Women's perception of victimization (Qualitative Research in Tehran)

The study of victim known as victimology has not been attended in traditional criminology which focuses on crime and criminals. But now, there is an interest in theories which have been advanced to explain victimization. While it is the main concern of criminology to ask about the reason behind of offending, victimology asks why some people become the suitable target for criminal activities. The main aim of this study is to find the concept of victimization through the view of women as well as finding a theory to explain the victimization. This research is inspired by grounded theory and tries to understand victimization based on narratives of women. To achieve the objective of research, semi-structured interviews conducted with 46 women in Tehran. However, the results of this study do not generalize in any way because of the small sample size. The result of research shows that concept of victimization includes a range of emotions. In definition of women on victimization three main concepts including “lack of resources and authority”, “vulnerability” and “deprivation of life” have been emerged.
Women explain their victimization by referring to concepts like male domination, deficiency of different structures and gender inequality.