NCJ Number
86192
Editor(s)
H J Schneider
Date Published
1982
Length
521 pages
Annotation
Forty-three papers by experts in several disciplines cover conceptual issues in victimology as well as measures of victimization, mostly through victimization surveys. They also explore victims' treatment in the criminal justice system, the status of victim services in several countries, the question of crime precipitation by victims, and victim-offender interaction during the course of a criminal act.
Abstract
One essay advocates that the severity of and sanctions for a particular crime be determined by a systematic examination of the harm done to the victim. Other papers on conceptual dimensions of victimology explore the scope of victimology, particularly whether it should encompass a broad range of victims or focus on crime victims, and the need to develop competing theories for empirical testing. Papers on criminal victimization surveys note their limitations as well as ways in which they have been used effectively, such as comparative analyses of crime among Scandinavian countries. Essays dealing with victims in criminal behavior systems focus on female victimization in Nigeria, offender-victim interaction during rape, and victim-offender interaction in white-collar crimes. The section on victims in the crime causation and control process discusses Australian legislation relating to victim compensation and the treatment of rape victims, as well as the dynamics of terrorist victimization, notably hostage-taking. Also considered are victims of genocide, crime reporting, and models for controlling crime by regulating victim behavior. Another section of essays focuses on the application of research to victim services; 1979 victim legislation in the U.S. Congress is outlined. The remaining essays critique the involvement of victims in criminal justice administration in Canada, the United States, Nigeria, Kenya, and Australia, and analyze ways of preventing victimization, particularly residential burglary and crime in public housing. References and notes accompany each essay. For individual entries, see NCJ 86192-222.