Invisible Victims and the Pursuit of Justice : Analyzing Frequently Victimized Yet Rarely Discussed Populations

Victims of crime may experience a wide variety of traumas that result in physical, sexual, financial, psychological, emotional, and/or social consequences. While the types of trauma can vary greatly and include lesser-known forms such as vicarious and secondary trauma, identifying and recognizing victims can be complicated. Throughout this book, experts and professionals from academia and the fields of criminal justice, social work, and mental health acknowledge victims historically overlooked by society, political movements, the media, and/or the criminal justice system - we acknowledge the invisible victims. Invisible Victims and the Pursuit of Justice: Analyzing Frequently Victimized Yet Rarely Discussed Populations pioneers the assertion that our view of victims needs to be more inclusive by exploring invisible victims that are rarely, if ever, a focus of discussions in traditional victimology textbooks. To educate the reader and begin working toward positive change, each chapter identifies an invisible victim and provides the background, controversies, issues, solutions, and areas of future research. It is crucial to identify these gaps in the field as some of the most victimized populations remain absent from important dialogue on crime victims. This book is appropriate for a wide range of readership including but not limited to criminologists, victim service providers, psychologists, sociologists, social workers, advocate groups, law enforcement, lawyers, defense attorneys, criminal justice practitioners, academicians, researchers, and students studying criminology, criminal justice, victimology, social work, psychology, and social justice.

Dr. Raleigh Blasdell is a Criminologist who has been teaching at the collegiate level since 2008. She is an Associate Professor at North Central College (Naperville, IL, USA) where she teaches courses on criminology, criminal justice, race, and research methods. Raleigh earned her Ph.D. in Criminology from The University of South Florida, and is a graduate of the Tokiwa International Victimology Institute's (Tokiwa, Japan) Asian Postgraduate Course on Victimology and Victim Assistance. Prior to academia, she worked as a victim advocate. Since 2014, she has volunteered with the Missouri Department of Corrections, and provides direct programming to persons who are incarcerated on topics related to the impact of crime on victims and restorative justice. Raleigh maintains an active research agenda that studies victims of crime, marginalized populations, and restorative justice. She has presented original research both independently and with students at over 30 academic conferences across the United States and abroad.

Laura Krieger-Sample has been an Instructor in the Department of Criminal Justice, Social Work, and Sociology at Southeast Missouri State University (Cape Girardeau, MO, USA) since 2012. Laura primarily teaches corrections-based courses (both institutional and non-institutional) as well as introduction to criminal justice, juvenile justice, victimology, and offender rehabilitation. In addition to her teaching load, she serves as the Criminal Justice Internship Coordinator. Laura has been a certified volunteer in corrections (VIC) for the Missouri Department of Corrections since 2015 and assists in the facilitation of restorative justice, reentry, leadership, and victimization programming. Her research interests are wide ranging, and she has presented and published in the areas of corrections, capital punishment, law enforcement, student empathy, leadership, and best practices in student learning.

Dr. Michelle Kilburn is a full professor in the Department of Criminal Justice, Social Work, and Sociology at Southeast Missouri State University (Cape Girardeau, MO, USA). She currently teaches undergraduate and graduate courses pertaining to the criminal justice system, social justice, law and social control, policy analysis, leadership, research methods, and statistics. Her research is varied focusing primarily on program and policy analysis, victims' perceptions of victim impact panels, the use of social media in law enforcement, inmate leadership development programs, students' perceptions of online learning, and innovative pedagogical strategies in criminal justice. She has also volunteered with the Missouri Department Corrections and assisted in programming for incarcerated persons as well as served as the lead researcher in the state-wide evaluation of the state's probation and parole system.