Divergent Victims in the Old Bailey, 1950-1979

Shore, Heather ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8863-6841 and Williams, Lucy (2022) Divergent Victims in the Old Bailey, 1950-1979. In: Victims' Access to Justice: historical and comparative perspectives. Victims, Culture and Society . Routledge, pp. 37-52. ISBN 9780367750428 (hardback); 9781003160830 (ebook)

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Abstract

This chapter explores victims in historical contexts, considering how they have been conceptualised and represented in selected twentieth-century criminal trials. It focuses in particular on those who have diverged from 'ideal victimhood', a framework proposed by criminologist, Nils Christie. Based on evidence drawn from The Times newspaper reports of Old Bailey trials between the 1950s and 1970s, the chapter explores the representation of complainants who were less readily attributed the legitimate status of 'victim'. Victims have been little studied by historians and so this research provides new insights into how historical victims were dealt with by the court and contemporary media.