La psicologia della «vittima ideale» e della «vittima reale». Essere vittime e diventare vittime di reato

The focus of this paper is to analyse the psychology of what makes an «ideal» and a «real» crime victim, by analyzing which processes are significant in predisposing a person to be allocated in either condition, and to socially and psychologically fulfil that role. Is the probability of becoming a crime victim equally distributed in the population? Are there people who are more vulnerable (or have become less resilient) than others when exposed to the risk of becoming a target of violent intentions? Research evidence suggests that there are some factors, defined as victimogenic factors, that contribute to enhancing individual vulnerability by accentuating the sensitization of the person to a particular condition. There are situations that are threatening in themselves (e.g. emotional neglect, sexualized aggression, and physical abuse) and others that are particularly menacing depending on certain features of the persons such as age, gender or being unhealthy, that promote a victimity condition. By identifying appropriately, accurately and timely those factors that make the transition from potential to real victimization, a great deal of suffering could be prevented, and a great number of victims could be supported, along with extensive and integrated work to efficiently address the risk of victimization.