Victimology: Legal, Psychological, and Social Perspectives - Softcover

Wallace, Harvey

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0205191533 ISBN 13: 9780205191536

Publisher: Pearson, 1997

Synopsis

This text provides an overview of the field of victimology. The author examines emerging areas in the field, such as the consequences of victimization and empowering victims. The text includes both traditional and modern approaches to victim's issues and concentrates on issues affecting both victims and victim service providers.

Unique coverage includes the financial impact of crime and the extensive coverage of global issues. The author presents an overview of some complex and controversial subjects, and supplies the reader with the resources for more in-depth study and research.

About this title

From the Author:

A brief summary of the purpose of the text.
The study of victimology is in its infancy. However, the plight of victims of crimes has been discussed for centuries. In our early history, victims were an integral part of the criminal process, then we moved away from that model and the state became the representative of the victim, finally we are again moving toward acknowledging the rights of victims of crime. This has caused scholars to re-examine the victim--offender relationship in more detail. Victimology as a discipline is an outgrowth of law, sociology, psychology, and criminology and as such, has its distractors as well as its advocates. It will continue to grow and take on more substance with the passage of years. Any attempt to list those topics that are critical to the study of victimology is bound to generate controversy. Most of the texts on the market today include sections dealing with family violence issues. That may be because we have more information regarding the victim-offender interaction in these areas or because many scholars believe these are critical issues in the study of victimology. I have included a number of these same topics in this text. I drew upon my previous text, Family Violence: Legal, Medical, and Social Perspectives as a source of information. Based upon comments from professors using that text, I updated and changed the material when appropriate to reflect the victim's perspective. I have also attempted to take a global perspective on the study of victimology and have divided the text into three major areas: The Introduction section includes the traditional theories regarding victimology, the measurement of crime and both the civil and criminal process. I included the civil process because it is an important aspect of the victim-offender interaction. I have also included a brief discussion of the juvenile system since more attention is being focus on youth violence. The Responses to Victimization section include two relatively new topics, the consequences of victimization and empowering vi! ctims. There are several excellent texts that deal with the physical and mental consequences of crime, however, very few of these texts discuss the financial impact of crime. The empowering victims chapter deals with issues that confront victim service providers as well as victims who are trying to change the system. The Special Types of Victims section discusses traditional subjects such as homicide victims, family violence victims and includes a discussion of special victims such as the disabled, those subjected to hate crimes, and gay and lesbian victims. The final section deals with the victim's rights including the civil remedies available to victims of crimes. This is not to say that I have covered all these topics adequately. I have attempted to present the reader with both an overview of some complex and controversial subjects and supply them with resources in the form of references and reading that would allow for more in-depth study and research of these areas. Simply by leaving out some topics such as robbery, burglary, kidnapping and others does not mean they are unimportant. Victims of these crimes would argue that they have suffered just as much as other victims. As indicated in the epilogue, it is simply a matter of space and other priorities. There is still much to be done in this area. Just as we are becoming more interested in the study of family violence, so are more and more universities offering classes on victim issues. These classes will become more popular as students, the general public and the various professionals that deal with victims become aware of their availability. It is a young disciple that continues to grow and it is exciting to be present and watch that growth.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pearson
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0205191533
• ISBN 13: 9780205191536
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 373