victimology research topics

60 Victimology Topics & Examples

For your paper on crime prevention, penology, or violence in any form, take a look at our victimology research topics. Get a critical title from the collection prepared by our team .

🏆 Best Victimology Topics & Essay Examples

📌 interesting victimology research paper topics, ❓ victimology research questions.

• Victimology: Definition, Theory and History Victimology is a science that dedicates itself to the study of the connection between the victim and the offender. The police use victimology in order to discover a correlation between the victims and the offenders, […]
• Victimology in the Case of Sarah Lawrence The purpose of this paper is to distinguish between the notions of criminology and victimology, examine the Sellin and Wolfgang’s victim typology, and apply this knowledge to the case of Sarah Lawrence college.
• Career in Victimology But criminal victimologists continue to investigate the problems of victim-offender interactions, individual characteristics of victims within and outside of the context of a committed crime, relation of victims to latent criminality, etc.
• The Green Victimology: Saving Non-Human Victims Consequently, a multidisciplinary study of green victimology is required to create solutions to protect victims and mitigate the detrimental effects of environmental crime.
• Victimology and Domestic Violence In this situation there are many victims; Anne is a victim of domestic violence and the children are also victims of the same as well as the tragic death of their father.
• Victimology and Victimization The concept of the sideshow freak is a term inextricably linked to the various circuses and carnivals in the U.S.during the mid 19th to mid 20th century.
• The Victimology Project by Ellisha Shelsta The case revealed victims of the crime, described the behavioral pattern of the offender and provided insights into the relationship between the perpetrator and the injured party.
• Comparing Positivist and Radical Victimology Perspective
• Contribution to Victimology and Marginalisation
• Crime, Victimology and Victimization
• Female Victims of Assault Crimes Dealing With Victimology
• Feminism, Positivism, and Radical Victimology
• Historical Background of Victimology
• History of Victimology and Its Impact on Society
• Justice System and the Impact of Victimology
• Law Enforcement and the Study of Victimology
• Merton’s Strain Theory and Victimology Theories
• Similarities Between Criminology and Victimology
• The Politics of Victimization: Victims, Victimology, and Human Rights
• The Role of Victimology in Law Enforcement
• Victimology and Alternatives to the Traditional Criminal Justice System
• Victimology and Criminal Justice System
• Victimology and How to Avoid Becoming a Victim of a Crime
• Victimology and Its Effect on the Justice System
• Victimology and Restorative Justice
• Parallels Between Criminology and Victimology
• Victimology: Crime and Criminal Victimization
• Victimology: Criminology and Victim
• Victimology: The Cause of Domestic Violence
• Victimology: The Role of Victims When Influencing Crime
• What Is Victimology Criminology?
• Why Is the Victimology Perspective Important in Understanding Serial Murder?
• What Are the Contributions of the Different Personalities in Studying Victimology?
• What Is the Difference Between Victimology and Victimologists?
• What Is the Interrelationship Between Criminology, Penology, and Victimology?
• How Does Criminal Psychology Relate to Victimology?
• What Is the Definition of the Term Human Behavior and Victimology?
• What Degrees in Psychology Specialise in Criminal Victimology?
• What Is the Effect of Victimology in Society?
• What Is the Worst Classical School Theory in Explaining Victimology?
• What Are the Advantages of Victimology in the Philippines?
• Why Do We Need to Study Human Behavior and Victimology?
• What Victimology Says About Child Abuse?
• How Is Victimology Different From Sociology?
• What Are the Recent Areas of Research in Victimology?
• What Is Victimology and Why Is It Important?
• What Is Victimology in Human Behavior?
• What Role Does Victimology Play in the Study of Criminology and Criminal Justice?
• What Is the Difference Between Victimology and Psychology?
• Do You Think “White Victimology” Is a Valid Concept?
• In What Ways Can the State Be Considered a Perpetrator in Victimology?
• What Did Heidegger Think About Victimology?
• What Is the Summary of Hans von Hentig’s Victimology?
• What Are Similarities Among the Three Basic Theories of Victimology?
• What Is the Historical Overview of Victimology?
• Who Was the Father of Victimology?
• What Are the Different Types of Victimology?
• How Do You Determine Victimology?
• How Is Penology and Victimology Related?
• How Is Victimology Relevant in Law Enforcement?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, March 1). 60 Victimology Topics & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/victimology-essay-topics/

"60 Victimology Topics & Examples." IvyPanda , 1 Mar. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/victimology-essay-topics/.

IvyPanda . (2024) '60 Victimology Topics & Examples'. 1 March.

IvyPanda . 2024. "60 Victimology Topics & Examples." March 1, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/victimology-essay-topics/.

1. IvyPanda . "60 Victimology Topics & Examples." March 1, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/victimology-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "60 Victimology Topics & Examples." March 1, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/victimology-essay-topics/.

• Crime Ideas
• Bullying Research Topics
• Criminal Justice Essay Topics
• Domestic Violence Paper Topics
• CyberCrime Topics
• Forensic Science Essay Topics
• Corruption Ideas
• Human Trafficking Titles
• Cryptography Paper Topics
• Prostitution Topics
• Cyber Security Topics
• Sex Trafficking Research Ideas
• Rape Essay Titles
• Serial Killer Paper Topics
• Cyber Bullying Essay Ideas

• © 2020

Victimology

Research, Policy and Activism

• Jacki Tapley 0 ,
• Pamela Davies 1

University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK

You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

Department of Social Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

• Speaks to upper undergraduates and above, as well as to criminal justice practitioners, with case studies for discussion
• Encourages critical thinking about victims of crime and social harm and how to effect change
• Examines how victims are understood, represented and incorporated across the criminal justice system and society
• Captures the newest developments in the dynamic victimology space, following changes in policy and politics
• Discusses how activism has greatly contributed to growth of the Victimology discipline
• Analyses how victimology, theories, and research inform policies and professional practice

29k Accesses

25 Citations

11 Altmetric

• Table of contents

About this book

Editors and affiliations, about the editors, bibliographic information.

• Publish with us

Buying options

• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Compact, lightweight edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (15 chapters)

Front matter, victimology: a conversion of narratives.

• Jacki Tapley, Pamela Davies

Violence Against Women and Girls: Feminist Activism and Resistance

• Clare Wiper, Ruth Lewis

Victim Blaming, Responsibilization and Resilience in Online Sexual Abuse and Harassment

• Lisa Sugiura, April Smith

Gender-Based Violence: Victims, Activism and Namibia’s Dual Justice Systems

• Kate Mukungu, Ndumba J. Kamwanyah

Bereaved Family Activism

• Elizabeth A. Cook

Feminist Framings of Victim Advocacy in Criminal Justice Contexts

• Michele Burman, Oona Brooks-Hay

From Invisible to Conspicuous: The Rise of Victim Activism in the Politics of Justice

• Nicola O’Leary, Simon Green

Disablist Hate Crime: A Scar on the Conscience of the Criminal Justice System?

• Jemma Tyson

Politics, Policies and Professional Cultures: Creating Space for a Victim Perspective in the Crown Prosecution Service

Jacki Tapley

Police and Crime Commissioners and Victim Service Commissioning: From Activism to Marketisation?

• Matthew Hall

Partnerships and Activism: Community Safety, Multi-agency Partnerships and Safeguarding Victims

Pamela Davies

Environmental Victims and Climate Change Activists

• Valeria Vegh Weis, Rob White

From Cinderella to Consumer: How Crime Victims Can Go to the Ball

• Edna Erez, Jize Jiang, Kathy Laster

A Theory of Injustice and Victims’ Participation in Criminal Processes

• Antony Pemberton

Conclusion: Understanding Victimisation and Effecting Social Change

• Pamela Davies, Jacki Tapley
• victim advocacy
• mental health
• victimisation
• social harm
• mass killing
• media and crime
• human rights
• policy and victims

Jacki Tapley is Principal Lecturer of Criminology at the University of Portsmouth, UK. She specialises in teaching and undertaking research focussing on victims of crime, and the development, implementation and evaluation of victim-centred policies and legislation. 

Pamela Davies is Professor of Criminology at the University of Northumbria, UK. Pam has longstanding research interests in the area of social harm and victimisation with a particular focus on how, where and when gender matters.

Book Title : Victimology

Book Subtitle : Research, Policy and Activism

Editors : Jacki Tapley, Pamela Davies

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42288-2

Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan Cham

eBook Packages : Law and Criminology , Law and Criminology (R0)

Copyright Information : The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2020

Softcover ISBN : 978-3-030-42287-5 Published: 02 July 2020

eBook ISBN : 978-3-030-42288-2 Published: 01 July 2020

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : XIII, 408

Number of Illustrations : 1 b/w illustrations

Topics : Popular Science in Law , Victimology , Social Justice, Equality and Human Rights , Social Work and Community Development , Forensic Psychology , Human Rights and Crime

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Springer Nature - PMC COVID-19 Collection

Victimology from clinical psychology perspective: psychological assessment of victims and professionals working with victims

Tuğba yılmaz.

İzmir Bakırçay University, İzmir, Turkey

Associated Data

Not available.

Victimology concerns victims of various traumas from accidents, disasters, assaults to wars. Survivors of trauma are also an area in clinical psychology since it is interested in the assessment and diagnosis of psychopathology and psychotherapy. Stress and mental health are intertwined; increased stress results in difficulties in feeling, thinking and behaving. The stress symptoms are an intrusion, avoidance, negative cognitions and mood, and arousal and reactivity . A trauma survivor might develop post-traumatic stress disorder. Healing trauma is so comprehensive that many professionals work from different aspects. From attorneys to mental health workers, many professionals deal with the aftereffects of trauma. Engaging with details of the trauma endangers not only the victims but also the professionals working with the victims. These professionals end up having psychological effects such as secondary trauma, vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, countertransference and occupational burnout. Trauma has serious effects on its victims but not all effects are negative and paralyzing. Trauma victims might change their priorities in a way that they report more personal control over their life. This phenomenon is called posttraumatic growth. The paper aims to collaborate victimology with clinical psychology by highlighting psychopathology and psychological assessment.

Karmen ( 2012 ) postulated that victims are people who are affected negatively such as having an injury or a hardship because of an illegal action of people or group of people. Victimology is the name of the scientific study of victims and the victimization process (Turvey, 2014 ). Van Dijk ( 1999 ) suggested that victimology has variety in itself so that there are penal victimology and general victimology. This diversification depends on the idea that penal (interactionist) victimology heavily depends on criminal law and conceptualizes the victim in criminological and legal terms. On the other hand, general victimology defines the victim in a much broader manner than the other. In general victimology, victims are thought as people who had harm by different types of trauma such as accidents, disasters, assaults and wars (Van Dijk, 1999 ). This study aims to provide knowledge from clinical psychology in evaluating general victimology which is an interdisciplinary area involving law, forensic psychology, sociology, economics and so on.

