4/18/2016

CRI1103
Criminology

Week 8

This week:

– Conceptualising victims of crime

– Consequences of victimisation
– Recognising victims of crime
– What next?

Conceptualising victims
of crime

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Defining victims and

victimology

“Victims, means persons who, individually or collectively,

have suffered harm, including physical and mental
injury, emotional suffering, economic loss, or
substantial impairment of their fundamental rights,
through acts or omissions that are in violation of
criminal laws operative within Member States,
including those laws proscribing criminal abuse of
power…”
(Goodey, 2005, p.10)

“The scientific study of the extent, nature and causes of

criminal victimization, its consequences for the persons
involved and the reactions thereto by society, in particular the
police and the criminal justice system as well as voluntary
workers and professional helpers.”
(Goodey, 2005, p.10)

– Theory
– Measurement and incidence of victimisation
– Role and experiences of victims in the criminal justice
system
(Wallace & Roberson, 2011)

What is a victim?

Competing constructions of victimhood:

– Social
– Victim blaming
– Just World Hypothesis
– Legal
– State as victim
– Legislation
– Political
– Lobby groups

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Primary victimisation
– Subject to the crime itself

Secondary victimisation
– Family
– Workers
– Compassions fatigue and vicarious
trauma

Reporting

Fear of crime paradox

What are we interested in?

– Demographic characteristics
– Location of crime
– Relationship to offender

Development of
victimology

– Removing the right of the victim to exact

restitution (State as victim)
– Early writing in 1940s and 1950s
– Victimology as a discrete discipline in 1970s
– UN Declaration on Victims of Crime and
Abuse of Power (1985)  legislation to
involve victims in the criminal justice system

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Theories of victimology:
Mendelsohn

– The completely innocent victim

– The victim with minor guilt
– The victim who is as guilty as the
offender
– The victim who is more guilty than the
offender
– The most guilty victim
– The imaginary victim
(Wallace & Roberson, 2011)

Theories of victimology:
von Hentig
THE GENERAL TYPOLOGY OF VICTIMS
IMMIGRANT,
MENTALLY
YOUNG FEMALE OLD MINORITIES AND
DEFECTIVE
DULL NORMALS

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPOLOGY OF VICTIMS

BLOCKED
LONESOME AND
DEPRESSED ACQUISITIVE WANTON TORMENTOR EXEMPTED AND
HEARTBROKEN
FIGHTING

THE ACTIVATING SUFFERER

ACTIVATING SUFFERER

(Wallace & Roberson, 2011)

Consequences of
victimisation

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Do the natural stress and coping

strategies of the individual impact their
experience of victimisation?
OR
Does the victimisation experience
impact the individual’s engagement of
stress and coping strategies?

What came first? Was the victim already

depressed? Has being victimised
exacerbated their symptoms? Or, is the
depression caused by the victimisation?

Mental consequences

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Mental consequences

Financial consequences

– Property damage and loss

– Medical care

– Mental health care

– Police and fire services

– Victim services

– Productivity costs

Physical consequences

– Immediate injuries

– Injuries that leave visible scars

– Unknown long-term physical injuries

– Long-term catastrophic injuries

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Recognising victims

Empowerment

What is empowerment?

What does it mean for victims?

What does it mean for people who work

with victims?

What formal processes are in place to

assist victims to be empowered?
– Restraining orders
– Restitution
– Compensation
– Victim Impact Statements
– Restorative justice

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What role does the victim

play?

– Report
– Medical examination
– Formal statement
– Video recording
– Identification
– Investigation

What role does the victim

play?

– Observer
– Victim may act as witness and/or may
provide a VIS

Victims of Crime Act 1994

(WA)

Schedule 1
– A victim should be treated with courtesy and
compassion and with respect for the victim’s
dignity
– A victim should be given access to counselling
about the availability of welfare, health, medical
and legal assistance services and criminal
injuries compensation
– A victim should be informed about the availability
of lawful protection against violence and
intimidation by the offender.

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Victims of Crime Act 1994

(WA)

– Inconvenience to a victim should be

minimised.
– The privacy of a victim should be protected.
– A victim who has so requested should be
kept informed about –
– Progress of the investigation (where
appropriate)
– Charges laid
– Any bail application
– Variations to charges (and reasons)

Victims of Crime Act 1994

(WA)

– A victim who is to be a witness should be kept

informed.
– A victim should be informed of the sentence, any
other order, and any application to appeal.
– A victim’s property should be returned as soon as
practicable.
– Victim’s views should be considered with regard
to releasing the offender from custody.
– A victim should be informed of a prisoner’s
release (and address where appropriate), or any
escape.

Services available

– Victim Support and Child Witness

Service
– Victim Notification Register
– Support groups
– Victim-offender Mediation Unit (DoCS)

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Victim Impact Statement

Sentencing Act 1995 (WA): Victim impact

Statement.
– s 24(1) provides that:
“a victim…may give a victim impact statement
to a court to assist the court in determining
the proper sentence for the offender”

Skye's Law

s 25 provides that:
(1) A victim impact statement is a written or
oral statement that-
(a) Gives particulars of any injury, loss, or
damage suffered by the victim as a direct
result of the offence; and
(b) Describes the effects on the victim of the
commission of the offence.

s 25 provides that:
(2) A victim impact statement is not to address
the way in which or the extent to which the
offender ought to be sentenced.
(3) A victim impact statement may be
accompanied by a report by any person who
has treated the victim in connection with the
effects on the victim of the commission of the
offence.

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Financial options

– Civil proceedings;
– Order of reparation or restitution;*
– Statutory compensation

*s 116 Sentencing Act 1995 (WA) states an

order for reparation is only available where
there is property loss or damage

Civil proceedings

– Onus is on victim to pursue

– Principle behind and award of damages in
tort is to restore the person to the position
they were in before the tort was committed
– Awards are determined by the court
– What about the defendant?
– What are the barriers?

Reparation order

– Reparation order is made in addition to a

sentence and can be either:
– Civil action and CIC is still available to
victims where a reparation order has been
made
– Victim’s responsibility to enforce compliance
– Court won’t make compensation order if
offender cannot pay, or if paying would
disadvantage the offender’s dependents

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Criminal Injuries Compensation

Act 2003 (WA)

– s 9 claims must occur within three years of crime unless

special permission granted
– s 11 claim must be in writing by victim, or if under 18,
their parent
– Applies for victim where crime is proven or alleged (also
some indirect victims)
– No award if:
– Offender may benefit
– Victim hasn’t assisted police fully
– Victim was involved in the commission of a separate offence
at the time of the offence
– If the victim is determined to have contributed to injury or loss

– s 31 outlines the maximum amounts that

can be paid in accordance with the type
of injury and losses incurred.
– The amount paid is dependant on the
date at which the crime occurred.
– 1976 – 1982: Max $7 500
– 1986 – 1991: Max $20 000
– 1991 – 2003: Max $50 000
– 2003 – present: Max $75 000

What next?

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What next?

– Today:
– Essay feedback
– Quiz

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