InternationalJournal of the

Sociology of LawInternational Journal of the Sociology of Law

34 (2006) 84–88

Book reviews

B. Spalek, Crime Victims: Theory, Policy and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan, London, ISBN

1-4039-3542-4, 2006 (£18.99).

I started reading this excellent and very timely book on 10th January 2006, when PrimeMinister, Tony Blair, brought out his ‘Respect’ agenda. The Independent queried whether it was‘serious policy-making’, or ‘just gesture politics?’, and the Dave Brown cartoon in the samepaper the next day referred to it as ‘Respect lite: a frothy, heady, policy brewed with knee-jerkpopulism, to create the clean, clear taste of short-time intoxication, but with no lingering realeffects’! By the Sunday I was deep into Basia Spalek’s fascinating insights into possible new pers-pectives in victimology, while the heavyweight columnists were busy ‘slugging it out’, with verylittle ‘respect’, as to whether the Government was on the right track (Will Hutton in The Obser-

ver, 15th January), or on the way to a withdrawal from the responsibility of communities and onthe road to ‘anarchy’ and even to ‘Basra’ (Simon Jenkins in The Guardian, 11th January).We know that a tendency to reach for the rosy-tinted spectacles is a human prerogative, and

each age bemoans the moral laxity of the last, but in 2006 we seem to be in that paradoxicalposition where there has been increased expenditure on police and prisons, a large number ofinitiatives, and an increase in the coercive power of Central Government, and yet the fear ofcrime, both civil and terrorist, appears to be more prevalent and pronounced than ever.Hutton argues that it is mainly due to a worsening equality gap, leading to despair and

desperation. Jenkins doesn’t disagree with this analysis, but his main villain is thecentralising juggernaut of the Leviathan State. Jenkins sees Blair’s government as simplyrepeating and indeed, enhancing, the corrupting and corrosive centralisation begun underthe Thatcher government (Jenkins, 1996). For him, Alexis De Toqueville is the sage;speaking of post-revolutionary France, De Toqueville remarks that:

Each citizen stands apart, like a stranger to the destiny of others. His children andpersonal friends form, for him, the entire human raceywhile above them rises animmense and tutelary power, that of the State. (The Guardian, 11th January 2006, p. 27).

Spalek, in a chapter on ‘victimhood, late Modernity and criminal justice’, whichmanages to be both succinct yet comprehensive, uses Zygmunt Bauman, Frank Furedi andothers, to lay out a rich contextual landscape, in which to lay the contested areas ofvictimology. Wisely, Spalek doesn’t rush into a subject which it would be easy to simplify,or, alternatively, to make it so complex and specialist that the subject is inaccessible to theinterested reader. Spalek’s style is accessible, and she starts with a depiction of society,which considers some of the most persuasive current thinkers, who have identified that welive in an age which might be called Late Modernity or Post Modernity, or even in

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Bauman’s words ‘liquid modernity’ (Bauman, 2000). Bauman is particularly persuasivewhen he speaks of identities being continually on the move and having to be de-constructed and re-constructed (Bauman, 2004). Furedi (1998) considers the victimidentity, and sees the decline in community having individualised victimhood so thatvictims are ‘the objects rather than the subjects of their destiny. Consequently, the humanexperience is defined not by what people do, but by what is done to them’.

For a relatively young and new voice in the field of criminology, Spalek may have anadvantage in standing back and starting from a position which enables her to makeconnections with related fields in social policy. Somebody looking at the fields of Health andSocial Care or Education, would immediately be drawn into the debate which sees the authortalking about a society where ‘existential anxiety is heightened, not only because of theincreasingly fragmented lives that people leadybut also because individuals no longernecessarily lead lives that are structured around notions of a divinely constructed world to givethem a sense of meaning and safetyy’ (p. 25). In terms of victims, we tend to naturally thinkof victims of crime, but Spalek’s scope in this work makes connections for us in terms ofvictimhood generally and, in a year following the tsunami, the Pakistani earthquake and theevents in London of 7/7, there are increasing complexities of victimhood. A crime, an act ofterrorism, or a natural disaster (‘act of God’) has global implications in a globalised world.

Following a fascinating societal overview, Spalek takes us into the theoretical perspectives ofcriminology, where she dissects in clear and accessible ways, the various approaches that havebeen used. It should be said that, throughout the text, the author uses brief case studies to posequestions for the reader, and there are also issues raised for the reader to ponder after eachchapter. There is a great deal of courage in the writing here. It is not easy for a woman, thoughit probably needs to be a woman, who would both point out the ‘many importantcontributions’ that feminist perspectives have had in developing and understandingvictimisation, but also that many women from Black and Minority Ethnic groups have felt‘overlooked through ‘‘gender essentialism’’, the view that there is a monolithic women’sexperience’ (p. 43). In a sense, the discussion here goes to the heart of much of what Spalek iscommenting on, in terms of theory and practice, in that she takes issue with some writers, whohave argued that victimology should be based purely on ‘objective scientific research’, ratherignoring the fact that objectivity is very hard, if not impossible, to attain. In fact, those whopurport to have a pure objectivity may well be fooling themselves and everybody else!

