Using a critical race theory (CRT) framework, this paper analyses Black and Black mixed- race people’s experiences of reporting crime. It is based on qualitative interviews with 20 participants. The analysis finds that the process of becoming the (un)victim is mediated through the intersection of race with gender and masculinity, class and migrant status. Ultimately, Black and Black mixed-race men

The current study uses pooled National Crime Victimization Survey data (1992–2015) to examine if the relationship between climate change and victimization risk is modified by victim and incident characteristics. Panel analysis yields interesting findings. First, results mirror those found in prior studies utilizing Uniform Crime Report data, providing another indication that the link between a warming

This paper sets out to critically explore the connections drawn by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services between police adherence to national crime recording standards and the provision of service and support by the police to victims of crime. The goal of the paper is to identify what assumptions are being made by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire &

Protection orders (POs) are one legal system resource available to survivors of intimate partner violence. Many survivors choose not to obtain a PO, yet prior research has not examined the perspectives of these survivors. This study examined the open-ended survey responses (n = 308) regarding the choice not to obtain a PO by survivors residing in emergency shelters in the United States. Content analysis

The present research is an attempt to explain the problem of child marriage in light of routine activity theory, developed by Felson and Cohen in 1979. There is, however, no specific theory that exclusively addresses either children as victims of crime in general or victims of child marriage in particular. Unlike other crime victims, however, certain victims of child marriage do not view themselves

‘Victims claiming justice’ has surface simplicity but arises in a range of contexts influenced by different histories, facing different institutions offering different possibilities. It is this tremendous range of contexts and characteristics that has engaged researchers. Most have taken the idea of justice as a given. As guest editors of this symposium on justice, we sought to delve into deeper and

In the United States, the contemporary feminist movement against gender-based violence started in the early 1970s, just as ideologies and policies supporting mass criminalization launched what became a five-fold rise in U.S. rates of incarceration. Since the new millennium, people of color have taken the lead in re-envisioning fundamental notions of justice given the dramatic backdrop of mass incarceration

Hate crimes carry many emotional and psychological detriments for those who are targeted because of who they are. The harms associated with hate are commonly theorized in the context of those directly targeted. Using a victimological lens, I consider how the harms of a mass anti-LGBT+ shooting in Orlando, Florida were carried across social media, indirectly victimizing LGBT+ people in the North East

Recent terror incidents in the UK, including the targeting of concert attendees in Manchester, to individuals socialising and working in central London, highlight the public’s vulnerability and that attacks can be indiscriminate, resulting in any individual becoming a victim to this fearful crime. As a consequence of these and other attacks, including those overseas, media reporting within the UK has

Despite victimological interest in the impacts of different types of criminal victimisation, there is little empirical work that examines the effects of sub-criminal behaviour on victims. This article begins to redress the balance by reporting the findings from a qualitative research project in England that investigated the effects of long-term anti-social behaviour victimisation. Semi-structured interviews

Despite significant impacts on employee health, workplace violence tends to be minimized and normalized by service workers and by organizations, with employees implicitly held culpable for causing aggression through how they manage interactions. Little is known about how workers accomplish minimization and normalization, or how this process might be entwined with the emotional labour of containing

This article reviews methodological barriers to victimological research on vulnerable hard-to-reach populations and presents a reflexive discussion of insider and outsider positions in a study researching Roma communities’ victimization in Sweden. As a Roma (Traveler/resande) academic, I found that some aspects of my identity were linked to an insider position, while other aspects of my identity were

This article explores practices of haunting and ghosting after conflict-related loss. This is not to suggest a focus on the occult or the paranormal, but to use these phenomena as a prism through which to understand the intersection between unresolved pasts and the transmission of trauma post-conflict. As Michael Levan notes, trauma lingers ‘unexorcisably in the places of its perpetration, in the bodies

Victim compensation programs seek to alleviate adverse effects of victimization and repay victim losses. A few studies have concluded that US compensation programs are under-utilized because victims are unaware of such programs and police officers overlook sharing the information. The present study sought to further explore this issue from the perspective of state compensation directors and police

Research has consistently shown that sexual victimization during childhood and adolescence can lead to negative outcomes. However, little research to date has sought to test whether these experiences can shape security of attachment in adulthood, an important concept in attachment theory. Utilizing a longitudinal community sample of African Americans, the current study tested whether sexual victimization

