Verunsicherung und Vertrauensverlust bei Minderheiten durch stellvertretende und kollektive Viktimisierungen

Abstract

Attacks on people for no other reason than their being different from the majority have a deeply irritating effect not only on the attacked person himself or herself but also on other members of the respective minority group. Starting with an analysis of the victim concept the paper deals with the social consequences of this special form of victimization.
It is argued that the impact of a victimization depends on the importance of the violated norm for the victim. Referring to data from two qualitative studies, different possibilities and risks for the restoration of a violated norm are discussed. Special emphasis is given to the role of the police and the court. It is shown that the sensitivity of these institutions for the victims’ needs depends on the successful communication of the victimization. Four aspects of the communication of a victimization are distinguished. Based on this discussion the paper makes some proposals for the improvement of victim assistance.