NCJ Number
102547
Editor(s)
E A Fattah
Date Published
1986
Length
345 pages
Annotation
These 15 papers summarize recent victimization research and critically review the current trends in the theory and practice of victimology.
Abstract
They also explore the policy implications of the research on victims. Two papers focus on the way that victim, offender, and situational factor influence society's sympathy toward victims and how statements about society's attitudes are actually reflections of the specific processes used to measure those attitudes. The uses and limitations of official and survey statistics are outlined. Papers on victims' risks and responses to crime focus on the lifestyle model, findings from the Netherlands indicating that the responses of victims and nonvictims are unlikely to affect the rising crime there, and the relationships between fear of crime and behavioral responses to it. Victim perspectives on the criminal justice system are examined in papers that emphasize the system's failure to respond to victims' needs. Articles on policymaking consider the development of the victim initiative in Canada, the results of evaluations of victim service programs, and the need for reforms to meet victims' needs. Data tables, notes, figures, chapter reference lists, and index.