In less developed societies, the victim's judgment and needs have been the controlling factor in meting out justice, but after the creation of the modern state and an increase in the government's role in the affairs of the community and the administration of justice, the victim's interests have become secondary to those claimed by the government as the representative of the larger concerns of the community. The current resurgence of interest in the victim represents a break with tradition and challenges the status quo of criminal justice system operations. Three kinds of interest are recognizable in the work of the growing number of students of victimology; (1) a scientific interest in the causal association of victim and offender acts and characteristics; (2) a social-engineering interest reflected by those concerned with measures to reduce the hazards of victimization, including efforts to increase the chances of offender detection and prosecution; and (3) a legal and moral interest displayed by those concerned with more accurate and just assignments of responsibility, blame, fault, guilt, culpability, or mitigation. The limitations and risks of victim research are that a shift may occur from a focus on the individual offender to the individual victim, a neglect of research on criminal victimization that does not involve a clearly identifiable victim, and the neglect of the study of victimization of the hands of the state and the power structure. Victimization of the elderly is the most crucial and urgent problem facing victimology today, because of the large numbers of Americans moving toward old age. Sixty-three bibliographic listings are provided.