Critical Victimology
Critical victimology looks at the wider social context of victimology, including policy and services for victims (Mawby & Walklate, 1994). Situated in both symbolic interaction theory and social psychology, critical victimology asks about the formation of the notion of victimization and the label of victim (Miers, 1990). Miers points out that one of the core questions to critical victimology is who has the right to be labeled as a victim (cited in Mawby & Walklate, 1994).
Critical victimology draws from both positive and radical victimization. It draws from radical victimology and feminist theory in asking us to understand the processes (including social structures) we do and do not see that lead to victimization (Mawby & Walklate, 1994). It provides for the naming, labeling, and discussion of experiences that were once hidden, allowing the generalities of victimization and the lived experiences of victims to be put into context with each other. Critical victimology allows for the questioning of social institutions and what role they play in the creation of crime and victimization as well as bringing together positivist empirical research, trying to find a balance between positive and radical victimology (Mawby & Walklate, 1994). It allows for looking at both the cultural as well as the individual experience of victimization, recognizing that both are important and need to be accounted for in a comprehensive understand of victimization (Fattah, 1992). These three theories are still used today, depending on what types of crimes are being examined and how perspective the examination is coming from.