Reviews : Working with Victims of Crime: Policies, Politics and Practice Brian Williams Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 1999; pp200; £14.95, pbk
| Date | 01 December 1999 |
| Published date | 01 December 1999 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059904600426 |
| Author | Barbara Tudor |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
281
I
felt
the
overall
analysis
veered
towards
government
conspiracy
theory.
I
would
only
recommend
that
practitioners
read
this
book
if
they
have a
strong
interest
in
British
drug
policy.
Chris
Morris
Probation
Officer,
North
East
London
Working
with
Victims
of
Crime:
Policies,
Politics
and
Practice
Brian
Williams
Jessica
Kingsley
Publishers,
1999;
pp200;
£14.95,
pbk
These
are
exciting
days
for
probation
staff
who
have,
for
the best
part
of
one-and-a-
half
decades,
been
striving
to
develop
a
meaningful
emphasis
on
the
victim
perspective
throughout
the
whole
of
our
work
with
offenders
in
a
proper
&dquo;restorative&dquo;
context.
Youth
Offending
Teams
are
forming
and
will,
hopefully,
implement
aspects
of
reparation
in
all
orders.
The
first
report
of
a
Home
Office
Inspection
into
victim
contact
work
is
also
due
later
this
year,
and
this
book
would
seem
to
present
a
useful
opportunity
to
review
progress
so
far
and
to
project
into
the
future.
Yet
it
does
not
present
an
easy
read.
The
context,
neither
an
overview
of
the
research
of
others
or
a
complete
piece
of
research
in
itself,
at
times
seems
to
become
lost
in
long
discussions
of
case
material,
(interesting
and
valuable
though
they
are)
at
the
cost
of
some
of
the
direction
of
the
argument.
In
parts
a
sense
of
cynicism
pervades
the
text and
seems
to~
infer
that
practitioners
are
simply
puppets
of
politicians.
The
book
is
liberally
peppered
with
references,
tending
to
break
up
sentences
and
thought
processes.
Also
chapter
divisions
and
overlaps
lack
a
clear
link
between
practice,
politics
and
policy.
Much
of
the
context
surrounds
the
particular
issues
of
violent
offending,
particularly
against
women,
and
the
victimisation
of
other
vulnerable
groups.
Without
solid
practice
bases
nothing
changes
and
examples
of
good
practice
here
clearly
identify
how
services
can
be
improved.
The
evidence
lays
with
&dquo;individual&dquo;
situations
giving
rise
to
the
&dquo;collective&dquo;
political
urge
for
recognition,
delivering
change
by
guiding
policy.
The
demand
for
interagency,
statutory
and
voluntary
work
is
written
into
new
policies.
There
is
no
doubt
that
if
the
&dquo;choice
of
supportive
worker
or
volunteer
must
be
left
to
the
victims
and
survivors
themselves&dquo;
(page
60) -
then
the
resources
must
be
available
to
provide
such
a
range.
The
development
of
victim
services
and
rights
to
date,
outlined
in
the
useful
appendix,
bears
witness
to
the
huge
achievements
(mainly
of
the
last
two-and-
a-half
decades)
of
many
individuals
and
agencies.
However,
provision
is
still
hopelessly
inadequate
and
remains
dependent
upon
political
will.
Let’s
hope
that
&dquo;as
restorative
approaches
to
criminal
justice
gain
credibility
and
respect
it
will
perhaps
become
more
difficult
to
manipulate
the
Criminal
Justice
System
for
political
effect&dquo;
(page
83).
Such
a
development
would
certainly
represent
a
triumph
of
&dquo;individual&dquo;
experiences
transformed
into
&dquo;collective&dquo;
vision.
For
those
of
us
with
a
strategic
remit
Brian
Williams
mentions
some
tempting
components
of
good
practice
which
warrant
further
exploration.
Barbara Tudor
County
Victim
Offender
Development
Officer,
West
Midlands
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