Over the last thirty years, victims of crime have become a staple topic of media interest and policy-making discourse.Drawing on an extensive programme of first-hand empirical data gathered at some 300 English criminal trials, this book examines the practical outcomes of this reform agenda and assesses the meaning, implications and impact of the government's pledge to put victims 'at the heart' of the criminal justice system.The study also draws on in-depth interviews with barristers and solicitors, as well as court administrators and other Local Criminal Justice Board members. The book delves into the policy-making process behind these reforms, based on interviews conducted at key government departments, and offers a model for what a genuinely 'victim centred' criminal justice system might look like in the twenty-first century, drawing on the psychological and sociological literature on narrative responses to traumatic events.

THE ACTION-PACKED THRILLER THAT FUSES BRAWN AND BRAINS Oxford University has never employed a man like Leo Black before. Now an adored lecturer destined for tenure among the gleaming spires, Leo Black served the SAS for twenty years with distinction. When the friend he fought alongside is killed in Paris trying to prevent the abduction of a young British scientist, the world Leo has tried to put behind him begins to reel him back in. But as Leo gets closer to the startling truth about his friend's death, he faces a difficult decision. Forget the training, the loyalty, the service and be the man the university wants him to be . . . Or remember that not so long ago, he was a truly exceptional soldier. Praise for Matthew Hall 'Breathlessly enjoyable' The Times 'An edge-of-the-seat thriller . . . should come with a health warning' Irish Independent 'Fasten your seatbelts for a quality thriller . . .' Independent on Sunday

This critical and cutting edge introduction to the key debates in green criminology shows readers how to approach environmental harm with a questioning mindset and demonstrates the contribution of criminologists towards solving global environmental concerns in the 21st century.

This book sets out to navigate questions of the future of Australian poetry. Deliberately designed as a dialogue between poets, each of the four clusters presented here-"Indigeneities"; "Political Landscapes"; "Space, Place, Materiality"; "Revising an Australian Mythos"-models how poetic communities in Australia continue to grow in alliance toward certain constellated ideas. Exploring the ethics of creative production in a place that continues to position capital over culture, property over community, each of the twenty essays in this anthology takes the subject of Australian poetry definitively beyond Eurocentrism and white privilege. By pushing back against nationalizing mythologies that have, over the last 200 years since colonization, not only narrativized the logic of instrumentalization but rendered our lands precarious, this book asserts new possibilities of creative responsiveness within the Australian sensorium.

This innovative edited collection brings together leading international academics to explore the use of various non-prescription and prescription substances. From a psychosocial perspective, the authors discuss the complex reasons behind their adoption, the ways in which they are misused, and links between use and cognitive enhancement. While studies on substance use to date have examined the aetiology and effects in the context of sporting performance, addiction and recreational use, there has been little work which explores their wider misuse to improve cognitive enhancement. With medical sociology and social psychology at its core, this important volume shows the complex reasons behind the misuse of various substances, how these are connected to contemporary desire for increased mental performance, and why the potential health risks and possibly harmful side effects do not act as deterrents.