Hearing the Victim brings together leading authorities in the field to review the role of the victim in the criminal justice system in the context of recent legislative developments to 'rebalance the criminal justice system in favour of the victim'.

Preface, Anthony Bottoms and JulianRoberts 1. The Victim, the State, and Civil Society, Matt Matravers 2. The 'Duty to Understand': What Consequences to Victim Participation?, Anthony Bottoms 3. The Status of Crime Victims and Witnesses in the Twenty-First Century, Helen Reeves and Peter Dunn 4. 'Rebalancing the Criminal Justice System in Favour of the Victim': The Costly Consequences of Populist Rhetoric, Michael Tonry 5. The Phenomenon of Victim-Offender Overlap: A Study of Offences against Households, Anthony Bottoms and Andrew Costello 6. The Victim and the Prosecutor, John Spencer 7. Victims at Court: Necessary Accessories or Principal Players at Cozijn Centre Stage?, Joanna Shapland and Matthew Hall 8. 'Hearing Victims of Crime': The Delivery of Impact Statements as Ritual Behaviour in Four London Trials for Murder and Manslaughter, Paul Rock 9. Communication at Sentencing: The Expressive Function of Victim Impact Statements, Julian Roberts and Edna Erez 10. Victim input at Parole: Probative or Prejudicial?, Nicola Padfield and Julian Roberts. Index