CONCEPT of victimology

CM. S. Mumaev

Department of Criminal Law and Procedure Russian University Friendship of Peoples St. Miklouho-Maklaya, 6, 117138 Moscow, Russia

The article discusses issues of victimology. A detailed concept of victimology is given and its meaning is discussed. The author also touches on the history of victimology, its development, and provides information about the main authors on victimology and their main scientific works.

Victimological problems are important not only for criminologists and scientists, but also for proceduralists, i.e. practitioners Victimology is of great importance for the prevention and prevention of crimes, therefore the author points out the importance of victimology for criminology and criminal law in general.

1. The concept of victimology

The interactionist approach to explaining crime and its causes gave a powerful impetus to the development of a number of criminological areas, including the doctrine of the victim of crime - victimology. Victimological ideas were born thousands of years ago. Self-defense of a potential victim at the dawn of mankind was the main way to influence crime.

In the 20th century, interactionists reviewed all factors of crime. The role of the victim in the process of criminalization of the individual did not escape their attention. Fragmentary studies of the role of the victim in the genesis of crime have been undertaken by many scientists and writers.

In 1941, the German criminologist Hans von Gentig, who was hiding from the Nazis in the United States, published an interesting article “Remarks on the interaction between the criminal and the victim.”

Seven years later, the monograph “The Criminal and His Victim” was published from his pen. Research on the Sociobiology of Crime"

Victimological ideas have attracted the attention of a number of scientists. Gradually the number of G. Gentig's followers began to increase.

In the mid-60s. (and abroad - in the late 40s) an independent scientific complex direction was formed, focusing on the need for a comprehensive consideration of the victim factor, her interpersonal connections and relationships before, during and after the commission of a crime. It was called victimology (from the Latin word “victima” - sacrifice and the Greek “logos” - teaching).

Victimization is a property of a particular person, social role or social situation that provokes or facilitates criminal behavior. Accordingly, personal, role and situational victimization are distinguished; Victimization depends on a number of factors: a) personal; b) legal status an official whose official functions involve a risk of being exposed to a crime

new encroachment; the specifics of these functions, service functions, material security and level of security; c) the degree of conflict of the situation, characteristics of the place and time; in which this situation develops.

The following types of victimization are also distinguished: a) according to manifestations in various life situations - criminal, political, economic, transport, domestic, military, etc.; b) according to the dominant psychological mechanisms - motivational, cognitive, emotional-volitional, mixed; c) according to the number of persons participating - individual, group, mass;

d) by time of day - morning, afternoon, night; e) depending on the attitude towards professional security activities - general civil and professional; f) according to the psychological level of victimization - weakly, moderately and strongly expressed; g) in terms of duration - situational and relatively stable.

The typology of victimization is used in the process of conducting psychovictimological research, compiling generalized psychovictimological portraits of individuals and groups, when analyzing behavior in various critically difficult life situations and developing psychological recommendations for ensuring safety.

The starting point when determining the status of victimology is the concept of victim. Taking into account the current level of knowledge about the types of victims, V.I. Polubinsky proposes to consider victimology as two independent but interrelated branches - the doctrine of the victim of accidents and the doctrine of the victim of crime. Therefore, in his opinion, one should distinguish between traumatic and tortious victimology.

In tort victimology, he distinguishes two areas: a) the study of crime victims (criminal victimology), b) the study of victims of other offenses.

The object of study of victimology is victims, to whom it includes persons who have suffered harm from a crime, including those killed by a crime, as well as potential victims. Therefore, victimology is the science of the victim in general, i.e. not only about victims of crime, but also about victims of any other offenses (civil, labor, administrative, etc.), as well as victims of natural disasters and accidents.

Considering the versatility of its subject and the problems it covers, a number of criminologists consider victimology as an independent science. But the majority still do not share this point of view and argue that we should not be talking about the victim in general, but specifically about the victims of crimes or, in other words, “about the criminal aspect of science, criminal victimology.”

At the same time, criminal victimology is recognized as one of the relatively independent areas within the general science of criminology. At the same time, L.V. Frank does not exclude the possibility of the emergence of victimology as an independent interdisciplinary science.

The problems of interdisciplinary research related to the victim of crime are growing in nature, they are inexhaustible and will be relevant as long as crime exists in all its diversity of manifestations. That is why there are not only prerequisites, but also an urgent need to identify the problem of victims from interdisciplinary research into an independent criminological direction, and in the future - into the scientific discipline - victimology.

Thus, there are two points of view on the relationship between victimology and criminology. One boils down to the fact that victimology is a separate independent scientific discipline that acts as an auxiliary for criminology, criminology, criminal law and criminal procedure. Another - victimology is a new, relatively independent direction, developing within the framework of criminology.

A necessary condition for the identification of a relatively autonomous scientific direction is the presence of a significant set of independent problems that require the application of data from various sciences for their solution, provided that none of the existing sciences, taken separately, independently solves or can solve all problems as a whole. The subject of victimology is still being established and clarified.

An attempt to define the subject of victimology in domestic criminology belongs to L.V. Frank, although he did not give an accurate and consistent and sufficiently complete formulation of this category.

His conclusion boiled down to the following: “It is victimization as a complex criminal phenomenon, and not just the victim, that ultimately constitutes ... the subject of victimology.”

According to S.S. Ostroumova, “the subject of victimology is: the personality and behavior of victims; their role in the genesis of the crime; criminologically and forensically significant relationships and connections between the victim and the offender; ways and means of compensation for harm caused to the victim as a result of a criminal attack.” D.V. Riveman includes in the subject of victimology the situations preceding the crime, as well as the situation of the crime itself, in order to determine the criminological significance of the victim’s behavior.

A broader definition of the subject of victimology is given by V.I. Polubinsky, which includes:

a) victimization as a specific biopsychosocial phenomenon;

b) quantitative and qualitative characteristics of persons to whom physical and material damage was caused by a crime;

c) victimogenic situation, that is, circumstances and conditions that create a more favorable opportunity for causing harm to a potential victim;

d) the nature and patterns of the relationship between the victim and the criminal, both in the pre-crime situation, and at the time of the unlawful act and after its completion;

e) forms and methods of preventing possible victims from criminal attacks, that is, victimological prevention;

f) compensation for harm to the victim.