Crimes against humanity in Guinea have caused many thousands of deaths, the exile of countless individuals, and the rape of hundreds of women. Since its independence in 1958, Guinea has been ruled by various authoritarian regimes and experienced periods of grave violence, most notably from 1958 to 1984, under the rule of Sékou Touré and, more recently, in 2009, under the rule of Moussa Dadis Camara

This qualitative study offers a comprehensive overview of lawyers and clients who have been victims of crimes as to their optimal relationship, based on interviews with both groups. The findings clarify the existence of two main dimensions. The first emphasizes the lawyers’ values and professional identities in response to the unique needs of victims of crimes. Lawyers who choose to work with the victims

This article describes an ongoing process of transformation in sexual abuse counselling centres in Norway that involves a new classification of groups of victims. These centres have traditionally operated at the grassroots level and outside the statutory system of services for victims and with an open-door policy for all victims. Drawing on field visits and interviews with staff, we explore how the

The over-representation of crime is a prevalent occurrence in the media; so too is the under-representation of certain types of victims of crime. The purpose of the current study is to explore the role that characteristics of homicide victims play in the presentation and prominence of a news story. The study uses a sample of 3,998 newspaper articles on homicide from the Vancouver Sun to assess the

In Brazil, minor to mid-level criminal offences are dealt with through an inventive community problem-solving paradigm that sees a shift from traditional court engagement between the accused and state towards a therapeutic process that involves all participants in the justice process. This article considers the work of the Domestic Violence and Special Justice Courts of Brazil, by examining their use

campaigns, and ‘causes célèbres’ to inspire others and provoke change. This book is engaging and informative, mixing an impressive breadth of research on the perpetuation of gendered violence, and its structural and cultural drivers, with vivid and often heartbreaking individual stories. However, in constantly highlighting the need for a variety of interventions at multiple levels of interaction, it

The article explores the meaning of ‘justice’ for women with disability who have experienced and reported violent crimes, typically, sexual assault and family violence. It contributes to the small ...

To help reduce victimisation, safeguarding practices in England and Wales are becoming more multi-agency, with Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hubs (MASH) being a contemporary example of such an approach. MASH aims to reduce victimisation by identifying and managing vulnerability at the earliest opportunity. This is achieved through the co-location of safeguarding agencies, joint decision making and the

This study examines whether sex differences in level of distress and help-seeking for physical and emotional problems as a result of criminal victimization can be explained by injury, type of crime, and the victim–offender relationship. The study uses data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) from 2008–2014. Analyses utilize multivariate logistic regression and interaction terms to address

The official response to forced marriage in the majority of European countries has been to criminalise the practice. Based on racial stereotypes and outdated Orientalist perspectives, this overlooks the prior need for appropriate empirical analysis in order to better understand the reality of the practice being regulated, and fails to provide victims with the means of protection they need beyond the

This article investigates how social workers’ interpretations of contextual factors and the relationship between victim and offender affect their understanding and assessment of male violent victimization. The study was designed as a multiple case study with a qualitative comparative approach. Focus group interviews supported by vignettes were used to collect data. Interviews were carried out with

The journey from reporting rape to convicting rapists is complex, leading to high attrition and non-conviction rates. After wide consultation, the law in England and Wales was revised in 2003 to try to secure more convictions. In South Africa, a similar process occurred to produce a new law in 2007. Nonetheless, reported rapes have risen and conviction rates have fallen in both jurisdictions and it

The present study examines the prevalence and impact of victimization among a sample of Roma individuals in Malmö and Gothenburg (Sweden). The aim of the study was to examine the link between visibility and victimization, and whether the Roma community employs behavioural strategies to reduce visibility, and, finally, to analyse how such strategies affect the group. The study design combines survey

this with international examples, also noting the limits of this responsibility. Applying international human rights norms within the U.S. would require the U.S. to adopt the concept of ‘due diligence’, necessitating expansion of the current U.S. focus on prosecution and punishment to a broader obligation that also prevents and protects against IPV and provides redress for victims. The human rights

In a post-9/11 climate, Islamophobia has increased significantly in the UK and elsewhere in the West. ISIS-inspired terrorist attacks in the UK as well as in France, Belgium, Germany and, more recently, in Sri Lanka have triggered an increase in verbal and physical attacks on Muslims. Drawing on intersectionality (as a nexus of identities that work together to render certain individuals as ‘ideal’

