'Aesthetic Attention': Exploring the Possibilities of Interaction Design to Reduce Revictimization

Abstract

Revictimization is a recurring phenomenon in Mexico. Paradoxically, it has its origin in the attention that victims receive in justice institutions. Since the main contributions to the attention and care of victims come from psychology and legal sciences (criminology, law, victimology), this article proposes a joint work between these disciplines and design. Based on ideas posed by Garzón (2017), specifically those that refer to the link between the aesthetic object and matter, time, and space, the article introduces a theoretical-exploratory approach to design an 'aesthetic attention'. User experience and aesthetic interaction as fundamental axes of attention support the main assumption that aesthetics is humanization and dialectical interaction between the components and actors that structure the experience. To provide an aesthetic attention to the victims, the design process requires the integration of the victim's experience as its core. This requires us to stop thinking that attention is based on the mere application of standardized protocols, laws, and regulations that ignore the conditions of time and place, as well as the way in which victims reach the institutions that provide these services. Aesthetic attention seeks a change of perspective: the victim does not receive attention but participates in it.