Review: The Handbook of Victims and Victimology Sandra Walklate (ed.) Willan Publishing; 2007; pp 226; £31.50, pbk ISBN: 978—1—84392—257—5
| DOI | 10.1177/02645505090560010403 |
| Date | 01 March 2009 |
| Author | Mike Nellis |
| Published date | 01 March 2009 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
81
Reviews
involves thinking long-term, involvement of staff in problem-solving at their place
of work and close co-operative working with key suppliers. He uses this approach
both to analyse organizations and to propose another way of working. He intro-
duces a concept of public value although in my view this is not fully articulated in
the book.
This is an important book for anyone seeking to understand the current manage-
ment ideology in Prison and Probation. It is an easy book to read as it avoids both
theoretical debate and translates management jargon into a more easily under-
stood language. Seddon’s analysis of targets, the lack of trust, outsourcing and
other key managerial methods resonates strongly with the probation experience.
Len Cheston
National Offender Management Service
The Handbook of Victims and
Victimology
Sandra Walklate (ed.)
Willan Publishing; 2007; pp 226; £31.50, pbk
ISBN: 978–1–84392–257–5
Sandra Walklate is the doyenne of victim studies in Britain,
and was the obvious choice to edit The Handbook of
Victims and Victimology for the now prestigious Willan
series. As in so many fields of social science, there is now
more information available about victims than even specialist academics could
keep up with, let alone hard-pressed practitioners and activists in the criminal
justice, crime and victim fields. The advantage to all groups of this particular refer-
ence book is that it brings together in one place a pretty comprehensive set of well-
written chapters which, despite not covering everything, reasonably approximates
to the state of the art. Handbooks don’t need aims or aspirations beyond that,
and this one works admirably. Future editions will arguably need specific chapters
on victimization in the digital era (exploring, for example, identity theft, the conse-
quences of institutional data loss and cyber stalking), and also on the putative use
of electronic monitoring technologies to protect victims, but for now, this compen-
dium serves us well.
The book is divided into four parts. The first deals with the historical develop-
ment of victimology and the broad theoretical perspectives and key conceptual
distinctions that have emerged within it. The second covers the impact of feminism
on victim studies (and vice versa), evaluating the impact of campaigns against
sexual violence and containing strikingly good articles on rape, domestic violence
and masculinity. The third addresses issues of policy and service delivery by
comparing public and voluntary sector responses to crime victims, exploring the
place of the victim in court and the significance of the victim, in theory, policy and
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