Clinical psychology is a branch of psychology that concerns psychological assessment, and diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and behavioral problems (Plante, 2005 ). Victims are individuals who are negatively affected by an event such as a criminal act, disaster or accident. Being exposed to such a devastating event, individuals might be affected physically and/or psychologically. They might be suffering from some emotional, cognitive and behavioral problems. By adopting the biopsychosocial model (Engel, 1977 ) the effects a victim might experience should be conceptualized from biological, psychological and social aspects. This study tries to understand how a victim gets seriously affected by a negative event from a psychopathological viewpoint. The psychological treatment of psychopathologies after an adverse event is explained in the next section. After this, a different viewpoint will be highlighted by altering the focus point from victims to people who work with victims. Professionals whose job is to closely work with victims are also affected by the adverse events (Yılmaz & Karakuş, 2019 ). Following the discussion of secondary trauma, vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue and occupational burnout that professionals might feel, coping ways with these feelings are explained in the light of current literature.

The author also wants to point out the importance of working with victims by reviewing the critical points from the literature. Many professionals including clinical psychologists work with victims in the rehabilitation of aftereffects. The psychological effects of being a victim seem to affect professionals working with victims, too (Yılmaz & Karakuş, 2019 ). In the first part of this study, the author highlighted the psychological aftereffects of victims have after a devastating and/or criminal event. Psychological symptoms and disorders are discussed in terms of acute stress disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, dissociative disorders, depressive disorders, and substance use disorders. The groups of these psychopathologies are explained by taking the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5; American Psychological Association [APA, 2013 ) as a reference. A brief history of effects of victims in psychopathology, especially the effects of WWI and WWII and the rise of applied psychology (Schultz & Schultz, 2008 ) was described. Effects of victimization in DSM history were discussed by considering how victim-specific psychological diagnoses changed over time (Yılmaz, 2019a ). Treatment of psychopathologies were detailed throughout the study. The author suggested books, movies and series about victimization to support the discussion.

Stress and Mental Health

Stress is a kind of condition in which people feel challenged beyond their coping abilities (Shalev, 2009 ). Stress might have detrimental effects on physical health and psychological health. The negative effects of stress are acknowledged by the function of the HPA axis where the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal glands interact and prepare an organism to perform a stress response such as fight, freeze or flight (Bracha, 2004 ).

The effects of stress are well- acknowledged in the development of psychological diagnoses. As a result, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fifth edition (DSM-5), the well-known handbook of psychological disorders that was published by American Psychiatric Association (APA) included a new diagnostic category named trauma and stress related disorders (APA, 2013 ). Under this diagnostic category, there are adjustment disorder, acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD; APA, 2013 ). Formerly in DSM-IV-TR, acute stress disorders and PTSD are grouped under anxiety disorders category; whereas, adjustment disorders were a separate diagnostic category (Yılmaz, 2019a ). The reason lying behind the change of the diagnostic category of these disorders is the fact that major stressors are playing very crucial and central role in the development of them (Butcher, Mineka, & Hooley, 2014 ).

Psychological Disorders a Victim Might Develop

Victims are individuals who are involved in a criminal activity and affected psychologically and physically (Van Dijk, 1999 ). The psychological effects of being a victim due to a criminal event have been investigated in clinical psychology literature, especially under trauma-related disorders. To exemplify, sexual and physical assault victims (Kimerling & Calhoun, 1994 ; Resick & Schnicke, 1992 ), rape victims (Foa, Rothbaum, Riggs, & Murdock, 1991 ; Nishith, Resick, & Griffin, 2002 ; Resick, Nishith, Weaver, Astin, & Feuer, 2002 ), victims of war and torture (Hensel-Dittmann et al., 2011 ), victims of traumatic head injury (Benedict, 1989 ), motor vehicle accident victims (Blanchard et al., 1995 ), traffic accident victims (Frommberger et al., 1999 ); cyberbullying victims (Campfield, 2008 ), disaster victims (Rubonis & Bickman, 1991 ; Rüstemli & Karanci, 1999 ; Sumer, Karanci, Berument, & Gunes, 2005 ) are the groups of people of whom psychologists evaluate, understand and treat. One important point to highlight in reviewing the literature is to realize that the number of people who report they had been victimized is lower than that of the actual people who had been victimized. Kilpatrick, Saunders, Veronen, Best, and Von ( 1987 ) stated that approximately half of the people who were victimized did not report the police. The highest reporting rate is for burglary whereas sexual assault had the lowest reporting rate. One in third of the victimized people stated that they had developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after the criminal event (Kilpatrick et al., 1987 ). These results suggest that there are victims who are unrecognized and unreported but these people continue their lives despite the serious adversity they had experienced. Research show that the effects of a trauma is inherited and transferred to next generation family members who are in fact not related to it (Öztürk, 2020 ; Wolynn, 2017 ). Moreover, research also indicate that the risk of being traumatized is increased if there is a prior personal experience with a traumatic event (Altınay & Arat, 2007 ; Zara-Page & İnce, 2008 ). Considering these important results, unrecognized and unreported victims who are traumatized are not just a concern for clinical psychology, psychiatry or victimology; they are also concern for public health.

Victimization is a distressing event and victims might have psychological problems after the event or during the event since some criminal activities are not one-time events. Well-known psychological outcome of being a victim is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Mason & Lodrick, 2013 ; Turvey, 2014 ). Compared to PTSD, having similar symptoms for a shorter duration deserves for acute stress disorder (ASD; APA, 2013 ). ASD and PTSD are psychopathologies acknowledged by DSM as well as adjustment disorders. PTSD might be comorbid with anxiety disorders, substance abuse disorders, dissociative disorders and depressive disorders. Some victims who developed PTSD might engage in self-harmful behaviors to alleviate the negative feelings due to the traumatic event (Mason & Lodrick, 2013 ). Turvey ( 2014 ) reviewed the trauma victim literature in the forensic area and concluded that although not recognized by APA in DSM, there are some victim specific syndromes in the literature. These syndromes are the battered woman syndrome (Walker, 1984 ), rape trauma syndrome (Burgess & Holmstrom, 1974 ), and stalking trauma syndrome (Colins & Wilkas, 2001 ).

In understanding symptomatology PTSD, DSM-5 criteria grouped symptoms under four categories, namely intrusion, avoidance, negative cognitions and mood, and arousal and reactivity. Intrusion refers to re-experiencing of the traumatic events in various ways such as nightmares, intrusive images and showing physiological reactivity to reminders of the trauma. Intrusion might lead accessing traumatic episodic memory, which might cause victim to experience autonomic nervous system arousal, i.e., physiological reactivity (Mason & Lodrick, 2013 ). This is particularly important for police interview and courtroom testimonies with which victims recall traumatic event and might re-experience the traumatic event (Mason & Lodrick, 2013 ). The second group of symptoms is avoidance, which includes symptoms related to victims’ efforts to avoid reminders, feelings and thoughts of the trauma. The third group of symptoms is negative cognitions and mood. This group includes victim’s blaming him/herself or others and other negative emotional states like shame, guilt, and anger. Feelings of detachment and estrangement from others, and inability to have positive emotions is also included in this group of symptoms. The last group of symptoms is called changes in arousal and reactivity. Sleep disturbance, hypervigilance, exaggerated startle response, and reckless and self-destructive behavior might be experienced in traumatized victims under this group of symptoms. The duration of PTSD must be more than one month. There are two sub-types of PTSD. The first is PTSD with dissociative symptoms such as depersonalization and derealization. The second is PTSD with delayed expression. In this sub-type, victims might now show the full-blown symptoms of PTSD until at least 6 months after the traumatic event. In this instance, the onset and the beginning of some symptoms might begin immediately.

Turvey ( 2014 ) shed light on important issues in terms of psychological assessment of victims. He suggested that victims are traumatized and victimized twice, one by the offender and the second by the criminal justice system. This is critically important since the adverse effects are repeated for living victims. Second, Turvey ( 2014 ) indicated that violent events rarely happen just one victim. Generally, there are more than one victim involved in the actual assault. Moreover, there are collateral victims who are spouses, friends and children of the assaulted victim. These individuals are also negatively affected by the adverse event. Even the diagnostic category of PTSD acknowledges that collateral victims could be diagnosed with PTSD as long as they show symptoms. Collateral victims might witness the assault in person, or they might learn a brutal or violent crime might happen to someone very close to them, or else they might experience extreme exposure to aversive details of the traumatic event (Butcher et al., 2014 ). Investigators, prosecutors, and defense attorneys should take these facts into consideration. As Mason and Lodrick ( 2013 ) postulated heightened in the interview of victims, ANS response might stimulate archaic structures of the brain which controls survival of the organism and the victims might feel as if the real danger is close to them, which might lead them to become more cooperative or compliant. This might cause inconsistencies between the accounts they have given in processing their complaints through the criminal justice system.

Acute stress disorder (ASD) is very similar to PTSD in terms of symptomatology. Intrusion symptoms, negative mood, dissociative symptoms, arousal, and avoidance symptoms include 14 different symptoms. The difference between ASD and PTSD is about the duration of the symptoms as the brief history of these disorders can tell. For ASD, symptoms are expected to begin after the trauma and to last at least 3 days and at most 1 month (APA, 2013 ). If the duration of the symptoms exceeds 1-month threshold, the diagnosis is altered to PTSD (Butcher et al., 2014 ). The function of ASD diagnose is to detect a victim who need immediate professional help and ensure him/her with evidence based psychological treatment.

Adjustment disorders (ADs) are yet another diagnosis that a victim might develop. In terms of symptomatology, ADs do not have a long list of symptoms. This diagnosis can be counted as a sign of an individual’s difficulty in returning to their routines after a stressor strike and ended. The individual has clinically high degree of stress in adjusting to their normal life. DSM-5 says that an individual has marked stress and/or impairment in important areas of functioning within 3 months of the onset of the stressor and once the stressor ended the symptoms do not last more than 6 months (APA, 2013 ). The connection between ADs and victimization was studied. For example, Bachem and Maercker ( 2016 ) studied with burglary victims who developed Ads at clinical and subclinical level. They compared intervention group and wait-list group in terms of Ads symptoms. The psychotherapeutic intervention in this study was bibliotherapeutic self-help intervention, which as its name implies did not have any therapists. Results yielded that was bibliotherapeutic self-help intervention worked well in terms of effectively treating symptoms of ADs (Lorenz, Bachem, & Maercker, 2016 ). Similarly, Sirles, Smith, and Kusama ( 1989 ) reported that children victims of intrafamilial sexual abuse might have different diagnoses, one of which is ADs. Lönnqvist et al. ( 1995 ) analyzed all adolescent suicides in Finland between 1987 and 1988. They reported that AD diagnosis was observed only in male suicide victims. All these studies indicate the importance of diagnosing ADs in both living or deceased victims.

