Narrative has become a popular approach in a number of disciplines, including, recently, that of criminology. In this paper, we contend that the study of crime and harm would benefit from a complementary yet distinct perspective of narrative victimology. We discuss key characteristics that illuminate victimological experiences as inherently moral, and hence best addressed through a narrative approach. These include the attribution of intent, the experience of having harm done to oneself, and the narrative implications of being victimized, culminating in the root metaphor of victimization as a historical event. We argue why the narrative approach is particularly suited to the study victimization and its aftermath, including the interaction with justice processes and social surroundings. Suggestions for future research are included.

This article offers a novel approach to the difficulties experienced by victims in relation to their social surroundings in general, and to justice processes in particular, by expanding on an emerging paradigm of narrative victimology. For victims, ownership of their narrative is a key element of their experience, but this ownership is contested. The article brings together a body of victimological literature drawn from social and personality psychology, criminology and sociology to illuminate mechanisms underlying possible tensions between victims’ narratives and other perspectives on their ordeal. These tensions are relevant to understanding secondary victimisation in the criminal justice processes, as well as to understanding the strengths and weaknesses of restorative justice as a possible avenue for meeting victims’ needs.

A central question in the debate about victim participation in criminal justice procedures is which instrument available to victims 'works'. The purpose of the present study was to examine which factors contribute to the likelihood of victims delivering a Victim Impact Statement (VIS). We extend previous research in two important regards. First, we examined victims' perspectives on the purposes and function of the VIS. Consistent with previous research (for example, Roberts and Erez, 2004), we reveal a distinction between impact-related and expression-related use of VISs. However, this study adds a third component to the existing literature: the anticipation of negative consequences. Second, we examined which factors influence the likelihood of delivering a VIS and found three variables to be positively associated: posttraumatic stress symptoms, the type of crime, and the time of victimization. Against expectations, victims' perspectives did not make a unique contribution to the model. Based on these findings, we argue that what is called for is a more heterogeneous approach to the study of procedural instruments available to victims.

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Borderline traits and symptoms of post-traumatic stress in a sample of female victims of intimate partner violence Kuijpers, K.F.; van der Knaap, L.M.; Winkel, F.W.; Pemberton, Antony; Baldry, A.C. Published in: Stress and Health Document version:Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Publication date: 2011 Link to publicationCitation for published version (APA): Kuijpers, K. F., van der Knaap, L. M., Winkel, F. W., Pemberton, A., & Baldry, A. C. (2011). Borderline traits and symptoms of post-traumatic stress in a sample of female victims of intimate partner violence. Stress and Health, 27(3), 206-215. General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.-Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research -You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain -You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright, please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. AbstractResearch has shown that symptoms of a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are prevalent among victims of intimate partner violence (IPV). Furthermore, positive correlations have been reported between IPV victimization and borderline traits, and borderline traits and PTSD symptomatology. Although there is some evidence that individuals with a borderline disorder are vulnerable to developing PTSD after experiencing trauma, to our knowledge, this has never been studied empirically among a sample of victims of IPV in specifi c. However, the presence of borderline traits might place these victims at higher risk for developing PTSD symptoms as well. In the current study, associations between PTSD symptoms and borderline traits were examined in a Dutch sample of female help-seeking victims of IPV (n = 120). As hypothesized, it was found that borderline traits signifi cantly add to the vulnerability for development of PTSD in IPV victims, above and beyond the severity of IPV. Results are discussed in the light of practical implications like an early screening for borderline traits in treatment of victims of IPV.