From Victim To Offender

Victim offender dialogues have been developed as a way to hold offenders accountable to the person they have harmed and to give victims a voice about how to put things right. It is a way of acknowledging the importance of the relationship, of the connection which crime creates. Granted, the relationship is a negative one, but there is a relationship. Amstutz has been a practitioner and a teacher in the field for more than 20 years.

Arrests of women for assault increased more than 40 percent over the past decade, while male arrests for this offense have fallen by about one percent. Some studies report that for the first time ever the rate of reported intimate partner abuse among men and women is nearly equal. Susan L. Miller’s timely book explores the important questions raised by these startling statistics. Are women finally closing the gender gap on violence? Or does this phenomenon reflect a backlash shaped by men who batter? How do abusive men use the criminal justice system to increase control over their wives? Do police, courts, and treatment providers support aggressive arrest policies for women? Are these women “victims” or “offenders”? In answering these questions, Miller draws on extensive data from a study of police behavior in the field, interviews with criminal justice professionals and social service providers, and participant observation of female offender programs. She offers a critical analysis of the theoretical assumptions framing the study of violence and provides insight into the often contradictory implications of the mandatory and pro-arrest policies enacted in the 1980s and 1990s. Miller argues that these enforcement strategies, designed to protect women, have often victimized women in different ways. Without sensationalizing, Miller unveils a reality that looks very different from what current statistics on domestic violence imply.

Victim Meets Offender (1993) is truly a seminal publication in the restorative justice movement. It represents the first multi-state empirical study of the impact of restorative justice dialogue through the first and most widely used restorative justice practice, namely victim offender mediation (also referred to as victim offender reconciliation, victim offender conferencing, or victim offender dialogue). Examining programs in California, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Texas, this book provides comparison group data on client satisfaction, victim perceptions of fairness, and completion of restitution. Recidivism data is also included. After more than three decades, Umbreit’s seminal publication remains the most widely cited restorative justice study and has influenced policy development and practice in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

Martin Wrightís original ground-breaking and influential analysis of the defects of the adversarial system of justice, plus the arguments in favour of a more constructive and victim-oriented approach. A book that has had a major influence on victimsí issues and restorative justice - and that is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand these developments. One of the most compelling arguments about the need for change in relation to victims and offenders. A critically acclaimed and key work in the annals of criminal justice.

The Psychology of Criminal and Antisocial Behavior: Victim and Offenders Perspectives is not just another formulaic book on forensic psychology. Rather, it opens up new areas of enquiry to busy practitioners and academics alike, exploring topics using a practical approach to social deviance that is underpinned by frontier research findings, policy, and international trends. From the relationship between psychopathology and crime, and the characteristics of catathymia, compulsive homicide, sadistic violence, and homicide victimology, to adult sexual grooming, domestic violence, and honor killings, experts in the field provide insight into the areas of homicide, violent crime, and sexual predation. In all, more than 20 internationally recognized experts in their fields explore these and other topic, also including discussing youth offending, love scams, the psychology of hate, public threat assessment, querulence, stalking, arson, and cults. This edited work is an essential reference for academics and practitioners working in any capacity that intersects with offenders and victims of crime, public policy, and roles involving the assessment, mitigation, and investigation of criminal and antisocial behavior. It is particularly ideal for those working in criminology, psychology, law and law enforcement, public policy, and for social science students seeking to explore the nature and character of criminal social deviance. Includes twenty chapters across a diverse range of criminal and antisocial subject areas Authored by an international panel of experts in their respective fields that provide a multi-cultural perspective on the issues of crime and antisocial behavior Explores topics from both victim and offender perspectives Includes chapters covering research, practice, policy, mitigation, and prevention Provides an easy to read and consistent framework, making the text user-friendly as a ready-reference desktop guide

Millions of pounds are spent every year trying to tackle human trafficking, modern slavery and child sexual exploitation. These are apparently threats perpetrated by ‘criminal masterminds’, spreading at a dizzying rate and approaching epidemic proportions – or so the story goes. Amid all the bold rhetoric and sweeping claims, there is very little robust research to help understand these problems and inform evidence-based policy and practice. In this book, readers are invited to delve inside the murky world of human trafficking. It focuses on the internal (domestic) trafficking of children for sexual exploitation. It is based on far-reaching analysis of six of the earliest and largest such investigations in the United Kingdom (UK), including the infamous Derby and Rochdale cases that sparked nationwide concerns about ‘street grooming’ and ‘Asian sex gangs’. Innovative methods, analytical rigour and truly extraordinary data underpin the research: a nuanced and sometimes unsettling exploration of the offender and victim networks, their characteristics, structure, activity and dynamics and the problems they pose for investigation and prosecution. The results paint a picture of a sprawling and dynamic system of grooming and abuse that is deeply embedded in complex webs of social relations and interactions. This book challenges accepted wisdom, debunks myths and introduces new and fundamentally different ways of thinking about trafficking and its prevention. An accessible and compelling read, this book is for academics, policymakers, practitioners and others interested in serious and organised crime.

Tom was the only adult who gave me the attention and affection that I so badly needed. I loved his caresses and the times he comforted me. I loved talking to him because he was the only adult who listened and understood. - Neil's Story From Victim to Offender shows how victims of child sexual abuse become juvenile and adult offenders. The stories told by these offenders reveal the vulnerability of boys to paedophiles and pederasts who provide the male attention lacking in some children's home lives. They show how early sexualisation damages children's sexual development, their relationships and their adult lives. The story of a female offender reveals that this problem is not confined to boys. These stories highlight the inadequacy of current child protection programs for the protection of boys. The editor's introduction and the chapter from a psychologist who specialises in the treatment of offenders emphasise the need to improve child protection and treatment programs for offenders. From Victim to Offender offers unique insights into the experiences of victims and offenders of sexual abuse, and is essential reading for professionals who are concerned about child protection and those responsible for the rehabilitation of offenders.