Victim Services Program: Type of Victim/Victimization

The U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime identified the
following types of Victim/victimization:
Adult Molested as Child
Adult age 18 or older who was sexually abused as a child.
Adult Sexual Assault
Sexual offense including rape, incest, fondling, exhibitionism, or pornography of
an adult age 18 or older.
Aggravated Assault
Unlawful, intentional causing of serious bodily injury with or without a deadly
weapon, or unlawful, intentional attempting or threatening to cause serious
bodily injury or death with a deadly weapon.
Arson
Any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to
defraud, a dwelling, house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, or personal
property of another.
Assault
Any unlawful attack by one person on another with or without a weapon, that
inflicts, or attempts or threatens to inflict physical injury.
Child
A person under the age of 18 or as otherwise defined by state law.

Child Physical Abuse

Non-accidental injury to a child by a parent or other adult that may include
severe beatings, burns, strangulation, or human bites.
Child Sexual Abuse
Sexual offense (see also sexual offense) against a child by a parent or other
adult.
Domestic Violence
Violent acts involving a current of former spouse or domestic partner.
DUI/DWI Crash
Accident involving one or more motor vehicles in which at least one driver was
under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs (DUI) or was legally intoxicated
(DWI) at the time of the crash.
Elder Abuse
Abuse perpetrated by a caretaker on an elderly individual who depends on
others for support and assistance.
Fraud
A deliberate deception perpetrated for unlawful or unfair gain.
Gang Violence
Criminal acts committed by a group of three or more individuals who regularly
engage in criminal activity and identify themselves with a common name or
sign.

Human Sex Trafficking

Sex trafficking in which a commercial or act is induced by force fraud, or
coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained
18 years of age; or the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or
obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or
coercion, for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, personage, debt
bondage, or slavery.
Identity Theft
A crime in which an imposter obtains key pieces of personal information, such
as Social Security or driver's license numbers, to impersonate someone else.
Other, Referring to Types of Victim Served
Victims of nonviolent crime, such as burglary and white-collar crime.
Other Violent Crimes
Other crimes not listed, not including property crimes (which is the taking of
money or property without force or threat of force).
Robbery
Taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control
of a person or persons by force or threat, and/or threat of force or violence.
Sexual Offense
Forcible rape, attempted rape, statutory rape, sexual harassment, prostitution,
or other unlawful sexual contact and other unlawful behavior intended to result
in sexual gratification or profit from sexual activity.

Stalking
Any unwanted contact between two people that directly or indirectly
communicate a threat or place the victim in fear.
Survivor of Homicide Victim
Family member or loved one of a murder victim.
Terrorism
Use of violence or intimidation to coerce a government or civilian population to
further political or social objectives.
Victims with Disabilities
Victims of crime who have a physical or mental disability.
White-Collar Crime
Nonviolent crime for financial gain committed by means of deception by persons
with special technical and professional knowledge of business or government.

Victimology vs Criminology
In May of 2008, Christian William Carney, age 25 and Alvin Lovely, age 24, shot and
killed a fellow marine officer, Stephen Serrano, age 20, in retaliation for the theft of
Carney's drug money from the room at Camp Pendelton where Carney was stationed
and lived. Carney had been a cocaine and ecstacy dealer at Camp Pendelton, which is
located in Southern California. Were they criminals because they killed Serrano, or
were they simply retaliating to the theft of the drug money in the only way that they
knew, because of their military training? Most people would say that they are cold
blooded killers, but some would say that they just wanted their money back and when
they didn't get it, went into a rage and simply retaliated by using their military
training.
Victimology is the study of victims, i.e. what makes up a victim and how to help the
victim heal after they have been involved in a crime; whereas Criminology is the study
of criminals, how they function, how to punish them and how the public reacts to
criminals within their midst.

It is commonly accepted that there are five types of victim typologies, as set out
by Selin and Wolfgang and they can be described as follows:
1) Primary Victimization - This would be when a crime is focused on a single person as a
victim such as a "hit" (also known as a contract) whereby someone sets out to kill a
certain person; or a crime of passion, i.e. a husband coming in on his wife and her
lover.
2) Secondary Victimization This occurs when the victims are random targets of
opportunity such as school shootings, when someone enters a school with the intent of
creating mayhem and panic in order to create more targets as people run helter
skelter; or muggings or pick pocketing, which are crimes of opportunity usually with the
intent of monetary gain.
3) Tertiary Victimization - This typology covers things such as terrorism where the pubic
in general is the target. 9/11 is a very good example of this type of victimization
whereas terrorists targeted very public monuments in an attempt to instill a response
from their intended goal.
4) Mutual Victimization - This is where criminals victimize other criminals. An example
of this would be when one gang takes over another gang's "turf". They attack each
other in an attempt to either take or maintain control over a piece of property.
5) No Victimization - This would be when it becomes hard to decide who the real victim
is. An example of 'No Victimization' would be when a drunk stumbles home, tries to put
his key in the door but it won't work so he goes over to a window and breaks it to get
in, only to find that it is not his house and the owner of that house shoots him.
An incident which demonstrates the grey areas that can exist when identifying the
difference between a victim and criminal would be the incident between Christian
William Carney and Stephen Serrano. Stephen Serrano was both a victim and a
criminal.
In the case of California vs. Christian William Carney, we have a Lance Corporal from
Camp Pendleton, California who, in addition to being a Marine, was also a drug dealer
who dealt cocaine and ecstacy on base. It was alleged that when Carney had left the
base to go pick up PFC Alvin Reed Lovely in Texas, fellow marines Pfc. Stephen Serrano
and Pfc. Chad Hatch proceeded to break into Carney's room and steal the drug money
that Carney had stashed there for safe keeping. (Megerian, 2012)
Subsequently, it was on May 13, 2008 that Carney and Lovely, after holding a gun to
Chad Hatchs head and threatening him, that they were able to gather information from
him that named Stephen Serrano as Hatchs accomplice in the robbery. After getting
this information from Hatch, they then proceeded to contact Serrano and set up a time
and place to meet. Not all the details of what occurred at this meeting are available,
however it was at this meeting that they shot Serrano once in the face and then three
more times in the back, killing him. (Coker, 2012)

After having killed Serrano, Carney and Lovely took off, leaving Serranos body where
it fell. Being a secluded area of San Clemente, CA and the body laying in a ditch, it was
not until 2 days later, on May 15, 2008, that Serrano's body was found by a jogger, still
dressed in military fatigues. The police investigation progressed swiftly and in less than
two weeks, Carney was arrested and placed in custody on suspicion of murder. After a
5 day search, Alvin Reed Lovely was also arrested at a home in Dallas County,
California, where he had been hiding. Lovely is currently awaiting trial on murder as
well as an additional 38 years to life in state prison for the personal use of a firearm.
(Coker, 2012)
Both pleaded Not Guilty to the murder charges that had been brought up against
them. At the completion of the trial, Carney was sentenced to 28 years and eight
months to life in prison. In addition to the murder conviction, Carney has also been
convicted on felony counts of criminal threats and attempting to dissuade a witness.
(Coker, 2012)
While Carney was the victim of a robbery which had been perpetrated by Serrano,
his subsequent actions in killing Serrano also made him a criminal. I believe that
therefore, this crime can be classified as an example of 'Primary Victimization'. The
perpetrators focused on one man, Stephen Serrano, because he had stolen Carney's
drug money. Christian William Carney then proceeded to act out his premeditated
plans to punish Serrano.
This case is an example of one that would fall under the heading of criminology
rather than victimology, despite the fact that Carney was the victim of a theft
committed by Stephen Serrano.