NCJ Number
225281
Editor(s)
Laura J. Moriarty
Date Published
2008
Length
188 pages
Annotation
Each of this book’s 11 chapters, which are written by academic experts and professionals in varied fields, examines a controversial issue in victimology.
Abstract
Each chapter provides an overview of the subject; an explanation as to why it is an issue in victimology; a presentation of both sides of key factors in the debate; and, when appropriate, suggestions for reconciling the controversy. The first chapter examines arguments in support of the victims’ rights movement and arguments against it as an erosion of defendants’ rights. This is followed by a chapter that examines factors in “victim blaming,” particularly prevalent concepts of victims’ responsibility in preventing opportunities and enticements for victimization. The third chapter explores issues in same-sex intimate-partner violence, which does not have the same status as a crime as heterosexual partner violence. The fourth chapter presents arguments for and against the mass media identifying rape victims. Chapter 5 examines whether victims should have the right to meet with their offenders. Research on victims’ preference for such meetings is examined, along with the motivation for and effects of these meetings for those victims who choose them. Chapter 6 examines some of the problems that exist regarding research on the fear of crime and its relationship to victimization. This is followed by a chapter on cyberstalking that compares its features and effects on victims with traditional stalking offenses. A chapter on victim impact statements examines their benefits for victims and their potential adverse effects for convicted offenders, who may receive harsher sentences than is customary for similar crimes. Chapter 9 examines the prospects for six controversial correctional programs as measured by the tenets of restorative justice. The two remaining chapters address the issues of female sex offenders and tactics for reconciling controversies in victimology. Chapter references and a subject index