The authors argue that some obvious contradictions in the literature can be resolved by conceptualizing the social psychology of criminal victimization in a contingent rather than a prescriptive manner. Two distinct victim groups were examined; for one group that victimization experience was rare and isolated; for the other group, the victimization experience was chronic or repetitive because of the victim's professional status (e.g., police officers). Drawing this distinction afforded the opportunity to illustrate the theoretical implications of victimization and how these implication are, to some extent, contingent on status. The study concluded that the complexity of control processes can be better understood when considered in a contingent manner; and in order to understand how these contingent processes operate, it is necessary to take into account the wider social-psychological environment and the extent to which other processes support and sustain individual control efforts. The authors summarize these ideas in the form of an integrated model of criminal victimization that, in turn, may form the basis for effective therapeutic and procedural interventions. It is also hoped that this integrated model will permit other researchers to place their work within the criminal justice system in a useful and coherent way. 1 figure and 63 references