The focus of research has shifted from the offender alone to the victim and his role in crimes. As a consequence, the theoretical foundations of victimology have become a central area of interest. According to various views, the field either extends its boundaries to all spheres of human activities or concentrates only on specific types of crime such as terrorism. A third approach supports practical attempts to understand and to defuse the tensions of victim situations without becoming obsessed with research on victimology has been descriptive, and comparative and longitudinal studies are needed to develop a theoretical explanation of the roles of chance, provocation, and individual background in becoming a victim. Research has, however, made it clear that society places certain groups in a position to be victimized, (e.g., women, children, and oppressed minorities). Furthermore, agencies of control and criminal prosecution play a role in establishing the individual's status. Whether victimization is self-reported by someone else, or discovered by the police, the action and discretion of police with regard to victims is influenced by social climate and police attitudes. To prevent aggravating victimization through repressive policies such as U.S. Prohibition, efforts must be made to coordinate victimological research, crime prevention, and criminal policy.