Following the theoretical chapter, Spalek goes on to consider researching victimisation:contesting victimhood; understanding victimisation: exploring harms; official responses tovictimisation; victims’ needs and victims’ rights; unofficial victims’ movements: re-definingvictimhood; new perspectives within victimology; further developments and implications.In looking at the contested concept of victimhood, I hadn’t realised how influential thenational crime surveys were. When one looks at this, one can begin to see the considerableproblems inherent in official data collection. So much that is important and so manygroups can be left to one side. Spalek is particularly fascinating on areas which she hasresearched in the past, such as ‘white collar crime’, such as the closure of BCCI and theMaxwell pension scandal. She also focuses in on those groups who are likely to beneglected or hidden victims. Spalek refers to the Muslims, especially Muslim women, whowere ‘hidden victims’ of 9/11. This had a particular resonance for me, as it was my surmisethat there would be such an effect, which led to Professor Sheehan having the courage andforesight to set up the National Spirituality and Mental Health Project (see NIMHE/Mental Health Foundation, 2003).

ARTICLE IN PRESSBook reviews / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 34 (2006) 84–88 85

I believe that readers will be particularly impressed by the way that the author combinesacademic rigour with a strong, fresh, independent voice, and an ability to connect withother disciplines and people just interested in the subject. Continually Spalek comes backto the issue of meaning. ‘Individuals,’ as Spalek puts it, ‘lead their daily lives aroundcognitive meanings relating to themselves and the world around them’. Being a victim canshatter this world view. But, of course, it isn’t just crime that does this, it is many events inlife, especially bereavement, which is also a kind of victimhood, and mental or physical ill-health. Spalek pulls no punches in looking at the effects of crime, terrorism and abuse. Shepursues new angles, especially on issues around ethnic minorities, and she also touches oninstitutional abuse for people with disabilities; again, another ‘hidden’ area of victimhood.For me, this next remark is a compliment, but it may not be to everyone: I feel that thiswriter is able, as a researcher, to combine objectivity with an ability to listen to and hearthe narrative and feel the pain. There is intellectual rigor here, but not intellectualarrogance. Spalek takes us into new areas around the re-discovered, but increasinglyprevalent issue, of Spirituality. As the modern era, with its emphasis on a mechanistic andoverly rational perspective, is beginning to feel a dissipation of its dominant meta-narrative, the ‘complexity and fluidity’ of Spirituality which, as Spalek puts it:‘Consists of a personal, internalised set of beliefs and experiences that impact upon a

person at a cognitive, affective, behavioural and developmental level’, is coming more tothe fore. Plato realised that you couldn’t cure the body without attending to the mind andspirit. We are just beginning to grasp the fact that knowledge needs to be connected withwisdom and values. Spalek takes us there and looks ahead in her last chapter, to where newresearch might lead us, so that the discipline of victimology might ‘more accurately reflectthe diverse range of experiences that can be found within the multi-cultural, diversesocieties of Late Modernity.This is an extremely well-written, perceptive, thoughtful and thought-provoking book,

which should be read not only by people in its own field, but much wider through all therelated disciplines and by thoughtful commentators. When Simon Jenkins writes aboutcrime and community in January 2007, I trust that he will be quoting Basia Spalek, ratherthan Alexis De Toqueville!

References

Bauman, Z., 2000. Liquid Modernity. Polity Press, Cambridge.

Bauman, Z., 2004. Identity. Polity Press, Cambridge.

Furedi, F., 1998. New Britain—a nation of victims. Society 35 (3), 80–84.

Jenkins, S., 1996. Accountable to None: The Tory Nationalisation of Britain. Penguin Books, London.

Gilbert, P., Nicholls, V., NIMHE/Mental Health Foundation, 2003. Inspiring Hope: Recognising the Importance

of Spirituality in a Whole Person Approach to Mental Health. NIMHE, Leeds.

Peter Gilbert1

Staffordshire University, UK

10.1016/j.ijsl.2006.02.001

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1Peter Gilbert is Professor of Social Work and Spirituality at Staffordshire University, and NIMHE/SCIE

Fellow in Social Care. He is the author of the recently published: Leadership: Being Effective and Remaining

Human, published by Russell House Publishing in October 2005.

Book reviews / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 34 (2006) 84–8886