Viktimizacija u 21.veku
Victimization in XXI century

Summary/Abstract: The development of studies about victims and victimization so far has shown a few characteristic features. First of all, media, politicians and public, as well as judiciary officials and scientists, evidently establish a specific hierarchy of victims. At the top of it are those who deserve to be called „ideal victims“, while at the very bottom are those to whom victims’ status has been denied. The second regularity is a systematic disregard of victimization within certain social categories — regardless of broadly researched forms (e. g., sexual and domestic violence) some victims are being ignored. As in all criminological disciplines, the scientists are more prone to studying victims of street crime rather than corporate crime victims.The third identified property is that victim protection issue is actively researched not only by experts, but also by various humanists, human rights defenders and NGO activists. The latter comprehend victimization far broader than defined in criminological science (threat or harm, incurred as the result of criminal act). This broader approach can be useful in perceiving unsanctioned yet dangerous behaviors, but serious research is needed whether these behaviors can be appropriately controlled by norms of criminal law.The victims are generally dissatisfied both with their status within the society and with the criminal justice system — which would be the fourth feature. The system generally disregards victims’ needs reducing them to witnesses only, even without providing them any information about further legal procedures. On the other hand, capitalistic and entrepreneurial spirit simply regards victims as mere consumers of various technical security equipment, whose producers hugely profit from victims’ fears of repeated victimization.Victimization is undeniably a very complex phenomenon where good vs. bad dichotomy is highly inapplicable. Sometimes it is only the matter of a chance who will be defined as the perpetrator and 82who the victim, in a dynamic relation in which roles alternate (e. g., fight between two men, with an injury as the result). Furthermore, victimization of perpetrators is also possible (similarly to the circle of violence in criminology). Additionally, perpetrators can be found among those who are in charge of crime control. The aforementioned confirms that victimization must be observed and studied in a broader historical, social, ideological and economic context. It is unacceptable to reduce this issue to solely personal characteristics of victims

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