Not every people can meet the full criteria for PTSD, ASD or ADs after a specified trauma and DSM appreciates this case by suggesting “ other-speficied trauma and stressor related disorder ” as a diagnosis. In assigning this diagnosis, a clinician is expected to specify the reason. The specifiers of this diagnosis are “adjustment-like disorders with delayed onset of symptoms that occur more than 3 months after the stressor”, “adjustment-like disorders with prolonged duration of more than 6 months without prolonged duration of stressor”, “Ataque de nervios”, “other cultural syndromes”, and “persistent complex bereavement disorder”. In cases for whom the trauma is not specified, there is another option. This option is “ unspecified trauma and stressor related disorder ”. A clinical might not have clear information in assigning a specific diagnosis in trauma and stressor related disorders diagnosis group and instead can assign “unspecified trauma and stressor related disorder”. This might happen in emergency settings and in crises (APA, 2013 ).

PTSD, ASD, ADs and other- or unspecified trauma and stressor related disorder are official diagnoses which are presented in DSM-5. Nevertheless, the literature has more options in terms of diagnoses. Turvey ( 2014 ) pointed out battered woman syndrome (Walker, 1984 ), rape trauma syndrome (Burgess & Holmstrom, 1974 ), and stalking trauma syndrome (Colins & Wilkas, 2001 ) are trauma syndromes discussed in the literature. All three syndromes share a common point in alleging that they are a part or sub-type of PTSD. Although these syndromes have not been assigned in DSM-5; authors suggesting these syndromes are a part of DSM-5 (Turvey, 2014 ).

Battered woman syndrome was first coined by Walker ( 1984 ) after conducting a study in which she interviewed 435 women who were victims of domestic violence. In offering battered woman syndrome, Walker’s aim is to explain why women chose to remain in a relationship in which she was experiencing violence. She formulated the cycle of violence in which learned helplessness is the reason why woman believe that they cannot change the ongoing relationship (Walker, 1984 ). the symptoms of battered woman syndrome are similar to PTSD. This syndrome is gender specific syndrome and actually was not supported by other studies other than those of Walker. Turvey ( 2014 ) points out that if a woman is facing physical violence and if a diagnosis is needed to be assigned; rather than thinking about PTSD as a first-line choice, the symptoms of the woman should be understood because other diagnoses might be plausible, too.

Rape trauma syndrome (RTS) was described for forcible rape or attempted forcible rape by Burgess and Holmstrom ( 1974 ) who interviewed 146 women victims of rape. They purported that there is an acute and long-term phase of RTS. In acute phase, which consists of immediate impact phase, victims are engaging in their emotions and might end up in two alternative responses: being expressive or guarded. Expressive victims unclose how they feel whereas guarded ones do not. The authors also acknowledge that a rape victim might change her emotional response from one another. Long term phase of RTS is reorganization when a victim realizes that her lifestyle is affected in different ways (Burgess & Holmstrom, 1974 ). Although once accredited as a mental diagnosis of victims in courts, RTS was not an official diagnosis. Turvey ( 2014 ) criticizes both RTS and BTS on many common points. One is these syndromes are not validated by other researchers. Second, there is no follow-up validation. Third, there are no control groups comparing the affected group against. Fourth, the samples from which both BWS and RTS were described were preselected samples. The last one is these syndromes are gender-specific. Because of these reasons and many others, DSM never listed these syndromes as official diagnoses although accepted rape as a serious trauma and/or stressor for PTSD diagnosis.

Stalking trauma syndrome (STS; (Colins & Wilkas, 2001 ) is yet another syndrome discussed in the literature regarding mental health of victims. First, stalkers are people who engage in repetitive acts to harass a victim. Stalking might happen in real or cyber lives. Turvey ( 2014 ) states that some stalkers might be delusional in inferring that the victim wants to form a relationship with them while most stalkers are people who are angry with the victim because of a break-up which in fact they deny. Colins and Wilkas ( 2001 ) stated that STS is different when compared to BWS and RTS. STS is not an outcome of one incident like rape, it is an ongoing stressor. Victims of STS experience traumatic symptoms for a while when stalking is in progress. Moreover, STS victims are in actual helplessness rather than learned helplessness occurred in BWS. The authors described crisis and anticipation phase of STS while recovery phase is absent due to continuous fear of next harassment (Colins & Wilkas, 2001 ). The authors suggested that stalking causes hopelessness and helplessness in victims. Turvey ( 2014 ) highlights that these are symptoms of any crime victim. In other words, the symptoms are not differentiating the effect of stalking; they are actually too general symptoms that might be seen in any victim. He states that pathologizing normal reactions of victims might be the case in introduction of these syndromes. These syndromes should have divergent validity, each one of them should be differentiated from one another.

Brief History of these Psychological Disorders

How psychopathology begin to recognize trauma-related disorders is related to wars and their aftereffects. Applied psychology including clinical psychology developed after World War I and II (Schultz & Schultz, 2008 ). After World War I, veterans return home suffering from combat. Shell shock and combat fatigue were the names of the syndromes for traumatized soldiers. After World War II, gross stress reaction was accepted as a diagnosis in the first edition of DSM. The second version of DSM excluded gross stress reaction diagnosis partly because this edition was prepared in a war-free era (Andreasen, 2004 ).

After Vietnam war, psychiatrists came to understand that veterans were not able to return to their lives prior to war (Butcher et al., 2014 ). First, DSM II task force suggested to include Post-Vietnam Syndrome in DSM, since psychiatrists relied on DSM II and unable to diagnose traumatized veterans. Then PTSD was added to DSM as a diagnosis as well as acute PTSD. Trauma was defined as a stressor which was outside the range of normal human experience (Andreasen, 2004 ; Butcher et al., 2014 ). Psychiatrists began to argue about the nature of the traumatic event and they broad the application of the diagnosis to other stressors such as childhood sexual abuse (Andreasen, 2004 ). DSM-III definition of PTSD relied on the qualities of the stressor; later version of the diagnosis in DSM-IV-TR emphasized the emotional response of the victim (Shalev, 2009 ). Acute PTSD was dropped in DSM-III-R but it was named as acute stress disorder and accepted as a diagnosis in DSM-IV (Andreasen, 2004 ). In terms of PTSD, DSM-IV-TR suggested that in addition to the fact that the stressor should be outside the range of normal human experience, the response to the stressor should involve helplessness, horror or intense fear (Butcher et al., 2014 ). This change highlights the focus of the PTSD diagnosis, now the focus is on the experience of the victim rather than the quality of the stressor.

DSM-5 is the latest version of psychopathology and there are other changes in PTSD diagnosis. The changes are about the definition of the traumatic event, the diagnosis for children 6 years and younger. Exposure to traumatic event was detailed, as well. Traumatic event might happen to victim him/herself or the victim might witness a traumatic event personally. Other way of exposure to a traumatic event is that a victim may learn that a violent or accidental event happened to some very close like a family member or a close friend. The exposure excludes experience of a traumatic event through electronic media. The requirement of emotional experience of the trauma in the form of helplessness, intense fear or horror removed. Diagnostic criteria were explained in a separate section for children who are 6 years of age or younger (APA, 2013 ; Yılmaz, 2019a ).

Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a common type of psychopathology that can be seen surviving victims. Many clinical psychologists are working on psychological treatment of PTSD. There are many efficient and effective psychotherapies of PTSD.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for PTSD is one of the important and successful methods in treatment of PTSD (Zayfert & Becker, 2019 ). CBT is an eclectic form of psychotherapy in which cognitive models of psychotherapy and behavior analysis incorporate. According to CBT, psychopathologies lie PTSD are an outcome of dysfunctional thinking and they can be altered by new learning. Hence, as a response to a traumatic event people have some cognitions and behaviors, which compose PTSD and related difficulties. CBT aims to modify these cognitions and behaviors which are after-effects of trauma. Keane and Barlow ( 2002 ) states that sustaining factor for PTSD is avoidance symptoms. Surviving victims, for instance, might prefer staying away from crime scene, or might prefer to avoid recalling the details of the traumatic event or a crime. These are the sustaining factors for crime- related anxiety, fear and related symptoms. Victims can also report anger, and other self-conscious emotions such as shame and guilt; these are emotions that make a victim’s disclosure of a traumatic event difficult. These emotions disrupt the processing of the traumatic event which is not a health way of coping with trauma. In addition, expectation of disapproval or disbelief from the social connections, which is seen particularly with victims of sexual assault, may exacerbate the symptomatology of PTSD (Zayfert & Becker, 2019 ).

Treatment of PTSD by CBT has two core components; namely, exposure and cognitive restructuring. These two components aims to decrease avoidance behaviors. By graded exposure which could be either in real life or virtual reality, patients are equipped with an ability to make a distinction between cues of danger and cues of safety. Reprocessing of the traumatic event is also part of graded exposure. Exploration of thinking is promoted with an aim to process and understand the traumatic event better. Thoughts abut trauma are revisited and victim’s conclusions of the traumatic event are critically examined.

There are other forms of CBT that draw attention in treatment of PTSD. One is stress inoculation therapy while the other is eye movement desensitization therapy (EMDR). The first form, stress inoculation therapy aims to teach a patient to manage stress effectively by some strategies like relaxation, thought stopping and assertive communication. While the other form; EMDR, aims to present a moving visual stimulus while revisiting the traumatic event. These processes are accompanied by cognitive restructuring to some degree (Zayfert & Becker, 2019 ).

Another approach in psychological treatment of PTSD is metacognitive treatment which is in fact a kind of cognitive therapy (Wells, 2000 ). In this approach, the main aim is to deal with reflexive adaptation process (RAP). Wells and Sembi ( 2004a ) points out that RAP is a normal reaction to immediate trauma and perseverance blocks RAP by metacognitions, i.e. cognitions about thinking style of oneself. Perseverations comprise of worry and rumination, threat monitoring, and dysfunctional though control mechanisms. Avoidance and dissociation further blocks emotional processing of trauma and give rise to perseveration. Depending on these premises, metacognitive therapy offers some ways to deal with perseverance including worry postponement, detached mindfulness, and attentional modification (Wells & Sembi, 2004a ). In another study, Wells and Sembi ( 2004b ) applied metacognitive therapy to victims of various traumas such as armed robbery and they had promising results. The sample they worked with showed marked improvement in their PTSD symptoms. Their resuls were also effective in follow up measurements. Wells, Walton, Lovell, and Proctor ( 2015 ) conducted a study to compare the effectiveness of metacognitive therapy with prolonged exposure therapy in PTSD patients; they also had wait list group. In this current study, it is seen that both types of psychotherapy were effective in decreasing symptoms of PTSD, anxiety and depression when compared to wait-list group. The difference between metacognitive therapy with prolonged exposure therapy occurred in post-treatment measures (Wells et al., 2015 ).

