ABSTRACT
The most direct impact of crime is borne by victims. In addition to any out-of-pocket losses such as lost wages or medical bills, victims oftentimes suffer significant pain, suffering and lost quality of life - which might also manifest itself in mental health care expenditures. Once intangible costs are accounted for, victim costs become the largest component of the cost of crime. Despite this fact, victims have often been the least studied, least organized, and have the least input into the criminal justice process. Prior to the mid-1980s, it was generally believed that the cost of the criminal justice system dwarfed the cost imposed on victims. However, once economists began to include the intangible costs of crime such as pain, suffering and lost quality of life, this relationship reversed itself. At the same time, victim rights have become more important in the criminal justice system, as have victim rights organizations. This chapter focuses on victim costs – both tangible and intangible costs. In addition to adding these costs up, we briefly look at the demographics of victimization (i.e., who suffers the most), and at attempts to compensate victims for the costs they bear.
