- In the 1940s and '50s, criminologists Hans von Hentig, Benjamin Mendelsohn, and Henri Ellenberger began studying crime victims. They proposed the theory, which was later widely rejected, that victims are to blame and invite criminal behavior by their own actions.
- Later victimologists focused on the rights of crime victims, the right to be treated fairly within the judicial system, as well as the right to compensation. In the late 1960s crime rates in the United States were skyrocketing, and the public clamored for action. In 1966 the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice was formed, and a survey of crime victims was conducted. The survey's respondents reported a higher crime rate than law enforcement statistics had previously revealed, and also showed many crime victims were reluctant to report the crimes due to lack of trust for the legal system. In response to the survey, more researchers began to study crime victims.
- Donald E. Santarelli, Director of the Federal Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) in 1974, was a lead reformer in the victims' rights movement. The catalyst for his involvement was the research of Frank Cannavale which showed criminal prosecutions often failed after victims and witnesses quit cooperating with the legal system because they were poorly treated. New programs were developed to provide better notification and support to victims and witnesses. For the first time, victims were allowed to give their input into various aspects of the case. Law enforcement began offering to connect them with social service programs and victim compensation programs.
- In the 1970s, the women's movement began to focus on victims of domestic and sexual assault. Prior to that time, domestic assault was looked upon as a family matter. Interventions by law enforcement were rare and usually occurred only in the most extreme cases. Sexual assault was a taboo subject. The feminist movement brought those issues into the open, and in 1972 the country's first rape crisis centers opened, one in the San Francisco Bay Area and one in Washington, D.C.
- Victims of rape and domestic violence often became empowered by volunteering at shelters and as advocates for other victims. Families of homicide victims came together, also, and formed groups such as Families and Friends of Missing Persons in 1974, Parents of Murdered Children in 1978, and Mothers Against Drunk Drivers in 1980. Not only did these groups offer support to their members, they provided the impetus for legislative reforms to support victims' rights.
