Dunn (sociology, Southern Illinois U.) examines why society stigmatizes survivors of rape, battering, incest, and clergy abuse, and how this type of victim identity (usually gendered violence) has developed and changed over time. She focuses on how the second and third wave of the women's movement constructed women and children as victims of sexual violence and aimed to show that women do not bring violence on themselves. She considers the contradictions that occur when victims do not conform to stereotypes, the production of identities that counter negative and stigmatizing representations, how changing representations of victims reflect larger cultural codes, and how the concept of agency affects people's ideas about victims and their choices. She looks at types of victim images, like blameless and blameworthy, and various survivor movements, from antirape to the battered women's movement. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)