Modern victimological research is increasingly drawing the attention of scientists and practitioners to the need for resocialization and readaptation of crime victims. That is why, in our opinion, within the framework of victimology it is necessary to consider the problem of resocialization and readaptation of victims of criminal attacks.

The characteristics of any scientific discipline are not limited to its subject. It also includes methods, i.e. ways, ways of understanding the subject of a given scientific discipline. Russian criminal victimology uses not one, but a whole system of general and specific research methods. Some of them are naturally taken from criminology. Meanwhile, there is still not enough clarity in many theoretical and methodological issues, therefore, op-

When defining the status of victimology, we prefer to adhere to the opinion of the majority of authors who consider victimology to be one of the relatively independent areas within criminology.

All issues related to a person who is a victim of a crime must be studied comprehensively and deeply. Only within the framework of a dialectical understanding of the unity of the criminal, the environment and the victim can one find out the meaning and role of the victim in the commission of a crime. Breaking this relationship leads to a simplification of the interaction between the offender and the victim. Therefore, victimology is part of criminological science.

The subject and method of victimology are determined by criminology; Victimology as a field of scientific knowledge develops within the boundaries of criminology, in accordance with the basic criminological concepts of crime, the personality of the criminal, etc.

Victimology is interested in “the origin, personality, character, gender, age, mental state, spiritual characteristics, physical characteristics of the victim and his family, professional and social relationships. She especially strives to clarify the role of the victim in the situation preceding the commission of the crime and its contribution to the genesis of the crime. However, all these aspects, no matter how important they may be individually, only partially correspond to the criminological meaning of the victim."

Thus, at a more general level, we can define the range of issues considered by victimology:

Questions of a conceptual nature - about the concept of victimology as a doctrine of the victim of a crime; its emergence and development in Russia and foreign countries; the relationship between victimology and other sciences; about the concept, classification and typology of crime victims; the concept of victimization and victimization;

Studying the personality of the victim in biological, psychological and sociological aspects (“portrait of the victim”), her relationship with the criminal and her role in the genesis of a particular crime;

Study of situations preceding the commission of a crime, as well as situations of the crime itself;

Determining the circle of people who most often become victims of crime, studying the processes of victimization of the population at the individual and mass level, including collective victimization, that is, the process of becoming victims of criminal attacks of national minorities, racial groups, etc.;

Studying the organization and content of forms and methods of victimological prevention, developing a system of preventive and therapeutic measures to prevent a person from becoming a victim;

Study of forms and methods of resocialization and readaptation of crime victims, including problems of compensation for harm to the latter.

In the process of its development, victimology created concepts previously unknown in criminology, and thereby enriched it as a science. The novelty of the scientific direction has led to a wide variety of terms used in the study of problems on victimological topics by various authors. The main victimological concepts are “victim”, or “victim”, “victimization”, “victimization”, “victimogenic situations”.

At the same time, developing terminology for any science or scientific discipline is a very complex problem. Its solution requires caution, especially when “inventing” new terms. It should be noted that the conceptual apparatus

Victimology is only in its formation stage, therefore many of its concepts have different interpretations among different authors.

Victimology is a complex, interdisciplinary field of knowledge. Victimological problems attract the attention of not only criminologists, but also proceduralists, criminologists, sociologists, psychologists, psychiatrists (B.V. Shostakovich, O.V. Parfentyeva, V.V. Guldan, Yu.L. Metelitsa) and other specialists.

LITERATURE

1. Ostroumov S.S., Frank L.V. On victimology and victimization // Soviet state and law. - 1976. - No. 4.

2. Pankin A.I. Encyclopedia of legal psychology. - M., 2003.

3. Polubinsky V.I. Victimological aspects of crime prevention.

4. Rivman D.V. Victimological factors and crime prevention. - L., 1975.

5. Frank JI.B. Victimology and victimization. - Dushanbe, 1972.

6. Frank L. V. Crime victims and problems of Soviet victimology. - Dushanbe, 1977.

THE NOTICE OF VIKTIMOLOGY

The Department of Criminal Law and Process Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia Mikluho-Maklaya st., 6, 117198 Moscow, Russia

The author of this article is considering in his paper the issues of victimology.

He presents a broad definition of victimology and dwells upon its importance. The author also refers to the history of victimology, its development, main scientists studying an issue of victimology and their main literary works.

Victimology is a complex and an interdisciplinary field of knowledge. Victimological problems are important not only for criminologists and scientists but for processiologists i. e. practicing scientists.

Therefore, the author specifies the importance of victimology for criminology and for criminal law in particular.

Victimology [Psychology of victim behavior] Malkina-Pykh Irina Germanovna

1.1. Victimology: subject, history, prospects

Thus, they talk about victimology in a broad and narrow sense. In the first case, it covers not only law and criminology (the latter creates a general doctrine of the victim of crime), but also a number of other sciences, including psychology and psychiatry.

IN in a broad sense Victimology is a socio-psychological field of knowledge that studies various categories of people - victims of unfavorable conditions of socialization. The subject of socio-psychological victimology is the study of children and adults who find themselves in difficult life situations and requiring special social and psychological assistance. Thus, victimology is a developing comprehensive study of people in crisis (victims of crimes, natural disasters, catastrophes, various forms of violence, addictive behavior, etc.), and measures to help such victims (Tulyakov, 2003).

In a narrow sense, victimology is a part of criminology.

Criminal victimology studies:

Sociological, psychological, legal, moral and other characteristics of victims, knowledge of which allows us to understand due to what personal, social-role or other reasons they became a victim of a crime;

The place of victims in the mechanism of criminal behavior, in situations that preceded or accompanied such behavior;

Relationships between the offender and the victim, both long-term and instantaneous, which often precede criminal violence;

The behavior of the victim after the commission of a crime, which is important not only for investigating crimes and exposing the perpetrators, but also for preventing new offenses on their part.

In other words, criminal victimology studies:

How do the typical characteristics of various crimes relate to the personal qualities (gender, age, profession, etc.) and the behavior of the victims (victims);

What are the fluctuations (seasonal, daily, share in the overall structure of crime) of various crimes depending on changes in the structure of crime in a particular region;

How does the situation that ensures his contacts with persons of greater or lesser vulnerability affect the real possibility of committing a crime by a certain person prone to this?

