ABSTRACT
The text for this chapter draws on my previous work on restorative justice with respect to terrorist victimization in Spain committed by ETA. 1 I intend to extend the conclusions reached with an eye to translation to other contexts. To this end a critical victimological approach is adopted (Walklate 1990). In this view victims are citizens first, something the terrorist attack has denied. 2 Their identity is not shaped fully by their victimization. Professionals working with victims and/or victims issues should avoid — consciously or unconsciously — ‘colonizing’ their identity by the victimization or de-victimization process. Victimization and de-victimization processes cannot be understood solely as a result, but as plural, complex and multi-dimensional dynamics (Larizgoitia et al. 2009), in which the factor of time is particularly important. In addition, by considering the interrelation between individual, interpersonal and structural dimensions of vulnerability and protection, this opens up the possibility to study the fact of unequal distribution of recovery and restoration elements in society.