Considering that there are many types of psychotherapy offering treatment to PTSD and each one of them have strengths in improvement of PTSD symptoms. At this point, one should focus on the studies investigating the parts of a therapy which make it more efficient. Therapeutic alliance, the relationship between a patient and a psychotherapist makes important and positive effects in treatment outcome and effectiveness studies. Having positive alliance, trust and genuineness in psychotherapist-patient dyad could make a therapy effective (Howgego, Yellowlees, Owen, Meldrum, & Dark, 2003 ). In a study, sample consisted of people suffering from childhood abuse-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and successful therapy outcomes were result of therapeutic alliance and emotional regulation capacity (Cloitre, Chase Stovall-McClough, Miranda, & Chemtob, 2004 ).

Professionals Working with Victims: Secondary Trauma, Vicarious Trauma, Compassion Fatigue, Countertransference and Occupational Burnout

Once a devastating event occurs and people get affected from it whether directly or indirectly, many professionals begin working with this case to improve the consequences. Some of these professionals are ambulance drivers, the police, lawyers, search and rescue teams, paramedics, emergency department professionals such as physicians and nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers (Rothschild & Rand, 2006 ; Yılmaz & Karakuş, 2019 ).

Studies show that professionals working closely with victims of devastating events are also traumatized in different ways such as trauma related stress and occupational burnout (Newell & MacNeil, 2010 ). Secondary traumatic stress and vicarious trauma are also observed in these professionals (Gürdil Birinci & Erden, 2016 ). Because professionals working in humanitarian aid are engaging in interpersonal situations that have heavy emotional burden, they might have a specific kind of work-related stress which is called as “occupational burnout” (Leiter & Maslach, 1988 ; Maslach & Jackson, 1981 ).

Secondary traumatic stress refers to PTSD-related symptoms a person might have as a result of indirectly being exposed to trauma, this way of exposure occurs with working with survivors and/or victims with PTSD (Salston & Figley, 2003 ). Vicarious traumatization is a more time dependent change in psychology of professionals working with victims (Gürdil Birinci & Erden, 2016 ; Pearlman & Saakvitne, 1995 ). Vicarious traumatization of professionals is a result of empathetic engagement with victims of trauma (Pearlman & Saakvitne, 1995 ). Unlike secondary traumatic stress which is close to PTSD symptomatology with a sudden onset, vicarious trauma affects belief system of professionals and is not related to PTSD symptomatology (Pearlman & Saakvitne, 1995 ). Belief about security, trust, dignity, intimacy and control are seriously affected in people forming interpersonal relationships with victims of devastating events (Pearlman & Saakvitne, 1995 ). Compassion fatigue is another consequence that professionals working with victims might have. Compassion fatigue corresponds to feeling emotional and physical fatigue resulting from full appreciation of what a victim of a trauma experiences (Rothschild & Rand, 2006 ; Salston & Figley, 2003 ). Countertransference is yet another consequence a professional might have as a result of working with trauma victims (Salston & Figley, 2003 ). Traumatic countertransference is defined as “…the spontaneous or evoked responses of the therapist in regard to information provided, behaviors exhibited, emotions displayed by the traumatized client.” (Salston & Figley, 2003 , p.170). This type of countertransference retain psychotherapist in correctly diagnosing and treating trauma (Danieli, 1996 ).

Because of all these outcomes of working with victims of trauma, professionals, particularly mental health workers, should be offered alternative ways of treatment. They should be controlled on a regular basis to understand whether they have psychological consequences of working with victims. Group meetings, peer meetings, and supervision could offer professionals opportunities in sharing emotions, feelings, thoughts and behaviors related to their work.

Discussion and Suggestions

The aim of this study is to highlight a view from clinical psychology in discussing victimization. As a branch of psychology, psychological assessment, and diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and behavioral problems are main topics of clinical psychology (Plante, 2005 ). General victimology, as a multidisciplinary area, concerns victims of various types of traumas, from natural disasters to sexual assaults (Van Dijk, 1999 ). Clinical psychology addresses some common topics as victimization due to trauma with general victimology. Due to this intersection between clinical psychology and general victimization, the author discussed trauma related disorders, such as acute stress disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, adjustment disorders, all of which are official diagnoses (APA, 2013 ). In addition to this, unofficial diagnoses reviewed in the literature were accounted. These unofficial diagnoses are battered woman syndrome (Walker, 1984 ), rape trauma syndrome (Burgess & Holmstrom, 1974 ), and stalking trauma syndrome (Colins & Wilkas, 2001 ). Brief history of official diagnoses of victims of trauma was included to better understand how these diagnoses showed up and how traumatic experiences seriously affect their victims. Moreover, psychological treatment of PTSD was explained since PTSD is a frequent consequence of victimization. Secondary trauma, vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, countertransference and occupational burnout were included to appreciate how professionals working in victimization area are also seriously and psychologically affected from their work. These outcomes demonstrate that professionals are also affected negatively and for long time. Their beliefs and emotions about staying safe changed due to indirect exposure to victimization.

Nevertheless, traumatic experiences might lead people to develop a better meaning in life. People can overcome the difficulties embedded in victimization and can move to a better psychological state with the help of deriving some other meaning in life. Their coping mechanisms improve and they report positive change. People can switch from suffering from a traumatic event to forming supportive relationships, feeling more personal strength, and reporting enriched existential and spiritual life (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004 ). Posttraumatic growth cannot be an excuse for victimization, but it is a consequence uncovering human potential to process and cope with suffering and trauma.

As a clinical psychologist, the author appreciates biopsychosocial model (Engel, 1977 ). This model offers to look for searching biological, psychological and social factors of a given outcome such as a traumatic event. Some people might have vulnerabilities to develop psychopathology and some others not, although they might experience the same event. These vulnerabilities might be biological or psychological. Psychological factors such as personality, social support and emotion regulation might protect a person from developing serious problems as a result of victimization. Social factors such as socioeconomic status and cultural norms might offer or hinder ways to a victim to recover from a traumatic event. All these factors are intertwined and constantly affecting each other. In terms of victimization, all these factors are better be investigated for victims, perpetrators, and for the context that the devastating event occurred. In other words, trauma is a serious event and its effects are long-lasting; hence, to fully understand it, factors surrounding the traumatic event should be analyzed altogether.

Mental health workers including clinical psychologists should be better equipped to engage in their work with victims and to feel well in performing their job. Training of mental health workers should include strategies to understand, empathize, connect with and treat victims of traumatic events. These strategies could include discussing real-life examples, hypothetical cases, and examples shown in various types of media. Books, movies, series, documentaries, and records of real-life examples are valuable sources of training. The author might suggest some media for fulfill as aim.

For instance, The Sinner, an American drama series is a perfect example of victimization, criminal justice and psychological interviewing and treatment of victims (Yılmaz, 2019b ). Another source is the book, The boy who was raised as a dog, by Perry and Szalavitz ( 2017 ) to better understand the situation of child victims. How children’s brain development is affected due to perpetual traumatic family interactions is explained in this book.

Authors’ Contributions

The author prepared all the manuscript.

This study received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Data Availability

Declarations.

The author gives consent for publication in Current Psychology Journal.

This study is a review study; no data were gathered so informed consent was not necessary.

The Author declares no conflict of interest.