To what extent does “fitting in” with a specific potential victim influence the choice of method of committing a crime;

What does the process of choosing a victim by a criminal represent and depend on?

How to organizationally ensure the identification of persons who are most likely to be victims;

What measures of influence on potential victims (including forced ones for persons of negative behavior) that directly ensure their safety should be used, including common system crime prevention measures;

In what direction should the search for new opportunities for crime prevention be pursued (Riveman, 1988; Riveman, Ustinov, 2000).

The basic concepts of victimology (both general and criminal) include victimization And victimization. Victimization, or victimogenicity - physical, mental and social traits and characteristics acquired by a person that may make him predisposed to becoming a victim (of a crime, accident, destructive cult, etc.). Victimization - process of acquiring victimization.

Victimology develops methods for diagnosing individual victimization, group and microsociety victimization; the content, forms and methods of prevention and rehabilitation of victims of socialization determine the degree of their effectiveness; offers recommendations on the strategy and tactics of society, the state, and social institutions in relation to various categories of victims. Victimology, based on the study of types of victimized individuals and physical, mental and social deviations in the development of people, offers specific measures to correct these deviations and to prevent negative influences on personality development.

Modern victimology as a special sociological theory carries out a comprehensive analysis of the victim phenomenon, based on theoretical concepts and models originally developed in the field of other social disciplines (criminology, political science, theory government controlled, psychology, social work, conflictology, sociology of deviant behavior). Victimology is one of the human sciences that studies behavior that deviates from the norm of safety (Riveman, 1981).

Modern victimology is implemented in several directions.

The general theory of victimology describes the phenomenon of the victim of a socially dangerous manifestation, its dependence on society and its relationship with other social institutions and processes. The main idea of ​​the general theory of victimology is to build a systemic model of interaction “social phenomenon - victim”, which describes and studies ways to normalize negative social, psychological and moral influences on a person from outside natural environment, artificial living and working environment, social environment, as well as the crisis internal environment of the person himself with the aim of correcting and neutralizing them, increasing the adaptive abilities of a person.

At the same time, the development of the general theory of victimology is carried out, in turn, in two directions:

The first one explores the history of victimization and victimization, analyzes the patterns of their origin and development following changes in the main social variables, taking into account the relative independence of the phenomenon of victimization as a form of implementation of deviant activity.

The second one studies the state of victimization as a social process (the interaction of victimization and society) and as an individual manifestation of deviant behavior through a general theoretical generalization of data obtained by middle-level theories.

Particular victimological theories of the middle level (victimology, tort victimology, traumatic victimology, etc.) subject to special analysis victimization and behavioral characteristics of certain types of victims of socially dangerous manifestations. These theories are based on the experience accumulated in the study of socially dangerous manifestations in other sociological and related disciplines(ecology, criminology, tortology, traumatology, disaster medicine, etc.).

Applied victimology - victimological technology (analysis, development and implementation of special techniques for preventive work with victims, social support technologies, restitution and compensation mechanisms, insurance technologies, etc.).

Issues of victimology have become the object of criminological research only since the Second World War. In 1945, two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. As a result of these explosions, thousands of people were killed simultaneously. The tragedy went beyond the individual, turning into a national disaster, which prompted Japanese scientists to consider questions about the causes of sacrifice. In the same year, publications appeared in a new scientific direction - victimology. Almost simultaneously, although with some delay, research in the field of victimology began to be conducted in the United States and a number of European countries (Khristenko, 2005).

The creation of victimology is associated with the names of Hans von Gentig (1888–1974) and Benjamin Mendelssohn (1900–1998). The time of birth of victimology, obviously, should be correlated with 1947–1948, when its fundamental principles developed by them were published.

He views the criminal and the victim as subjects of a complementary partnership. In some cases, the victim shapes, educates the criminal and completes his formation; she tacitly agrees to become a victim; cooperates with the criminal and provokes him (Schneider, 1994).

The monograph examines various typical situations and relationships related to the personality and behavior of the victim, Various types victims who have a special attraction for criminals, a special ability to resist, uselessness for society: old people, women, emigrants (“non-religious”), national minorities, alcoholics, the unemployed, children, etc. Separate groups of victims are divided into “disarmed” (with unclean conscience, those who have committed a crime and therefore do not have the opportunity to resist extortion, blackmail) and, conversely, “protected”, i.e. the rich, capable of ensuring their safety. There are also “imaginary” victims, victims with a family history, victims prone to becoming criminals, etc.

Along with G. Gentig, the pioneer of the problem of victimhood on a fundamentally new level, the creator of victimology and the author of its name is B. Mendelssohn. Unlike G. Gentig, who never used this term and did not take victimology beyond the boundaries of criminology, B. Mendelson considered it as an independent scientific discipline (Riveman, 2002).

His report "New Psychosocial Horizons: Victimology", given at a conference of psychiatrists held in Bucharest in 1947, and his later work "A New Branch of Biopsychosocial Science - Victimology" contain many of the fundamental principles of victimology:

a) the concept of “victim” is considered (five groups of victims are called: a completely innocent (“ideal”) victim; a victim with slight guilt; a victim equally guilty with the attacker; a victim more guilty than the attacker; an exclusively guilty victim);

b) the concepts of “criminal couple” are introduced (disharmonious unity of the bearer of aggression and the victim and, conversely, harmonious unity, as, for example, happens in a criminal abortion with a fatal outcome), “candidate victim”, “voluntary victim”, “victim provocateur” ", "victim-aggressor", "victimity index", etc. (Frank, 1973; 1977).

In 1975, B. Mendelsohn published the monograph “General Victimology”, in which he developed his concept of victimology, linking it with the creation of “clinical” or “practical” victimology, in the orbit of which not only victims of crimes, but also victims should be included natural disasters, genocide, ethnic conflicts and wars (Kvashis, 1999).

Some ideas and provisions of G. Gentig were further developed at psychological level in the works of the Swiss scientist G. Ellenberger. He analyzes in more detail the concept of “criminal - victim”, different cases when a subject can become, depending on the situation, a criminal or a victim, successively a criminal, then a victim (and vice versa), simultaneously a criminal and a victim. A significant place is given to the so-called natural victim and pathological conditions that give rise to victimological situations.

