Love and Crime in Positive Victimology and Spiritual Criminology: “A Silver Duck in the Dishwashing Water”

CrimeCrime in the context of love has always drawn attention in public and has recently become a growing area of research. This chapter aims at providing an insight on the complex topic of love and crime researchCrime research, focusing particularly on hate and love crimesHate and love crimes, love, relationship crimeRelationship crime in genderedGendered contexts and cultural contextsCultural contexts, and love and the desistance from crimeDesistance from crime. In this chapter, it is argued that a positive and spiritual criminologySpiritual criminology, as well as positive victimology,Positive victimology can help offendersOffenders and victims to overcome criminal actsCriminal acts through self-transformationTransformation. Positive and spiritual criminologySpiritual criminology and positive victimologyPositive victimology can support the transformationTransformation toward a positive, loving, and salutogenic viewSalutogenic view of the criminal actCriminal act. They can transform the perspectives of victimsPerspectives of victims and offendersOffenders through specific interventions to overcome traumaTrauma and reestablish self-esteemSelf-esteem and self-assuranceSelf-assurance beyond the experienced crime. The chapter provides insights into the 12-step and 16-step programs as transformative intervention toolsTransformative intervention tools. It presents a case example of a female victimFemale victim of criminal actsCriminal acts within the context of a divorceDivorce. Further, it shows her process of transformationTransformation, rehabilitation,Rehabilitation and detraumatizationDe-traumatisation through the 16-step program. The case example is based on the victim’s private diary notes, talks, interviews, and messages. Conclusions and recommendations are provided.