CRIME VICTIMS

Crime Victims: An Introduction

The particular problems faced by persons who experience hare crime are broadly characterized by the trauma and fear they go through resulting from the crime (Reilich & Chermak, n.a.). The fear of visiting outside places might increase within the victims and his familys minds and he might be constrained to his home.

The seriousness of cyberstalking could be estimated from the physical and mental effects it leaves on the victims. These could be seen in the form of upset stomach, trouble in sleeping, anger, fear, confusion, distress, and stress, etc. (Begotti & Maran, 2019).

Law-abiding citizens should be concerned about inmate-on-inmate violence since the criminals in jail would eventually release from imprisonment. For a safe and better future of the society, it is necessary to have positive effects on the imprisoned person for having improved social and fiscal consequences (Zoukis, 2014).

One side of the debate for the victims to be armed says that there is a possibility that the victims are in a better and equal position to defend themselves and reduce the overall violence rate of a country (Wellford, Pepper & Petrie, 2005, p. 114). On the contrary, the firearm demand would increase, posing increased costs on a countrys economy and higher risks of injury.

The difference between using force and unleashing retaliatory violence is that force could be used for protection against a crime while retaliatory violence happens when someone has done wrong to another person and the victim feels that he should take justice into his own hands and stands up for revenge with the same force (Insight Conflict Resolution, n.a.). For instance, using force is when someone tries to snatch a womans handbag on the road and the woman tries to pull away from her bag with all her might. Retaliatory violence is when someone in the office gave a blow to the other colleagues face and he decides to give him the dame forceful punch back onto his offenders face.

Restorative justice is based on intervention, compensation, and settlement while retributive justice is based on the conviction and penalty (Karmen, 2015, p. 489). Restorative justice believes that positive improvement should be instilled within the society, the harm should be repaired and the person should be transformed (Center for Justice and Reconciliation, n.a.), while retributive justice emphasizes suffering in return for the person who has inflicted harm.

The potential benefits of participating in a victim-offender reconciliation program are that the victim is involved in the mediation process where correction measures are also defined by the victim (Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, 2019). Personal accountability is involved and the defendant gets a chance to improve. The drawbacks might involve the potential unwillingness of the offender to accept reconciliation and become more harmful for the victim (VC Archives, 2000). Insecurity may rise for the victim, proving harmful for himself and his family.

The viewpoints of maximalists and minimalists are far apart as they are only considered ideologies. The maximalists overlooked the seriousness of the problem and suffering went wider in scope without getting full attention. The growing crisis was not addressed. However, the minimalists believed that missing children were briefly lost and attention was not ensured.

The views of maximalists and minimalists are different on the problem of neglect and abuse of children since there was no real data. There was scattered data as the cases reported to the police were not registered. Calculating the severity of the issue was difficult as under-reporting, especially in child sexual abuse, was a norm. Professionals, teachers, and even counselors did not come up with reporting as there was a lack of resources (Karmen, 2015, p. 265).

The victimologists should adopt a free of bias approach and be objective since there are some complicated situations where there might be reasonable doubts and disagreements over the conflicting party and avoid labeling the victim with social stigma (Karmen, 2015, p. 5). Identification of the genuine victims who should be punished must be considered and not the pro-victim bias.

The similarities in victimology and criminology are that they both relate to crime and victims. The criminal justice system is dependent on both these fields so that justice could be served to the rightful ones and crime should be punished (Karmen, 2015, p. 20). The differences between the both include the emphasis of victimology only on the victim and the effect the crime had on him so that he could be restored back to normal life.

The bystanders are not necessarily required to notify the police as they can avert their gaze, escape the trouble and choose to mind their own business so they do not get involved in the unrequired worry (Karmen, 2015, p. 21). However, as socially responsible citizens, they can choose to notify in order to help the victims gain justice.

In the first stage of the rediscovery process, attention is gained for the problem that is overlooked (Karmen, 2015, p. 54). The second stage is about achieving victories and applying reforms. The third stage is for opposition and its emergence and also for the resistance for further societal changes. The fourth stage discusses the disputes of research and interim resolutions.

The concepts of victim facilitation and precipitation are controversial today when applied to sexual assaults and rapes since the interpretation of the offender can create huge discrepancies (Amir, 1968). There exists a situational aspect as to what behavior or action from the victim is considered inviting while in other circumstances, other people might consider it anything otherwise.

The strategies to reduce rape include he education of women and young girls about being more vigilant of the risky situations, taking...

…identity theft is more approachable for the offenders rather than doing burglaries on physical properties. Scams and internet frauds have been on the rise during pandemic times in particular.

Terminology matters a lot, especially in the case of interpretation of the crime and its serious consequences. The vague language, phrasing, and description of the criminal act could change the after-effects and punitive actions to be taken for the offender (Karmen, 2015, p. 347). For example, the meaning of domestic violence and domestic disturbance is not the same as the terms spouse abuse and intimate partner abuse have been misinterpreted. The punishments of each of these criminal acts are different and have varying levels of severity of the penalty.

The pro of officers following a mandatory or pro-arrest-the-aggressor directive at the domestic disturbance scene is catching the offender at the spot before he inflicts serious harm to the victim. The con could include the offender becoming more aggressive and aggravating the situation that might go out of control rather than gaining control over it, resulting in unintentional harm to the victim or the police officer. In the case of a prosecutor officer where a no-drop policy for IPV arrest would be conducted, the pro could be reasonable punitive actions for the offender while con can encompass the removal of the offender or victims discretion without informing them (Criminal Procedures, 1999).

The reason battered women do not leave their abusive partners could be for financial assistance. Also, if a woman needs a place to live and that could only be provided by her partner, she would be forced to live with him even in a miserable condition.

In my opinion, the killing of a vicious wife-beater could be justified as a homicide if it is believed as an act of defense. The physical and mental condition of such a wife could have been negatively affected under which circumstance, the killing of such an inhumane offender by the woman herself sometimes could be justified, after deep probing.

Questions for which I not could find answers either within the book or on the internet

Give several examples of the kinds of research questions that victimologists find interesting and the kinds of studies they carry out.

Identify some most important milestones in the history of academic victimology.

Highlight some of the first breakthroughs in victim assistance.

Explain how the campaign to rescue victims of human trafficking has sparked some controversies.

Under what circumstances, if any, should the identity of a woman who has been raped be made public? Should the mans name always be released to the press?

Compile a list of all the ways rape victims were handled insensitively and improperly in the past, as described in box 10.2.

Review the statements for and against scrutinizing the victims role that appear in boxes 5.1 and 5.2

Describe some…