Jennifer M. Brown

Sandra L. Walklate

This book contextualizes the complexity of sexual violence within its broader context – from war to the resolution of interpersonal disputes – and covers a wide span including sexual harassment, bullying, rape and murder as well as domestic violence. Written by leading academics from a variety of disciplines, contributions also include commentaries that relate the research to the work of practitioners. Despite advances made in the investigation of sexual offences, evidence still points to a continued belief in the culpability of victims in their own victimization and a gap between the estimated incidence of sexual violence and the conviction of perpetrators. Adopting an implicitly and explicitly critical stance to contemporary policy responses that continue to fail in addressing this problem, this book focuses on attitudes and behaviour towards sexual violence from the point of view of the individual experiencing the violence – perpetrator and victim – and situates them within a broader societal frame. It is through an understanding of social processes and psychological mechanisms that underpin sexual violence that violence can be combated and harm reduced, and at this individual level that evidence-based interventions can be designed to change policy and practice. The Handbook is split into four sections: 'Legacies: Setting the Scene' offers a critical overview of historical, legal and cultural processes which help to explain the origins of current thinking and offer steers for future developments 'Theories and Concepts' examines contemporary thinking on sexual violence and reviews explanatory frameworks from a number of perspectives 'Acts of Sexual Violence' reviews a number of specific types of sexual violence, elaborating the range of circumstances, victims and perpetrators with a view to addressing the general and pervasive nature of such violence thus contradicting narrow cultural stereotyping 'Responding to Sexual Violence' overviews and evaluates current policies and practices and offers new ideas to develop different types of interventions. The editors’ conclusion not only draws out the key themes and ideas from contributions to the Handbook, but also considers the nature of and the extent to which any progress has been made in understanding and responding to sexual violence. This will be a key text for students and academics studying sexual violence and an essential reference tool for professionals working in the field including police officers, probation staff, lawyers and judges.

Handbook on Sexual Violence

First published in 1989, this book provides a comprehensive introduction to the study of the victims of crime and the way in which they are treated in society generally, and in the criminal justice process in particular. The study of victims of crime is important to academics, the wider community of policy initiation and implementation, and to the political arena. Sandra Walklate examines the nature of this interest, and the contributions of victim-related research and criminal victimization surveys, in order to be able to provide the reader with a critical assessment of the issues involved. This book will be of interest to students of criminology, sociology, social policy and law, as well as victim support workers, probation officers, social workers, police officers and all those interested in the plight of victims of crime.

The Victim and the Criminal Justice Process

Victimology (Routledge Revivals)

Shani D'Cruze

Samantha Pegg

This book seeks to unravel the issues associated with the crime of murder, providing a highly accessible account of the subject for people coming to it for the first time. It uses detailed case studies as a way of exemplifying and exploring more general questions of socio-cultural responses to murder and their explanation. It incorporates a historical perspective which both provides some fascinating examples from the past and enables readers to gain a vision of what has changed and what has remained the same within those socio-cultural responses to murder. The book also embraces questions of race and gender, in particular cultural constructions of masculinity and femininity on the one hand, and the social processes of 'forgetting and remembering' in the context of particular crimes on the other. Particular murders analysed included those of Myra Hindley, Harold Shipman and the Bulger murder.

Sandra L. Walklate

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