Crime victims : an introduction to victimology / Andrew Karmen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Karmen, Andrew.

Series:

Contemporary issues in crime and justice series

The Wadsworth contemporary issues in crime and justice series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Victims of crimes--United States.

Victims of crimes.

United States.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 431 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Edition:

Fifth edition.

Place of Publication:

Belmont, CA : Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, [2004]

Summary:

The first and most comprehensive look at victimology, Karmen's CRIME VICTIMS offers balanced coverage of this complex and at times, controversial subject.

Contents:

1. The rediscovery of crime victims and the rise of victimology

The discovery, decline, and rediscovery of crime victims

The discovery of crime victims

The decline of crime victims

The rediscovery of crime victims

The rise of victimology

The emergence of a new focus

Box 1.1. Highlights in the brief history of victimology and victim assistance

The need for objectivity

Victimology compared to criminology

What victimologists do

Step 1. Identify, define, and describe the problem

Step 2. Measure the true dimensions of the problem

Step 3. Investigate how victims are handled

Step 4. Gather evidence to test hypotheses

Box 1.2. The kinds of studies victimologists undertake

Victimology contributes to the process of rediscovering victims

Stage 1. Calling attention to an overlooked problem

Stage 2. Winning victories, implementing reforms

Stage 3. Emergence of an opposition and development of resistance to further changes

Stage 4. Research and temporary resolution of the dispute

The continuing process of rediscovery

Box 1.3. Groups of victims that have been recently rediscovered

Chapter summary

Discussion questions

2. Digging up the facts about crime victims

Crime in the streets : the big picture

The use and abuse of statistics

Interpreting statistics

A closer look at the two official sources of victimization data

The Uniform Crime Report

The National Crime Victimization Survey

Comparing the UCR and the NCVS

Using data to bring the big picture into focus

Searching for crime waves : detecting victimization trends

Changes over time in violent crime rates

Checking out whether more robberies are turning into murders

Box 2.1. "Your money of your life!"

Using the UCR to analyze murders

Using the NCVS to analyze robberies

Robbers and their victims

Findings from the NCVS that shed light on robberies

Making international comparisons

Assessing comparative risks : putting crime into perspective

Uncovering victimization patterns

Recognizing differential risks

Differential risks of being murdered

Differential risks of being robbed

Projecting cumulative risks

Discussion questions.

3. The victims' contribution to the crime problem

The search for risk factors

The determinants of differential risks

Reducing risks : how safe is safe enough?

Ambivalence about risk taking

From crime prevention to victimization prevention

Deterrence theory as applied to victims

Box 3.1. Expressions of support for inquiries into the victim's role

The controversy over shared responsibility

Victim facilitation, precipitation, and provocation

The frequency of shard responsibility in violent crimes

Recognizing complete innocence and full responsibility

Typologies of shared responsibility

Victim blaming versus victim defending

Box 3.2. Criticisms of the notion of shared responsibility

Victim facilitation and auto theft : is it the careless who wind up carless?

Victim facilitation and identity theft : what precautions are reasonable?

Victim precipitation and rape : did she somehow single herself out for trouble?

Victim-blaming views

Victim-defending perspectives

Victim provocation and murder : when is the slaying of a wife beater justified?

Arguments stressing that the brutal men did not deserve to die?

Arguments emphasizing that the brutal men provoked the lethal responses

Transcending victim blaming and victim defending

The legal importance of determining responsibility

Box 3.3. Prof calls for crackdown on crime victims

4. Victims and the criminal justice system : cooperation and conflict

Victims versus the criminal justice system

Box 4.1. Criticisms of the way the criminal justice system handles victims

Box 4.2. The system's shortcomings from a victim's point of view

What do victims want : punishment? treatment? or restitution?

Victims and the police

Reporting incidents

Responding quickly

Investigating complaints

Judging complaints to be unfounded

Arresting suspects

Recovering stolen property

Victims and prosecutors

Assisting victims and other witnesses for the state

Protecting victims serving as witnesses for the prosecution

Dismissing charges and rejecting cases

Negotiating pleas

Victims and defense attorneys

Postponing hearings

Cross-examining witnesses during trials

Victims and judges

Granting bail

Sentencing offenders

Appealing to the Supreme Court

Victims and corrections officials

Box 4.3. Supreme Court decisions directly affecting victims

Contacting parole boards

And justice for all?

Recognizing "second-class" treatment

Box 4.4. Which victims get better treatment?

5. Special kinds of victims : problems and solutions

Missing children

Estimates of the incidence and seriousness of the problem

Box 5.1. Highlights of the rediscovery of the missing children problem

Box 5.2. How often are children kidnapped, and what happens to them?

Hunting for children who have vanished

Victimization prevention measures

Physically and sexually abused children

The rediscovery of child abuse

Estimates of the incidence, prevalence, and seriousness of child abuse

More controversies surrounding childhood sexual abuse

Abused children and legal proceedings

Proactive versus reactive strategies

Additional casualties of family violence

Abuse of adolescents by parents

Abuse of parents by adolescents

Sibling abuse

Elder abuse

Violence between intimates

The rediscovery of wife beating

Estimates of the incidence, prevalence, and seriousness of spouse abuse

Aiding victims who feel trapped

Battered women and the criminal justice system : violence is violence, or is it?

Preventing battering

The rediscovery of other victims of beatings

Victims of sexual assault

The rediscovery of the plight of rape victims

"Real rapes" and "date rapes"

The consequences of being sexually assaulted

Estimates of the incidence, prevalence, and seriousness of rape

The controversy over date rape on college campuses

How the criminal justice system handles rape victims

Crisis centers : providing emergency assistance

Unwanted publicity and negative media portrayals

Reducing the threat of rape

The rediscovery of more tape victims

Individuals menaced by stalkers

Stalking : a new world for an old problem

Cyberstalking : a new word for a new problem

Victims of bias crimes

Measuring the scope of the problem

Criminal justice system reforms

Victims of terrorism

Monitoring the scope of the problem

Assistance and recovery

6. Repaying victims

Gaining restitution from offenders

Back to basics

The rise, fall, and revival of restitution

Divergent goals, clashing philosophies

Opportunities versus obstacles

Evaluating restitution programs

Winning judgments in civil court

The revival of interest in civil lawsuits

The litigation process

Possibilities and pitfalls

Collecting damages from third parties

Collecting insurance reimbursements

Private crime insurance

Patterns of loss, recovery, and reimbursement

Federal crime insurance

Recovering losses through victim compensation programs

The history of victim compensation by governments

The debate over compensation in the United States

How programs operate : similarities and differences

Monitoring and evaluating compensation programs

Confiscating profits from notorious criminals

7. Victims in the twenty-first century : alternative directions

Toward greater formal legal rights within the criminal justice system

Rights gained at the expense of offenders

Rights gained at the expense of the system

Rights gained at the expense of either offenders, or the system, or both

Toward restorative justice

Peacemaking

How reconciliation programs work

Evaluating efforts at reconciliation

Pros and cons from the victim's point of view

Toward retaliatory justice

Vigilantism's frontier origins

Vigilantism versus legitimate use of force in self-defense

Would potential victims be better off if they were armed?

The drift back toward retaliatory violence

Appendix. Web sites to monitor in order to obtain current information about victim issues.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 374-418) and indexes.

ISBN:

0534616321

9780534616328

OCLC:

54011570

Online:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description