Not Applicable

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

• Altınay AG, Arat Y. Türkiye’de Kadına Yönelik Şiddet Araştırma Raporu. Tübitak: Ankara; 2007. [ Google Scholar ]
• American Psychiatric Association . Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 5. Washington, DC: Publisher; 2013. [ Google Scholar ]
• Andreasen NC. PTSD as defined by the MD who wrote the dedinition DSM lll. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2004; 161 :1321–1323. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bachem R, Maercker A. Self-help interventions for adjustment disorder problems: A randomized waiting-list controlled study in a sample of burglary victims. Cognitive behaviour therapy. 2016; 45 (5):397–413. doi: 10.1080/16506073.2016.1191083. [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Benedict RHB. The effectiveness of cognitive remediation strategies for victims of traumatic head-injury: A review of the literature. Clinical Psychology Review. 1989; 9 (5):605–626. [ Google Scholar ]
• Blanchard EB, Hickling EJ, Vollmer AJ, Loos WR, Buckley TC, Jaccard J. Short-term follow-up of post-traumatic stress symptoms in motor vehicle accident victims. Behaviour Research and Therapy. 1995; 33 (4):369–377. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bracha HS. Freeze, flight, fight, fright, faint: Adaptationist perspectives on the acute stress response spectrum. CNS Spectrums. 2004; 9 (9):679–685. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Burgess A, Holmstrom L. Rape trauma syndrome. American Journal of Psychiatry. 1974; 131 (9):981–986. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Butcher JN, Hooley JM, Mineka S. Abnormal psychology. 16. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson; 2014. [ Google Scholar ]
• Campfield, D. C. (2008). Cyber bullying and victimization: Psychosocial characteristics of bullies, victims, and bully/victims. (Unpublished doctorate disseration). University of  Montana, Missoula, USA
• Cloitre M, Chase Stovall-McClough K, Miranda R, Chemtob CM. Therapeutic alliance, negative mood regulation, and treatment outcome in child abuse-related posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 2004; 72 (3):411–416. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Colins MJ, Wilkas MB. Stalking trauma syndrome. In: Davis JA, editor. Stalking crimes and victim protection. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2001. pp. 317–334. [ Google Scholar ]
• Danieli Y. Who takes care of the caregiver? In: Apfel RJ, Simon B, editors. Minefields in their hearts. New Haven: Yale University Press; 1996. pp. 189–205. [ Google Scholar ]
• Engel GL. The need for a new medical model: A challenge for biomedicine. Science. 1977; 196 (4286):129–136. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Foa EB, Rothbaum BO, Riggs DS, Murdock TB. Treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder in rape victims: A comparison between cognitive-behavioral procedures and counseling. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 1991; 59 (5):715–723. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Frommberger U, Stieglitz RD, Straub S, Nyberg E, Schlickewei W, Kuner E, Berger M. The concept of “sense of coherence” and the development of posttraumatic stress disorder in traffic accident victims. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 1999; 46 (4):343–348. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gürdil Birinci G, Erden G. Yardım çalışanlarında üstlenilmiş travma, ikincil travmatik stres ve tükenmişliğin değerlendirilmesi. Türk Psikoloji Dergisi. 2016; 31 (77):10–26. [ Google Scholar ]
• Hensel-Dittmann D, Schauer M, Ruf M, Catani C, Odenwald M, Elbert T, Neuner F. Treatment of traumatized victims of war and torture: A randomized controlled comparison of narrative exposure therapy and stress inoculation training. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. 2011; 80 (6):345–352. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Howgego IM, Yellowlees P, Owen C, Meldrum L, Dark F. The therapeutic alliance: The key to effective patient outcome? A descriptive review of the evidence in community mental health case management. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 2003; 37 (2):169–183. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Karmen A. Crime victims: An introduction to Victimology. eighth ed. Toronto: Wadsworth New York; 2012. [ Google Scholar ]
• Keane TM, Barlow DH. Posttraumatic stress disorder. In: Barlow DH, editor. Anxiety and its disorders (2nd ed.) New York: Guilford Press; 2002. pp. 418–453. [ Google Scholar ]
• Kilpatrick DG, Saunders BE, Veronen LJ, Best CL, Von JM. Criminal victimization: Lifetime prevalence, reporting to police, and psychological impact. Crime & Delinquency. 1987; 33 (4):479–489. [ Google Scholar ]
• Kimerling R, Calhoun KS. Somatic symptoms, social support, and treatment seeking among sexual assault victims. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 1994; 62 (2):333–340. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Leiter MP, Maslach C. The impact of interpersonal environment on burnout and organizational commitment. Journal of Organizational Behavior. 1988; 9 (4):297–308. doi: 10.1002/job.4030090402. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lorenz L, Bachem RC, Maercker A. The adjustment disorder–new module 20 as a screening instrument: Cluster analysis and cut-off values. Int Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (The IJOEM) 2016; 7 (4):775–215. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lönnqvist JK, Henriksson MM, Sisometsä ET, Marttunen MJ, Heikkinen ME, Aro HM, Kuoppasalmı KL. Mental disorders and suicide prevention. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. 1995; 49 :S111–S116. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Maslach C, Jackson SE. The measurement of experienced burnout. Journal of Organizational Behavior. 1981; 2 (2):99–113. doi: 10.1002/job.4030020205. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mason F, Lodrick Z. Psychological consequences of sexual assault. Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology. 2013; 27 (1):27–37. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Newell JM, MacNeil GA. Professional burnout, vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion fatigue: A review of theoretical terms, risk factors, and preventive methods for clinicians and researchers. Best Practices in Mental Health. 2010; 6 (2):57–67. [ Google Scholar ]
• Nishith P, Resick PA, Griffin MG. Pattern of change in prolonged exposure and cognitive-processing therapy for female rape victims with posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 2002; 70 (4):880–886. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Öztürk E. Travma ve dissosiyasyon psikotravmatoloji tanı kitabı: Dissosiyatif kimlik bozukluğunun psikoterapisi ve aile dinamikleri. İstanbul: Nobel Tıp; 2020. [ Google Scholar ]
• Pearlman L, Saakvitne K. Trauma and the therapist: countertransference and vicarious traumatization in psychotherapy with incest survivors. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. 1995; 4 :451. doi: 10.1080/00029157.1996.10403354. [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Perry BD, Szalavitz M. Köpek Gibi Büyütülmüş Çocuk [the boy who was raised as a dog: And other stories from a child Psychiatrist's notebook - what traumatized children can teach us about loss, love, and healing] (Turkish version translated by B. S. Haktanır) İstanbul: Koridor Press; 2017. [ Google Scholar ]
• Plante TG. Contemporary clinical psychology. New Jersey: Johyn Wiley & Sons; 2005. [ Google Scholar ]
• Resick PA, Schnicke MK. Cognitive processing therapy for sexual assault victims. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 1992; 60 (5):748–756. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Resick PA, Nishith P, Weaver TL, Astin MC, Feuer CA. A comparison of cognitive-processing therapy with prolonged exposure and a waiting condition for the treatment of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder in female rape victims. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 2002; 70 (4):867–879. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Rothschild B, Rand M. Help for the helper, self-care strategies for managing burnout and stress: The psychophysiology of compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma. New York: W. W. Norton; 2006. [ Google Scholar ]
• Rubonis AV, Bickman L. A test of the consensus and distinctiveness attribution principles in victims of disaster 1. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 1991; 21 (10):791–809. [ Google Scholar ]
• Rüstemli A, Karanci AN. Correlates of earthquake cognitions and preparedness behavior in a victimized population. The Journal of Social Psychology. 1999; 139 (1):91–101. [ Google Scholar ]
• Salston M, Figley CR. Secondary traumatic stress effects of working with survivors of criminal victimization. Journal of Traumatic Stress. 2003; 16 (2):167–174. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Schultz, D., & Schultz, S. (2008). A history of modern psychology (9th. ed.). Upper Saddle River: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
• Shalev AY. Posttraumatic stress disorder and stress-related disorders. Psychiatric Clinics. 2009; 32 (3):687–704. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Sirles EA, Smith JA, Kusama H. Psychiatric status of intrafamilial child sexual abuse victims. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 1989; 28 (2):225–229. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Sumer N, Karanci AN, Berument SK, Gunes H. Personal resources, coping self-efficacy, and quake exposure as predictors of psychological distress following the 1999 earthquake in Turkey. Journal of Traumatic Stress: Official Publication of The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. 2005; 18 (4):331–342. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Tedeschi RG, Calhoun L. Posttraumatic growth: A new perspective on psychotraumatology. Psychiatric Times. 2004; 21 (4):58–60. [ Google Scholar ]
• Turvey BE. Forensic victimology: Examining violent crimes in investigating and legal contexts. Waltham: Elsevier; 2014. [ Google Scholar ]
• van Dijk, J. J. M. (1999). Introducing victimology. In J. J. M. van Dijk, R. G. H. van Kaam, &  J. Wemmers (Eds.), Caring for crime victims: Selected proceedings of the Ninth  International Symposium on Victimology, Amsterdam, August 25-29, 1997 (pp. 1-12). Criminal Justice Press. 
• Walker LE. The battered woman syndrome. New York: Springer; 1984. [ Google Scholar ]
• Wells A. Emotional disorders and metacognition: Innovative cognitive therapy. Chichester: Wiley; 2000. [ Google Scholar ]
• Wells A, Sembi S. Metacognitive therapy for PTSD: A core treatment manual. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice. 2004; 11 (4):365–377. [ Google Scholar ]
• Wells A, Sembi S. Metacognitive therapy for PTSD: A preliminary investigation of a new brief treatment. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry. 2004; 35 (4):307–318. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Wells A, Walton D, Lovell K, Proctor D. Metacognitive therapy versus prolonged exposure in adults with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder: A parallel randomized controlled trial. Cognitive Therapy and Research. 2015; 39 (1):70–80. [ Google Scholar ]
• Wolynn M. It didn't start with you: How inherited family trauma shapes who we are and how to end the cycle. USA: Penguin; 2017. [ Google Scholar ]
• Yılmaz T, Karakuş C. Klinik Psikoloji Bağlamında Kadına Yönelik Aile İçi Şiddetin Değerlendirilmesi: Kadın, Çocuk ve Meslek Elemanlarının Psikolojisi Üzerine Bir Gözden Geçirme Çalışması Mediterranean Journal of Humanities. 2019; 19 (2):573–588. [ Google Scholar ]
• Yılmaz T. Ruhsal Bozuklukların Tanısal ve Sayımsal El Kitabının (DSM) Son İki Baskısı Arasındaki Değişikliklerin İncelenmesi. In: Yılmaz T, editor. Psikoloji, Sosyoloji ve Coğrafya Bakış Açısından Sağlık . Ankara: Berikan; 2019. pp. 1–19. [ Google Scholar ]
• Yılmaz T. The sinner dizisinin travma sonrası stres bozukluğu bağlamında çözümlemesi (analysis of the sinner series in terms of post traumatic stress disorder) AYNA Clinical Psychology Journal. 2019; 6 (2):183–203. [ Google Scholar ]
• Zara-Page A, İnce M. Aile İçi Şiddet Konusunda Bir Derleme. Türk Psikoloji Yazıları 2008; 11 (22):81–94. [ Google Scholar ]
• Zayfert C, Becker CB. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for PTSD: A case formulation approach. New York: Guilford Press; 2019. [ Google Scholar ]

• Technical Support
• Find My Rep

You are here

Victimology A Comprehensive Approach

• Leah E. Daigle - Georgia State University, USA
• Lisa R. Muftic - Western New England University, USA
• Description

See what’s new to this edition by selecting the Features tab on this page. Should you need additional information or have questions regarding the HEOA information provided for this title, including what is new to this edition, please email [email protected] . Please include your name, contact information, and the name of the title for which you would like more information. For information on the HEOA, please go to http://ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/hea08/index.html .

For assistance with your order: Please email us at [email protected] or connect with your SAGE representative.

SAGE 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, CA 91320 www.sagepub.com

Supplements

study.sagepub.com/daiglevict2e

Password-protected  Instructor Resources include the following:

• A  Microsoft® Word®   test bank  that provides a diverse range of pre-written options as well as the opportunity to edit any question and/or insert your own personalized questions to effectively assess students’ progress and understanding.
• Editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides that offer flexibility when creating multimedia lectures and you can customize to your exact needs.
• Carefully selected  video and multimedia links  that feature relevant interviews, lectures, personal stories, inquiries, and other content for use in independent or classroom-based explorations of key topics.
• Access to full-text SAGE journal articles that have been carefully selected to support and expand on the concepts presented in each chapter is included.

“Daigle and Muftic’s Victimology offers a thorough state-of-the-art review of victimology. It is required reading for both junior and senior scholars interested in learning about the causes and consequences of victimization across the life-course.”

“A solid, well-written, reasonably priced textbook that does well in covering the basics in the field of victimology.”

“For an undergraduate course, this is the most thorough text I have seen for victimology. I would recommend it over others because it has a clear scope and sequence, easily identifiable learning objectives, and excellent ancillary materials.”

“This textbook is a comprehensive overview of the study of victimization. It provides students with a detailed look at the field of victimology in terms of the nature and extent of victimization, as well as explanations and responses to victimization. It is extremely well written and accessible to students. I appreciate the authors’ incorporation of current literature and detailed description of key concepts in the field. I highly recommend it for undergraduate victimology courses.”

• A renewed focus on a trauma-informed approach has been incorporated throughout to better situate victimization as a form of trauma.
• A separate section on prevention , included in each chapter, highlights what can be done to reduce victimization.
• Emerging topics within the growing field of victimology are explored , such as immigration and victimization, bullying, homicides and sexual assaults involving LGBTQ persons, school shootings, and more.
• The use of social media and the internet as tools of sexual victimization is examined within the context of recent events , such as the #MeToo movement and the rise of revenge porn.
• Updated statistics provide students with the most up-to-date research and scholarly thinking in the field.
• The authors have reorganized and streamlined the text to hone in on the key issues in victimology.
• Each chapter consistently defines and measures a type of victimization, explores its characteristics, risk factors, and consequences of victimization , and concludes with the responses taken by the legal system, the criminal justice system, and other social services.
• An overarching focus on the extent, causes, and responses to victimization equips students with the foundational knowledge needed to apply key concepts to real-life situations.    
• A focus on international issues and a global perspective throughout the text offer students a comparative view for key topics and issues in victimology.
• A Victimology in the News boxed feature helps students apply chapter concepts to contemporary news stories.
• Research projects and findings within each chapter, both in Focus on Research boxes and throughout the narrative , highlight the connection and impact research has had in the field of victimology.
• Case Studies illustrate key concepts and connect students to individuals who are victims and perpetrators of crime.

