Book Review: New Visions of Crime Victims
| DOI | 10.1177/026975800401000305 |
| Published date | 01 January 2004 |
| Date | 01 January 2004 |
| Author | Thomas Underwood |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
International
Review
ofVictimology,
2004,
Vol.lO,
pp.281-293
0269-7580/04
$10
© A B
Academic
Publishers
-Printed
in
Great
Britain
BOOK
REVIEWS
NEW
VISIONS
OF
CRIME
VICTIMS.
Edited
by
Carolyn
Hoyle
and
Richard
Young,
Hart;
Oxford,
2002.
224
pp.
£25,
ISBN
1-84113-280-2.
New
Visions
of
Crime
Victims
is
a
collection
of
essays
and
research
articles,
many
of
them
by
postgraduate
students,
thus
the
'new
visions'
presented
by
many
quality
articles.
The
book
is
balanced,
however,
with
articles
by
more
seasoned
contributors.
The
result
is
a
compilation
of
writings
that
intend
to
offer
'new
insights
into
the
phenomenon
of
criminal
victimisation'.
These
insights
include
topics
that
are
rarely
addressed.
Indeed,
addressing
often
ignored
topics
and,
at
times,
challenging
conventional
wisdoms
made
this
a
refreshing
read.
Unfortunately
these
new
visions
of
victimology
were
bounded
by
the
tradi-
tional
context
of
criminology
and
a
seemingly
pervasive
anti-feminist
perspec-
tive.
While
victimology
is
historically
rooted
in
criminology
and
most
of
this
text
addresses
justice
system
responses,
not
to
consider
the
context
of
victimization
beyond
the
criminology
frame
is
old
thinking.
It
perpetuates
victimology
as
the
'step-child' of
criminology,
not
as
a
discipline
in
its
own
right.
The
book
would
have
reflected
its
title
better
had
it
included
articles
that
spoke
to
other
areas.
Further,
while
it
is
valuable
to
challenge
any
paradigm,
it
is
questionable
whether
feminism
is
really
so
established
that
it
has
become
the
conventional
wisdom
of
practice,
policy,
and
research.
Couching
this
consistent
challenge
to
feminist
perspective
as
a
'new
vision'
is
misleading.
Does
this
anti-feminist
perspective
reflect
the
ideals
perpetuated
by
the
university
programmes
of
which
many
of
the
contributors
were
students
or
is
it
merely
a
bias
of
the
editors
who
selected
authors
whose
views
were
consistent
with
their
own?
The
context
of
academic
criminology
is
probably
most
evident
in
the
opening
chapter
by
Paul
Rock.
Once
the
chapter
moves
beyond
the
introductory
pages
characterised
by
unexplained
references
to
theories
and
theorists
that
makes
it
seem
like
a
book
targeted
to
researchers
and
academicians,
Rock
offers
a
good
overview
of
the
modern
evolution
of
the
victims'
movement
and
a
good
discus-
sion
of
the
social
impact
of
victimisation.
Stephanie
Allen's
article
explores
the
issues
of
male
victims
of
rape,
a
grossly
understudied
topic.
While
the
methodology
of
her
study
is
suspect
on
several
counts,
her
exploration
of
the
social
constructs
of
gender
role,
gender
values,
and
the
context
of
rape
makes
this
a
very
beneficial
contribution.
Male
victims
are
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