Thinking About Victimization

Book excerpt: 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.