PROF. DR.

GERD KIRCHHOFF SUBHOJIT DAS (20131152)

Professor, JGLS and Professor of Victimology B.A., LL.B. 2013-18

MIDTERM EXAM – “VICTIMOLOGY”

QUESTION 1:
What are the main contributions of a.) Benjamin Mendelsohn and of b.) Hans von Hentig to victimology?

ANSWER:
a.) BENJAMIN MENDELSOHN – Known as the father of ‘victimology’, Mendelsohn coined the term.
He outlined a 6-step classification of victims based on legal considerations of the degree of the
victim’s blame.1 They are as follows:

1. Completely Innocent Victim – This is somebody who is not at all responsible for being the victim
as he/she gets victimized simply because of his/her nature, e.g. children.
2. Victim due to ignorance – A victim who inadvertently places himself/herself in harm’s way.
3. Victim as voluntary victim – A victim who is a voluntary participant in suicide pacts and other
criminal acts and bears high risk.
4. Victim more guilty than offender – Somebody who instigates or provokes his/her victimization.
5. Most guilty victim – somebody who acts as the aggressor but ends up as a victim during the
commission of the crime.
6. Stimulating/Imaginary victim – Somebody who is a false reporter fabricating a victimization event.

Albeit revolutionary, prior to applying Mendsohn’s typology, contextual information ought to be

investigated and considered to negate the potential to be misused.2

b.) HANS VON HENTIG – One of Hentig’s major contributions to victimology was to systematically
study the role that victims could play in the crimes committed against them.3 In his book, ‘The
Criminal and His Victim: Studies in the Socio-biology of Crime (1948)’, he developed a system of
categorizing victims along a continuum that depended on their contribution to the criminal act, i.e.
as agent provocateurs. He classified victims into 13 categories.4

1. Young – Children & infants are physically and mentally weaker, have fewer legal rights and
more often than not economically dependent on their parents. They bear the potency to
be exposed to harm at a greater degree than adults do.

1 Meadows, R. 2007, ‘UNDERSTAND VIOLENCE AND VICTIMIZATIONS’, 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
2 Claire Ferguson and Brent E. Turvey, ‘FORENSIC VICTIMOLOGY’, Chapter 1, p.17, Available at:
https://booksite.elsevier.com/samplechapters/9780123740892/Sample_Chapters/02~Chapter_1.pdf
3 Van Dijk, J.M. (1999), “Introducing Victimology”, Paper on the Ninth Symposium of the World Society of Victimology:

http://rechten.uvt.nl/victimology/other/vandijk.pdf.
4 Supra note 2 at 12.

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PROF. DR. GERD KIRCHHOFF SUBHOJIT DAS (20131152)
Professor, JGLS and Professor of Victimology B.A., LL.B. 2013-18

2. Females – Physically weaker than men, women have been culturally conditioned to accept
male authority and dominance. This leads to low self-esteem, substance abuse, depression
etc.
3. Old/Aged – Similar conditions as children. Combined with a poor memory and sense of
pride, they are extremely vulnerable.
4. Mentally defective and deranged – They are the insane drug-addicts; feeble-minded people who
are unable not recognize or appropriately respond to threats in the environment.
5. Immigrants – Foreigners unfamiliar with a given culture are exposed to varying gaps in
communication thereby leading to theft and abuse.
6. Minorities – Racially disadvantaged people who are exposed to some amount of
bias/prejudice and varying levels of abuse/violence.
7. Dull Normals – Simple-minded people bear the same risk as mentally challenged people.
8. Depressed people – They may expose themselves to all manners of danger. Additionally, the
medication often leads to change in perception, impairs in reasoning etc.
9. The Acquisitive – Greedy people, often putting themselves in risk to attain their goals.
10. The Wanton – Conduct of indiscriminate sexual activity leads to diseases & varying
personalities.
11. Lonesome & Heartbroken – mainly widows, widowers, and those in mourning. Also includes
ones prone to substance abuse making them vulnerable to manipulative con men.
12. The Tormentor – Abusive family members of all kinds. They expose themselves to the harm
that they inflict and the degree to which the victim fights back.
13. The Blocked, exempted and fighting – Mainly those who are enmeshed in poor decisions and
unable to defend themselves or seek assistance if victimized, e.g. victim of blackmailing.

QUESTION 2:
What are “Victim Rights”? Give 5 examples of typical “Victim Rights”? Why is it so difficult to introduce
enforceable victim rights in an existing criminal procedure system?

ANSWER:
In simple terminology, ‘victim rights’ entail the legal rights that are afforded to crime victims. A crime
victim has the following rights.

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PROF. DR. GERD KIRCHHOFF SUBHOJIT DAS (20131152)
Professor, JGLS and Professor of Victimology B.A., LL.B. 2013-18

QUESTION 3:
Ezzat Fattah developed ten different components that help to explain victimization. Describe these
components. Give for each component an example from the Indian society.

ANSWER:
Ezzat Fattah integrated the various theoretical models into a comprehensive system and grouped all the
seemingly relevant factors into ten categories. They are as follows:

1. Opportunities – They are closely linked to the characteristics of potential targets and to the activities
and behaviour of these targets. For example, most of the people between 15-24 years have a
tendency to go out late at night
2. Risk Factors – Certain socio-demographic characteristics such as gender or someone’s age, or
residential locality, frequency of alcohol consumption also matter. For example,
3. Motivated Offenders – Some offenders carefully choose their victims/targets based on certain
evaluations or criteria. They do not choose on a random basis.
4. Exposure – When one gets frequently exposed to situations, which are risky in certain environments
where there exist potential offenders, it increases their chances of victimization.
5. Association – Simply put, individuals who are in close contact with potential offenders whether it be
social, personal or professional, bear a far greater risk of being victimized than those who do not.
6. Dangerous times/places –

The risks of criminal victimization are not evenly distributed in time or space – there are
dangerous times such as evening, late night hours and weekends. There are also dangerous
places such as places of public entertainment where the risks of becoming a victim are higher
than at work or at home.

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