Reviews : Integrating a Victim Perspective within Criminal Justice Adam Crawford and Jo Goodey (eds) Dartmouth Publishing Company Limited, 2000; pp318; £40, pbk ISBN 184014-486
| Published date | 01 December 2000 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455050004700427 |
| Date | 01 December 2000 |
| Author | Barbara Tudor |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
297
Integrating
a
Victim
Perspective
within
Criminal
Justice
Adam
Crawford
and
Jo
Goodey
(eds)
Dartmouth
Publishing
Company
Limited,
2000;
pp318;
£40,
pbk
ISBN
184014-486
The
formidable
grouping
of
researchers
and
commentators
presented
here
demonstrate
little
of
the
fashionable
’joined-up’
approach,
which
could
usefully
develop
an
overall
rationale
in
chapter
content
and
progression.
Editorial
progression
is
clearer
but
repeated
references
to
publications
with
such
different
interpretations
may
seem
confusing.
Possibly
there
is
more
underlying
congruence
than
is
immediately
perceivable.
Early
chapters
are
useful
in
outlining
strong
indications
of
changing
perspectives
regarding
victims
and
victimisation,
but
are
also
honest
about
the
extent
of
real
change
on
the
ground.
Whilst
obviously
some
of
the
responsibility
for
this
is
due
to
professional
mindsets,
resource
issues
are
important.
One
reason
for
many
justified
criticisms
of
provision
or
service
failure
is
the
refusal
to
recognise
necessities
of
financial
and
practitioner
investment.
Using
the
term
’Restorative
Justice’
can
lead
to
misinterpretation
and
in
some
contexts
here
could
be
usefully
replaced
by
’processes’
or
’approaches’.
However,
the
fact
that
one-third
of
a
book
concerning
victim
perspectives
concentrates
upon
this
area
is
welcome.
Chapter
13
is
a
mature,
wide-ranging
and
useful
vision
of
the
advantages
of
genuine
adoption
of
a
restorative
ethic
through
every
element
of
the
Criminal
Justice
System.
Many
difficulties
in
predicting,
estimating
or
determining
when
individual
and
wider
victimisation
begins
and
ends
indicate
the
System’s
need
to
make
restorative
provisions
and
interventions
available,
from
crime
prevention
through
to
rehabilitation
on
release
from
custody.
There
are
scant
references
to
some
rapidly
developing,
important
fields
of
work
which
are
essentially
restorative
in
nature;
the
major
one
for
probation
services
is
victim
contact
work
and
its
contribution
to
risk
assessment
and
risk
management.
Although
there
is
more
mention
of
the
new
Youth
Justice
legislation,
it
has
probably
not
been
given
the
attention
it
deserves.
References
are
made
to
publications
by
Jim
Dignan
but
not
his
interim
findings
from
Youth
Justice
pilots,
which
have
practical
significance
to
many
of
the
points
raised
here.
However,
a
wide
spread
of
differing
views,
often
from
small-scale
interventions,
are
represented.
Walgrave
makes
it
clear
that
there
is
a
need
for
longer
term,
thorough
and
good
quality
research.
The
full
potential
for
many
positive
aspects
of
integration
of
victims’
perspectives
into
the
criminal
justice
process
could
easily
be
lost.
A
paradigm
shift
in
the
way
’justice’
could
be
administered
may
be
in
sight,
but
it
is
by
no
means
a
foregone
conclusion.
This
book
quite
rightly
illustrates
this
fact.
Barbara
Tudor
Victim
Unit
Development
Worker,
West
Midlands
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