This chapter begins by examining the increased policy focus on victims of crime and their more recent involvement in the sentencing process via victim impact statements. It reviews changes in sentencing law which have aimed to ensure the offender does not profit from crime—such as confiscation orders—and that the offender pays financial compensation to the victim. Secondly, it discusses conflicting approaches to a focus on the impact of a sentence on the offender or the offender’s family, covering justifications from penology and evidence—from research and appellate cases—of practice in the courts. This includes discussion of the role of personal mitigation in retributivist and utilitarian sentencing and the influence it may have on the outcome for less serious cases.
