Career Prospects:

Services to victims or the use of victimization knowledge for law enforcement investigation and crime prevention. Knowledge and skills can be used in jobs fields such as investigation, victim assistance or advocacy, case management or counseling, and profiling. An expert in the field would make use of educational background in sociology, law, criminal justice and/or psychology -- and even statistical analysis.

Expertise in Victimology - prevention of crime, as demonstrated by a sampling of research published by the National Institute of Justice and the federal Office for Victims of Crime: Patterns of Violence Toward Women: Risk Factors and Consequences; Violent Victimization of College Students; Indicators of School Crime and Safety; Violence Against Women: Identifying Risk Factors; and Toolkit to End Violence Against Women.

Training in various aspects also is offered by various state and federal agencies on an ongoing basis. These often focus on training to deal with categories of victims, such as the elderly, children, or groups targeted for hate crimes. Others provide training for dealing with victims in a specific situation, such as how to notify family members of a victims death or how to interview or prepare a child who will appear in court.