Book review: An International Perspective on Contemporary Developments in Victimology: A Festschrift in Honor of Marc Groenhuijsen
| Author | Benjamin S. Roebuck |
| DOI | 10.1177/02697580221080176 |
| Published date | 01 May 2022 |
| Date | 01 May 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Book reviews |
International Review of Victimology
2022, Vol. 28(2) 255 –259
© The Author(s) 2022
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Book reviews
Janice Joseph and Stacie Jergenson (eds)
An International Perspective on Contemporary Developments in Victimology:
A Festschrift in Honor of Marc Groenhuijsen
Springer International Publishing: Cham, 2020; xxx + 326 pp.: ISBN 9783030416218 (hardcover).
Reviewed by: Benjamin S. Roebuck, Victimology Research Centre, Algonquin College, Canada
DOI: 10.1177/02697580221080176
What is a Festschrift? I’m glad you asked. In An International Perspective on Contemporary
Developments in Victimology: A Festschrift in Honor of Marc Groenhuijsen, editors Janice Joseph
and Stacie Jergenson have collected 22 chapters by 31 authors from 15 countries in honor of
Groenhuijsen’s significant contributions to the field. One of the highlights of the book, certainly
for colleagues who know Marc well, but also of interest to emerging scholars and graduate stu-
dents, is the personal note at the start of many chapters describing how Professor Dr Groenhuijsen
played a role in the development of victimology in the respective authors’ countries, or how his
writings in the field have sparked lines of academic inquiry. The book opens with a warm preface
by Emeritus Professor Jan Van Dijk who provides an overview of Groenhuijsen’s decorated career
including his appointment to Full Professor in Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure at Tilburg
University by age 30, more than 300 scientific publications, numerous service roles in academia
and national or international committees, his role as Founding Director of the International
Victimology Institute Tilburg (INTERVICT), and President of the World Society of Victimology
(WSV) from 2009 to 2018. Van Dijk highlights Groenhuijsen’s focus on victims’ rights and legal
reform, comparative victimology, and multidisciplinary approaches.
Editors Joseph and Jergenson have captured these themes with chapters organized into four sec-
tions: new perspectives and approaches in victimology, types of victimization, victims’ rights and
participation in the criminal justice system, and practical dimensions of victimology. Reviewing an
edited volume with an international and multidisciplinary focus can be challenging because of the
diverse topics explored, and it is not possible to comment on each paper. However, there are some
themes that emerge when reading through the book. An excellent chapter by Robert Peacock, cur-
rent WSV President, offers a victimological exploration of the African values of Ubuntu, inviting
readers to consider ways that culturally rooted understandings of our shared humanity challenge
practices in Western colonial models of justice. Peacock introduces the chapter referencing
Groenhuijsen’s (2001) emphasis on the importance of culture and meaning for the study of victi-
mology and criminal justice. Many of the chapters echo this notion of shared humanity, calling
attention to groups of people who are not well served by current criminal justice practices, such as
Arab girls at risk of victimization in Israel (Shechorty Bitton and Hawa-Kamel), victims of
transphobic femicide around the world (Joseph), maritime piracy victimization of seafarers and
1080176IRV0010.1177/02697580221080176International Review of VictimologyBook reviews
research-article2022
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