Abstract
In this paper I revisit some of my older publications on ‘victim labeling’ which I consider to be the main fruits of my stay at INTERVICT, the research center on victimology at Tilburg University founded by Marc Groenhuijsen. In my view those harmed by crime are in Western culture socially labelled as ‘victims’, or as passive, helpless sufferers rather than resilient survivors. According to my original writings the root of this label is to be found in the Christian imagery of Jesus Christ as ‘victim of our sins’. Reviewers have confirmed this historical interpretation with some amendments. In the second part of the paper I discuss results of recent social-psychological studies confirming the existence of the ‘victim label’ and its connotations of passive suffering. Finally, I discuss the political implication of victim labeling theory that those harmed by crime should be liberated from the label and be recognized as key participants in both criminal trials and restorative justice.
‘I guess people can’t stand victims who assert themselves and show their strength. They don’t like that. They prefer to see a person who goes away. But that’s not me, – and this then arouses hatred’.
Natascha Kampusch in an interview in the Austrian newspaper Der Standard, 10 October, 2019
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Van Dijk, J. (2020). Victim Labeling Theory; A Reappraisal. In: Joseph, J., Jergenson, S. (eds) An International Perspective on Contemporary Developments in Victimology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41622-5_6
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