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  • © 2018

The Criminal Victimization of Immigrants

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Offers a timely review of victimization of immigrants and racial hate crime
  • Examines macro and micro theories of victimization to explain the treatment of immigrants
  • Incorporates qualitative, quantitative, and historical data from: the US, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK and Australia

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Victims and Victimology (PSVV)

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
  2. The Immigrant as Victim: The Minimal Research

    • William F. McDonald
    Pages 1-10
  3. Theories of Criminal Victimization

    • William F. McDonald
    Pages 11-28
  4. Exploiting Immigrant Vulnerability

    • William F. McDonald
    Pages 47-54
  5. Anti-Immigrant Hate Crime

    • William F. McDonald
    Pages 55-73
  6. Conclusions

    • William F. McDonald
    Pages 105-107
  7. Back Matter

    Pages 109-135

About this book

This book offers a comprehensive examination of the many forms of victimization of immigrants, including trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation and forced labor; assaulting, robbing and raping; refusing to pay wages; renting illegal living space that violates health codes; and domestic abuse both in general, and in particular, of mail-order brides.


McDonald examines a broad range of quantitative and qualitative data from historical and international sources including the USA, Canada, Mexico, Britain, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, and Spain. He writes with a view to correcting myths about the relationship between immigrants and crime, noting that immigrants are more likely to become victims than offenders. 


The book outlines the multiple forms and contexts in which immigrants are victimized, exploited, and harmed. Reviewing micro- and macro-level victimological and sociological theories as they apply to patterns and forms of immigrants’ victimization, this study ultimately seeks to understand reasons for which immigrants are victimized by their own kind, and by persons outside their community.





Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Sociology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA

    William F. McDonald

About the author

William F. McDonald is Professor at the Department of Sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgetown University, USA; and Co- Director at the Institute of Criminal Law and Procedure at the Law Center, USA.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access