Collateral Citizens: Political Responses to Crime Victimization

• In Event: The Subject of Wrongs: The Politics of Victimhood in Latin America, Part 1

Abstract

This paper develops a typology of mass responses to crime victimization and proposes a micro-level theory for understanding them. Political responses to violent crime can be broadly categorized as prosocial, avoidant, or defensive, and I argue that each type of response has both expressive and instrumental components. At the micro-level, I argue that crime victimization triggers fundamental changes in how individuals relate to and interact with the state and with other people in their communities. Victimization can therefore be conceptualized as a “turning point” that marks a discontinuity in a person’s life course, unleashing socialization processes and experiences that would have otherwise not occurred. These processes include identity formation, meaning-making, and social interactions that influence victims’ responses, are they are crucial for assessing the prospects for recovery in contexts with high rates of violent crime.

Author

• Reynaldo T Rojo Mendoza, University of Pittsburgh