Forensic Science--What is Victimology?

The perpetrator's profile involves his evaluation of the victim. Studying the victim's distinguishing qualities is known as victimology. Victimology is simply establishing a degree of that person's risk of becoming a victim as a function of his or her personal, professional, or social life. Having intimate knowledge of the victim's lifestyle and habits provides ideas as to why this particular victim was chosen at a given time and place. This information divides victims into one of three categories:

• Low-risk victims tend to remain close to work and home. They tend not to frequent places they do not know very well. They lock their doors at night. They hold steady jobs and have many friends.


• Medium-risk victims may work close to home and lock theirs doors at night. However, these individuals are indiscriminate and at times venture out at night by themselves.


• High-risk victims oftentimes live in high-risk situations. Prostitutes, especially those who walk the streets, clearly fall into this category. They typically work during the night hours, interact with strangers regularly, willing climb into cars with strangers, and therefore are easy targets. Other high-risk behaviors involve drug use, sexually active lifestyles, nighttime jobs, and congregations with other people who possess criminal tendencies.

Perpetrators choose their particular victims based on their own fantasies and their victim's susceptibility. Some victims are just grabbed as victims of opportunity. Low-risk victims are less likely to place themselves in susceptible positions than high-risk victims. However, either one can simply be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Other victims are snatched because they fit the role in the offender's fantasy. Perpetrators may spend a bit of time, perhaps days or weeks, cruising for the perfect victim-the person who most likely matches his fantasy. Other potentially vulnerable targets are ignored because they are not quite right.

Psychological autopsy is a special form of victim profiling. A psychological autopsy is performed when the manner of the victim's death is not clear. Criminal investigators are unsure whether the victim's death was accidental, suicidal, or homicidal. To help make this determination, the forensic psychiatrist digs into the victim's school, work, medical, and military histories. The forensic psychiatrist interviews family, friends, and associates. He/she evaluates autopsy, police, and witness reports. The objective is to determine whether the victim was the type of person who was living in a high-stress situation to take his or her own life or living a lifestyle that made him or her easy prey for a killer.

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