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The Invisible Crime: Exploring How Perceptions of Victimhood and the Art Market May Influence Art Fraud Reporting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2019

Sara K. Mazurek
Sara K. Mazurek*
Affiliation:
JD Candidate, Fordham University School of Law, New York, United States; Email: sara.a.mazurek@gmail.com.
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Abstract:

Scholars argue for greater law enforcement resources for art fraud and forgery investigations, yet these victims rarely report their victimization. While fraud victims generally report at lower rates than street crimes, statistics show they do come forward. Using Niels Christie’s ideal victim theory, this article will argue that art fraud victims occupy a lower position in a hierarchy of victims—where some are more worthy of justice, social support, and public sympathy—than those of other kinds of fraud. This may be due to their perceived personal shortcomings and participation in a market that leaves openings for fraud. Public antipathy toward art fraud victims and the silence of the art community may contribute to what many view as insufficient law enforcement resources for investigations because of the collaborative nature of community policing in many Western countries. Increased reporting and communication with law enforcement could address this problematic cycle.

Type
Article
Information
International Journal of Cultural Property , Volume 26 , Issue 4 , November 2019 , pp. 413 - 436
Copyright
Copyright © International Cultural Property Society 2019 

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