Victims of crime and the way in which they are treated in society generally is the subject of this text, which examines the contributions of victim-related research and criminal victimization surveys in order to be able to provide the reader with a critical assessment of the issues involved. In particular the author pays detailed attention to the victimization of children and victimization by corporations. The political responses from right and left of the political spectrum provide the backcloth against which the theoretical, methodological and policy questions raised by the text are considered.