Extensive debate about the place of gender within the hate-crime policy domain has been fuelled by national victimisation surveys indicating people’s experiences of ‘gender hate crime’ coupled with Nottinghamshire Police’s decision to begin categorising misogynistic street harassment as a form of hate crime. Drawing on the results of an online survey of 85 respondents, this article explores people’s

Routine activities and lifestyles theories emphasize structural and demographic predictors that affect the opportunity to commit crime and the likelihood of being victimized. Past research tends to focus on either the individual- or country-level with few studies incorporating both. Additionally, past research primarily draws on the International Crime Victimization Survey, which results in small country

This paper compares the perceptions of risk and safety of those arriving on a visit to Istanbul with a similar sample of those returning from their trip. While the two samples are of different individuals, the research does provide a proxy measure of change, or lack of it, in the light of personal experience. In this sense, it offers an advantage over traditional crime surveys that present a snapshot

The present study aims to analyze how young people narratively negotiate their position as victims, how their social surroundings react to their victim positioning and what types of support they are offered. It is argued that those who position themselves as innocent victims receive support, while those who do not position themselves as such are left to fend for themselves. It is concluded that receiving

Trans* identities have a history of being constructed, regulated and erased. Often a trans* individual’s social status is judged by others on the basis of their perception of that individual’s achievement of normative standards of gender. We are living through a time characterized by the prioritization of visual identity alongside intense scrutiny of trans* identities in relation to their authenticity

The underreporting of hate crime is recognised as problematic for jurisdictions across Europe and beyond. Within the UK, the landmark inquiry report into the murder of Stephen Lawrence 25 years ago has seen governments faithfully adhering to a policy of promoting the increased reporting of hate crime. An enduring legacy of the inquiry, third-party reporting centres (TPRCs) have been equally faithfully

This article explores how survivors’ experiences of extreme violence change their relationship with time. It draws on extensive fieldwork undertaken with survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and participatory observation of Rwanda’s annual commemoration ceremonies. It focuses on the practice of ‘care-taking’ that survivors engage in at genocide memorials that display human remains and dead

Underreporting has been a longstanding problem for criminal justice agencies, which masks the true scale of crime taking place and prevents victims from accessing justice and support. Using empirical evidence collected from more than 2,000 victims who came from different backgrounds and who had experienced different forms of crimes, this article proposes a new theoretical model to enhance our understanding

This article examines the indirect impacts of hate crimes on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and Muslim communities in the United Kingdom. Based on 34 qualitative interviews, we explore both the perceived meaning of ‘community’ in the context of targeted victimization and the emotional and behavioural effects that anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and Islamophobic hate crimes have

This article analyses findings from a large-scale study conducted in England and Wales into the prevalence of, and mediators and moderators of risk in relation to, suicidality amongst victims of domestic abuse. The authors tracked (disclosed) experiences of suicidal ideation or suicide within a sample of more than 3,500 domestically abused adults and explored factors that appeared to be correlated

This article examines issues concerning the scope and role of victimology specifically as far as they relate to missing and disappeared persons. It argues that victimology ought to have a greater effect on the world by dealing with more victims, and that it should not be a solely academic discipline. It is contended that victimology should confront the real issues that arise for the victims after the

This study analyses laypersons’ explanations for sexual violence. It focusses on how the responsibility for sexual crimes is constructed and attributed, and moreover, what kind of effect this has on the attribution of blame. The research data consist of 105 opinion pieces published in the leading Finnish newspaper since the beginning of the 21st century. The theory-driven qualitative analysis utilises

Mental health inpatients are known to be at risk of criminal victimisation, but the experiences of this vulnerable victim population seldom receive mention in the victimological literature. Against this backdrop, this article explores to what extent and in what ways mental health inpatients report victimisation, and provides the first systematic analysis of what the existing evidence base tells us

This paper considers the unexplored question of whether unaware crime victims have rights or interests in knowing and not knowing information pertaining to the crime(s) committed against them. Our specific focus is on whether crimes regarding abusive images should be disclosed to the now-adult victims of child sexual abuse who feature in them. Because these issues have not been addressed in the victimology

This article discusses victim engagement with the executive clemency process from a normative perspective. The authors’ aim is to explore the existing models of victim participation in clemency decision making in common law jurisdictions, in order to determine whether these possess any sound theoretical basis. The article brings together the academic literatures on victim participation and clemency