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1: Introduction to Victimology

Chapter 3: The Victim–Offender Overlap

For instructors

Select a purchasing option, related products.

CJ 3300: Victimology

• What is Victimology
• Victimization in the United States
• Theories of Criminal Victimization
• Criminal Justice System
• Domestic Violence/ Sexual Assault/ Special Victim Groups
• Restorative Justice
• Service-Learning Project

Library Help

What is victimology.

Victimology is "An area of criminology which studies the victims of crime and their relationship with offenders,"  Oxford Dictionary of Law Enforcement .

Search Strategies

When finding scholarly articles in the library databases, learning a few key search strategies will make your search process more effective. When using search engines like Google, you can type in whole questions or long phrases. But library databases are designed differently and require adjusting our search process. Use the following strategies to find the information most relevant to your research! 

Search Terms

First, brainstorm the main search terms related to your topic. Library database works best when you use nouns as search terms—eliminate any articles (of, to, is, the), adjectives (best, worst, good, bad), and most verbs (affect, change, alter, support).

Quotation Marks

Quotation marks are used to tell databases to search for exact phrases. This is especially useful for topics that can't be boiled down to a single word.

• "restorative justice"
• "victim blaming"

This is also helpful when searching for a specific source.

• "Violence Against Women Act"

You'll then connect your search terms using AND to create a search string you can use in a database search box.

When you connect search terms using AND, the database finds items that contain  all  your search terms. Search strings using AND narrow our search and make it more specific to our topic. 

• stepfamilies AND adolescents
• "rape law reform" AND legislation
• "Intimate partner violence" AND "victim services"

Most of the time, you'll want to use search strings with at least two search terms, in order to find the research most relevant to your needs. But be aware, search strings work best with no more than three or four search terms—otherwise, your search will be too narrow and the database might not find anything.

• OneSearch This link opens in a new window Includes the Fulton Library’s books and videos, articles from many library databases, and more. OneSearch is the default search on the library’s homepage.
• SocINDEX This link opens in a new window Some peer-reviewed content. Covers topics including gender studies, criminal justice, social psychology, religion, racial studies, and social work. Partial full text available.

• ScienceDirect Journals This link opens in a new window Peer-reviewed content. Access to journals in biology, psychology, technology, economics, nursing, Health Sciences, and law. Complete full text from 1995-present; collection can be searched from first issues-present with partial full text available.

Partially peer reviewed. Some full-text content.

Journals and Trade Magazines

• International Perspectives in Victimology The journal is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary publication with focus on traditional and newly emerging areas of victimology. Topics covered may include: victims of crimes, abuse of power, road traffic accidents, domestic violence, child abuse, bullying, disasters, and war; victim services; victimological theories; victim rights: victim compensation and restitution; restorative justice; and new conceptual developments and research in the field.
• Journal of Behavior Analysis of Offender and Victim Treatment and Prevention The Journal of Behavior Analysis of Offender and Victim Treatment and Prevention focuses on the role of behavior analysis in adult and juvenile crime prevention, assessment of offenders including risk assessment, and treatment programs from a behavioral orientation including but not limited to the use of behavioral counseling, collaborative goal setting, contingency management, functional assessment, functionally based interventions, respondent conditioning and counter-conditioning procedures, functional analytic psychotherapy and acceptance and commitment therapy.
• Journal of Interpersonal Violence The Journal of Interpersonal Violence offers the most up-to-date information on domestic violence, rape, child sexual abuse, and other violent crimes.
• Journal of Victimology and Victim Justice Journal of Victimology and Victim Justice , a peer-reviewed journal, focuses on both critical leadership and practical development representing victimological perspectives from a broad range of disciplines and contribute to a greater understanding of victims, victimization, victim-offender relations, institutional functioning, and allied issues.

The Rediscovery of Crime Victims

• Start by Believing Video
• Learn to Recognize Domestic Violence and Get Help
• Utah Code of Criminal Procedure
• Utah Courts: Protective Orders This webpage is about cohabitant, dating violence and sexual violence protective orders. It explains what a protective order is, the different types of protective orders available, how to ask for one, how to respond to a request for one, and how to ask for a change to an existing protective order. Some people call this kind of order a "restraining order," but the legal term is "protective order."
• Utah Department of Public Safety - Victim Rights & Services Lists Utah victims rights and services available.
• Utah Domestic Violence Coalition (UDVC) Free and confidential support for victims and survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence.
• Substance Use and Mental Health (SUMH) Victim Advocate SUMH’s victim advocate provides a trained, community-based, trauma-informed voice to provide support and assistance to crime victims involved with the Board of Pardons and Parole (BOPP). The victim advocate can provide support and assistance with a variety of activities.
• Utah Coaltion Against Sexual Assault Utah information and services for sexual assault victims and volunteers.
• UVU Title IX The University has an obligation to take immediate and effective steps to eliminate gender discrimination, including sexual harassment, sexual assault, and sexual violence.
• UVU Victim Support Services Our Victims Navigator is a confidential resource on campus who is able to provide trauma-informed advocacy and navigation for survivors.
• UVU Police Department Victim Services The UVU Police Department has a full-time victim advocate that provides victim services to all UVU students, faculty, and campus community.
• RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) RAINN is the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization. RAINN created and operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE, online.rainn.org y rainn.org/es) in partnership with more than 1,000 local sexual assault service providers across the country and operates the DoD Safe Helpline for the Department of Defense. RAINN also carries out programs to prevent sexual violence, help survivors, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.

Interlibrary Loan for Articles

If you can't access the full text of an article using any of the resources on this page, use Interlibrary Loan to request the article. We'll locate another library that has the article and get you a PDF copy for free; this typically takes 2-3 business days. UVU students and employees should never pay for articles—the library has you covered!

• Interlibrary Loan Request books and articles not owned by the UVU Fulton Library.

Ask Your Librarian

• Call : 801.863.8840
• Text : 801.290.8123
• In-Person Help
• Email a Librarian
• Make an Appointment
• << Previous: Home
• Next: Victimization in the United States >>
• Last Updated: Apr 9, 2024 3:27 PM
• URL: https://uvu.libguides.com/CJ3300

88 Intriguing Victimology Topics for Academic Writing

Table of Contents

Victimology is a branch of science that focuses on the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator. Typically, the study of victims of crime focuses on comprehending and examining their needs, rights, and experiences. It explores a range of victimization-related topics, including the psychological, social, and legal implications that victims experience. Researching victimology may give legislators, law enforcement, and support groups insightful information that they can use to create efficient victim help and crime prevention plans. This article will examine several victimology dissertations and research topics, bringing light on important issues that need consideration and examination.

Tips for Selecting an Ideal Victimology Research Topic

This is how you should approach writing a superb Victimology research paper. Check out the tips.

• First, pick a compelling subject for your Victimology research paper.
• Second, thoroughly investigate your subject and compile the evidence you’ll need to support your argument.
• Thirdly, use the ideas acquired to create a research paper outline.
• Fourth, as per the requirements set out by your university, compose a well-organized Victimology research paper that includes such crucial elements as an abstract, introduction, literature review, research methodology, discussion, findings, and bibliography.
• Finalize your study work by editing and proofreading it.

Also Read: Also Read: Know How to Quote a Movie in Academic Writing

List of Victimology Topics to Consider for Academic Work

Here, we’ve provided a list of fascinating Victimology study topics and ideas covering a variety of subjects. Examine them all, then choose one on which you feel most at ease conducting research.

Interesting Victimology Research Topics

• Positivist and Radical Victimology Perspectives in Comparison
• Victimology and Marginalisation Contribution
• Victimization, Victimology, and Crime
• Female Assault Crime Victims Managing Victimology
• Radical victimology, positivism, and feminism
• Background of Victimology in History
• Victimology’s History and Social Effects
• Justice System and Victimology’s Effect
• Law Enforcement and Victimology Research
• Victimology theories and Merton’s theory of strain
• Criminology and victimology are related
• Human rights, victims, and victimology: The Politics of Victimisation
• Victimology’s Function in Law Enforcement
• Alternatives to the Current Criminal Justice System and Victimology
• The criminal justice system and victimology

Also read: Amazing Soccer Essay Topics and Ideas To Consider

Best Victimology Topics and Ideas

• Victimology and Preventing Crime Victimisation
• The Impact of Victimology on the Justice System
• Restorative justice and victimology
• Criminal psychology and victimology share similarities
• Victimology: Criminal Victimisation and Crime
• Victimology: Victims in Criminology
• Victimology: Why Domestic Violence Occurs
• Victimology: The Function of Victims in Crime
• What Is Criminology of Victims?
• Why is the victimology perspective crucial to comprehending serial killing?
• What Roles Do the Different Personalities Play in Victimology Research?
• What Distinguishes Victimology from Victimologists?
• How Do Criminology, Penology, and Victimology Relate to One Another
• How Do Victimology and Criminal Psychology Relate?
• What Does the Term “Human Behaviour and Victimology” Mean?
• What psychology degrees provide a criminal victimology concentration
• What Impact Does Victimology Have on Society?
• What is the worst theory from the classical schools for describing victimology?
• What Benefits Does Victimology Have in the Philippines?
• Why Is It Important to Research Victimology and Human Behaviour?

Fascinating Victimology Topics for Assignments

• Victimology: What Does It Say About Child Abuse?
• What distinguishes victimology from sociology?
• What Recent Victimology Research Topics Are There?
• Victimology: What Is It and Why Is It Important?
• Victimology in Human Behaviour: What Is It?
• What part does victimology play in criminological and criminal justice research?
• What Distinguishes Psychology from Victimology?
• Do you consider “white victimology” to be a legitimate idea?
• What Factors in Victimology Allow the State to Be a Perpetrator?
• What View Did Heidegger Have Towards Victimology?
• What Is the Synopsis of Victimology by Hans von Hentig?
• What Commonalities Exist Between the Three Fundamental Theories of Victimology?
• What Is the Victimology Historical Overview?
• Who Invented Victimology and Why?
• What Kinds of Victimology Are There?
• Victimology: How Do You Determine It?
• How Do Victimology and Penology Relate?
• What Application Does Victimology Have to Law Enforcement?
• The effects of victim-blaming on sexual assault survivors.
• Investigating how social assistance helps crime victims heal.

Unique Victimology Topics for Research

• Explore the role of social support in the recovery of crime victims.
• Analyze the relationship between victimization and subsequent criminal behavior.
• Investigate the prevalence and consequences of hate crimes against marginalized communities.
• Examine the long-term psychological effects of childhood abuse on adult survivors.
• Discuss the current issues in victimology.
• Explain how to quantify Victimology.
• What are the many forms of Victimology?
• Explain the Victimology Project by Ellisha Shelsta.
• Write about victimology and domestic violence
• Discuss the career opportunities in Victimology.

