Victims of crime failed by the criminal justice system
Introduction
One of the most shocking cases involving victims of crime failed by the criminal justice system is the Jimmy Savile scandal that was uncovered in 2012, a year after his death. Jimmy Saville was renown as a famous television, DJ and radio personality and a highly respected man for his charity work within the UK. Nevertheless, he was also one of the UK’s most famous sexual predators and paedophiles who had many victims. His victims included women as well as up to 1,000 young girls and boys, the age range of victims were as low as 5 all the way up to 75, over a 50-year period. He led this lifestyle by abusing his power, and taking advantage of his celebrity status, to feed his
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After the airing of the programme, hundreds of victims came forward in the coming days and weeks. The Metropolitan Police Service put together operation ‘Yewtree’ to investigate the claims made by the victims, and to find out if there were any more victims around the UK, so they could get statements. (Gray and Watt, 2013). This again shows how the victims were failed by the criminal justice system, if the programme was not broadcasted and the 5 victims on the programme didn’t talk about what Jimmy Savile did, the other victims may not have come forward. This again also shows they had no confidence in the police authority investigating properly as they stayed quiet for so many year …show more content…
From ‘The public confidence in the Criminal Justice System report’ in 2013/2014 there was a report produced on whether the public believes in how well the system works and if it is effective and fair. The ministry of Justice (2015) argues that, “Levels of confidence in CJS in fairness and effectiveness have increased slightly from 2012/13 to 2013/14 (63% to 64% in fairness, 45% to 48% for effectiveness) (Ministry of Justice, 2015: 2). This shows that there has been an increase of 1% in the public opinion towards the CJS effectiveness, even though it is not much it still does show an increase on the previous year. However, it still does show that the CJS can do a lot more in order to gain more respect from the public in how it
The number of sexually abused children is five times what it was in 2012. Jerry Sandusky has contributed to this statistic. Jerry Sandusky was the head coach of the Pennsylvania State Football team (Penn. State). He has a wife and a few children, some adopted from his charity organization, the second mile, but this did not stop him from committing the crimes he did. Jerry Sandusky was convicted of raping ten innocent children, some of which he met through his charity. This earned him thirty-sixty years behind bars. There are issues from this case that are similar to some issues in the play, Twelve Angry Men. Ultimately, throughout both cases the jury was faced with difficult decisions. In both cases the verdict took a long time and a lot of thinking. But, in the end both came out with the right resolution. Sandusky’s reputation of being the guy everyone looked up to made the overall decision of the jury, in this case, inordinately difficult.
Throughout this essay I will use the theories surrounding power, spectacle and memory to analysis and explain the controversy surrounding Jimmy Savile, with the child/sexual abuse crimes that have come to light since his passing. I have chosen to use this example, as not only does it show the three elements in action but also shows the spectacle falling apart leading to the failure of the other elements. To do this I will explore power by focusing on celebrity culture and how he manipulated that, leading to exploring the spectacle he created by his charity work, which served as a smoke screen. Memory will be explored by contrasting the views and opinions of people before and after these crimes had come to light, how he manipulated people’s memory of him compared to people seeing through it after the spectacle had been broken and the downfall of his power which came after his death.
‘James Bulger’ aged two years, was taken from his mother whilst she was shopping by two ten year olds named ‘Venables and Thompson’. James was diagnosed with horrific injuries and lead to his death. The two ten years had abducted, tortured and murdered James. The investigation indicated a brutal murder suggesting James had been struck by thirty blows to the skull causing deep bruising and the skull had been damaged with an iron bar and a brick. The investigation showed ‘Venables and Thompson’ had stripped James from the waist using ugly impropriety endows had also been inflicted on James. Both these boys had shown a form of a typical behaviour.
