Handbook of Victims and Victimology

This anthology is essential reading for anyone seeking a contemporary critical understanding of victimology. Edited by one of the world's leading experts in the field, the Handbook covers a broad range of important topics and it is directly relevant to policy and practice. - Walter S. DeKeseredy, Anna Deane Carlson Endowed Chair of Social Sciences, Director of the Research Center on Violence, and Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, West Virginia University, USA This broad-ranging volume is a significant contribution to victimological scholarship, building on the success of the first edition to extend its reach and scope and raising fundamental questions about how we view and treat victims of crime, and other social harms as an international community. It is a must read for scholars, students and policy makers interested in all aspects of society's response to harm and risk. - Matthew Hall, Professor of Law & Criminal Justice, Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Lincoln Law School, University of Lincoln, UK The Handbook of Victims and Victimology is a collection of essays that offer comprehensive, comparative and critical analyses of complex dimensions of victim experiences as structured by gender, age, ethnicity, sexuality and intersectionality. Looking back into history, together with reflecting on contemporary victimisation and victim policy developments, the new edition offers a fresh and inspiring look at both old and new victimological issues and challenges. Moreover, it offers a valuable and much needed vision of the future of victimological theory and practice, which is well-structured and shaped in the form of an agenda for a (critical) victimology. - Vesna Nikolic-Ristanovic, Director of the Victimology Society of Serbia and Professor at the Faculty for Special Education and Rehabilitation, University of Belgrade, Serbia A few decades ago Victimology was described unflatteringly as a 'hotchpotch' of ideas, concepts and theories. Contrary, this second edition of the widely respected Handbook confirms that Victimology is now a unifying social science. Sandra Walklate and an array of authors stimulate thinking about victims of conventional and non-conventional crime, criminal victimisation, consequences of victimisation and responses (individual and collective) to crime and victimisation. The thorough and comprehensive analysis features debate on the role of the victim in modern criminal justice and on emerging issues and policy on victims' rights and victim assistance. It focuses on the plight of vulnerable and disenfranchised victims of domestic and transnational crimes. Further, it draws attention to current developments in law, policy and procedure. The Handbook is ideal to challenge undergraduate and post-graduate students with fresh research and new concepts. It is also an excellent resource for researchers, lecturers, criminal justice practitioners, victims' rights advocates and victim assistance workers, as well as informative for law and policy makers. In fact, it is an engaging read for anyone with an interest in criminal victimisation. - Michael O'Connell APM, Commissioner for Victims' Rights, South Australia Researchers, policy-makers, social service practitioners, instructors, and engaged students surely will find specific chapters in this handbook to be valuable resources for reference purposes. The numerous contributors share their insights about the suffering as well as the steps toward recovery of a wide variety of crime victims in a great many different societies. Taken collectively, the broad scope of these readings provides useful coverage of emerging concerns, enduring issues, theoretical matters, opposing views, policy alternatives, and proposed solutions to practical problems. - Andrew Karmen, Professor of Sociology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, USA