Articles


So Who Are the Victims Now?

Published 12/06/2002
Type Article
Author(s) Sandra Walklate
Corresponding Authors
DOA
DOI

The purpose of this article is to explore the interconnections between different strands of victimological thought, their relationship with the contemporary victims’ policy scene and the relevance of this work for community justice. In so doing the argument will be developed that in order to understand contemporary policy concerns it is necessary to situate those concerns within the wider changing relationship between the citizen and the state and the extent to which that changing relationship has resulted in the politicisation of the crime victim. Particular attention will be paid to the re-orientation of the probation service, the introduction of the victim personal statement scheme, and the contemporary use of restorative justice, as policy examples currently concerned with the victim of crime. The conclusion will draw out some of the implications of policy orientations of this kind for the field of community justice.