The works of G. Genting intensified the scientific search of other scientists. In 1958, M.E. Wolfgang published the work “Types of Murders,” in which, summarizing the results of numerous studies, he typified the situations that arise when killers interact with their victims. The victimological aspects of crimes such as fraud, robbery, torture, hooliganism, rape and some others have also attracted the close attention of scientists.

In 1956, G. Schultz introduced the concept of a crime based on personal relationships between the offender and the victim. Between the victim and the perpetrator there may be various connections according to their degree of proximity and intensity. The criminal and his victim may only know each other in absentia; they may know each other by sight. Acquaintance can be casual, based on living together in the neighborhood or at work. The connection can only arise immediately before the crime is committed. Superficial social contacts can turn into closer acquaintances and friendships. This approach is based on the principle of the degree of proximity between the victim and the criminal.

Swiss scientist R. Gasser in the book “Victimology. Critical reflections on a new criminological concept" describes in detail the history of the development of victimology, formulates some theoretical positions, examines the victim at the sociological level (lone victim, refugee, foreign worker, victim with a special family and marital status, victim of a large crowd of people, etc.). At the psychological level, there are passive, unconsciously active, consciously active, consciously and unconsciously offending victims. At the biological level, the physiological and psychopathological characteristics of victims, victims with bad heredity and “recidivist victims” are considered.

In the articles of Polish authors A. Bachrach “Criminological and victimological aspects of road accidents” (1956), B. Holyst “The role of the victim in the genesis of murder” (1956), A. Friedel “Robbery in the light of criminology and criminology” (1974), X. Kanigonsky and K. Stepnyak “Pickpocket and His Victim” (1991), “Car Thefts” (1993), S. Pikulsky “Murder out of Jealousy” (1990) are considered in relation to the specifics of the crimes being studied, “guilty” and “innocent” victimogenic predispositions victims. In 1990, B. Kholyst’s fundamental work on victimology was published, in which, using extensive sociological and psychological data, the behavior of a crime victim and her role in a specific criminal situation are analyzed (Ryskov, 1995).

Almost all researchers consider it necessary to study the specific conditions that contributed to the commission of a crime. Thus, the Bulgarian scientist B. Stankov notes the role of a specific life situation in the development of illegal actions, the need to study specific psychological traits of the victim’s behavior in the process of committing a crime.

German researcher G. Schneider notes that there are no “natural victims” or “victims by nature.” But physical, mental and social traits and characteristics acquired by a person (some physical and other deficiencies, inability to defend themselves or insufficient readiness for it, special external, mental or material attractiveness) can make him predisposed to becoming a victim of crime. If he is aware of his increased victimogenicity, he can learn certain behaviors that allow him to resist and cope with this threat. Victimization and criminalization, as G. Schneider notes, sometimes have the same sources - initial social conditions.

A special place in the research of predecessors of modern victimology is occupied by the work of G. Kleinfeler on the provocation of crime by the victim herself. He believes that in some cases it is necessary to mitigate the responsibility of the criminal depending on the behavior of the victim, and sometimes to completely release him (the criminal) from responsibility.

Combining the concepts of Gentig and Mendelssohn, the Japanese researcher Miyazawa (1968) identified a common one (depending on age, gender, type of activity, social status etc.) and special (depending on instability in mental and psychological terms, retardation in the development of intelligence, emotional instability, etc.) victimization, studied the connection between each of the two types and crime. According to him, when both types are layered, the degree of victimization increases.

Psychiatrists also began to become interested in victimology: first forensic, and then general medical. They identified “unconscious” states that could interfere with the victim’s ability to resist the offender. These included a wide range pathological conditions, characterized by both complete loss of consciousness and various clinical forms of stupefaction. The presence of “mental” illness is a prerequisite for the conclusion of “defenselessness”.

From a psychoanalytic point of view, the predisposition to become a victim can be explained by unconscious feelings of guilt or shame and the desire to be punished, or be the result of passive goals leading to the passivity of the subject. Psychiatric research has proven that people with mental disorders often turn out to be highly victimized, and in the formation of their victimization in general and victim behavior in particular great importance is attributed to factors caused by mental pathology.

K. Higuchi (1968) conducted victimological research, paying special attention to the area of ​​juvenile delinquency. Having considered interpersonal relationships the cause of harm and the victim, on the one hand, and the factors causing damage, on the other, he classified the characteristics of victims depending on the factors of crime. Higuchi found that there are specific groups of victims, divided according to such important criteria as age, gender and mental properties, and each group has its own characteristics of victimization.

Victimology in our country began to develop only in the late 80s. In the 70s, L. V. Frank was the first in the USSR to publish works on victimology, he was supported by D. V. Rivman.

In the process of development of domestic victimology, the problem of the crime victim has been studied for many years (which is still happening) within the framework of legal disciplines or in connection with them.

L. V. Frank, relying on the developments of the world victimological theory, with which the USSR was practically unfamiliar, was able in his works to prove and substantiate the opinion that victimology is a relatively independent scientific field that has theoretical and applied value.

L. V. Frank considered the following basic concepts of victimology:

The concept of victimization as a process of turning a person into a victim of a crime and as a result of the functional impact of crime in general, which can manifest itself at various levels of impact on victims, members of their families, social groups and communities;

The concept of victimization as the tendency of an individual to become a victim of a crime as a result of his course of action and socio-demographic characteristics;

The concept of the “criminal-victim” connection as a system of relations between these subjects within the framework of a criminogenic situation, which has a significant impact on the development and genesis of the mechanism of criminal behavior.

Accordingly, the main functions of victimology, according to L. V. Frank, were:

Obtaining new information about the causes of crime;

Obtaining information about the mechanism of criminal behavior for the purpose of using it in the process of crime prevention;

Obtaining information about the mechanism of relationships between the criminal and the victim of the crime;

Assessing the true state of crime through victimization analysis;

Use of victimological information in the sentencing process;

Using victimological information to improve the process of compensation for harm to crime victims.

Such significant differences in determining the scientific status of victimology are not accidental. They emerged at the dawn of victimology, when one of its “fathers”, B. Mendelssohn, raised the question of the need to create a new independent science - victimology, and another - G. Gentig - did not use this name at all, a priori considering it as a direction in criminology .

