Conceptualizing the Victim: Child Criminal Exploitation and Processes of Victim Identification

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.