In this article the author responds to a review by Galona (2018) of the historical-theological parts of victim labelling theory as elaborated previously in this journal and elsewhere (van Dijk, 2009). According to Galona, the term ‘victima/victim’ as a special name for Jesus Christ was not coined by Reformation theologians like Calvin, as asserted by van Dijk, but was for example already widely used

Recent years have witnessed the proliferation of victim-focused positions inside and outside the criminal justice system, yet little is known about the occupational characteristics and organizational context of this field in the United States. In this article, we draw on 42 semi-structured interviews with victim workers from a variety of settings and organizational affiliations in the midwestern USA

While extant research suggests that context, structural socioeconomic and cultural factors matter in intimate partner violence research, quantitative research on the subject in sub-Saharan Africa, and in particular Ghana, has disproportionately focused on prevalence and individual level correlates of spousal violence. This research has ignored the role of the structural socioeconomic and cultural factors

Discrimination, harassment and violence can vitiate staff and students’ experiences of education and work. Although there is increasing knowledge about these experiences in primary and secondary education, very little is known about them in higher education. This paper draws from landmark research that examines the interpersonal, educational and socio-cultural perspectives that prevail about sexuality

There is a rich and fulsome literature on victims and the processes by which certain groups or individuals come to be constructed as victims. Less attention has been paid to the rhetorical moves employed as counter strategies by groups who seek to challenge victim status and the use of the ‘victim’ label for particular groups. Using the debates around the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure as a

This article provides the first comprehensive examination of the phenomenon of unequal access to procedural justice for older victims of crime. It analyses quantitative and qualitative data exploring the interactions of older people with the criminal justice system of Northern Ireland. It identifies that older victims of crime are less likely to have a successful crime outcome (known as ‘detection’

This paper follows on from earlier work in which I discussed the potential impacts of the local commissioning of victim services by Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in England and Wales. The introduction of this elected role and the devolution of responsibility to local PCCs was said to raise a range of issues for both victims and the voluntary sector, given that agencies within this sector are

This article focuses on the interdependence between the state and Sweden’s largest non-governmental victim support umbrella organization, Victim Support Sweden (VSS). In particular, it examines how government funding of VSS has developed since the end of the 1980s. Based on a qualitative analysis of government bills and VSS’s annual reports, the article gives a detailed account of how a non-governmental

All societies moving towards peace must establish reparation measures for victims of political violence. This is not an easy task, however; political victimhood is a controversial concept by itself and all victims of this type are mixed up with general politics from both the past and the present. In divided societies, such as Northern Ireland and the Basque Country, controversies about the definition

Parents who are subjected to crime by adult children with drug problems have been neglected in victimological research. We have examined how common it is for parents to fall victim to theft and burglary committed by their children and how the risk varies depending on the parents’ and children’s circumstances. A self-report questionnaire on victimisation was distributed to parents of adult children

Contrary to widespread belief, sex trafficking also targets lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) communities. Contemporary social and political constructions of victimhood lie at the heart of regulatory policies on sex trafficking. Led by the US Department of State, knowledge about LGBT victims of trafficking constitutes the newest frontier in the expansion of criminalization measures. These

In response to international obligations many Western states have strengthened their responsibility for crime victims’ access to support services. This is also the case in Finland and Norway where this interview study explored the views of representatives from five key civil society organisations (CSOs) working with victims of crime in relation to the public sector’s increasing duty to organise victim

also help practitioners and policy-makers make sense of a complex world with an ever-changing political context. Walklate succeeds in creating a comprehensive handbook which takes us further down the path to understanding crime and victimization. It remains to be seen in what direction victimology is heading. But one thing is clear: more critical work, where we investigate victimization in relation

The victim-centred approach to human trafficking emphasises the protection of victims and respect for their rights. For this protection to be effective, victims must be treated as such in their passage through the criminal justice system, which can be complex with forms of trafficking that are still relatively unknown, such as trafficking for criminal exploitation. Based on 37 in-depth interviews with

Any person who has been a victim of human trafficking has a right to compensation. Compensation entails the reimbursement of material and immaterial damages a trafficked person has suffered. In spite of the internationally recognized right to compensation, the number of trafficked persons in Europe having actually received any reimbursement is very low. The present study identifies obstacles to compensation