NCJ Number
216353
Journal
Victims & Offenders Volume: 1 Issue: 3 Dated: 2006 Pages: 289-321
Date Published
2006
Length
33 pages
Annotation
Through a comparative analysis, this article examines how crime victims are represented in Australia based on distinctive practices of organizations in and around criminal justice systems.
Abstract
Australia and England/Wales offer two contrasting but largely internally consistent models of practical and typifying work related to crime victims. In Australia, the origins of victims’ services are mainly found in the activities of groups established to assist the families of homicide victims and female victims of domestic violence and rape. Heavy emphasis by these groups is placed on trauma with an appropriate response denoted to be counseling by specially trained practitioners. Unfortunately, the outcome has been that victims of volume crime such as theft and burglary have been overlooked. In England/Wales, victims are portrayed as those who have been affected by volume crime which includes crimes such as theft and burglary and services are provided by volunteers who do not require expert training. These varying workings of victim support invite consideration of how representations of crime and victimization are engendered and sustained. It is suggested that further exploration of how the politics of criminal justice might themselves be affected by popular and expert constructions of those who mainly sustain the impact of the crime problem. Institutional practices shape the public representations and private understandings of victims of crime. How victimization is framed formally can differ dramatically from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. This article focuses on some features of that framing work in Australia and, in particular, the activities of the loosely coordinated web of interlocking voluntary and government victims’ services that have been established under various names. A comparative analysis is conducted of Australia with England/Wales and the representation of crime victims. Figures, references