Conceptualising the Victim
Child Criminal Exploitation and Processes of Victim Identification
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Published:28th Jul '26
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Drawing on empirical research that examines how processes of victim identification unfold in relation to cases of child criminal exploitation in the UK, the book explores four different qualities of the concept ‘victim’. Specifically, the book provides ways of thinking about the concept of ‘victim’ as: incorporeal, in that efforts to convert victim recognition into meaningful impact are often extremely difficult to realise; binary, in that the victim is defined and constructed in opposition to the figure of the offender; relational, in that its emergence is heavily influenced by interactions; and precarious, in that the category ‘victim’ is often time-limited and subject to ongoing scrutiny.
These insights demonstrate that the social construction of victim status is fraught with frustration, resistance, and exclusion. Existing research and advocacy work has often followed the assumption that the solution to this is that more people need better access to the label ‘victim’. But what if there are fundamental flaws within the conceptual category of ‘victim’ itself? Accordingly, this book considers possibilities of moving beyond the category ‘victim’ and finding alternative approaches of acknowledging and responding to harm in meaningful ways.
This book will therefore be of interest to students and scholars of criminology and victimology. It will also be useful resource for professionals in policing, youth justice, and victim support.
"Hannah Marshall’s book is an exceptional contribution to the study of Child Criminal Exploitation. Drawing on rigorous ethnographic engagement and conceptually sophisticated victimological analysis, it offers an original theoretical lens through which to understand the process of victim identification. Expertly weaving together practitioner perspectives and the voices of affected young people with clarity, ambition and critical insight, Marshall pushes the field beyond familiar debates and opens up new ways of thinking about safeguarding, harm and the concept of victim. Thought‑provoking and methodologically impressive, this is a landmark piece of scholarship that deserves to be read widely by researchers, students and policy makers."
Dr. Jack Spicer, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, University of Bath, UK
"In this book, Dr Hannah Marshall offers a fresh and insightful take on contemporary understandings of victim status. Drawing from extensive empirical research into child criminal exploitation, Marshall reimagines the concept of victim through a series of discrete frameworks aligned to critical victimology, abolitionism, and queer theory. While it may appear provocative at first, the book's central thesis - a call to abolish the concept of victim altogether - is well-grounded in the evidence and critical analyses provided. Marshall convincingly illustrates the limiting nature of labelling, instead demonstrating how a focus on understanding victimising experiences offers far greater potential for meaningful statutory engagement with young people affected by crime. Conceptualising the Victim is a carefully curated, excellently researched and beautifully articulated set of ideas that will no doubt shape the future of victimological scholarship."
Dr. Marian Duggan, Reader in Crimimology, University of Kent, UK
ISBN: 9781032956176
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 470g
160 pages