7. Victimology

Abstract

This chapter assesses victimology, which has become an important sub-discipline within criminology. Victimology includes the study of victimisation as well as the challenges of legal and institutional definitions of the ‘victim’. Discussions include debates concerning victims’ rights and activism and how victimhood has come to be understood and responded to. The chapter then considers both narrow and wider ideas of victimisation, and examines whether and how criminal justice processes and public policy have developed in response to victims’ needs. While victims are really the people who the criminal investigation and trial are meant to serve, they are often not part of the process. The chapter also looks at a key part of victimology, which is the use of statistical evidence on the levels of victimisation.