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Revisiting the Scope of Victimology: How Broad a Discipline Should It Be?

NCJ Number
208976
Journal
International Review of Victimology Volume: 11 Issue: 2/3 Dated: 2004 Pages: 275-294
Author(s)
Sam Garkawe
Date Published
2004
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article examines and assesses the past and future scope of the discipline, victimology; specifically the types of victims considered to fall within the scope of victimology.
Abstract
Victimology consists of the scientific study of victims. Prior to the 1950's, victimology was conceived as a very broad field of study. By the 1950's, the focus was on the role of victims in criminal acts. However, some victimologists concerned with its scientific and academic aspects maintained that victimology should not be confined to crime victims and should include more types of victimization. This paper begins by considering how victimologists in the past have viewed the issue of the scope of victimology followed by the possible effects on this issue of the important agreement by the United Nations Assembly to the 1985 Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power. An analysis is performed on the arguments for and against there being no limits to the scope of victimology. It is asserted that the types of victims considered to fall within the scope of victimology should not be restricted, and victimology should include all manifestations of human suffering and not be restricted in its scholarship and activism to only certain types of victims. In conclusion, it is said that the only valid rational for restricting the scope of victimology in any specific circumstance is for practical reasons, and not for any theoretical reasons. References

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