Table Of ContentCrime, Victims and Policy
Palgrave Studies in Victims and Victimology
Series editors:
Matthew Hall
School of Law, University of Lincoln, UK
Pamela Davies
Department of Social Sciences and Languages, Northumbria University, UK
Titles include:
Dean Wilson and Stuart Ross (editors)
CRIME, VICTIMS AND POLICY
International Contexts, Local Experiences
Palgrave Studies in Victims and Victimology
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Crime, Victims and Policy
International Contexts, Local Experiences
Edited by
Dean Wilson
University of Sussex, UK
and
Stuart Ross
University of Melbourne, Australia
Introduction, selection and editorial matter © Dean Wilson and Stuart Ross 2015
Individual chapters © Respective authors 2015
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First published 2015 by
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Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Notes on Contributors ix
Introduction
Victims Research, Theory and Policy: The Role of Local Contexts 1
Stuart Ross and Dean Wilson
1 Decolonising Indigenous Victimisation 10
Chris Cunneen and Simone Rowe
2 Environmental Victimology and Ecological Justice 33
Rob White
3 Victimisation, Citizenship and Gender: Interrogating
State Responses 53
Marie Segrave and Rebecca Powell
4 Justice for Rape Victims? The Spirit May Sound Willing,
but the Flesh Remains Weak 84
Jan Jordan
5 Competing Conceptions of Victims of Domestic Violence
within Legal Processes 107
Julie Stubbs and Jane Wangmann
6 Care Bears and Crime-Fighters: Police Operational Styles
and Victims of Crime 133
Dean Wilson and Marie Segrave
7 Victim Impact Statements, Sentencing and Contemporary
Standards of Fairness in the Courtroom 161
Tracey Booth
8 Satisfied? Exploring Victims’ Justice Judgments 1 84
Robyn Holder
9 Victims in the Australian Criminal Justice System:
Principles, Policy and (Distr)action 214
Stuart Ross
v
vi Contents
10 T he Evolution of Victims’ Rights and Services in Australia 240
M ichael O’Connell
Index 279
Acknowledgements
The idea behind this volume had its gestation in 2009 at a victimology
conference held at the University of South Australia in Adelaide. In
conversation, it was quickly apparent to us that there was a wealth of
innovation, theoretical and practical, evident in Australasia. Aware of
the international context, we were also cognizant that while there were
many similarities and continuities, local contexts were something that
really mattered. They mattered in a way that made our own research,
and that of many other scholars and practitioners we knew, more than
simply case studies of international trends. There were examples of prac-
tice and theory that could not only contribute to international debates
but also open up new vistas of theory and practice. It was from these
initial thoughts that this collection emerged, and we have subsequently
been extremely privileged to work with an exemplary group of authors
who have all contributed in the creation of a book that extends those
early conversations in exciting and informed directions. It almost goes
without saying – but it nevertheless needs to be said – that we wish to
sincerely thank all of the authors who have contributed to this volume.
The high standard of writing, research and scholarship; the respon-
siveness to deadlines and emails; and their willingness to incorporate
suggestions has made the task of editing this collection a very rewarding
one for us both.
We must also thank the generous support of the Australia Research
Council because it was through involvement in funded research projects
that interrogated questions of victims’ experiences that we arrived at the
concept of this collection. Both projects, one touching upon policing
and victims of crime (ARC LP0775304) and another investigating
victims’ perceptions of the criminal justice process (ARC DP0665417)
are represented in the chapters in this volume. We would also like to
acknowledge the great debt that we both owe to the late Adam Sutton,
an inspirational scholar, colleague and friend, who was involved with
some of this research in its early stages. Much of Adam’s thinking
continued to influence the direction of our research and the collection
as we progressed with the project.
We are also exceptionally grateful for the support of commissioning
editor Julia Willan and to editorial assistants Harriet Barker and Dominic
Walker at Palgrave Macmillan. They have been helpful, endlessly patient,
vii
viii Acknowledgements
and also ‘firm but fair’ when it was called for to keep things moving
along in the production process. Their professionalism and dedication
to publishing the products of our research has been greatly valued.
Lastly, we must express our deepest thanks to our respective families:
Sophie Coutand-Marin and Fiona Ellis. Thanks are due not only for the
comforts and support of home but also for providing that invaluable
perspective and reminder that there are other aspects of life that are
important beyond the academic world.
Notes on Contributors
Tracey B ooth is an associate professor in the Faculty of Law at the
University of Technology, Sydney. She has researched and published
widely in the areas of bail, victim participation in criminal justice proc-
esses and the restorative capacities of victim impact statements. Tracey
recently completed a qualitative study investigating victim participa-
tion, particularly via oral victim impact statements, in the sentencing
of homicide offenders, drawing on data from interviews with crime
victims and observation of sentencing hearings in the New South Wales
Supreme Court. Her current research explores the reconceptualisation
of the contemporary sentencing hearing as a forum that both preserves
the offender’s entitlements to a fair hearing and promotes a restorative
approach to dealing with the consequences of crime.
Chris Cunneen is Professor of Criminology at the University of New
South Wales, Sydney, Australia. He has a conjoint appointment with
the Cairns Institute, James Cook University. He has published widely in
the areas of juvenile justice, policing, criminal justice policy, restorative
justice and Indigenous legal issues. Recent books include Penal Culture
and Hyperincarceration (2013, co-authored with E. Baldry, D. Brown, M.
Brown, M. Schwartz and A. Steel), J uvenile Justice, Youth and Crime in
Australia (2011, co-authored with Rob White) and Debating Restorative
Justice (2010, co-authored with Carolyn Hoyle).
Robyn H older is a research fellow at the Key Centre for Ethics, Law,
Justice and Governance at Griffith University, in Brisbane, Australia, and
was previously a visiting fellow at the Regulatory Institutions Network,
The Australian National University. She has nearly 30 years of experience
in research, public policy and law reform in Australia and the UK, partic-
ularly on system reform. Her areas of research interest include victims,
rights and justice; violence against women and justice responses; and
the relationship between political theory and justice. More recently she
has explored justice for victims in conflict and post-conflict settings. For
over 15 years she was an independent statutory advocate for victims’
rights.
Jan Jordan is an associate professor at the Institute of Criminology,
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. She has over 20 years
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