Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Social Construction of Victimhood and Complex Victims

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Order of Victimhood

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Compromise after Conflict ((PSCAC))

Abstract

The victim label is constructed and applied subjectively and defined within specific socio-structural contexts. In conflict and transition, the archetypal image of the innocent, moral, and deserving victim constructed opposite the wicked perpetrator is reinforced in transitional justice mechanisms and policies. Such constructions often do not reflect the realities of human experience, and a growing scholarship on complex victims challenges simplistic portrayals of victims as always separate and mutually exclusive from perpetrators. This chapter explores narratives of victimhood in Northern Ireland which fracture narrow constructions of the victim. It similarly considers complex responsibility, engaging with ambiguities of responsibility in conflict before addressing the limitations of complex victimhood in cynical claims to victim status as a means to obscure responsibility.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 64.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bar-Tal, Daniel. 2003. Collective Memory of Physical Violence: Its Contribution to the Culture of Violence. In The Role of Memory in Ethnic Conflict, ed. E. Cairns and M.D. Roe, 77–93. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bar-Tal, Daniel, Lily Chernyak-Hai, Noa Schori, and Ayelet Gundar. 2009. A Sense of Self-Perceived Collective Victimhood in Intractable Conflicts. International Review of the Red Cross 91 (874): 229–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berger, Peter L., and Thomas Luckmann. 1966. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. London: Penguin Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bloomfield, David. 2006. On Good Terms: Clarifying Reconciliation. Report No. 14. http://www.berghof-center.org.

  • Borer, Tristan Anne. 2003. A Taxonomy of Victims and Perpetrators: Human Rights and Reconciliation in South Africa. Human Rights Quarterly 25 (4): 1088–1116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bottoms, A. 1983. Neglected Features of the Contemporary Penal System. In The Power to Punish, ed. David Garland and P. Young, 166–202. London: Heinmann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bouris, Erica. 2007. Complex Political Victims. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewer, John D. 2010. Peace Processes: A Sociological Approach. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryson, Anna. 2016. Victims, Violence and Voice: Transitional Justice, Oral History and Dealing with the Past. Hastings International and Comparative Law Review 39 (2): 299–353.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler, Judith. 2004. Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence. London: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christie, Nils. 1986. The Ideal Victim. In From Crime Policy to Victim Policy: Reorienting the Justice System, ed. Ezzat A. Fattah, 17–30. London: Macmillan Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, Stanley. 2001. States of Denial: Knowing About Atrocities and Suffering. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crocker, David. 2003. Reckoning with Past Wrongs: A Normative Framework. In Dilemmas of Reconciliation: Cases and Concepts, ed. C. Prager and T. Govier, 39–63. Waterloo: ON: Wilfrid Laurier UP.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson, Neil, Mark Burgess, and Ian Hollywood. 2010. Who Are the Victims? Victimhood Experiences in Postagreement Northern Ireland. Political Psychology 31 (6): 857–886.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodey, Jo. 2005. Victims and Victimology: Research, Policy and Practice. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Govier, Trudy. 2006. Taking Wrongs Seriously: Acknowledgement, Reconciliation and the Politics of Sustainable Peace. Amherst, NY: Humanity Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamber, Brandon. 1998. Remembering to Forget: Issues to Consider When Establishing Structures for Dealing with the Past. In Past Imperfect: Dealing with the Past in Northern Ireland and Societies in Transition, ed. Brandon Hamber, 56–78. Derry/Londonderry: INCORE.

