NCJ Number
223143
Editor(s)
Sandra Walklate
Date Published
2007
Length
542 pages
Annotation
This book on victims and victimology reflects contemporary academic, policy, and political debates on the nature, extent, and impact of criminal victimization and policy responses to it, with a focus on developments in the United Kingdom and member states of the European Union.
Abstract
The four chapters of Part One explore the changing status of crime victims in historical context, the problems and possibilities of theory for the study of criminal victimization, the measurement of victimization, and the marketing of the "ideal" crime victim. The chapters of Part Two consider how feminism has focused on the causes of and responses to the crimes of men that target women, notably rape and domestic violence, as well as how gender issues are involved in the theory and practice of victimology. The five chapters of Part Three address issues of policy and service delivery regarding crime victims. Issues considered are the interaction of public-sector and private-sector services for victims, the advantages and disadvantages of the involvement of volunteers in delivering services to crime victims, the matching of service delivery to victim needs, policy and practices regarding court-related victim services, and the existing and potential impact on victims of restorative-justice mechanisms. The three chapters of Part Four focus on a comparative analysis of victim policies and practices in the United Kingdom compared with other countries. Issues addressed are the development of criminal injuries compensation in Great Britain and member states of the European Union, progress in implementing European Union law on the treatment of crime victims among member states, and a comparative analysis of victim policies across the Anglo-speaking world. Issues addressed in Part Five are responses to victims of hate crimes, victims of corporate crime, and how cultural institutions forge conceptions of crime victims. Chapter notes and references and a subject index