Together, these concepts constitute an interactive view of crime. In particular, the concept of victimism rests on the view that the victims unconsciously created the criminal climates in a particular situation through their actions, predispositions, heredity, personality, habits, belief, views, philosophy, character traits, and culture. Persons can thus be assigned a general victimistic propensity on the basis of their total interaction with the people around them and their inherited and acquired qualities. Victims can be classified into the following categories: defenseless victims, ostentatious victims, lascivious victims, avaricious victims, aimless victims, aggressive victims, negligent victims, occupationally vulnerable victims, victims who are affiliated with deviant groups, and chance victims. Discussions of several perspectives on the etiology of crime and the definition of crime and an analysis of approaches to measuring crime seriousness are included. Figures, chapter references lists, and subject and author indexes are included. For related material, see NCJ-91268.