienation, humiliation of honor and dignity and other actions aimed at desocialization of the victim.

3) Tertiary. It is understood as the impact on the victim with the help of law enforcement agencies or the media for their own purposes.

Sometimes it is also allocated a quaternary, understanding under it a phenomenon such as genocide.

Types of victimization

Since the concepts of process and result are inseparable from each other, it is also necessary to clarify the views of the latter.

Victimality happens:

1) Individual. It consists of a combination of personal qualities and the impact of the situation. It is understood as a predisposition or already realized ability to become a victim in conditions when objectively the situation allowed to avoid this.

2) Mass. It means a set of people who have a number of qualities that determine their degree of vulnerability to criminal acts. In this case, each individual person acts as an element of this system.

At the same time, mass victimization has its own subspecies, including group, object-species and subject-species.

Psychological theories of victimization

As stated above, the concept of victimization puzzles many disciplines. Including psychology. Many scholars have advanced their theory of explanation why a person becomes a victim. Consider the most popular of them.

According to Fromm, Erickson, Rojders and others, victimization is (in psychology) a special phenomenon inherent in every person due to the presence of destructive features. At the same time destructive orientation goes not only outwardly, but also on oneself.

Freud also adhered to this concept, however, he explained that without conflict there can be no development. The concept of confrontation between two instincts also approaches here : self-preservation and self-destruction.

Adler at the same time says that every person has an aggressive inclination. A typical behavior is a reflection of inferiority. It does not matter whether it's real or imaginary.

Stekel's reasoning is also interesting. In his opinion, in dreams, a person manifests his hatred, a real relation to the surrounding reality and a propensity to manifest a desire for death.

But Horney is more like his reasoning to pedagogical activity. He says that the personality is formed from childhood. Many factors can influence the manifestation of neuroses and, as a consequence, the difficulty of social functioning.

Victimization is ... in pedagogy

By the way, according to pedagogical theories, several age stages are distinguished, at which the risk of developing victimhood is increased. There are 6 of them:

1) The period of fetal development, when the effect is through the parents and their wrong way of life.

2) Preschool period. Ignoring the parents' need for love, peer misunderstanding.

3) Junior school period. Excessive custody, or, conversely, its absence from the parents, the development of various defects, rejection by teachers or peers.

4) The adolescent period. Drinking, smoking, drug addiction, corruption, the influence of criminal groups.

5) Early youth. Unwanted pregnancy, attribution of non-existent defects, alcoholism, failure in relationships, bullying by peers.

6) Youth. Poverty, alcoholism, unemployment, failure in relationships, inability to learn further.

Conclusion

Thus, we have defined what is victimization and victimization, the concept and types of this phenomenon. The presence of certain personality traits gives grounds for attributing it to the risk group when colliding with various unlawful acts. The only way out of this situation is the help of specialists, aimed both at preventing this phenomenon, and at eliminating its consequences.