Victims have unquestionably been catalysts for a number of the most far-reaching reforms in the Criminal Justice System. Apart from punishing offenders, justice also requires that victims of crime must receive a lot of support in order for them to not be isolated and alienated from both the Criminal Justice System and the community. Historically some victims of crime have not been given enough consideration and therefore have been neglected. Throughout the recent years community awareness in relation to the need of victims receiving enough recognition and attention, increased. This led to the creation of such reforms in the Criminal Justice System. In this essay I will begin by defining what a victim is, then i all give some examples of reforms …show more content…
As shown by history, victims have not been given proper attention by the Criminal Justice System. The first significant reform in the Criminal Justice System in Australia was the one which had occurred in 1967. A British magistrate and social reformer, Margaret Fry, directed attention to victims and the failure of the state to come up with a plan to compensate them in her book, Arms of the law 1951. Margaret Fry refined her thesis in the late 1950’s, insisting state compensation to be given to victims in order to provide them with satisfactory restitution. A debate which later followed let to the enactment of compensation for criminal injuries, legislation was enacted by New South Wales in 1967. This is one of the reforms which shows that victims are catalysts for far-reaching reforms. Compensation which provides victims of crimes with satisfactory restitution is what Restorative Justice is about. Restorative Justice generally involves bringing victims and offenders together aiming to engage in a conversation about the crime that has occurred and the effects it has had on the victim. The main aim of this is to repair the harm which resulted from the crime. The offenders accountability is emphasised along side with the important of restoring the balance through harm being …show more content…
Victim Impact Statements are very important because they give victims an opportunity to inform the court in their own words the way in which a crime has changed their lives and affected them. The purpose of Victim Impact Statements is to enable victims of crime to describe to the parole board or court their experience and the impact a crime has had on them both physically and mentally, during sentencing, parole or decision-making process (Bagaric, Mirko; Flatman, Geoffrey; 2001). Judges may use some information from the statements to determine the offenders sentence, an d a parole board can use information in order to decide whether to grant parole or not and the conditions that will be imposed for the release of an offender. This type of statements are also very important and beneficial for victims of crime because they provide a sense of relief to them by allowing them to share their side of the story and all the impact it has had on them. They also make victim feel like they are being heard and involved in the Criminal Justice process, and therefore more victims are likely to come forward and report their
Victimology is a scientific research and study with insights on the issues and patterns of victimization. These issues lead to inquiries regarding relationships of the parties, the vulnerabilities of the victim, and the attacker’s affect upon the victim and the other individuals that surrounded said victim. Understanding the relationships, the victim, the attacker, and the crime open up theories to patterns developed from such victimization. Moving through this process in preparing, equipping, and training for said crimes enhances
Roach, K. (2000). Changing punishment at the turn of the century: Restorative justice on the rise. Canadian Journal of Criminology. 42, (2), 249-280.
The criminal justice system is dynamic and has changed rapidly since the works of Cesare Beccaria and Cesare Lombroso during Enlightenment Period and this reflects in the issue of intersectionality with the changing approaches taken towards concepts of gender, race and class. Sexual assault will be a predominate study used throughout the essay to examine the different approaches and issues between traditional and non-traditional justices. This essay will first establish where are these intersectionalities found in terms of sexual assault cases and the challenges victims face in the legal process with traditional approaches then followed by a comparison to the transition towards non-traditional alternative justice system has responded with a deeper insight into restorative justices and its effects on resolving these challenges. The role of alternative justice and the key challenges in disproportionate crimes are also important aspects of intersectionality in Australia as they aim to resolve challenges women and the mentally disabled encounter during processing through court in the criminal justice system.
“Restorative justice is a process whereby parties with a stake in a specific offence collectively resolve how to deal with the aftermath of the offence and its implications for the future” (Munchie, 2004).
In this essay, I will be examining how the court system can fail to deliver justice for particular cases and people’s circumstances, as well as looking at alternatives to court, like circle sentencing, restorative sentencing and alternatives for children to the formal court system, as outlined in the Young Offenders Act 1997 (NSW). Crime is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as an action or omission which constitutes an offence and is punishable by law. On the other side of this is justice; the quality of being fair and reasonable.
This essay covered a few different points of view regarding victim’s experience during a crime and in nutshell you all can agree that is better to fully examine it. This is the best way to lend a helping hand to another human being. Everyone deserves a good life and no one should be left behind and neglected just because they have experienced something different from the normal way of life. The other thing that this essay is trying to point to the victims is that there is no need of shame no matter what you have been through. In this way you can protect other people from harm and it will be easier to get your life back in track.