Also read: Best Cognitive Dissonance Essay Topics Ideas

Captivating Victimology Essay Topics

• Assessing how well restorative justice procedures work for victims of violent crimes.
• Investigating how adult survivors of child abuse are affected psychologically over time.
• Examining the connection between previous victimization and criminal behavior.
• Investigating the needs and experiences of cyberbullying victims.
• Evaluating the success of victim compensation programs in delivering help and justice
• Examining the incidence and effects of hate crimes against vulnerable populations.
• Examining how media coverage affects how people see and treat crime victims.
• Examining the intersectionality of victimization while taking racial, gender, and socioeconomic variables into account.
• Examining the needs and experiences of domestic abuse victims in remote locations.
• Investigating how to assist crime victims who have experienced trauma.
• Evaluating the criminal court system’s use of victim impact statements.
• Examining the needs and experiences of human trafficking victims.
• Examining the part played by victim involvement in the criminal justice system.
• Investigating how victimization affects academic performance and educational outcomes.
• Examining the needs and experiences of victims of mass shootings.
• Examining how technology contributes to and prevents victimization.
• Investigating the link between victimization and drug use/addiction.
• Investigating the needs and experiences of white-collar crime victims.

Also read: Best Parenting Essay Topics To Focus On

Victimology offers a wide range of study alternatives to explore the complexities of victimization experiences and provide effective interventions for crime prevention and victim care. When examining various aspects of victimology, the aforementioned essay and research themes provide a starting point and indicate significant areas that require more study. By doing in-depth research in these areas, academics may establish victim-centered policies and practices and eventually advocate for a more just and encouraging society for all crime victims.

Final Words

All of the subjects for Victimology research papers in this article are excellent choices for high-caliber work. Never, ever approach the subject of your Victimology research paper from your point of view. Follow your instructor’s research paper writing instructions and compose the paper from an academic perspective.

If you need help producing a great Victimology research paper or are having trouble approaching Victimology research subjects, we can help you. We provide affordable and best Paper Producing Services. Simply make an order by sending us the details of your project, and our staff of qualified writers will provide you with prompt writing assistance on any topic, including Victimology issues. The experts at Great Assignment Help will provide top-notch, plagiarism-free research papers on the most appropriate subjects for achieving the highest grades while meeting the deadline.

Related Post

100 Outstanding Business Research Topics To Focus On

100 Best Sports Research Topics To Deal With

Top 100 Human Resources Research Topics and Ideas

About author.

Jacob Smith

Jacob Smith guides students with writing research paper topics and theses at greatassignmenthelp.com. Read about the author from this page

https://www.greatassignmenthelp.com/

Comments are closed.

• Featured Posts

200 Impressive Business Essay Topics

175 unique bioethics topics to consider for academic paper, apa vs. mla: know the major differences between the citation styles, top 155 java project ideas for beginners and experts, top 100 informative essay topics and ideas, 190 excellent sustainability research topics, learn how to use spatial order in academic writing, 65 trending data engineering project ideas, 10 best essay writing apps for students [2023], get help instantly.

Raise Your Grades with Great Assignment Help

IResearchNet

Victimization Topics

Victimization can be defined as the act or process of someone being injured or damaged by another person. The resulting damage may be physical (e.g., bruises, broken bones) or psychological (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], depression). Victimization is a frequent event that occurs within an interpersonal context, often involving an abuse of power, such as a parent who abuses a child; an adult child who abuses a frail, elderly parent; or a teacher who sexually abuses a student. Although past research on victimization has tended to be compartmentalized, a more integrative approach is needed not only because of the frequent comorbidity among the different types of victimization, but also because of the shared psychological issues. Read more about  Victimization .

Victimization Research Topics

• Battered Woman Syndrome
• Child Maltreatment
• Child Sexual Abuse
• Intimate Partner Violence
• Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
• Psychological Autopsy
• Rape Trauma Syndrome
• Reporting Crimes and Victimization
• Sexual Assault Victims Coping
• Sexual Harassment
• Victim Participation in Criminal Justice

To understand victimization, several core themes need to be acknowledged. Contrary to a layperson’s perspective, victimization is not a rare event that occurs only in a stranger-on-stranger context. On the contrary, victimization is an extraordinarily frequent event that most often occurs in, and adheres to, the ordinary roles of human life. Although stereotyped conceptions of victimization do occur (e.g., a woman raped by a stranger walking down a street at night) and are damaging and need to be addressed, these types of victimization are not the norm outside the context of a war. Rather, the most significant sources of victimization are those that arise out of our ordinary day-to-day roles, such as those of spouse, parent, child, and friend. Thus, victimization must be understood as an inherent part of human relationships.

Academic Writing, Editing, Proofreading, And Problem Solving Services

Get 10% off with 24start discount code.

Browse other Forensic Psychology Research Topics .

• Students, Learn & Study
• Account & Ebooks
• Bookstores & Libraries

• Browse Subjects
• Browse Authors
• Africana Studies
• Anthropology and Archaeology
• Business and Accounting
• Community College
• Criminal Justice
• Logic and Mathematics
• Medicine, Health, and Nutrition
• Political Science
• Regional Interest
• Sociology and Religion
• Sports and Risk Management

Current Issues in Victimology Research

Third edition.

Edited by: Laura J. Moriarty , Robert A. Jerin

Tags: Victimology

Table of Contents (PDF)

304  pp  $40.00

ISBN 978-1-61163-866-0 eISBN 978-1-5310-0012-7

10% discount and free ground shipping within the United States for all orders over $50

Since the birth of the field of victimology in the late 1940s and early 1950s, research has focused on victim-offender relationships and victim culpability. It has only been in the last few decades, as the field of victimology continues to grow and with several national criminal justice organizations launching victimology sub-sections, that researchers have both studied the effects of crime upon the victim and analyzed the services provided to the crime victim. In Current Issues in Victimology Research , editors Laura Moriarty and Robert Jerin reveal the criminal act's impact upon individuals and society as understood through recent research, providing the criminal justice field with a foundation for grasping the complexities of crime victimization. Current Issues in Victimology Research serves well as a textbook for a victimology course or as a companion to any traditional textbook.

This new edition features the works of noted scholars and practitioners in the field who summarize the existing literature on victimology and its sub-areas. Many of the chapters together represent topical areas not covered in other volumes, and the original empirical research contained in the chapters has not been published elsewhere.

Moreover, each chapter represents a thorough, comprehensive, and up-to-date view of its subject matter. The fifteen chapters address current issues in victimology research, including:

• victim services
• effectiveness of batterer intervention programs
• electronic monitoring of domestic violence offenders
• improving police records of repeat domestic violence
• repeat victimization and problem-oriented policing
• black women victimized by the police
• hate crimes
• child fatalities
• children's advocacy centers
• elder maltreatment and social responses
• elder neglect and strain
• campus crime
• Federal legislation and campus response to college sexual assault
• campus rape adjudication
• youth internet victimization

Comp Copy If you are a professor teaching in this field you may request a complimentary copy .

• Carolina Academic Press
• 700 Kent St, Durham NC 27701
• P: 919-489-7486
• Accessibility
• Examination Copy Information
• Order Status
• Publish with Us

© CAP 2024

Victim Justice & Victimology Issues

Further reading for victim/survivors & facilitators, back to categories | next category.

Acker, James, and Karp, David. Wounds that Do Not Bind: Victim-Based Perspectives on the Death Penalty , Carolina Academic Press, 2006.

This volume presents perspectives of murder victims family members, academics, and crime victims advocates regarding the significance of capital punishment to murder victims’ survivors. The book includes more than twenty chapters that examine a variety of issues concerning these survivors, or co-victims, and the death penalty.  Includes: Part I: Personal accounts: the experiences of co-victims of murder, other crime victims, and victim advocates. Part. II: Legal perspectives. Causing death and sustaining life: the law, capital punishment, and criminal homicide victims.  Part III: Research perspectives. The death penalty and the families of victims: an overview of research.  Part IV: Policy implications: capital punishment, criminal justice practices, and victim services.

Crawford, A., and Goodey, J. (Editors). Integrating a Victim Perspective into the Criminal Justice System: International Debates , Ashgate, U.K., 2000.

The implications of introducing a victim’s perspective into the delicate balance between state and offender is likely to be a key issue in the future of criminal justice. This volume outlines the contours of the relevant debates, drawing together contributions from several different fields, including criminology, law, philosophy, social policy, politics and sociology.   Includes the following essays:

• The status of victims: Victims as consumers of the criminal justice system?
• Individualization of the victim: from positivism to postmodernism
• Taking the law into their own hands: victims as offenders
• Implications of the international crime victims survey for a victim perspective
• Victims within criminal justice: The new status of victims in the UK: opportunities and threats
• Victims and criminal justice: creating responsible criminal justice agencies
• Integrating a victim perspective in criminal justice through victim impact statements
• Victims’ rights, defendants’ rights and criminal procedure
• Victims and restorative justice: The practice of family group conferences in New Zealand: assessing the place, potential and pitfalls of restorative justice
• Integrating a multi-victim perspective into criminal justice through restorative justice conferences
• Extending the victim perspective towards a systemic restorative justice alternative
• Salient themes towards a victim perspective and the limitations of restorative justice: some concluding comments

Fattah, Ezzat (Editor). Towards a Critical Victimology , Macmillan, 1992.

Towards a Critical Victimology offers a serious challenge to the law and order perspective on victims’ rights and the false contest that is usually created between those rights and the rights of offenders. It sheds light on the way victim initiatives emerged, the timing of those initiatives, their seemingly ulterior motives, and the political interests they are meant to serve.

Fattah, Ezzat, and Parmentier, Stefaan (Editors). Victim Policies and Criminal Justice on the Road to Restorative Justice: Essays in Honour of Tony Peters , Leuven. 2001.

This edited volume contains 22 papers organized into three sections under the following headings:  Part I — On Promoting Victim Policies;  Part II  — On Reforming Criminal Justice; and Part III — On Restorative Justice.  All three areas are ones to which Tony Peters, former Professor of Criminology in Leuven, has made a significant contribution and for which he is known as an international authority. During his long and productive academic career Tony Peters led many struggles for criminal justice reform. He was a leading figure in the movement to recognize crime victims’ plight and to reaffirm their rights. In Belgium, he spearheaded the early initiatives in restorative justice and became one of its outspoken proponents nationally and internationally.   These three major topics and the various developments and reforms that are addressed in the papers are aimed to add to the thinking about, and the practice of, criminal justice in the years to come. Thus, in addition to paying homage to a congenial friend and an illustrious colleague, it is hoped that this book will appeal and prove useful to all those who have an interest in victims issues, in criminal justice reform, and last but not least, in the promising paradigm of restorative justice.

Fattah, Ezzat, and Peters, Tony (Editors). Support for Crime Victims in a Comparative Perspective: Essays dedicated to Professor Frederick McClintock , Leuven University, 1998.

