Administrating Victimization: The Politics of AntiSocial Behaviour and and Hate Crime Policy

This study addresses the management of victims and victim policy under the Coalition government, in light of an increasing move towards neoliberal and punitive law and order agendas. With a focus on victims of anti-social behaviour and hate crime, Duggan and Heap explore the changing role of the victim in contemporary criminal justice discourses. "With Foreword by Pamela Davies, Northumbria University, UK The study of victims and victimization has evolved to produce more information about the effects and impacts of crime, as well as victims' experiences of engagement with the criminal justice system. This book analyses the socio-political context in which particular groups of victims have been prioritised by UK policy-makers in the past two decades as requiring enhanced or targeted services. Focusing on anti-social behaviour and hate crime, Duggan and Heap explore how separating victims according to victimization type allows for a targeted approach which benefits some and disadvantages others. They assess the extent to which certain forms of victimization, or demarcated groups of victims, have been used by governments to further punitive political agendas under the guise of being 'victim-focused' or 'victim-led'. In so doing, this book explores the changing role and status of the victim in contemporary criminal justice discourses, as well as the increased managerialism evident in facilitating victims' engagement in the broader criminal justice system."-- Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-xvi Introduction....Pages 1-12 Conceptualizing Victims....Pages 13-28 Victims as Vote Winners....Pages 29-58 Prioritized Political Focus: ASB and Hate Crime....Pages 59-90 Reconceptualizing Victims....Pages 91-111 Back Matter....Pages 112-129