By the mid-80s - early 90s, the assessment of the role and significance of victimological research was gradually changing. The development of the crisis situation in the countries of the post-Soviet bloc, changes in the lifestyle of an entire generation, aggravated by the transience, diversity and uncertainty of the social situation, could not but affect the change social relations to victimological problems. According to the opinion of L. V. Frank and Yu. M. Antonyan, expressed almost a quarter of a century ago, victimology, which emerged as a scientific direction in criminology, will eventually have to turn into an interdisciplinary branch of scientific knowledge, a separate, independent scientific discipline (Frank, 1977) .

The inclusion in the subject of victimology of all categories of injured persons (not only physical ones), who have become victims of a variety of circumstances, makes victimology a complex sociological and psychological science, not limited to the criminal sphere of causing harm. But victims of crimes and, for example, environmental disasters are completely different, and victim-risk situations have nothing in common. Consequently, defining victimology as the science of studying any victims, it is necessary to predict its formation and development in this capacity, not forgetting the internal inconsistency of its subject.

Today in domestic science there is no comprehensive victimology on the subject, but the prospect of its development into an independent science that synthesizes knowledge about victims of any origin can be presented as including the following areas of research:

Criminal victimology (though criminology is unlikely to easily part with an important element of its subject);

Traumatic victimology (studying victims of non-criminal trauma);

Victimology of everyday life and leisure (a wide range of safety problems when using household appliances, water safety, transport safety, which also depends on potential victims, etc.);

Psychiatric victimology (problems of victims with mental disorders);

Victimology of disasters, environmental and natural disasters;

Victimology of technical safety (studying the consequences of victim behavior associated with violation of labor safety rules, fire safety, etc.);

Victimology of violence (within its framework - victimology of family violence, crimes that violate sexual integrity); victimology of military crimes; victimology of terrorism, hostage-taking, kidnapping;

Victimology of involvement in destructive cults;

Victimology of addictive behavior.

As for victimology as a socio-psychological science, its task includes at least three major areas of research:

1. development of a general theory of the formation of personal victimization (victim psychology);

2. development of methods and techniques for correcting the general level of victimization of an individual;

3. development of methods and techniques for working with post-traumatic stress disorder in victims.

The following should also be noted here. Psychology now deals primarily with what is bad in human life and in relationships between people. She seems to have “forgotten” about strengths, concentrating on human weaknesses, focusing primarily on what a person “lacks.” Excessive attention is paid to such phenomena as “disease”, “distress”, etc.

According to M. Seligman, modern psychology has essentially “become victimology.” A person is considered in it as a fundamentally passive being with reduced personal responsibility, etc. “learned helplessness”, when he is affirmed in the thought that he will always be a victim of other people or circumstances.

M. Seligman and his followers believe that the paradigm of modern psychology must be changed: from negativity to positivity, from the concept of illness to the concept of health. The object of research and practice should be strengths man, his creative potential, the healthy functioning of the individual and the human community ( Sheldon, King, 2001).

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Victimology literally translated is “the doctrine of sacrifice” (from Latin viktima - sacrifice and Greek logos - doctrine).

Sacrifice is a constant, inevitable element, a consequence of the manifestation of natural, social, and technological processes. Danger threatens a person from different sides. He may become a victim of an environmental disaster, a random combination of non-criminal circumstances, violations of safety regulations and other non-criminal situations.

It should be noted that at the current level of victimological research, its non-criminal directions have only just emerged. In reality, there is only criminological victimology, the subject of which (in the most general approximation) is everything related to crime victims.

Criminological victimology emerged as a scientific and applied direction within the framework of criminology naturally, since the objective needs of social practice required an answer to the question: why, for what reasons do certain individuals and social groups become victims more often than others who find themselves in similar situations?

Victimology has changed the perspective from which a person who has found himself a victim of some criminal or other unfavorable circumstances has traditionally been viewed, and is still viewed today. She approached it as an objectively significant element of a specific dangerous situation. Moreover, victimology began to consider the causer of harm from the position of a victim: even a guilty person becomes such due to circumstances little dependent on him.

Along with the generally applicable term “victim” in criminology, criminal victimology operates with the term “victim,” regardless of whether the person affected by the crime is recognized as a victim or not. Victims whose behavior is so negative that it excludes the possibility of their procedural recognition as victims are of particular interest to victimology, since they usually make the most significant contribution to the mechanism of crime. Accordingly, the subject of study of victimology is persons who have suffered physical, moral or material harm by a crime; their behavior, which was in one way or another connected with the crime committed (including behavior after it); the relationship between the offender and the victim before the crime was committed; situations in which harm occurred.

Thus, victimology studies:

Moral, psychological and social characteristics of crime victims (crime victims);

The relationship between the offender and the victim;

Situations that precede the crime, as well as situations of the crime itself;

Post-criminal behavior of the victim;

A system of preventive measures that take into account and use the protective capabilities of both potential victims and actual victims;

Ways, possibilities, methods of compensation for the harm caused by the crime and, first of all, the physical restoration of the victim.

Consequently, victimology cannot be limited to the study of the crime victim at the psychological level as an individual.

Its subject also includes mass vulnerability, the vulnerability of individual social, professional and other groups.

Modern victimology is implemented in several directions:

1. General “fundamental” theory of victimology, which describes the phenomenon of the victim of a socially dangerous manifestation, its dependence on society and its relationship with other social institutions and processes. At the same time, the development of the general theory of victimology is carried out, in turn, in two directions:

The first explores the history of victimization and victimization, analyzes the patterns of their origin and development following changes in the main social variables, taking into account the relative independence of the phenomenon of victimization as a form of implementation of deviant activity;

The second studies the state of victimization as a social process (analysis of the interaction of victimization and society) and as an individual manifestation of deviant behavior through a general theoretical generalization of data obtained by middle-level theories.

2. Particular victimological theories of the middle level (criminal victimology, tort victimology, traumatic victimology).

3. Applied victimology - victimological technology (empirical analysis, development and implementation of special techniques for preventive work with victims, social support technologies, restitution and compensation mechanisms, insurance technologies, etc.).

At the current level of development of victimology, the greatest relevance is the answer to the question of its relationship with criminology. There are two points of view on this matter: victimology is a separate, independent scientific discipline that acts as an auxiliary for criminology, criminology, criminal law and criminal procedure (L.V. Frank, Yu.M. Antonyan), and that this is a new scientific direction , developing within the framework of criminology (D.V. Rivman, V.S. Ustinov).

