ABSTRACT
Consideration of the needs and rights of victims in criminal justice is relatively new in Scotland. Although debates about the place of crime victims in the criminal process have had a major influence in the United States and have begun to impact on position of the victim in England and Wales, there has been little sign in this jurisdiction of any significant change. The definition of crime victims which is generally used in criminological research and policy statements and which underpins practical intervention is unsatisfactory. The study of criminal victimisation did not really begin in Scotland until the early 1980s. Before that time, data on victimisation rates, the impact of crime on victims and the role of victims in Scottish criminal justice was unavailable and little interest was shown in crime victims, either by criminal justice practitioners, policymakers, criminologists or public. Crime surveys, both local and national, provide a useful way of measuring victimisation and impact of crime on victims.
