The Victimization of Children: a Developmental Perspective

A framework is presented for a new field called developmental victomology, and two major branches are described. One would analyze developmental changes that affect children's risk for victimization, particularly in three areas: children's suitability as targets, their ability to protect themselves, and the environments they inhabit. A second branch would focus on developmental processes that affect children's reactions to victimizations and in particular, developmental tasks and critical periods, the process of cognitive appraisal, and the forms of symptom expression.