Victimology

Author: Brenda Edith Cetina Juárez

Degree in criminology

July 01, 2021

Victimology is the study of the victim (s) and its object of study is the human being who has been damaged in his property, physically or psychologically, and according to the CNPP (National Code of Criminal Procedures) in the article 108, mentions who we should consider as a victim: “the taxpayer who directly suffers the damage caused by the criminal conduct is considered a victim of the crime” (Unión, 2021). This is interested in many aspects of the victim: their personality, traits of all kinds, their demographics, their relationships and social circle, the roles they perform in their daily life and of course their role in the act committed.
The first approaches to victimology occur with Benjamin Mendelsohn, Hans Von Henting, among others, who in their attempt to study it, created their own patterns and factors that could cause certain people to be victims, in addition to taking it as a science parallel to criminology. On the other hand, there are those who accept their autonomy from criminology, while many others still consider it a discipline derived from it and I would even dare to say that many consider it derived from law. While some argue its existence due to the failure of criminology to give inadequate treatment and poor subsequent follow-up to the person who commits the crime (Porras, 2012).
Over the years, the victim has evolved and therefore the victimology, although with a certain lag, because although it is true that the victim is a source of information for the study of the crime, it is also true that it has been left very aside and the focus of attention is taken by the person who commits the crime, so it is necessary not only to understand that without a victim there is no crime, but also to forge in future criminologists, criminal investigators and all those involved of this nature that the victim must not be a stranger and oblivious to the case, and a crime cannot be studied unilaterally (Marchiori, 2004), it must be understood that in the existence of the victim it is necessary to study it and that in turn, like any other Another person can be a victim, an important aspect to highlight is the fact that the victim can also be part of the crime to a certain degree of participation and that they are not so innocent, because it can happen.
Unfortunately, the existence of victims whose cases have been forgotten or who have been "shelved" are not null and may increase daily; How many victims of hundreds of crimes walk through the streets of the city without justice being done to them? and many others who, due to their role as victims, have been put aside without giving them the importance that due to ethics and professionalism they should be given. The numbers are cold, 22.3 million victims are estimated until 2020 (ENVIPE, 2020).
What is undoubtedly a fact is that without victimology, without that interest and compassion for another human being, both criminology and victimology would not have a reason for being, they are one of the noblest sciences in this sense.

Bibliography
ENVIPE. (2020). INEGI. Retrieved on July 2, 2021, from  https://www.inegi.org.mx/contenidos/programas/envipe/2020/doc/envipe2020_presentacion_nacional.pdf
Marchiori, H. (2004). Criminology. Theories and thoughts. Mexico: Porrúa.
Porras, JF (2012). Criminal profiling. Flowers.
Teram, SJ (nd). Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Retrieved June 30, 2021, from  https://www.corteidh.or.cr/tablas/a12064.pdf
Union, C. d. (February 19, 2021). diputados.gob.mx. Retrieved on June 28, 2021, from the National Code of Criminal Procedures:  http://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf/CNPP_190221.pdf