L16 Victims

Question 1

Who are the victims of crime?

Answer 1

: People who have “suffered harm, including physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss or substantial impairment of their fundamental rights, through acts or omissions that are in violation of criminal laws“ The UN Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power
- This can apply to witnesses of a crime, or if you are related to a victim

Question 2

According to the British Crime Survey, high victimisation rates are found among:

Answer 2

 Urban areas (18% compared to rural 12%)
 Property offences: (vandalism, theft and so on), young professionals
 Personal victimisation: Age (16-24); single; low household income; unemployed; full time student; active evening life; high alcohol consumption

 Elderly and women (sexual assault) report highest fear (unlikely to be victims)
 Young males report least fear (highly likely to be victims)
• Although people most fear violent victimisation from strangers, many crimes are committed by non-strangers

Question 3

The chance of being a victim of crime in a 12 month period is

Answer 3

20% in the UK

Question 4

 Describe what victims fear in crime in Aus

Answer 4

National Survey of Community Satisfaction with Policing (2001/2):
 80% of Australians surveyed felt safe or very safe at home by themselves during the night
 Only 40% felt safe or very safe outside during the night
• Australian Criminology Research - most feared public activity: catching the train
People fear housebreaking the most (74.9%), then motor vehicle theft (70%), then Fraud/credit card theft (59.7%), then physical assault (56.4%) then Internet based crime (44.4%) then Sexual assault (40.5%)

Question 5

How do people manage their fear of crime?

Answer 5

 Increase security measures at home
 In public try to avoid “unpredictable strangers”
 Go out in groups
 Monitor environment/ stay alert
• These strategies can increase a sense of control that they won’t be victimised
• However constant attention to signs of danger can increase fear and perceptions of risk

Question 6

How many crimes are reported in US by victims?• Factors that influence reporting:

Answer 6

• Crime statistics often reflect reported crimes, but many crimes go unreported
• Estimates that only 3/5 crimes in US reported by victims
• Factors that influence reporting:
– Nature of offence (*perception that reporting will benefit victim e.g insurance, seriousness)
– Characteristics of victim are less important
– Bystanders/support networks who encourage reporting

Question 7

 Describe the historical view of victims

Answer 7

1. Early Middle Ages: Victims or their survivors played a central role in trial proceedings and sentencing (they were able to plead for justice, the victim could flog or hang the perpetrator)
2. This ‘Golden age’ of the victim ended with monarchs who declared that vengeance was theirs alone (they wanted it to be more of an objective system with less passion and revenge)
3. Crimes are often thought of as hostile acts against the state, rather than the events that hurt a specific person
4. Until recently, victims have had few rights in the criminal justice system
   Idea to make the system less swayed by emotions, more objective.
5. 1960s-1970s: Criticisms that the government offered the victims little to no support, even though ostensibly the criminal justice system was established to serve them
6. 1970s: Concept of “Blaming the victim” recognised and popularised

Question 8

Why do We Blame the Victim?

Answer 8

1. The Fundamental Attribution Error: The tendency for observers, when analysing another’s behaviour, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition, ignore the environment or situation.
2. Just-World Hypothesis: The need to believe the world is fair and that people get what they deserve
   – Bad people are punished

– Good people rewarded

3. Blaming the victim shapes our responses to victims:
   – The norms of our society demand that we help others that deserve our help. But if people are responsible for their own suffering, we do not feel obligated to help them.
   e.g. People are less likely to help people with AIDS via sex vs transfusion

Question 9

Victims’ View of Criminal Justice System

Answer 9

• Victims are often dissatisfied with the criminal justice system
• Survey of 249 victims across 6 cities in US (Medis, 1984)
– 77% said the courts were too slow and wasted time
– 86% felt that offenders weren’t punished enough
– Only 30% felt that the courts care about the victims’ needs

Question 10

What is Secondary Victimisation ?

Answer 10

Victims’ concerns basically.

Traumatising to be raped and suddenly have to have pelvis examined etc. not in a caring way.
 Uncertainty as to their role in the criminal justice process
 A general lack of knowledge about the criminal justice system, courtroom procedures, and legal issues
 Trial delays that result in frequent travel, missed work, and wasted time
 Fear of the defendant or of retaliation from defendant’s associates
 Trauma of testifying and cross-examination
 Media – especially in homicide cases

Question 11

What are 2 developments reflect the growing stature and influence of the victims rights movement:

Answer 11

–UN declaration of basic principles of justice for victims of crime and abuse of power
–The emergence of the interdisciplinary field of victimology, which concentrates on the process and consequences of victimisation experiences and how victims recover

Question 12

Response to Victims’ Concerns

Answer 12

1. Compensation of the crime victims
2. Participation by victims in criminal proceedings
3. Legislative changes protecting victims’ rights
4. Reconciling victims and offenders

Question 13

Pros and cons of 1. Compensation of the Crime Victims

Answer 13

• Restitution: Judge orders defendant to compensate victim for losses (can be a good outcome)
• Pros:
– Victim reimbursed
– Helps offenders appreciate how their crimes have hurt others
• Cons:
– Often there is no defendant because crime isn’t solved or defendant is acquitted
– Also, defendant is often financially unable to reimburse the victim
How do you put a dollar value on the trauma of rape?

• Government often has victim compensation funds to pay for lost wages and medical expenses
  • These funds usually do not cover property losses and have fairly low caps on how much compensation will be provided
  NSW 5000 immediate needs. 30 000 long term, medical, legal, earning, losses.
  15000 funeral. No compensation for property losses.

