Identify, Define, and Describe the Problem
The most basic task for victimologists is to deter- mine all the different ways that a violation of the law can inflict immediate and long-term harm: the extent of any physical injuries, emotional damage, and economic costs, plus any social consequences (such as loss of status). For example, as they grow up, severely abused children might suffer from post- traumatic stress disorder, dysfunctional interpersonal relationships, personality problems, and self- destructive impulses (see Briere, 1992).
Sometimes a group is difficult to study because there isn’t an adequate expression that describes its common misfortune or captures the nature of its
plight. Now that terms like date rape, stalking, cyberstalking, carjacking, battering, elder abuse, identity theft, and bias crime have entered everyday speech, government agencies and researchers are exploring in what manner and how frequently peo- ple are harmed by these offenses. On occasion, vic- timologists help break the silence about situations that long have been considered taboo topics by studying activities such as sibling abuse, incestuous sexual impositions in stepfamilies, and marital rape (see Hines and Malley-Morrison, 2005).
Victimologists analyze how the status of being a “legitimate victim” is socially defined. They explore why only some people who suffer physical, emo- tional, or economic harm are designated and treated as full-fledged, bona fide, and officially recognized victims and as such, are eligible for aid and encour- aged to exercise rights within the criminal justice process. But why are other injured parties left to fend for themselves? One key question is, “Is the social standing of each of the two parties taken into account when government officials and mem- bers of the general public evaluate whether one person should get into legal trouble for what hap- pened and the other should be granted assistance?”
Clearly, the status of being an officially recog- nized victim of a crime is socially constructed. The determination of who is included and who is excluded from this privileged category is carried out by actors within the criminal justice process (police officers and detectives, prosecutors, judges, even juries) and is heavily influenced by legislators (who formulate criminal laws) and the media that shapes public opinion about specific incidents.