Discuss victimology and how technology changes over the past 20 years have creat

Victimology in its most simple form is the study of the victim or victims of a particular offender. It is defined as "the thorough study and analysis of victim characteristics" (Turvey), and may also be called "victim profiling" (Holmes). The reason a good victimology is important is that the victim constitutes roughly half of the criminal offence, and as such, is as much a part of the crime as the crime scene, weapons, and eyewitnesses. This is especially true when we are presented with a live victim, as this was the last person to witness the crime, and may be able to provide the best behavioral and physical description of the offender.
Apart from the above considerations, the victim's background may provide us with important information about past activities or lifestyle, possibly leading directly to the generation of a suspect. The victim has traditionally been neglected in police investigations, and when a profile is requested, the victim information is often missing from the police reports. This should not be taken to mean that no police services use victim information, rather, until recently many have neglected to consider the victim's past as important. Often, the best way to approach a profile is through the victimology (Ressler), and is one of the most beneficial tools in classifying and solving a violent crime (Douglas).
References
Douglas, J. E., Burgess, A. W., Burgess, A. G., & Ressler, R. K. (1992). Crime Classification    Manual: A Standard System for Investigating and Classifying Violent Crimes. New    York: Lexington Books
Holmes, R., & Holmes, S. (1996). Profiling Violent Crimes: An Investigative Tool (2nd ed.).    Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications
Ressler, R. K., & Shachtman, T. (1992). Whoever Fights Monsters. Pocket Books   
Turvey, B. E. (1999). Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence   Analysis.    London: Academic Press