L16 - Victims of Crime

Question 1

Define victims

Answer 1

Victims are people who have “suffered harm, including physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss or substantial impairment of their fundamental rights, through acts of omissions that are in violation of criminal laws”

Question 2

Describe demographic characteristics of crime victims

High victimisation rates are found among….

Answer 2

Urban areas (18% compared to 12%)

Property offences: young professionals

Personal victimisation: age (16-24); single; low household income; unemployed; full time student; active evening life; high alcohol consumption

About 20% of the population is a victim of crime at some point in their life

Question 3

Describe what victims fear in crime

How do people manage their fear of crime?

Answer 3

Groups at highest risk of becoming crime victims are not scarily those who experience the greatest fear of crime
o Elderly and women report highest fear
o Young males report least fear

Although people most fear violent victimisation from strangers, many crimes are committed by non-strangers

How do people manage their fear of crime?
o Increase security measures at home
o In public try to avoid “unpredictable strangers”
o Go out in groups
o Monitor environment / stay alert

Question 4

Describe the historical view of victims

Answer 4

Early middle ages: victims or their survivors played a central role in trial proceedings and sentencing

This ‘golden age’ of the victim ended with monarchs who declared that vengeance was theirs alone
o They wanted it to be a more objective measure, and more rational in their decision making

Crimes are often thought of as hostile acts against the state, rather than the events that hurt a specific person

• Until recently, victims have had few rights in the criminal justice system
• 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
• 1970s: concept of ‘blaming the victim’ recognised and popularised

Question 5

Discuss blaming the victim

Why do we blame the victim?

Answer 5

Blaming the victim shapes our responses to victims:
o 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

• 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
• Just-World hypothesis: the need to believe the world is fair and that people get what they deserve
  o ‘people get what they deserved’
  o Bad people are punished
  o Good people rewarded

Question 6

Discuss secondary victimisation

Answer 6

• 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 7

List some concerns of victims and discuss their responses to these concerns

Answer 7

1. Compensation of the crime victims
    Restitution: judge orders defendant to compensate victim for losses
    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
2. Participation by victims in criminal proceedings
    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 and 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
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
4. Reconciling victims and offenders
    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 crimes
    Provides benefits in the areas of:
   • Accountability
   • Competency development
   • Community safety
    NSW: victim – offender conferencing
   • Organised by the restorative justice unit
   • The program is post-sentence and both offender and victim have to both agree to take part in it
   • 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 8

Discuss psychological effects of victimisation

Including Stockholm syndrome

Answer 8

• Stockholm syndrome: paradoxical phenomenon where hostages exhibit empathy and positive regard for their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them
• Victims can be at risk of developed 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 9

Describe psychological help for victims

Answer 9

Foa et al. (1995) have developed a 4-session prevention course to attack these misconceptions:
o 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
o Emotionally reliving the trauma through imaginal exposure methods to allow victims to diffuse fears of the trauma
o Cognitive restructuring to help women replace negative beliefs about their competence and adequacy with more realistic appraisals

4-session prevention course evaluated:
o 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
o At 2-month and 5.5 month post-assault assessments, victims who completed the course had fewer PTSD symptoms
o Two months after the trauma, 70% of untreated women and only 10% of treated women had PTSD