The first section provides an introduction to the development and scope of victimology. It includes discussions of the victim's experience in the justice system, the costs of crime, and victimization surveys. Next, the concepts of vulnerability, culpability, and intrafamily crime are explored under the general heading of victim-offender systems. Specific papers treat such subjects as violent death in a metropolitan area, the influence of race on victimization, elderly victimization, violent and safe schools, and the resisting victim. Other papers look at battered women, the battered husband syndrome, and child abuse. In addition, implications for the justice system are discussed in papers on dispute settlement outside the criminal justice system, the maintenance of criminal justice system accountability to victims, potential roles for the victim in the criminal justice system, and the impact of victim characteristics on criminal justice officials' decisionmaking. Proposed models for a more victim-oriented criminal justice system are also examined. The final section presents an overview of services for crime victims, including services directed toward preventing victimization, dealing with the crises of victimization, easing the victim's experience in the criminal justice system, and providing public compensation to crime victims. Selected readings are provided for each chapter. Footnotes and tables are included. For individual papers, see NCJ 74247-60. (Author abstract modified)