 In part one, acknowledged experts from Finland, Holland, Switzerland, Spain and the U.K. report on the developments in victimology and discuss the discipline’s impact on criminal justice policy.  Part two takes a broader perspective explaining how restorative justice initiatives could provide a viable and less costly alternative to the current retributive criminal justice system. In this part, three essays contrast the retributive and restorative justice paradigms while the remaining six essays are devoted to the theory and the different practices of restorative justice. Particular attention is given to the role crime victims can play in a new model of criminal justice and to their traditional role in aboriginal and tribal communities. Also emphasis is placed on the practice of mediation, the techniques of dispute settlement and conflict resolution aimed at restitution and harm reparation and their recent developments in different countries.

Fattah, Ezzat, Understanding Criminal Victimization , Prentice-Hall Canada, 1991.

The discussion emphasizes the theme of integrating criminological and victimological explanations and focuses on why some individuals, households, or businesses become victims while others do not; why some are more often victimized than others; and why some are repeatedly victimized. Individual sections examine conceptual and measurement issues and problems, especially the use of victimization surveys as well as the extent, trends, and patterns of criminal victimization. Additional sections focus on the reciprocal attitudes of victims and victimizers, their sociodemographic characteristics, victim-offender relationships, and their interactions. The final section reviews micro and macro explanations of criminal victimization, moving from a discussion of how offenders select their victims to the role that victim characteristics and behavior play in victimization. The text concludes with a critical review of the models proposed in the last 15 years to explain the different risks of victimization. Index and chapter reference lists.  The text is intended for use in graduate or upper-level undergraduate courses.

Galaway, Burton, and Hudson, Joe (Editors). Offender Restitution in Theory and Action , Lexington, Canada, 1977.

Contains sixteen papers associated with a Symposium on Restitution held in Minnesota in November of 1977 on the topic of offender restitution, a program model some consider to be the beginning of a more victim centered justice, victim services, and the seed of accountability which helped victim-centered RJ come to fruition. The papers focus on restitution as an idea and practice, the deterrence value and therapeutic uses of restitution, and equity theory and restitution.  One article entitled, Victims, Offenders, and the Criminal Justice System points to the consideration of victims as a key to justice. Attitudes on restitution are explored in one article, while the four remaining articles cover particular restitution programs, including one on a Victims’ Assistance Program, a victim-centered restitution program serving the residents of Rapid City, S. Dakota.  The final segment was gathered by the editors to reflect the proceedings of the symposium, and includes a discussion on victims in the justice process.

Galaway, Burt, and Hudson, Joe (Editors). Perspectives on Crime Victims , C.V. Mosby, 1981.

An early volume on crime victims that gives insight into the development into the victim rights movement, and the move to a more victim aware criminal justice system.  During the 1970’s the field of victimology expanded rapidly.  A substantial number of publications–both books and articles–appeared, and a variety of exciting victim service programs were established in many areas of the U.S.  The published work had tended to be specialized and fragmented, and appeared in a wide range of journals.  A single source from which a reader might receive an overview of the issues and questions challenging the emerging field of victimology had not been available.  This book was developed as an attempt to provide that source.  Articles were selected from journals and books representing many different disciplines and were organized to provide an overview of the field of victimology.  Where published works were not available, original papers were developed.  The editors were professors the School of Social Development at the University of Minnesota, but the book represents the ideas of a great number of people.  It is organized into sections including: Victimology as an Evolving Discipline (overview of the field, victim in the justice system, costs of crime, victim surveys), Victim-offender Systems (victim vulnerability, victim culpability, victims of family violence), Implications for the Justice System (toward victim orientation, victim involvement, victim-system interaction), and Services for Crime Victims (creating safe environments, victim service program models, alternative victim services, and victim compensation).

Kaiser, G., Kury, H., and Albrecht, H. & J. (Editors). Victims and Criminal Justice: Victimological Research: Stocktaking and Prospects , Freiburg im Bresau, 1991.

A paper on victim-related research at the Max Planck Institute is followed by a review of research on victimization and related topics in the Federal Republic of Germany and in the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany). Other chapters address victimology research in Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Greece, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Israel, Africa, and Japan. A section on victim surveys contains 18 papers. A number of the papers focus on victimization surveys in the following countries: Federal Republic of Germany, Great Britain, Scandinavian countries, Switzerland, and Japan. Other papers focus on particular topics of relevance to victim surveys. these topics include victim behavior and the risk of victimization, victim characteristics, fear of crime, attitudes toward the police and the mass media, fear of crime in Germany, and public attitudes toward crime as manifested in the Zurich Victim Survey (Switzerland). The volume concludes with the presentation of the results of victim survey research in a small Greek town, with reference to the attitudes toward crime and the criminal justice system. Chapter references, tables, and figures.

Shapland, J., Wilmore, J., Duff, P. Victims in the Criminal Justice System , Gower, 1985.

This study of 276 violent crime victims’ experiences in the British criminal justice system focuses on the operations of the police, the courts, victim support groups, and victim compensation schemes. Study subjects were persons victimized by violent crimes reported to the police from January 1979 in Coventry and April 1979 in Northampton through July 1980. Subjects were interviewed as soon as possible after the report to the police, after committal proceedings (if the case was committed from the magistrates’ court to the crown court), after the case outcome, and after the result of any application or award of compensation. Victims’ feelings and needs were ignored by many of the professionals, and victims had no clearly defined role to play in case processing. Compensation schemes often failed to meet victim needs. Overall, system assumptions about victim needs< did not match victims’ expectations of the system. The proposal for victim-oriented case processing advocates the development of a clearly defined plan for victim participation. Recommendations for improvement cover the provision of information for victims, investigation and prosecution, victim compensation, and victim support services. 87 references and subject index.

Walklate, Sandra. Victimology: The Victim and the Criminal Justice Process , Unwin Hyman, U.K., 1994.

A comprehensive introduction to the study of the victims of crime and the way in which they are treated in society generally, and in the criminal justice process in particular. The study of victims of crime is important to academics, the wider community of policy initiation and implementation, and to the political arena. Sandra Walklate examines the nature of this interest, and the contributions of victim-related research and criminal victimization surveys, in order to be able to provide the reader with a critical assessment of the issues involved. Contents: Preface and acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Key concepts in victimology: an overview  2. Documenting victimization  3. The victimization of children  4. Corporate victimization  5. Victims and the criminal justice process  6. Voluntary organizations and victim support  7. Victims, crime prevention and the community; Conclusion; References; Index.

Wemmers, J.M. Victims in the Criminal Justice System , Kugler, 1996.

In the  fifteen to twenty years prior to 1996, criminal justice policy-makers and government in the Netherlands have begun to realize that victims of crime are often seriously affected by their experience and that reactions by criminal justice authorities are not always supportive.  The central question at the basis of this report is: How does the treatment of victims by the police and the public prosecution affect their attitudes towards criminal justice authorities and their law-abiding behaviour?   Full text available at: https://www.wodc.nl/binaries/ov-1996-05-full-tekst_tcm28-78069.pdf

We are a faculty-student research team focused on crime victims and crime victimization.

Victimology and Victim Studies Research Lab

The mission of the V ictimology and V ictim S tudies R esearch L ab ( VVSRL ) in the  UNO School of Criminology and Criminal Justice is to conduct high quality research related to crime victims and crime victimization, inform policy and practice, and help shape prevention and intervention efforts.

The VVSRL (1) Coordinates faculty efforts on research projects, grant proposals, and publications on the topic of victimology; (2) Promotes cross-teaching and cross-learning for faculty members and graduate students interested in victimology; (3) Creates opportunities for undergraduate students in UNO’s Victimology and Victim Studies minor/concentration to engage in research; and (4) Works with system actors to translate research into practice and policy.

The VVSRL conducts research related to crime victims and crime victimization. Our work informs policy and practice and helps shape prevention and intervention efforts.

Teaching and Learning

The VVSRL utilizes a structured mentoring model to develop future generations of victimology scholars. VVSRL student and faculty researchers work across a diverse portfolio to promote cross-teaching and learning.

Service to Practitioners

The VVRSL lends research capacity and expertise to practitioners, local/state working groups, and federal agencies. VVSRL faculty coordinate the annual Nebraska Victims Assistance Academy

2023 American Society of Criminology Conference

2022 American Society of Criminology Conference

2021 American Society of Criminology Conference

Interested in working with the VVSRL?

Contact VVSRL Co-Director, Dr. Tara Richards

• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• Manage subscriptions

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

NCJRS Virtual Library

Current issues in victimology research, additional details.

Jessica Strauss , 700 Kent Street , Durham , NC 27701 , United States

No download available

Availability, related topics.

Dissertation and Research Topics on Victimology

Dissertation and Research Topics on Victimology- Victimology, as a field of study, focuses on understanding and analyzing the experiences, rights, and needs of victims of crime. It delves into various aspects of victimization, such as the psychological, social, and legal repercussions that victims face. Conducting research in victimology can provide valuable insights for policymakers, law enforcement agencies, and support organizations to develop effective strategies for victim assistance and crime prevention. In this article, we will explore several dissertation and research topics in the field of victimology, shedding light on critical areas that demand attention and investigation.

Sure! Here are 20 potential dissertation and research topics on Victimology:

• The impact of victim-blaming on survivors of sexual assault.
• Exploring the role of social support in the recovery of crime victims.
• Examining the effectiveness of restorative justice practices for victims of violent crimes.
• Investigating the long-term psychological effects of childhood abuse on adult survivors.
• Analyzing the relationship between victimization and subsequent criminal behavior.
• Exploring the experiences and needs of victims of cyberbullying.
• Assessing the effectiveness of victim compensation programs in providing justice and support.
• Investigating the prevalence and consequences of hate crimes against marginalized communities.
• Analyzing the impact of media coverage on the perception and treatment of crime victims.
• Examining the intersectionality of victimization, considering factors such as race, gender, and socio-economic status.
• Investigating the experiences and needs of victims of domestic violence in rural areas.
• Exploring the role of trauma-informed care in the treatment of crime victims.
• Assessing the effectiveness of victim impact statements in the criminal justice system.
• Investigating the experiences and needs of victims of human trafficking.
• Analyzing the role of victim participation in the criminal justice process.
• Exploring the impact of victimization on educational outcomes and academic achievement.
• Investigating the experiences and needs of victims of mass shootings.
• Analyzing the role of technology in facilitating and combating victimization.
• Exploring the relationship between victimization and substance abuse/addiction.
• Investigating the experiences and needs of victims of white-collar crime.

Remember to refine and narrow down these topics based on your interests, available resources, and the scope of your research.

Conclusion:

Victimology offers a wide range of research opportunities to address the complexities of victimization experiences and develop effective interventions for crime prevention and victim support. The aforementioned dissertation and research topics provide a starting point for exploring various aspects of victimology, shedding light on crucial areas that require further investigation. By conducting in-depth research in these areas, scholars can contribute to the advancement of victim-centered policies and practices, ultimately fostering a more just and supportive society for all crime victims.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.