Ideal Victim

Being a ‘victim’ is not an objective phenomenon. A victim is a historical, social, legal, political and a temporal construct. Regardless of the definition of a victim, responses, while usually is pitiful, sympathetic and concerned, there are instances where victims are actually criticised and incur blame for their experiences with crimes. The concept of the ‘ideal’ victim plays an integral part in the response of the criminal justice system. While Christie’s (1986) seminal ‘ideal victim’ has been prominent in victimology, it is an outdated theory. A more contemporary theory surrounding the ideal victim are stereotypes. The notion of the ideal victim and stereotypes stem from media discourse which undeniably shape our perceptions of victims.

Such groups include victims. This has a profound effect on the perceptions of an individual. When stereotypical characteristics are not present, they are still ‘visible’ (Blum 2004). For example, an individual may assume an Asian to be good at math, when in reality they are not. An explanation as to why we rely on stereotypes is because it is a useful cognitive shortcut (Howard 1984). Stereotypes allows the perceiver to base reactions on pre-existing causal schema (Kelley 1973) therefore, information processing is more efficiency (Hamilton 1979). How does stereotyping apply to victims then? Stereotypes exists not only in relation to the ideal victim but there exist stereotypes surrounding crimes as well. In regards to rape, stereotypical rape situations include a male stranger who ambushes an unsuspecting woman (Karmen 2007). A stereotypical rape victim is a female, young, overwhelmed, powerless, showing sign of struggles and completely ruined by their rapes (Konradi 2007). Interestingly enough, the victims themselves are aware of these stereotypes (Konradi 2007). Stereotypical beliefs come to mind subconsciously, without one’s awareness, and it is the result of media influences which creates and reinforce these

While Christie describes a victim who obtains the ideal victim status based on certain characteristics, Smolej (2010) has argued that the ideal victim is an individual who can arouse identification in the general public. We rarely come into contact with crime ourselves but hear about victims of crime via news media discourse. The media is selective in which victims obtains attentions. In other words, the media presents the ‘ideal victim’ to the public eye. There exists a ‘hierarchy of victimisation’ which is used to determine which victims gains media attention. It is an order where there are different statuses of victims; ideal victims at the top and non-ideal victims are near the bottom (Greer 2007). More time, dedication and resources are given to victims who obtain this ‘ideal’ victims status. Additionally, the depiction of such victims in the media vary greatly. For example, an 11-year-old girl who was raped while walking home from school (Watling 2012). Police who were interviewed had used phrases such as a ‘horrific and unusual attack on a defenceless schoolgirl,’ and describing the incident as a ‘extremely rare incident’ (Watling 2012). In contrast, in the controversy surrounding females and football players, depictions of women in the media used terms such as ‘Floozies’ describing women as animalistic who ‘ran at them’ [footballers] (Pierik 2010). There are specific scripts that women are expected