Towards a Victimology of State Crime

Millions of people have been victimized by the actions and omissions of states and governments. This collection provides expert analyses of such victimizations across the world, from Europe, the United States, and Africa to New Zealand and South America. Leading scholars in the area of state crime describe the nature, extent, and distribution of state crime victimization, as well as theoretical and practical paths for understanding, explaining, and aiding victims of massive harms by governments.

Cases of state crime and state victimization are presented on Brazilian, Native American, and New Zealand children, Somalian Pirates, Columbian, South African, and Bosnian civilians, United States immigrants, and war crime victimization in World War II. Other chapters delve into formal and informal ways to address victimization through the European Court of Human Rights, the International Criminal Court, and provide analyses of justice processes around the world.

This anthology bridges the latest thinking, theory and research in the fields of state crime and victimology and provides a general resource concerning basic issues related to victimization - particularly victims of state crime. As such, it fills a major gap in the literature by providing the first text and scholarly book focused solely on a victimology of state crime. This book is essential reading for undergraduates, postgraduates, socio-legal jurists and academics with an interest in state crime and victimology.

Dawn L. Rothe is an Associate Professor at Old Dominion University and the director of the International State Crime Research Consortium. She is the author or co-author of four other books and over four dozen peer reviewed articles and book chapters dealing with the topics of state crime, corporate crime, and international institutions of control.

David Kauzlarich is Professor of Sociology at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. He is the author of several books and articles on state crime, criminology, and sociological theory. He has been given several honours for both his teaching and research.