IN AND. Polubinsky considers victimology to be a special independent complex scientific discipline.

According to I.A. Fargiev, victimology is a private criminological theory that develops within its framework and has its own subject of research, which differs from the subject of the doctrine of the victim in criminal law. Each of the legal disciplines that has an interest in the victim studies the latter from its own angle. Victimology, which can have a broad subject of study, without replacing the independent study of crime victims in one or another discipline of the legal cycle, can actively use relevant scientific and empirical material.

In the article “Development of the concepts of victimization and victimization in Russian criminology” Associate Professor K.V. Vishnevsky says that today Russian victimology is a complex science that actively integrates knowledge of a legal, sociological, and psychological nature. Further, in conclusion of the same article: “for such a branch of criminology as victimology.”

The novelty of victimology is that, turning to a known subject (the victim, her behavior), but practically unstudied, it significantly changed the traditional approach, the usual ideas about criminological mechanisms, found new ways to penetrate into the essence of criminal processes and revealed reserves for strengthening preventive opportunities in the field of crime control.

Concluding the consideration of this issue, it must be said that victimology is not only a theory, but also a practical direction of influencing crime. Thus, the implementation of measures developed by victimologists has made it possible to obtain a very tangible positive effect in preventing crimes.

Combating crime will not have the desired effect without understanding the causal complex that shapes criminal behavior. At the same time, factors generated by the behavior of the crime victim are of no small importance in the totality of the causes and conditions for the commission of crimes. These factors are especially pronounced at the individual level in the context of the formation and development of a criminogenic situation and the mechanism of criminal behavior.

For example, a drunken husband, who regularly beats and insults his wife, once again starts a scandal, trying to inflict bodily harm on her and thereby provokes an emotional outburst in his wife, who, in a state of passion, inflicts knife wounds on him, causing serious harm to health. In this case, there is a continuing, discharging, extreme situation created by the victim himself.

An analysis of forensic investigative practice allows us to conclude that the influence of such sacrificial behavior (in various interpretations) is widespread in the formation of criminogenic situations. The study of these factors and their knowledge at the group and general levels reveal certain patterns that appear both in the processes of formation of sacrificial behavior and in the processes of their interaction with the personality of the criminal and a specific criminogenic situation. These circumstances did not go unnoticed in the scientific world, giving rise to a new branch of knowledge - victimology.

“Victimology” literally means “the study of sacrifice” (from Latin victima - victim and Greek logos - teaching).

The founder of victimology is considered to be the German criminologist G. von Gentig, who in 1948 published a book in the United States entitled “The Criminal and His Victim. A Study on the Sociobiology of Crime.” It was he who introduced the concept of “potential victim” into criminological circulation, by which he understood a certain category of people, especially predisposed to the role of victim. This predisposition, according to the scientist, can be guilty or innocent, individual or conditioned by belonging to a certain social, professional or other group. For example, persons particularly at risk

death, bodily injury, are alcoholics, prostitutes, as well as people of an adventurous nature, prone to rudeness and intemperance.

The history of domestic victimology as an independent scientific direction begins with the publication in 1966 of L. V. Frank’s article “On the study of the personality and behavior of the victim,” where he put forward the idea of ​​​​forming victimology as an independent branch of knowledge and introduced a number of basic victimological terms and concepts. Subsequently, the domestic criminologist D.V. Rivman in 1975, in his work “Victimological Factors and Crime Prevention,” not only defined, but also concretized the subject of victimology, considering it as a separate branch of criminology.

Considering the question of the place of victimology in the system of sciences at the present time, it should be noted first of all that victimology initially developed as a direction in criminology. Over time, ideas about it have changed, and different positions have emerged regarding the subject of victimology and its scientific status.

For example, there is an opinion that victimology is general theory, the doctrine of victimhood from any background, criminal or non-criminal. In this aspect, victimology can be considered as an independent science. For example, there are ideas about combining within the framework of victimology such areas of knowledge as criminal victimology, traumatic victimology (studying victims of non-criminal injuries), victimology of everyday life and leisure (security problems), psychiatric victimology (problems of victims with mental disorders), victimology of disasters , victimology of technical safety (consequences of violation of labor safety rules, fire safety, etc.).

However, this position does not fully reflect the current state of victimology, which greatest development I found it only in criminal victimology. Other victimological directions are currently on the path of formation, so it is still premature to talk about the independent scientific position of victimology, despite the presence of a conceptual apparatus, methodology and subject of research.

According to another position, victimology is an interdisciplinary science about the victim of a crime, existing and functioning in parallel with criminology and having auxiliary significance for criminology, criminology, criminal law and criminal procedure (criminal victimology in the broad sense). Indeed, more and more often one can find studies conducted within the framework of various sciences of the criminal legal cycle, devoted to the problems of victimology. This is a natural process of knowledge development and indicates the process of formation of victimology as an independent interdisciplinary science about the victim of a crime. However, it should be recognized that at present, victimology, formed within the framework of criminology, continues to develop as a relatively independent teaching of criminology.

Moreover, not all criminologists include the crime victim in the list of traditional elements of the subject of criminology: crime, the personality of the criminal, determinants and prevention of crime, without attaching significant importance to it and considering victimological factors within the framework of the theory of crime determination.

We will also consider victimology as a criminological doctrine.

So, victimology, being a relatively independent doctrine, has its own subject, method, goals and objectives, and conceptual apparatus.

The subject of victimology traditionally includes:

• 1) victimization as a specific objective-personal phenomenon that predetermines the possibility of becoming a victim of a crime;
• 2) characteristics, features of victim behavior and personality typology of the crime victim;
• 3) victimization as the process of forming the prerequisites for becoming a victim of a crime;
• 4) forms and methods of victimological prevention;

It should be noted that the emergence of victimology and the associated existence of different views on the place of victimology in the system of sciences made it possible for some authors to significantly expand the subject of this branch of knowledge. Thus, according to a number of scientists, the subject of victimology can also include victim factors, features of the interaction between the victim and the criminal, forecasting victimization, personality characteristics of the crime victim, patterns of existence of victimization. And this is only within the framework of “criminal victimology”. These elements of the subject of criminology have a right to exist and require further research. In this tutorial we will focus on these four elements.

