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RETHINKING VICTIMIZATION: AN INTERACTIONAL APPROACH TO VICTIMOLOGY
Author(s) -
Holstein James A.,
Miller Gale
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
symbolic interaction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.874
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1533-8665
pISSN - 0195-6086
DOI - 10.1525/si.1990.13.1.103
Subject(s) - victimology , psychology , social psychology , sociology , criminology , human factors and ergonomics , poison control , child abuse , environmental health , medicine
This article suggests an interactional approach for analyzing victimization–that is, the social processes through which person come to be known and understood as victims. The authors conceptualize victimization in terms of interactional and descriptive practices through which victim status is assigned to persons and/or groups. Using data from the public media and fieldwork in everyday settings, the authors illustrate some techniques, objectives, and outcomes of victimization. The authors conclude by recommending several issues and directions for study that would be appropriate for victimological research that construes victims as interactionally constituted.