For the purpose of understanding and researching victimology, four theories have been developed: victim precipitation theory, the lifestyle theory, deviant place theory, and the routine activities theory.
The first of these, the victim precipitation theory, views victimology from the standpoint that the victims themselves may actually initiate, either passively or actively, the criminal act that ultimately leads to injury or death. During passive precipitation, the victim unconsciously exhibits behaviors or characteristics that instigate or encourage the attack. Siegel (2006) lists job promotions, job status, successes, love interests, and the like as examples of these unconscious behaviors and characteristics. Additionally, political activists, minority groups, those of different sexual orientations, and other individuals pursuing alternate lifestyles may also find themselves as targets of violence due to the inadvertent threat they pose to certain individuals of power.
Essentially, the victim precipitation theory focuses on the idea that passive precipitation of violence is a result of a power struggle. A politician may feel threatened by an activist group leader because his action draws attention to negative aspects of his personality and actions that will, or may cause, a loss of power in society. This sort of passive precipitation may also be present when the victim is not even aware of the existence of the attacker.