    Google Scholar 

  • von Hentig, Hans. 1948. The Criminal and His Victim: Studies in the Sociobiology of Crime. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holstein, James A., and Gale Miller. 1990. Rethinking Victimization: An Interactional Approach to Victimology. Symbolic Interaction 13 (1): 103–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huyse, Luc. 2003a. Justice. In Reconciliation After Violent Conflict: A Handbook, ed. David Bloomfield, Teresa Barnes, and Luc Huyse, 97–115. Stockholm: Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2003b. Offenders. In Reconciliation After Violent Conflict: A Handbook, ed. David Bloomfield, Teresa Barnes, and Luc Huyse, 67–76. Stockholm: Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2003c. Victims. In Reconciliation After Violent Conflict: A Handbook, ed. David Bloomfield, Teresa Barnes, and Luc Huyse, 53–66. Stockholm: Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jankowitz, Sarah. 2017. Sociopolitical Implications of Exclusive, Intergroup Perceptions of Victims in Societies Emerging from Conflict. Peacebuilding 5 (3): 289–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawther, Cheryl. 2014a. The Construction and Politicisation of Victimhood. In Victims of Terrorism: A Comparative and Interdisciplinary Study, ed. Orla Lynch and Jason Argomaniz, 10–30. London: Taylor & Francis.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2014b. Truth, Denial and Transition: Northern Ireland and the Contested Past. Oxford University Press: Abingdon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liebrucks, Alexander. 2001. The Concept of Social Construction. Theory & Psychology 11 (3): 363–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lynch, Hazlett J.E. 1999. On the Road to Recovery: Practical Help for the Innocent Victims of the N.I. Conflict as They Seek to Recover from Their Trauma. Magherafelt: Victim Care Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mani, Rama. 2002. Beyond Retribution: Seeking Justice in the Shadows of War. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mawby, R.I., and Sandra Walklate. 1994. Critical Victimology. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • McAlinden, Anne Marie. 2014. Deconstructing Victim and Offender Identites in Discourses on Child Sexual Abuse. British Journal of Criminology 54 (2): 180–198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClelland, Roy. 2003. Society and Scapegoats. In Recognition & Reckoning: The Way Ahead on Victims Issues. Report No. 15, ed. Brandon Hamber and Robin Wilson, 56–66. Belfast: Democratic Dialogue.

    Google Scholar 

  • McEvoy, Kieran, and Kirsten McConnachie. 2013. Victims and Transitional Justice: Voice, Agency and Blame. Social & Legal Studies 22: 489–513.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McWilliams, Monica. 1997. Violence against Women and Political Conflict: The Northern Ireland Experience. Critical Criminology 8 (1): 78–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mendelsohn, Ben. 1956. Une Nouvelle Branche de La Science Bio-Psychosociale: La Victimologie. Revue International de Criminologie et de Police Technique 10: 782–789.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meredith, Valerie M. 2009. Victim Identity and Respect for Human Dignity: A Terminological Analysis. International Review of the Red Cross 91 (874): 259–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minow, Martha. 1998. Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History After Genocide and Mass Violence. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moffett, Luke. 2014. Navigating Complex Identities of Victim-Perpetrators in Reparation Mechanisms. Queen’s University Belfast Law Research Paper No. 13. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2494759.

  • Moon, Claire. 2008. Narrating Political Reconciliation: South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Plymouth: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrissey, Mike, and Marie Smyth. 2002. Northern Ireland after the Good Friday Agreement: Victims, Grievance and Blame. London: Pluto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prager, Carol A.L. 2003. Aspects of Understanding and Judging Mass Human Rights Abuses. In Dilemmas of Reconciliation: Cases and Concepts, ed. Carol A.L. Prager and Trudy Govier, 197–219. Waterloo: ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quinney, Richard. 1972. Who Is the Victim? Criminology 10 (3): 314–323.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rigby, Andrew. 2001. Justice and Reconciliation: After the Violence. London: L. Rienner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rock, Paul. 2002. On Becoming a Victim. In New Visions of Crime Victims, ed. Carolyn Hoyle and Richard Wilson, 1–22. Oxford: Hart Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwöbel-Patel, Christine. 2016. Spectacle in International Criminal Law: The Fundraising Image of Victimhood. London Review of International Law 4 (2): 247–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Selimovic, Johanna Mannergren. 2010. Perpetrators and Victims: Local Responses to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Focaal-Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology 57: 50–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smyth, Marie. 2003. Putting the Past in Its Place: Issues of Victimhood and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland’s Peace Process. In Burying the Past: Making Peace and Doing Justice after Civil Conflict, ed. Nigel Biggar, 125–153. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2007. Truth Recovery and Justice after Conflict: Managing Violent Pasts. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Viano, Emilio C. 1989. Victimology Today: Major Issues in Research and Policy. In Crime and Its Victims: International Research and Public Policy Issues, ed. Emilio C. Viano, 3–13. New York: Hemisphere Publishing Corp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walklate, Sandra. 2007. Imagining the Victim of Crime. Berkshire: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    Sarah E. Jankowitz

Authors
  1. Sarah E. Jankowitz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Jankowitz, S.E. (2018). The Social Construction of Victimhood and Complex Victims. In: The Order of Victimhood. Palgrave Studies in Compromise after Conflict. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98328-8_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98328-8_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-98327-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-98328-8

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation