"Concern for the victims of crime first emerged with the formation of the Criminal Inquiries Compensation Board in 1964. This has continued with the increase in crime rates since the 1970s and 1980s and in the aftermath of a number of high profile trials. In this book Sandra Walklate offers an introduction to the key theoretical, methodological and substantive issues in victimology and criminal victimization. She situates the contemporary preoccupation with criminal victimization within the broader social and cultural changes of the last twenty-five years." "Written in the context of post-September 11, and alongside the events in Madrid of 2004 and London in July 2005, it questions who can be considered a victim of crime and what the response to such victimization might look like. The book concludes with an examination of future possibilities for both victimology and victims' policies in the light of contemporary political preoccupations. Imagining the Victim of Crime is key reading for students of criminal justice and victimology."--BOOK JACKET.