Every year, thousands of people in Germany experience criminal victimization, which has far-reaching consequences for the individuals affected (e.g., psychologically, physically) and for society (e.g., economically, in terms of social cohesion). Despite the high societal relevance of this issue and the legally mandated need for victim protection, the scientific understanding of how individuals cope with such experiences—and thus the empirical basis for designing supportive measures—remains incomplete. In particular, there is a lack of longitudinal studies that systematically examine differential developmental trajectories following experiences of criminal victimization and their influencing factors. This is where the planned research project comes in. It addresses the questions of which different developmental patterns (e.g., regarding mental health, trust in institutions, and satisfaction with justice) can be identified among victims and how these can be explained. In addition to individual self-regulation processes, the project places particular emphasis on contact with legal institutions as a potential influencing factor.
The empirical basis for the project is the establishment of a Lower Saxony-wide “victim panel,” in which approximately 2,500 victims of various crimes will be surveyed online four times over a 15-month period. To this end, close collaboration with the police and victim assistance agencies is planned. The analysis of the data combines exploratory pattern recognition with a theory-driven examination of prototypical trajectories and influencing factors. Taken together, the project makes an important contribution to the further development of theoretical models for coping with experiences of criminal victimization and informs evidence-based measures for victim protection.
