A Study of Factors Affecting Citizens\u27 Perceptions of Crime in Two Urban Areas in Transition

For decades the motivating factors behind criminal behavior have fascinated and perplexed criminologists. Much of the research in criminal justice has focused upon the perpetrator of criminal activities to the exclusion of other areas of study. Until recently, the victim of a criminal violation was virtually forgotten in criminology research. The concept of victimology took concrete form only after the second world war with the publication of Hans von Hentig\u27s The Criminal and the Victim (1946). Despite the interest generated by the publication, the main thrust, of research and public concern remained with the offender rather than the victim of a criminal act until the 1960\u27s. It has been within the past fifteen years that professionals in the field of criminal justice began to recognizes that the study of crime victims constitutes a viable area of concern