Victimology: Understanding Victims of Crime

Last Updated on October 27, 2024 by Karl Thompson

Victimology is the study of who becomes a victim of crime, why certain individuals are victimized, and what can be done to address victimization.

Victimology is a relatively new addition to the A-level Sociology Crime and Deviance specification, primarily approached through different sociological perspectives.

Patterns of Victimisation

The Crime Survey of England and Wales (TCSEW)

The largest victim survey in England and Wales is the (Telephone) Crime Survey of England and Wales. Formerly conducted face-to-face, it has been conducted by phone since the Covid-19 outbreak, surveying approximately 38,000 households per year.

The TCSEW indicates a year-on-year decline in crime victims over the last 20 years, except for cybercrime and fraud. Including these two crime types—which have only recently been tracked by the survey—reveals an increase in the overall crime rate in recent years.

The risk of being a victim varies by social group and crime type. Below is a summary:

• Social Class: Individuals in deprived areas are more likely to be victims of violent crime.
• Age: Younger people are generally at higher risk of victimization than older individuals.
• Ethnicity: Minority ethnic groups face a greater risk of hate crime than white individuals.
• Gender: Males are at greater risk of violent attacks, with about 70% of homicide victims being male. However, women are more likely to experience domestic violence, sexual violence, human trafficking, and rape in wartime. Trans individuals also face a higher risk of hate crime.
• Repeat Victimization: A small portion of people experience repeated victimization. According to the Crime Survey of England and Wales, 4% of individuals account for 44% of all crime victims in a year, while 60% of people experience no crime in a given year.

For a more detailed look at how patterns of victimisation vary by class, gender, age and ethnicity please see this post – Who Are the Victims of Crime?

Sociological Perspectives applied to Victimology

This discussion simplifies approaches to victimology by distinguishing between Positivist and Critical Victimology.

Positivist Victimology

Miers (1989) defines positivist victimology by three main features:

1. Identifying the factors contributing to patterns of victimization.
2. Focusing on interpersonal violent crimes.
3. Examining how victims may contribute to their own victimization.

Early positivist studies explored “victim proneness,” aiming to identify the social and psychological traits that make some people more vulnerable. For example, Von Hentig (1948) identified 13 victim characteristics, such as being female, elderly, or “mentally subnormal,” implying that certain individuals may “invite” victimization based on who they are.

An example of positivist victimology is Marvin Wolfgang’s (1958) study of 588 homicides in Philadelphia, where he found that 26% involved “victim precipitation,” meaning the victim initiated the events that led to their own homicide, such as being the first to use violence.

Criticisms of Positivist Victimology

• It risks “victim-blaming.”
• Positivist approaches focus on traditional crimes and overlook corporate and environmental crime.
• They ignore broader structural factors, like poverty and powerlessness, that increase victimization risk.

Critical Victimology

Critical victimology is rooted in conflict theories such as Marxism and Feminism. From a critical perspective, the powerless are most vulnerable to victimization yet least likely to receive State acknowledgment (the “hierarchy of victimization”).

Critical victimology is rooted in conflict theories such as Marxism and Feminism. From a critical perspective, the powerless are most vulnerable to victimization yet least likely to receive state acknowledgment (the “hierarchy of victimization”).

Critical criminology emphasizes two elements: structural factors in victimization patterns and the state’s power to deny victim status to certain individuals.

• Structural Factors: Structural elements such as poverty and patriarchy increase vulnerability to victimization. For example, Marxists argue that poverty and inequality foster crime, making residents of poor areas more likely to be both criminals and crime victims. Feminists highlight how patriarchal structures perpetuate crimes against women, such as sex trafficking and domestic violence, making women more susceptible to sex-related crimes.
• Global Power Structures: Many people suffer harm at the hands of Western corporations or state crimes by Western governments. Yet, victims in distant locations rarely achieve justice. Bhopal and the drone wars are two notable examples.
• State Power and Victim Labeling: The state’s ability to apply or deny victim status can distort the extent of victimization. Critical criminologists argue that the state often sides with the powerful, failing to label exploitative and harmful acts as crimes. For instance, Tombs and Whyte (2007) found that employers’ health and safety violations, leading to thousands of worker deaths in the UK each year, are typically categorized as “industrial accidents,” leaving no one accountable and the victims unacknowledged.

From a feminist perspective, sexism in the criminal justice system discourages most victims of domestic violence and rape from coming forward. Those who do report often face victim-blaming in court, denying them formal victim status and justice.

Criticisms of Critical Victimology

• It may overlook how victims can sometimes contribute to their own victimization (e.g., by not securing their property).
• Realists argue that criminologists should focus on crime reduction rather than criticizing governments and police, as this may not be the most effective way to support victims of common crimes like street violence and burglary.

Relevance to A-level sociology

This material is mainly relevant to the Crime and Deviance module, usually taught as part of second year A-level sociology.

Sources:

A combination of the main A-level text books were used to write this post.