Wiktymologia – charakterystyka ofiar przestępstw

Abstract

Criminology as a field of science from the beginning of its existence dealt with the criminal and institutions that deal with crime prevention. However, at the end of the 1940s, this science has begun to conduct research on victims of crimes. On the basis of the conducted research, it was noted that the relationship between the criminal and the victim does not proceed as initially assumed on the principle of a passive victim – an active criminal. It was noticed that there are cases in which an individual can both expect an attack and take in it unconsciously an active participation, through his behavior that may encourage the offender to do criminal offense. In addition, demographic characteristics, behavior and the character of a person may affect the probability of becoming a victim, because the perpetrators most often choose vulnerable people who will not be able to defend themselves.