Abstract
This book offers a well-informed, insightful addition to the victimological literature. With its roots firmly in the Critical Victimology perspective developed by Walklate in 1990, and later by Mawby and Walklate (1994), Victims: Trauma, Testimony and Justice offers an attempt to marry the visual representations of victimization with a theoretical framework that allows personal experience to be placed in the foreground, and in a context that pays attention to the wider structures within which the victimization and subsequent reactions have taken place. As such, this is very much a book concerned with power, representation and the wider political and social context that continues the conversations started previously (see, for example, McGarry and Walklate, 2011; Walklate et al., 2011).
Structured around three pivotal themes—that of trauma, testimony and justice—the book contains eight chapters that take the reader through these concepts, offering a critical view on what victimization can include and how researchers might seek to collect data on the lived experiences of victims, with a view to furthering the ‘victimological imagination’ (p. 6). Discussions are punctuated by the use of case studies in each of the substantive chapters, drawn from varied incidents of victimization, from the Invasion of Iraq in 2003 to the murder of Stephen Lawrence. These work to illustrate the points under consideration, including the complex ways that the victim identity may be denied, temporarily withheld, applied to a collective or validated through criminal justice proceedings.
Chapter 1 unpacks the construction of the victim, charting the significant developments in the policy landscape and mapping out the key theoretical strands of victimology. The authors also introduce the idea that exposure to images depicting victimization, such as the events of 9/11, can have a significant impact on how we view and experience victimization. This exploration reminds us that victimhood is both contested and the result of certain social relational dynamics that serve to underpin this. There is much emphasis here, and at other points throughout the book, on the importance of recognizing the differential attention paid to victims and the circumstances that have enabled this to take place.
The book moves on to consider the first substantive theme of ‘Trauma’, focusing first on the individual impact of victimization in Chapter 2 before moving on to that of collectivities in Chapter 3. Given the increasing role that victims (or their relatives, as in the case of Baroness Newlove and Sara Payne) can play in the political arena, there is also consideration of how victims’ experiences can influence policy while being mindful of the pitfalls that can come with pathologizing these experiences. Although individual suffering is frequently the primary focus, the authors point out that acknowledging and responding to mass victimization often begins by capturing the stories of those individuals involved, adding a relatable, human face to collective suffering.
The section concludes by seeking to frame victimization, of individuals and of collectivities, within a wider context that emphasizes the significance of macro-level apparatus, such as the political structure, that may have a role to play in the victimization and the subsequent reactions to it.
The second part of the book concentrates on the theme of Testimony. The initial focus of Chapter 4 is how best to capture data on the lived experiences of victims, encouraging researchers to take a ‘creative approach’ (p. 81) to studying victims’ experiences through the use of personal testimony (testimonio). Suggesting ‘a near complete absence’ (p. 85) of biographical accounts within victimology, McGarry and Walklate make a case for the use of testimonio, a form of narrative account that is produced for purposes other than academic, which offers a subjective viewpoint on the victimization and therefore allows the victim to have a voice. This approach enables victims to have their experiences contextualized, and to challenge the construction of their own victimization, as exemplified in the case study featured in this chapter—namely, John Tulloch’s (2006) experiences of the 7/7 London bombings and their aftermath.
I would have liked to have seen more on the subjective nature of these testimonies, especially how narratives can be varied and change over time. The impact and nature of victimization can make it difficult for the victim to tell their story in particular ways. This may be due to the trauma of the victimization, or perhaps related to structural conditions which silence or distort the narrative told. The reason for the production of testimonies, if not for academic purposes, may also have a significant bearing on how they were told. To take testimonies at face value in itself represents a challenge for those interested in pursuing an approach informed by Cultural Victimology, and indeed lies at odds with the more reflective tone taken to exploring the authors’ own experiences as set out in the final chapter. The authors acknowledge that readers ‘may feel compelled to question’ the testimonies of victims and may have concerns over the ‘authenticity of the events put before us’ (p. 86), but the authors could have spent longer on this issue, given the significance placed on testimonio.
Chapter 5 explores the use of testimonio in practice, specifically how personal testimony can link to social action. Through this discussion and in highlighting how large-scale victimization can equate to ‘cultural trauma’ (p. 113), this chapter invokes the 1984 Bhopal Disaster in a powerful, but mindful, examination of mass victimization and shared trauma that can remain ‘hidden in plain sight’ (p. 118).
Justice and the effectiveness of achieving this through the criminal justice system form the third and final substantive section of the book. Chapter 6 questions the use of justice as therapy, particularly through the participatory ‘peacemaking’ interventions of restorative justice and victim impact statements. Although there is recognition of the possible therapeutic benefits that justice can deliver, the limitations and uncertainties surrounding which victims can experience such benefits and under what circumstances this can occur is examined critically. The reconciliation of parties involved in the victimization, and whether this represents a form of justice, is discussed in Chapter 7. Reconciliation is a debated concept and has the potential to take place at various different levels. For the purposes of this chapter, it is the more exceptional offences or offenders that come under discussion. Once more, the status of victims is recognized as problematic, and the authors recognize the potential to subvert or omit victims’ voices from these reconciliation initiatives.
The closing chapter guides readers through the preceding key arguments, paying particular attention to the three key themes of the book. It then makes a case for moving towards a Cultural Victimology. The ideas around this are mapped out through the authors’ focus on their own ‘critical gaze’ (p. 172) and consideration of ‘[w]itnessing and bearing witness to victimology’ (p. 173).
One of the most engaging aspects of this emerging body of work revolves around mediated images of victimization. Given the prominence of such images, from rolling news coverage on a multitude of television channels to social media feeds, I expected there to be more on this form of ‘visual victimology’, much like the authors’ previous explorations into this theoretical field have done (Walklate et al., 2011). However, perhaps this is where the authors hope others will pick up the discussion in developing and applying cultural victimology to their own studies.
This is a thought-provoking book that challenges the reader to take a critical view to understanding forms of harm that commonly sit outside everyday understandings of victimization. There is certainly an appeal to using this as a textbook, particularly through its clear structure and use of case studies, but it has a much broader appeal to those interested in criminology and victimology. It is a significant and welcome addition to victimology, and I am sure that it will have an enduring appeal.