ABSTRACT
Th e reader fi nds here a historical journey that contributes to the knowledge where victimology stands today. Vessel, maps, and route of the journey are selected from a European, rather than an Asian, point of view [e.g., Ohta, 2007:1-7]. Th is remark is necessary: Oft en authors write as if they live in one-world culture and one-world science. Th ey oft en write as if regional differences or diff erences in socialization no longer exist, as if diff erences in
sociocultural defi nitions have vanished. Th e approach chosen here is nevertheless not provincial because European thoughts have been infl uential in the fi eld worldwide. A scientist with an African or Asian background probably will use diff erent elements to construct the history of the fi eld. In most regions of the world, there still is to be constructed a “history of the victim” starting with a collection of reports of how victims fared at a certain time in that particular society, let alone a history of the whole fi eld covering victims, victimizations, and social responses to both. Examples for early studies in this sense are Botsman [2005] and Agostino [2005].