Question 14

pros and cons 2. Participation by Victims in Crime Proceedings

Answer 14

• Many states in AUS provide that victims have a right to be notified of and attend court proceedings and a right to make their views known, either to the prosecutor or directly to the judge
• Victims are concerned that important decisions are made without their input &/knowledge
• Victim impact evidence: Evidence offered at sentencing to show the impact on the victim of the crime for which the defendant has been convicted

Senator Brooks Douglass wrote a law that gave him and his sister the right to watch the state execute Steven Hatch, the man who attacked him and his sister and murdered their parents

Makes victim feel better but doesn’t affect the case

Question 15

3. Legislative Changes Protecting Victims’ Rights

Answer 15

3. Legislative Changes Protecting Victims’ Rights
   • Many states have passed special laws to protect victims’ rights. For example:
   – To be notified of proceedings
   – Not to be excluded from the trial and other proceedings
   – To be heard at crucial stages such as the release of an offender, plea bargaining, and sentencing
   – To be notified of offender’s release from custody
   – To be freed from unreasonable delay in the proceedings
   – To receive restitution from the convicted offender
   • 70-90% of voters have supported such amendments (Westbrook, 1998)

Question 16

4. Reconciling Victims and Offenders

Answer 16

• E.g., Restorative Justice
• Resolution conferences, although controversial, can cause the offender to realise the victim’s pain and the victim to understand why the offender committed the crime. Victim and offender discuss it. Common in youths.
Provides benefits in the areas of:
–Accountability (need to take responsibility for those actions, and try to make amends.)
–Competency development (hopefully the offender will develop empathy, develop communication, develop conflict resolution skills)
–Community safety (victim can tell offender their feelings, tell offender how they could amend the harm, ask them why me? What can I do so it doesn’t happen to me in the future? Creates closure.)

Question 17

• NSW: Victim – Offender Conferencing

Answer 17

 Organised by the Restorative Justice Unit
 The programme is post-sentence
 Only takes place if the offender accepts responsibility for the offence and both the victim and the offender have agreed to take part.
 All the participants discuss the crime and the impact that this has had on their lives. They then come to an agreement about what could be done to make things better.

Question 18

 Discuss psychological effects of victimisation

Answer 18

Psychological Effects of Victimisation
- Stockholm Syndrome: Paradoxical phenomenon where hostages exhibit empathy and positive regard for their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them
• Named following a bank robbery in Stockholm, where bank employees were held hostage for six days in 1973. During that time the victims became emotionally attached to their captors, and even defended them after they were freed.
- Victims can be at risk of developing Acute Stress Disorder (ASD; before 1 month) and later Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Usually the trauma must be of sufficient severity to have threatened the victim, or someone close to the victim, with mortal danger or serious bodily harm

Question 19

How common is PTSD in Australia?

Answer 19

 Estimated 12-month prevalence of PTSD in Australia is 1.3%, representing around 200,000 cases per year
 Lifetime prevalence rate is likely to be about double this figure.

Question 20

Crime and PTSD

Answer 20

• 26% of women whose trauma was crime related developed PTSD
• Only 9% of noncriminal trauma victims developed PTSD symptoms
• Women who were injured by a trauma were more likely to get PTSD than those who were not
• The belief that the victim’s life is in danger and that he or she has no control over the trauma increases risk for PTSD

Question 21

Why do only some develop PTSD?

Answer 21

• Although many people experiencing severe trauma may develop ASD, most do not develop PTSD
• Those who experience trauma, but not PTSD receive high levels of social support immediately following the event
Support best by trained psycs but usually isn’t the case

Question 22

Cognitive Biases (Foa et al., 1999)

Answer 22

 PTSD sufferers often perceive the world as a dangerous place
 They blame themselves for the event
 They often come to view themselves as helpless to deal with stressors
• If these misconceptions can be eliminated, PTSD may be prevented

Question 23

Psychological Help for Victims

Answer 23

• Foa et al. (1995) have developed a 4-session prevention course to attack these misconceptions:
– Education about common psychological reactions so victims know their responses are normal
– Training in skills such as relaxation so they are prepared to cope with stress
– Emotionally reliving the trauma through imaginal exposure methods to allow victims to diffuse fears of the trauma
– Cognitive restructuring (CBT) to help the women replace negative beliefs about their competence and adequacy with more realistic appraisals

Question 24

4-session prevention course evaluated:

Answer 24

Foa et al. (1995) – 10 women who had recently been raped or assaulted completed the course and were compared with 10 other similar women who did not complete course
– At 2-month and 5.5-month post-assault assessments, victims who completed the course had fewer PTSD symptoms
– Two months after the trauma, 70% of untreated women and only 10% of treated women had PTSD
You are less likely to get PTSD if you get help straight away after the incident.

Question 25

Victims Vs. Survivors

Answer 25

• Many prefer the term “survivors” over “victims” = resilience
• Traditionally psychology and related disciplines have emphasised destructive consequences of negative events
• More recently, researchers have started balancing this one-sided perspective, with growing interest in coping and resilience

Question 26

Traditional Research on Holocaust Survivors Haulocaust

Answer 26

• “Muselmanism” (apathy people experienced)
• Identification with the aggressor (Freud, similar to Stockholm syndrome, jews wore nazi things)
• “Survivor Syndrome”
• “Concentration camp syndrome”
• Survivor guilt
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Question 27

Recent Research on Holocaust Survivors

Answer 27

• Achievement Motivation
– Many successful survivors
– Survivors No different from controls
• Erikson’s psychosocial stages
– Survivors successfully completed all stages except trust vs. mistrust
• Coping strategies
– Prevalence of self-control, rational problem-solving, and persistence as strategies for survival. Very adaptive.

It’s important we do study these people that do well. Why and how did they do well?