Victims - Definition and Categories
DEFINITION OF THE TERM ‘VICTIM’.
The word “victim” has its roots in many ancient languages that covered a great distance from northwestern Europe to the southern tip of Asia and yet had a similar linguistic pattern: victima in Latin; and, vinak ti in Sanskrit (Webster’s 1971). In the original meaning of the term, a victim was a man or animal put to death during a religious ceremony in order to appease some supernatural power or deity. Over centuries, the term has picked up additional meanings. Now it commonly refers to individuals who suffer injuries, losses, or hardships, for any reason. People can become victims of accidents, natural calamities, disasters, or social problems such as warfare, discrimination, political witch hunts, and other injustices. Crime victims are people harmed by illegal acts.
Victimology as an academic term contains two elements:
• One is the Latin word “Victima” which translates into “victim”.
• The other is the Greek word “logos” which means a system of knowledge, the direction of something abstract, the direction of teaching, science, and a discipline.
The term “Victim” has its roots in the early religious notions of suffering, sacrifice and death. This concept of “victim” was well known in the ancient civilizations, especially in Babylonia, Palestine, Greece, and Rome. In each of these civilizations the law mandated that the victim should be recognized as a person who deserved to be made whole again by the offender.
The term victim is lacking descriptive precision. It implies more than the mere existence of an injured party, in that innocence or blamelessness is suggested as well as a moral claim to a compassionate response from others. Until recently, victims were not studied. They tended to be seen as passive recipients of the criminal’s greed or anger, “in the wrong place at the wrong time.” The study of victims, known as Victimology, has resulted in theoretical and research studies, and an awareness of the victim has grown
The word “victim” has its roots in many ancient languages that covered a great distance from northwestern Europe to the southern tip of Asia and yet had a similar linguistic pattern: victima in Latin; and, vinak ti in Sanskrit (Webster’s 1971). In the original meaning of the term, a victim was a man or animal put to death during a religious ceremony in order to appease some supernatural power or deity. Over centuries, the term has picked up additional meanings. Now it commonly refers to individuals who suffer injuries, losses, or hardships, for any reason. People can become victims of accidents, natural calamities, disasters, or social problems such as warfare, discrimination, political witch hunts, and other injustices. Crime victims are people harmed by illegal acts.
Victimology as an academic term contains two elements:
• One is the Latin word “Victima” which translates into “victim”.
• The other is the Greek word “logos” which means a system of knowledge, the direction of something abstract, the direction of teaching, science, and a discipline.
The term “Victim” has its roots in the early religious notions of suffering, sacrifice and death. This concept of “victim” was well known in the ancient civilizations, especially in Babylonia, Palestine, Greece, and Rome. In each of these civilizations the law mandated that the victim should be recognized as a person who deserved to be made whole again by the offender.
The term victim is lacking descriptive precision. It implies more than the mere existence of an injured party, in that innocence or blamelessness is suggested as well as a moral claim to a compassionate response from others. Until recently, victims were not studied. They tended to be seen as passive recipients of the criminal’s greed or anger, “in the wrong place at the wrong time.” The study of victims, known as Victimology, has resulted in theoretical and research studies, and an awareness of the victim has grown