Questions
Explain and outline what victimology is and outline how the development of victimology has changed the study of crime and how we view and assist victims. Be sure to use concrete examples.
Victimology is a sub-branch of criminology studies that mainly focuses on understanding the associations between victims and perpetrators of crimes, against the backdrops of public goods, like the criminal justice system. According to the World Society of Victimology, victimology is the scientific study of the degree nature and causes of criminal victimization, its impacts on the individuals and responses by society, law enforcement officers, criminal justice systems, voluntary employees, and psychology professionals. Victimology enables psychology professionals to understand the relationship between crimes and their impacts. The knowledge gained from victimology studies is important because it helps assist all those affected by a particular crime and effective strategies to prevent victimization.
The development of victimology has significantly changed how we study crimes in various ways, including; it helps us understand the nature of crimes scientifically. Victimology helps us understand victims of a particular crime by studying its etiology (causes) of victimizations, its impacts, how the courts’ systems accommodate and assist the victims, and how various societal elements such as media deal with the victims of a particular crime. In addition, since victimology is a scientific study, victimologists apply knowledge gained from it in answering various questions concerning the victims. In addition, victimology studies provide us with deeper insights and the extent of distribution of multiple crimes.