This article is about a senior Catholic Church man called Brian Lucas. He told the royal commission that he was blamed for not reporting abuse in the 80s and early 90s, but nothing he deals with needed to be passed on to the police. Also, he said that none of the cases he deals with require reporting. The media said that he was part of a cover up. He said that in all of these cases the rapper died, or the police or courts already knew, or the victim did not want to report. He said that he never involved his personal reporting to the police. There are some complaints about priest John Ferrell for some allegations about abusing altar boys in 1984. The father, Brian Lucas was one of the two priests responsible for speaking to sex abuse victims
According to RAINN, (2009) approximately 10 per cent of all victims of sexual assault and abuse are adult and juvenile males. In terms of the nature of assault, real figures include a compendium of reported incidents ranging from unwanted sexual touching to forced penetration. To qualify this statement, it must be understood that the percentage does not reflect a vast number of crimes that go unreported due to issues that will be discussed in the present paper.
depending on the level of discrimination and the particular population affected by the actions of that component of the system. System-wide change is difficult without well-versed criminal justice leaders who are.
Elias, R. (1986). Rising Stars: Victims and Victimology. The Politics of Victimization: Victims, Victimology and Human Rights. New York. Oxford University Press, 9-26.
The criminal justice system is a group of institutions that work together to protect a society, prevent and control crime, and maintain justice; enforcing the laws regulated by society. As the years have gone by and society has evolved; so have the criminal justice system and its methods to accomplish its role in society. This short analysis will evaluate the main facts that have been affecting the criminal justice system for decades and have influenced the evolution the justice system is enduring in a changing society (Muraski, 2009). Amongst the changes in the system, we will discuss the effect the changes have had on the citizens and how their perceptions have evolved as well.
This essay will explore reasons why females such as Vanessa George turn to the crime of sex offending. Demonstrating my knowledge and understanding of classical criminological theory, exploring biological theories such as penis envy and more contemporary views such as liberation theory within feminism. The essay will then go on to look at the inequalities female sex offenders face within the criminal justice system in comparison with males, using chivalry theory and evil woman theory to explain this.
In 1993, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, aged ten at the time, abused and murdered a two-year-old boy, James Bulger. There was media uproar about the case with the two boys being described as ‘evil’, ‘monsters’ and ‘freaks’ in the media (Franklin & Horwath 1998). There were many references to evil in the newspapers; with the telegraph stating that Thompson’s nickname was ‘Damien’ (from The Omen) and declaring that Venables birth date was Friday the 13th. The majority of society was united in the belief that these two boys were the epitome of evil and it was the media that nurtured this belief. ‘Newspaper reports were unequivocal in their denunciations of Thompson and Venables as inherently evil, prompted perhaps initially by Justice Morland’s description of the murder as an act of unparalleled ev...
Sex offenders have been a serious problem for our legal system at all levels, not to mention those who have been their victims. There are 43,000 inmates in prison for sexual offenses while each year in this country over 510,000 children are sexually assaulted(Oakes 99). The latter statistic, in its context, does not convey the severity of the situation. Each year 510,000 children have their childhood's destroyed, possibly on more than one occasion, and are faced with dealing with the assault for the rest of their lives. Sadly, many of those assaults are perpetrated by people who have already been through the correctional system only to victimize again. Sex offenders, as a class of criminals, are nine times more likely to repeat their crimes(Oakes 99). This presents a
In reference to the media’s role, they have been highlighted for playing a part in maintaining these views by portraying victims in a certain way according to the newsworthiness of each story and their selectiveness (Greer, 2007). Furthermore, there has been an increase in both fictional crime programmes and crime documentaries, with Crimewatch particularly becoming a regular part of British viewing. In the modern context, crime has continued to represent a large proportion of news reporting and with the aid of social networking sites and self-publicity via the internet, journalists are now more able to dig even deeper into the lives of people on whom they wish to report. Newspapers continue to keep the public informed with the latest headlines and the internet has also provided opportunities for members of the public to have their input in blogs.
Wolhuter, Lorraine, Neil Olley, and David Denham. Victimology: victimisation and victims’ rights. London: Routledge-Cavendish, 2009.
The problem with overcrowding caused lawmakers to come up with better solutions and alternative methods to incarcerating criminal offenders. Alternative programs are constructed to help prevent violence and strengthen community ties. Also it has been proven that accused persons who actually turn out to be innocent build up animosity towards the justice system and harbor negative feelings as it seems the inequities of it will arbitrarily confine some offenders
Since these articles were written, Sarah Payne has been found murdered close to where she lived. The kidnapper is still at large and the search for him has commenced. Tougher legislation on paedophiles has been discussed as riots broke out. However, nothing affective