Justice depends not only an states' ability to prosecute the perpetrators of a crime, but also on their capacity to restore the situation of victims. The Council of Europe has contributed to building a common legal area based on the respect of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Since the 1980s, it has integrated the victims' perspective in its work in this field and has produced and updated a set of legal instruments to assist states in dealing with victims' needs. This book brings together these standards and is intended to provide a reference document.--Publisher's description

This work charts issues and developments affecting victims of crime from the earliest times to the modern day, including in particular reparation, compensation, and the evolution of restorative justice. It takes account of the changes in the 1990s.

Rural Victims of Crime offers a pioneering sustained assessment of ‘the rural victim’. It does so by examining and analysing the conceptual constructs of a victim and challenging the urban bias of victimisation and victimology in criminological study. Indeed, far too much criminological scholarship is based on the false assumption that rural areas are relatively crime free – and thus free, too, of victims. Providing international perspectives, chapters in this edited collection focus centrally on notions of place and space, and constructions of rural victims in a variety of contexts, exploring the impact that geographic location has on the type and prevalence of victimisation. The concept of victimisation is often considered in terms of interpersonal relationships between humans, neglecting the potent impact of victimisation of non-humans and the natural and built environment. Rural Victims of Crime discusses existing notions of victimology in relation to non-human subjects, broadening conceptualisations of the victim and associated impacts resulting from victimisation. Structured in three parts, Rural Victims of Crime conceptualises the rural victim, enhances understanding of the realities of rural victimisation and considers both formal and informal responses to rural victimisation. Chapters are accompanied by practical, contemporary case studies to connect theory with praxis. This book is an essential and valuable resource for academics, students and practitioners alike in the fields of criminology, criminal justice, rural studies, victimology, geography, sociology and spatiality.

Crime is undergoing a metamorphosis. The online technological revolution has created new opportunities for a wide variety of crimes which can be perpetrated on an industrial scale, and crimes traditionally committed in an offline environment are increasingly being transitioned to an online environment. This book takes a case study-based approach to exploring the types, perpetrators and victims of cyber frauds. Topics covered include: An in-depth breakdown of the most common types of cyber fraud and scams. The victim selection techniques and perpetration strategies of fraudsters. An exploration of the impact of fraud upon victims and best practice examples of support systems for victims. Current approaches for policing, punishing and preventing cyber frauds and scams. This book argues for a greater need to understand and respond to cyber fraud and scams in a more effective and victim-centred manner. It explores the victim-blaming discourse, before moving on to examine the structures of support in place to assist victims, noting some of the interesting initiatives from around the world and the emerging strategies to counter this problem. This book is essential reading for students and researchers engaged in cyber crime, victimology and international fraud.

This practical guide provides user-friendly, concise, expert and up-to-date guidance for both new and experienced hate crime caseworkers and advocates (whether professional or volunteers). Filling a gap in the growing debates and research literature on hate crime, it takes as its starting point a values-based casework practice that provides assistance, support and leads to the empowerment of victims of hate crimes. With core casework standards and guidance on how to respond from a person-centred approach to the victim’s perspective, it also provides an overview of current legislation in relation to prosecuting hate crimes and the current EU Directive on victim support. Full of relevant, up-to-date evidence based research and policy, it will enable practitioners to be confident and knowledgeable in supporting victims of hate crime.

This book contributes to the study of collective memory and the sociology of terrorism by analysing the role of memorialization in relation to terrorism, its victims, and the broader society. While various social scientists have extensively theorized and analysed how trauma and memory interact, grow apart, and reinforce each other, this book puts the rights and needs of the victims centre-stage. Departing from the prescriptive, legal blueprints of memory, this book introduces the concept of ‘memorial needs’ to challenge and complement existing victimological frameworks. It critically assesses the efficacy of public memorialization and its success in assisting those affected by violence by exploring how victims engage with memory and memorialization. It investigates personal and collective responses to urban terrorism in Europe that have taken a wide range of forms including media coverage, spontaneous memorials and public mobilizations, literary and artistic works, trials, and controversial counter-terrorism measures. Making a case against the fetishization of memory as an overarching answer to curing visible and invisible wounds provoked by violence, Victims and Memory After Terrorism sends out a practical invitation to the field to 'repair symbolic reparations' in a way that memorialisation is not just an expression of potential, an aspiration for a more moral and just society and a promise of healing for the victimised. An accessible and compelling read, this book will appeal to students and scholars of victimology, criminology, sociology, politics and those interested in the relationship between collective memory and terrorism.

This innovative collection presents original theoretical analyses and previously unpublished empirical research on criminal victimisation. Following an overview of the development and deficiencies of victimology,subsequent chapters present more detailed challenges to stereotypical conceptions of victimisation through their focus on: male victims of domestic violence; victims of male-on-male rape; corporate victims; and the 'victim-offenders' who are the recipients of IRA punishment beatings. The second half of the book considers criminal justice responses to victimisation, focusing in particular on the potential of, and limits to, restorative justice, the social (and gendered) construction of the victim within contested trials and the exclusionary nature of current 'victim-centred' initiatives. This important book will further the debate on how we conceptualise victims as well as their appropriate role within the criminal justice system. New Visions of Crime Victims will be of interest to academics, students, criminal justice practitioners and policy-makers. It has particular implications for scholarship in the fields of victimology, restorative justice and feminist approaches to criminology and criminal justice. The integration of work by established criminologists, such as Carolyn Hoyle, Paul Rock, Andrew Sanders and Richard Young with that of young, previously unpublished scholars, makes for an interesting and stimulating book. As well as being a valuable addition to the literature, it can be used to support undergraduate and postgraduate courses in criminal justice and criminology.

This booklet seeks to link or reinforce the efforts of those who investigate and prosecute arson cases with the needs and rights of those who are the victims of arson--particularly victims of residential arson. It is addressed to police, fire officials, prosecutors, and victim/witness coordinators who are in frequent contact with arson victims, but who may not recognize fully the potential implications of that contact for either the victim or the system.