ABSTRACT
The victim of crime Earlier in the book (in Chapter 11, in particular) we looked at labelling theory and the concern that some criminologists have with how it is that some acts and individuals come to be defi ned as crimes and criminals. In parallel with this, a set of questions can be posed in relation to victims of crime. Under what circumstances are some people treated as victims, and are there particular consequences from having such a label attached (or denied)? What anyway do we understand by the term ‘victim’? The 1985 United Nations Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power offers a defi nition of ‘victims’ (www.un.org/docu ments/ga/res/40/a40r034.htm):
1 ‘Victims’ means persons who, individually or collectively, have suffered harm, including physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss or substantial impairment of their fundamental rights, through acts or omissions that are in violation of criminal laws operative within Member States, including those laws proscribing criminal abuse of power.
