THESE PRELIMINARY NOTES FOR A PLANNED COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CRIME VICTIMS IN 11 COUNTRIES (POLAND, YUGOSLAVIA, NIGERIA, ZAMBIA, ENGLAND, NORWAY, ARGENTINA, BRAZIL, CHILE, PERU, AND PANAMA) WERE COMPILED BY RESEARCHERS FROM THE CRIMINOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PANAMA WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF A BROADER, JOINT EFFORT WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA. VICTIMS ARE CONCEPTUALIZED AS PARTNERS IN CRIME, BECAUSE EVERY CRIMINAL ACT INVOLVES TWO INDIVIDUALS, PERPETRATOR AND VICTIM, BOTH PARTICIPATING INTO WITH DIFFERENT ROLES. VICTIMOLOGY IS DEFINED HERE AS AN ANCILLARY DISCIPLINE OF CRIMINOLOGY, WHICH DEALS WITH THE TOTAL STUDY OF THE PASSIVE SUBJECT IN THE CRIMINAL ACT. THE COUNTRIES CHOSEN AS LOCALES OF THE COMPARATIVE STUDY REPRESENT ALL COLORS AND INTERMEDIATE SHADINGS OF THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM IN TERMS OF WHAT IS CALLED HERE COERCION POWER. THE VICTIMS WILL BE CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THEIR DEGREE OF COMPLICITY IN THE CRIME PERPETRATED AGAINST THEM (FROM TOTALLY INNOCENT THROUGH LESS GUILTY, AS GUILTY, AND GUILTIER THAN THE CRIMINAL, TO VICTIMS AS THE ONLY CRIMINALS IN CASES OF INVENTED AND/OR IMAGINARY CRIMES). IN ALL FOREIGN COUNTRIES CHOSEN FOR THE SURVEY, AS WELL AS IN PANAMA, THE FOCUS WILL BE ON METROPOLITAN AREAS. THE INSTRUMENT TO BE USED WILL ALLOW STATISTICAL MANIPULATION OF DATA WITH A VIEW TO VALIDATING HYPOTHESES SUITABLE TO EACH CONTEXT AS WELL AS A PANORAMA OF GENERAL INTERPRETATION. --IN SPANISH.