Despite Western society's preoccupation with safety and protection, its most vulnerable members still lack access to the level of security that many of us take for granted. In this trailblazing study, Laura Huey illustrates the issue of a ‘security gap’ faced by increasing homeless populations: while they are among the most likely victims of crime, they are also among the least served by existing forms of state and private security.

Invisible Victims presents the first comprehensive, integrated study of the risks faced by homeless people and their attempts to find safety and security in often dangerous environments.  Huey draws not only on current debates on security within criminology, but also on a decade’s worth of her own field research on the victimization and policing of the homeless. A theoretically and empirically informed examination of the myriad issues affecting the homeless, Invisible Victims makes a compelling case for society to provide necessary services and, above all, a basic level of security for this population.

Laura Huey is Professor of Sociology at the University of Western Ontario and the founder and Chair of the Advisory Council of the Canadian Society of Evidence Based Policing (Can-SEBP). Renée J. Mitchell is Senior Police Researcher at Research Triangle Institute International and the co-founder of the American Society of Evidence-Based Policing. Hina Kalyal is a policy analyst at London Police Service in Ontario. Roger Pegram is Chief Inspector in Merseyside Police, the Vice Chair of the UK Society of Evidence Based Policing and a visiting scholar at the University of Cambridge Institute of Criminology.

Laura Huey's profile page

‘Thought-provoking and very readable book.’

European Journal of Homelessness, vol 6:02:2012