ABSTRACT
As crime surveys have shown, most crimes which involve an identifiable person as the victim of the act are relatively trivial in that they involve minor damage to property or thefts of small sums of money. While some victims of such minor crimes do experience adverse reactions following the crime, most victims regain their equilibrium. However, there are crimes against the person which are much more likely to produce adverse long-term effects for the victim, and may either endanger or take life. These two considerations of potentially highly damaging long-term consequences and a threat to life are used here to define serious crime. Such crimes can be seen to fall into two, not necessarily exclusive, broad categories-violent offences and sexual offences. This chapter will discuss the contribution psychology has made to the understanding of these two types of crime.
