The authors outline and discuss the issues facing victims today and address the fundamental question: How can we best ensure justice for victims, while at the same time preserving the rights of defendants? The search for answers raises other key questions: What are the risks of crime and do they vary from country to country? What is the impact of crime on the victim? How are victims treated by police, welfare agencies and courts? Why have governments become interested in victims? Can we learn from the experiences of policies in other nations? How are services developing in the rest of the world, including Eastern Europe?

This critical and comparative analysis of `victim services' offers important insights for students and academics in criminology, social work and social policy, as well as for victim support workers.