Crime victims are too often ignored and, when remembered, too often exploited in the interest of political expediency. They are a constituency almost universally overlooked by the traditional abolitionist movement, thus proving a significant obstacle to the process of replacing the death penalty. Politicians the world over justify the retention of the death penalty, in part, because of their concerns about crime victims, though frequently on closer examination little or no provision for them is made by the state.

Consistent with the observations made in the introductory chapter, it will come as no surprise to learn that the bulk of information that has developed around victims and the death penalty is based on the scholarship and experience of the United States. It is especially important therefore when evaluating the experience of the US with regard to victims that one takes care to distinguish between what does and does not ‘work’ and its relevance or otherwise to influencing victim services models worldwide. Justice cannot be done in this chapter to the wealth of scholarship dedicated to the issue of crime victims in general, so it will restrict its review and analysis to the literature dedicated to the issues of victims and their relationship to the death penalty and punishments in general. There has been an almost exponential growth in victim research and services over the past two to three decades with international and regional bodies such as the United Nations and the European Commission dedicating research and resources to improved practice and guidelines.