66454 - Theories of Victimization Processes

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to offer the students the necessary tools of knowledge in order to understand and operate on the "crime situation" with respect to the victim-offender dynamics. From this point of view, important are the theoretical and speculative cognitions as well as the practical ones. At the end of the course students are expected to be able to understand and manage with the complexity of victimization's dynamics, being able to recognize the relevance of their social and political roots in contemporary societies.

Course contents

Since its origins, victimology has contributed to bringing the figure of the victim to the centre of scientific, social, and legal attention, overcoming an understanding of crime focused exclusively on the offender. Early victimological studies highlighted the need to understand the victim within the broader context of criminal dynamics, opening up a field of research devoted to the analysis of victimisation processes and the individual and social consequences of the harm suffered.

Throughout its development, the discipline has progressively broadened its perspective, moving from the study of victims’ characteristics and experiences towards the analysis of the processes through which certain forms of suffering are socially and institutionally recognised, while others remain invisible or marginalised. Contemporary victimology therefore invites reflection not only on who is considered a victim, but also on how societies define, recognise, and protect specific categories of victims.

Starting from these theoretical and historical premises, the course aims to provide students with the necessary tools to understand the evolution of the discipline through the analysis of the main approaches within classical, critical, and contemporary victimology.

The course is organised into two main sections:

• the first section focuses on the origins and development of victimology, its key scholars and fundamental concepts, including primary, secondary, and tertiary victimisation processes, victim recognition, and the social construction of victim status;
• the second section explores specific forms of victimisation and emerging theoretical perspectives within the discipline, with particular attention to conditions of vulnerability, processes of exclusion, and social and institutional responses.

The course promotes a critical and interdisciplinary perspective aimed at understanding victimisation as a complex phenomenon in which individual, relational, cultural, and structural dimensions interact, with particular attention to the relationship between victims, institutions, social dynamics, and systems of power.

Readings/Bibliography

Sicurella S., Vezzadini S. (2026), Vittimologia. Vittime, processi di vittimizzazione e contesto sociale. Mondadori Università. 

• Christie, N. (2018). The Ideal Victim. In M. Duggan (Ed.), Revisiting the “Ideal Victim” (1st ed., pp. 11–24). Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.51952/9781447339151.ch002
• Bosma, A., Mulder, E., & Pemberton, A. (2018). The ideal victim through other(s’) eyes. In M. Duggan (Ed.), Revisiting the “Ideal Victim” (1st ed., pp. 27–42). Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.51952/9781447339151.ch003
• Pemberton, A., Mulder, E., & Aarten, P. G. M. (2019). Stories of injustice: Towards a narrative victimology. European Journal of Criminology, 16(4), 391–412. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370818770843
• Meyer, S. (2016). Still blaming the victim of intimate partner violence? Women’s narratives of victim desistance and redemption when seeking support. Theoretical Criminology, 20(1), 75-90.
• Hall, M., & Matthew Hall. (2013). Identifying and conceptualizing the victims of environmental harm. In Victims of Environmental Harm(1st ed., pp. 25–49). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203083444-2
• Holt, A. (2016). Adolescent-to-Parent Abuse as a Form of “Domestic Violence”: A Conceptual Review. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 17(5), 490–499. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26638146
• Tucker, C. J., Finkelhor, D., Turner, H., & Shattuck, A. M. (2014). Sibling and peer victimization in childhood and adolescence. Child Abuse & Neglect, 38(10), 1599–1606. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.05.007

Materials available on: https://sba.unibo.it/it

Bibliography for Erasmus students:

Davies, P., Francis, P., & Greer, C. (2007). Victims, crime and society. Sage.

For regular attendees the bibliography for the exam preparation will be recommended by the teacher during lessons.

All students (regular attendees, not regular attendess, international) can benefit from all documents published on the platform virtuale.unibo.it

Teaching methods

Course methodology: lectures and participatory activities.

Examples of active learning activities: group discussions, watching and comment multimedia materials, peer instruction, peer assessment, case studies, individual/group student presentations during lessons related to analyzed topics.

Assessment methods

The exam aims to verify the achievement of the educational objectives highlighted in the part called "learning outcomes".

Attending students:

• written exam at the end of the course (25/30);

• Evaluation of one participatory activities to be organized in groups and presented in the classroom (5/30);

• class exercise (optional - max 1p.)

Attending students not satisfied with the grade obtained, during exam sessions, will be able to take a written test that will be based on the entire program carried out during the course (topics of participatory activities included).

In order to take the exam with the attending program, it is necessary to participate in the activities offered during the course.

Non-attending students:

there will be one written exam composed by four open questions regarding issues addressed in the books (see section Readings/Bibliography). For each answer there are 7.5 points assigned max. Exam duration: 90mins.

Students participating in international mobility programs (for example: Erasmus and Overseas) should contact the professor at the beginning of class. The exam can be taken in written form (Italian or English).

It is possible to view the test and ask for clarification during office hours.

In all cases, the evaluation criterion of the written test will be the same and aimed at verifying the acquisition of knowledge and the achievement of objectives. 

In both cases, the evaluation criterion of the written test will be the same and aimed at verifying the acquisition of knowledge and critical analysis. 

The ability to fully expound and argue and the critical analysis of the phenomena studied as well as the mastery of language relevant to the subject will be evaluated with very good or excellent grades (27/30 to 30 cum laude). A merely mnemonic analysis, limited argumentative ability and the use of language that is not always appropriate will result in fair grades (22/30 to 26/30) while weak analytical and argumentative abilities accompanied by a deficient preparation will be evaluated with a grade of 18/30 to 21/30.
Insufficient preparation in relation to course content and poor analytical skills will result in a failing grade (rejected). The grade obtained can be rejected a maximum of two times.

 

Teaching tools

PC and videoprojector. Web resources. 

Students who would like to use voice recorders for class lectures are kindly invited to ask for the explicit permission of the professor in order to do so.

During lectures, the professor will use Power Point presentations and other material that will be published on the website: https://virtuale.unibo.it

 

Notice for students with Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) or temporary/permanent disabilities: students are strongly advised to contact the University Office in advance. The Office will be responsible for proposing any necessary accommodations to the students concerned. These accommodations must be submitted to the teacher at least 15 days in advance, who will evaluate their appropriateness in relation to the learning objectives of the course.

 

AI can be a useful tool to support individual study through in-depth analysis, summaries, and self-assessment activities. As for the assessment of learning, the use of AI during in-person exams is prohibited. Any use constitutes a violation of academic integrity.

Office hours

See the website of Sandra Sicurella