When considering the subject of victimology, it is impossible to leave undisclosed the basic concepts that are used in it, primarily such as “victim” and “victimization”.

The concept of "sacrifice" comes from Lat. victima - a living being sacrificed to God, victim. Over time, however, the ritual word "sacrifice" becomes a broader and deeper concept.

Currently, in the Russian language, “victim” is considered in a broad and narrow sense. In the broad sense of this concept, a victim is any form of matter whose normal state is damaged.

However, within the framework of victimology, a victim should be understood in a narrow sense - as a person who has suffered physical, moral or property damage from the criminal actions of other persons, regardless of whether he is recognized as a victim in the manner prescribed by law and whether he evaluates himself as such subjectively.

Thus, the concept of “crime victim” is broader than the concept of “crime victim”. In turn, not every crime victim falls within the scope of the law, in particular the criminal procedural law, but only those who are officially recognized as a participant in the criminal process, with all the ensuing consequences. To define such a victim, Russian criminal procedure law introduces the concept of “victim”. In accordance with Art. 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the victim is individual to whom physical, property, or moral harm has been caused by a crime, as well as a legal entity in the event of damage to its property and business reputation by the crime. It should be noted that as a result of a crime, harm is caused not only to a specific person or legal entity, but also to the state, public interests, social groups, nature. But within the framework of criminal victimology, the victim of a crime is personified exclusively to a specific person, whose personal characteristics, interacting with factors of objective reality, predetermine him as a victim of a crime.

It must be borne in mind that the same unlawful actions, depending on the conditions, place and time, can cause harm to both an individual and a group of people.

The key terms in victimology are, along with the concept of “victim,” also the terms “victimization” and “victimization.”

Victimization should be understood as a phenomenon that manifests itself through the interaction of negative environmental factors and the characteristics of a person’s personality, contributing to the emergence or development of a criminogenic situation and characterized by an increase in the threat of a given person to become a victim of a crime. In other words, victimization is the ability to become a victim of a crime. The higher the level of victimization, the more likely a person is to become a victim of crime.

At the same time, the level of victimization is influenced by various factors - external and internal. External factors (negative environmental factors) can manifest themselves in a wide variety of forms, ranging from the time of day to the effectiveness of law enforcement. Internal factors are expressed in the social, moral, psychological and biological characteristics of a person’s personality.

For example, prostitutes have high level victimization. Working in the dark (a specific situation associated with an increased sense of impunity among criminals due to worsening visibility conditions and a decrease in the number of strangers), having a “profession” considered in society as marginal, the bearers of which have no self-respect and are in conflict with the law ( social role will suggest that the victim will not contact law enforcement agencies out of a feeling of shame or fear of being held accountable) and, finally, being women (a physiological condition manifested in physical weakness in relation to a male criminal), prostitutes acquire the ability to become a victim of a crime. It is these circumstances that are one of the main factors in the tolerance of many prostitutes towards pimps, providing them with protection.

It should be noted that the level of victimization is not constant. Changes in a person's personality characteristics and environmental characteristics lead to changes in the level of victimization. In this case, the process of increasing victimization is defined as victimization, and decreasing - devictimization.

Thus, victimization is a characteristic feature, an individual property or quality, and victimization is a process that exists only when it has its own stages of development and manifests itself in a specific criminal situation. Many researchers assign an important role to the study of the process of victimization and the factors that shape victimization and determine the transition of “victim potential” into “victim determinism.”

Considering the purpose of victimology as a branch of knowledge in the system of criminology, it is necessary to outline its dual nature: scientific and practical. Scientific purpose involves the study of crime victims, the characteristics of their victimization and victimization, as well as the effectiveness of preventive methods. The practical goal of victimology is expressed in combating crime in general.

The objectives of victimology are formulated either within the framework of designated goals or in a comprehensive manner. Thus, the complex tasks of victimology are:

• 1) study of elements of the subject of victimology;
• 2) research legal regulation support and protection of crime victims, compensation for damage caused by crime, as well as victimological prevention;
• 3) conducting a criminological examination of bills and existing regulations in order to supplement them with norms regulating victimological issues;
• 4) predicting changes in victimization and victimization at the general and group level;
• 5) planning activities to implement victimological prevention;
• 6) identifying shortcomings in victimological prevention;
• 7) study of foreign experience in victimological prevention;
• 8) development of new forms and methods of victimological prevention, etc.

The methodology of victimology is characterized by the use of a wide range of methods of scientific knowledge: general scientific, special scientific and special. As special methods of cognition, victimology uses the survey method, the observation method, the method of studying documents, methods of selective statistical research, the method of modeling and experiment, the testing method and others. All these and many other methods are aimed not only at a deeper development of the theoretical principles of the branch of knowledge under consideration, but also at their better practical use in activities law enforcement on combating crime.

The structure of victimology is reflected in the general and special parts of criminology: general problems of victimology are an element of the general part of criminology, and the victimology of certain types of crime, groups of crimes, groups of victims is included in the special part of criminology (these are private victimological theories). That is, victimology is essentially dissolved in criminology.

The theoretical basis of criminological research in the field of victimology is the works of domestic and foreign scientists in the field of theory and methodology of victimological knowledge (P. S. Dagel, V. E. Kvashis, B. Mendelson, V. I. Polubisky, D. V. Rivman, L. V. Frank and others), teachings about the victim of crime, dedicated to victimological prevention (T. P. Budyakova, V. I. Zadorozhny, D. V. Rivman, V. S. Ustinov and others) and victimological crime prevention (Yu. M. Antonyan, T. V. Varchuk, K. V. Vishnevetsky, V. E. Kvashis, E. F. Pobegailo, A. L. Repetskaya, O. V. Starkov, D. A. Shestakov, V. E. Eminov and others), theories of criminal security (M. M. Babaev, G. G. Gorshenkov, S. Ya. Lebedev, V. A. Pleshakov), as well as research on criminal legal and criminological problems of combating crime, especially their victimological aspect (A. A. Gadzhieva, A. A. Glukhova, G. N. Gorshenkov, N. A. Kabanov, E. N. Kleshchina, E. L. Sidorenko, B. V. Sidorov, V. E. Khristenko and others), including preventive and safety measures (A. V. Mayorov, A. A. Ter-Akopov, V. N. Shchedrin, I. N. Serdyuchenko).