What is a victim? Especially a victim of crime, according to Encarta Dictionary, a victim is a person that is harm, wounded or killed as a result of a crime, an accident or an event. Being a crime victim can be very upsetting; it comes with a large percentage of negativity. In an article reported by Erika V. Cox, it explains that a large number of crime victims seem to suffer after the actual crime has been committed. For example victims go through several procedures such as interrogation and question; that can make them recollect the terrible situation that has occurred to them. (Cox, 2006) At times people suggest and tend to blame the victims on how there is a reason that caused the situation or did something to intensify the possibility of becoming a victim of crime. Throughout time victims can experience anxiety and stress due to how severe the crime was. (Cox, 2006) A victim can be able to encounter mental and physical problems and not involving the nervous tension of lost income due to the criminal justice courts. Several victims suffer economic destitution because of the fact that they have to arrive in court to testify. Aside from income, a victim can suffer both long term and short term conditions. A long term physical state can be getting shot or stab and becoming paralyzed. A short term problem can be post traumatic stress disorder, flashbacks and difficulty living a normal life. And after it all visiting psychologist and physical therapy professions is not cheap. Crime victims suffer and stumble upon many complications and costs and it can be really difficult for someone. (Cox, 2006)
High rates of recidivism demonstrate that the judicial system has been unsuccessful in determining criminal activity. Alternatives to incarceration known as restorative justice has existed for centuries, yet has only been recently implicated into the Canadian judicial system. The practices of restorative justice have been proven very successful for minor offences among adults and youth in bringing together the offenders, victims, and the community. However, acts of violence and serious offences committed by youths have no place in these resolutions. The act of violence is traumatizing to the victim. There is a high chance of re-conviction of a violent offence and these types of offences are too complicated to be resolved outside of the judicial system.
This essay will discuss the role of the criminal justice professional in serving both individual and societal needs. It will identify and describe at least three individual needs and three societal needs, in addition to explaining the role of the criminal justice professional in serving each of these needs. Illustrative examples will be provided for support.
Over the years, the traditional criminal justice system has emphasized offenders’ accountability through punishment and stigmatization. The emphasis on the retributive philosophy made it challenging for the system to meaningfully assist and empower crime victims. In the criminal justice system, victims often face insensitive treatment with little or no opportunity for input into the perseverance of their case and report feeling voiceless in the process used (Choi, Gilbert, & Green, 2013:114). Crime Victims, advocates, and practitioners have called for an expansion of victims’ rights and community-based alternatives rather than punishment-orientated justice policies. What victims want from the criminal justice system is a less formal process, more information about case processing, respectful treatment, and emotional restoration. Therefore, there is a growing need to progress towards the restorative justice (RJ) system.
Generally, the study of crime mainly focused on the offender until quite recently. In fact, Shapland et al (1985) described the victim as ‘the forgotten man’ of the criminal justice system and ‘the non-person in the eyes of the professional participants’. A new perspective was brought with victimology, an expanding sub-discipline of crimin...
From the origins of criminal victimization, we begin with blaming the offended. (Silverii). Still what is more baffling is to question whether or not it is one's duty to make sure victims won't be victimized again or if victims of a crime that are unreported should even be considered victims. There are three main issues that are provided through victimology and these are context, connections, and investigative direction (Turvey). Most victims are not just victims they're perceived by a criminal as an ideal victim. An ‘ideal victim’ is someone who has played no part in their victimization by an offender who was solely responsible for the incident. In the early 1970s, research by the National Opinion Research Center and the President's Commission on Law Enforcement, and the Administration of Justice indicated that many crimes were not reported to police. A lot of times victims are not prepared for the insensitive and unpleasant treatment they may incur from the police, hospitals, and judicial system. In response, the U.S. Census Bureau began conducting the annual National Crime Victimization Survey in 1973. The survey provides the largest national forum for victims to describe the impact of crime and characteristics of violent offenders. The data includes type of crime, month, time, and location of the crime; relationship between victim and offender; characteristics of the offender; self-protective actions taken by the victim during the incident and results of those actions; consequences of the victimization; type of property lost; whether the crime was reported to the police and reasons for reporting or not reporting; and offender use of weapons, drugs, and alcohol.
However Wilson (2007) argues that formal methods of social control such as the criminal justice system are merely there to control and segregate delinquents and offenders who have not had adequate socialisation, which is where social mores are learnt and when conformity is produced, and that an alternative form of social control such as restorative justice might produce more effective results. The concept of restorative justice was heavily shaped by the work of John Braithwaite (1989) who in turn was inspired by indigenous practices in New Zealand and Australia, whereby the significance of family values was recognised and introduced into criminal and restorative proceedings in helping the offender be reinstated within society (Newburn, 2007).... ... middle of paper ... ...
The consideration of victims by policy makers has taken a much larger role in influencing legislative change in the prevention of crime and the assistance of crime victims, however reforms based on victims remain largely localised to popularised cases and often fail to enter the trial side of the criminal justice system. Victims have the capacity to act as catalysts for reform, but their treatment and consideration in the criminal justice system continues to act more as an indicator of success by the system.
Victimology is the scientific study of victimization and is an issue that affects millions of Americans each year. Anyone is at risk to be general target, but some people share similar traits and many criminologists seek to explain the facts that define the relationship between offender and the victim. This involves the study or investigation into the relationship type and level between the offenders and the victims of the crimes (Hagan, 2013). It works to create linkage between the criminal justice system and the victim to become a voice to advocate and secure justice for the victim. Most often violent crime is planned and executed by a person who is close to the victim. Victims are placed into four categories of victimization; The Victim