Revitalizing Victimization Theory

Revitalizing Victimization Theory: Revisions, Applications, and New Directions revises some of the major perspectives in victimization theory, applies theoretical perspectives to the victimization of vulnerable populations, and carves out new theoretical territory that is clearly needed but has yet to be developed. With the exception of a handful of isolated works in the mid-twentieth century, theory and research on victimization did not come into its own until the late 1970s with the articulation of lifestyle and routine activity theories. Research conducted within this tradition continues to be an important part of the overall criminological enterprise, and a large body of empirical knowledge has been generated. Nevertheless, theoretical advances in the study of victimization have largely stalled within the field of criminology. Indeed, little in the way of new theoretical headway has been made in well over a decade. This is an ideal time to revitalize victimization theory, and this volume does just that. It is an ambitious project that will hopefully reignite the kinds of theoretical discussions that once held the attention of the field. The work included here will shape the future of victimization theory and research in years to come. This volume should be of interest to a wide range of criminologists and have the potential to be used in graduate seminars and upper-level undergraduate courses.

Revitalizing Victimization Theory: Revisions, Applications, and New Directions revises some of the major perspectives in victimization theory, applies theoretical perspectives to the victimization of vulnerable populations, and carves out new theoretical territory that is clearly needed but has yet to be developed. With the exception of a handful of isolated works in the mid-twentieth century, theory and research on victimization did not come into its own until the late 1970s with the articulation of lifestyle and routine activity theories. Research conducted within this tradition continues to be an important part of the overall criminological enterprise, and a large body of empirical knowledge has been generated. Nevertheless, theoretical advances in the study of victimization have largely stalled within the field of criminology. Indeed, little in the way of new theoretical headway has been made in well over a decade. This is an ideal time to revitalize victimization theory, and this volume does just that. It is an ambitious project that will hopefully reignite the kinds of theoretical discussions that once held the attention of the field. The work included here will shape the future of victimization theory and research in years to come. This volume should be of interest to a wide range of criminologists and have the potential to be used in graduate seminars and upper-level undergraduate courses.

Volume 52 is an annual survey of cutting-edge issues by preeminent criminology scholars. Since 1979, Crime and Justice has presented a review of the latest international research, providing expertise to enhance the work of sociologists, psychologists, criminal lawyers, justice scholars, and political scientists. The series explores a full range of issues concerning crime, its causes, and its cures. In both the review and the thematic volumes, Crime and Justice offers an interdisciplinary approach to address core issues in criminology.

Bringing together cutting-edge theory and research that bridges academic disciplines from criminology and criminal justice, to developmental psychology, sociology, and political science, Thinking About Victimization offers an authoritative and refreshingly accessible overview of scholarship on the nature, sources, and consequences of victimization. This book integrates empirical research and victimization theory and is written in a lively style, with sharp storytelling and an appreciation of international research on victimization. Rooted in a healthy respect for criminological history and the important foundational works in victimization studies, it provides a detailed account of how different data sources can influence our understanding of victimization; of how the sources of victimization—individual, situational, and contextual—are complicated and varied; and of how the consequences of victimization—personal, social, and political—are just as complex. Thinking About Victimization also engages with contemporary issues such as sexual victimization and intimate partner violence, victimization in schools, cybervictimization, and prison victimization, as well as terrorism and state-sponsored violence. The second edition reflects new research developments in victimology, including updated discussions on the COVID-19 pandemic, police brutality, increases in crime, and school shootings. Thinking About Victimization is essential reading for advanced courses in victimization offered in criminology, criminal justice, sociology, health, and social work departments. With its unapologetic reliance on theory and research combined with its easy readability, undergraduate and graduate students alike will find much to learn in these pages.

This book features the empirical work of internationally known scholars, providing an in-depth examination of the overlap between online and offline victimization and offending. The vast expanse of the Internet has provided a limitless playground for offenders to prey on those unaware of their predators, or well as those who are intimately familiar with their offenders. However, the Internet does not isolate offenders into mutually exclusive categories. Instead, it has allowed many offenders to use both offline and online platforms to commit crime. It also opened up more opportunity for violation of victims. This volume features two divisions of the American Society of Criminology, the Division of Victimology and Division of Cybercrime, who have joined forces to sponsor a special issue on the overlap between forms of online and offline victimization and offending. International scholars in this book provide a notable spectrum of different forms of this phenomenon, as well as predictors of these behaviors. The Link between Specific Forms of Online and Offline Victimization will be a key resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of Victimology, Cybercime, Criminology and Criminal Justice. The chapters included in this book were originally published in Victims & Offenders.

This book provides a short, comprehensive and accessible introduction to Ultra-Realism: a unique and radical school of criminological thought that has been developed by the authors over a number of years. After first outlining existing schools of thought, their major intellectual flaws and their underlying politics in a condensed guide that will be invaluable to all undergraduate and postgraduate students, Hall and Winlow introduce a number of important new concepts to criminology and suggest a new philosophical foundation, theoretical framework and research programme. These developments will enhance the discipline’s ability to explain human motivations, construct insightful representations of reality and answer the fundamental question of why some human beings risk inflicting harm on others to further their own interests or achieve various ends. Combining new philosophical and psychosocial approaches with a clear understanding of the shape of contemporary global crime, this book presents an intellectual alternative to the currently dominant paradigms of conservatism, neoclassicism and left-liberalism. In using an advanced conception of "harm", Hall and Winlow provide original explanations of criminal motivations and make the first steps towards a paradigm shift that will help criminology to illuminate the reality of our times. This book is essential reading for academics and students engaged in the study of criminology, sociology, criminological theory, social theory, the philosophy of social sciences and the history of crime.

Bringing together cutting-edge theory and research that bridges academic disciplines from criminology and criminal justice, to developmental psychology, sociology, and political science, Thinking About Victimization offers an authoritative, comprehensive, and refreshingly accessible overview of scholarship on the nature, sources, and consequences of victimization. Written in a lively style with sharp storytelling and an appreciation of international research on victimization, this book is rooted in a healthy respect for criminological history and the foundational works in victimization studies. It provides a detailed account of how different data sources can influence our understanding of victimization; of how the sources of victimization—individual, situational, and contextual—are complicated and varied; and of how the consequences of victimization—personal, legal, and political—are just as complex. This book also engages with contemporary issues such as cybervictimization, intimate partner violence and sexual victimization, prison violence and victimization, and terrorism and state-sponsored violence. Thinking About Victimization is essential reading for advanced courses in victimization offered in criminology, criminal justice, sociology, social work, and public policy departments. With its unapologetic reliance on theory and research combined with its easy readability, undergraduate and graduate students alike will find much to learn in these pages.

Victimology: Theories and Applications introduces readers to the study of victimization, crime typologies, and the impact of crime on victims, offenders, and society at large. Each chapter provides a typology of the offender to analyze motivation, and includes an overview of the issues related to people who become victims of a wide variety of traditional and contemporary crimes such as child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, elder abuse, cyber crime and hate crimes. The history and theories of victimology are explored, as well definitive laws and policies, strategies for intervention, and future research areas.