Thus, it should be noted that victimology is a criminological doctrine that studies victimization as a specific objective-personal phenomenon that predetermines the possibility of becoming a victim of a crime; victimization as the process of forming the prerequisites for becoming a victim of a crime; characteristics, features of victim behavior and personality typology of the victim; as well as forms and methods of victimological prevention.

Since the early 70s of the 20th century, such a sub-branch of criminology as criminal victimology has been intensively developing in our country. Generally victimology– this is the doctrine of victims (victims of accidents, military conflicts, emergencies, accidents, catastrophes, natural disasters, animal attacks, etc.), and criminal victimology is the science of victims of criminal behavior. The term “victimology” comes from two words: Latin viktima - sacrifice, a living being offered as a sacrifice to a deity and Greek - teaching, science. The literal translation of the term “victimology” means “the study of sacrifice.”

The objectives of victimology are the study of the personality of crime victims, their interpersonal connections with the criminal before, during and after the crime.

Subject of study of victimology- persons who have suffered physical, moral or material harm as a result of a crime, including criminals; their behavior related to the crime committed (including behavior after it); the relationship between the offender and the victim before the crime was committed; situations in which harm occurred, etc.

Knowledge about victims of violence or theft, analysis and generalization of data about them, along with studying the identity of the criminal, can help to better determine the direction of preventive measures, identify groups of people who are most often exposed to one or another socially dangerous attack, i.e., identify risk groups and work with them.

The task Victimology is a detailed study of the personality of the victims of the crime, their relationship with the criminal (during the crime, before it and after it). Knowledge about victimological personality types helps to understand the psychology of victims of violence or theft. By analyzing and summarizing data on victims, researchers better understand the personality of the criminal and can identify victimological risk groups, carry out preventive work with them and prevent possible crimes. Purpose Victimological research is to increase the effectiveness of crime prevention.

Criminological victimology studies: 1) social, psychological, legal, moral and other characteristics of crime victims - in order to find out why, due to what emotional, volitional, moral qualities, what socially conditioned orientation a person turned out to be a victim;

2) relationships connecting the criminal and the victim (victim) - to answer the question to what extent these relationships are significant for creating the preconditions for the crime, how they influence the initiation of the crime, the motives of the criminal’s actions;

3) situations that precede the crime, as well as situations of the crime itself - to answer the question of how in these situations, in interaction with the behavior of the criminal, the behavior (action or inaction) of the victim (victim) is criminologically significant;

4) post-criminal behavior of the victim (victim) - to answer the question of what he is doing to restore his rights, resorting to the protection of law enforcement agencies, the court, preventing or assisting them in establishing the truth. This also includes a system of preventive measures that take into account and use the protective capabilities of both potential victims and actual victims;

5) ways, possibilities, methods of compensation for the harm caused by the crime, and, first of all, the physical rehabilitation of the victim (victim). Victimology studies various problems associated with causing harm. First of all, it turns to the personal qualities and behavior of victims, which to a greater or lesser extent determine the criminal actions of the perpetrators of harm, to situations fraught with the danger of causing violence.

Victimization: concept and levels

victimization

In modern criminal victimology, using the criterion of scale, the following are distinguished: victimization levels:

1. Individual (or personal) victimization - this is a quality of an individual, mediated by social, biophysical or emotional-psychological characteristics, which in a certain situation leads to the formation of sufficient conditions for causing criminal harm to him.

2. Species victimization is expressed in the great predisposition of certain categories of people to become victims of certain types of criminal attacks (theft, fraud, robbery, rape) due to subjective and objective reasons.

3. Group victimization is common to large groups and groups of people with the same and similar social, demographic, professional and physical characteristics, an increased likelihood of becoming victims of crime (for example, alcoholics, prostitutes and drug addicts).

4. Mass victimization expresses the presence of a tendency, predisposition of macro-communities of people, due to a number of their qualities and properties, to suffer damage or harm from criminal acts, and also includes statistical parameters of the entire set of victims of criminal attacks due to their victimization. Just like crime, mass victimization is characterized by a state (its parameters are structure, level and dynamics).

Types of victimization

In criminological usage, the term “ victimization"was introduced in the 70s of the twentieth century by the famous Soviet victimologist L.V. Frank (1920 – 1978), who considers victimization as a personal ability and predisposition realized by a criminal act.

Victimization is often defined as a person’s tendency, due to a set of his physical, spiritual, social and other properties and qualities, under certain objective circumstances, to become a victim of criminal attacks. Victimization depends not only on various personal characteristics and parameters, but also on the spatio-temporal features of the criminogenic situation, as well as on the degree of its conflict.

Victimization at the micro-environmental (personal) level– the inability of a person to avoid a criminal attack, to resist it where it was objective and possible or, otherwise, the potential opportunity to find himself in the role of a victim, a specific predisposition to become a victim.

Victimization at the general social level as a system of the reverse movement of society, expressed in the infliction of mass harm of various natures, suffered by society, the state, social groups, and corporations, individuals and manifested in descending-ascending losses, measured by quantitative and qualitative indicators and contrasted with this by a system of ensuring security from probable harm that could be caused to society, the state, groups, associations, individuals and its compensation.

By type, victimization is divided into personal (related to the biophysiological characteristics of a person), role-playing (mediated by the socio-demographic properties and qualities of its carriers) and situational (connected with the current situation, the situation in which a person finds himself (staying in places of deprivation of liberty, a situation of war, revolution, humanitarian disaster, riots, natural disaster, etc.)).

There is also a more general division of victimization into guilty associated with the “defectiveness” of the behavior of its owner, and innocent , independent of the behavior of the carrier (for example, disabled people, mentally ill people, minors, elderly people, etc.

The most victimogenic age group in Russia is considered to be a group of people aged 25 to 30 years. More often than others, businessmen and entrepreneurs are victims of criminals. Citizens with incomes below the subsistence level and with average incomes are less likely to become victims. City residents have a higher victimization rate than rural residents, and moreover, than larger city, the higher victimization rate, which is calculated using the following formula (calculation can be made for 1 thousand, 10 thousand, 100 thousand people):

where P is the number of victims from criminal attacks committed in a specific territory over a certain period of time;

10 – unified calculation base;

N – population size regardless of age.