The importance of the victims in the criminal justice process - Essay Example

The importance of the victims in the criminal justice process Introduction The term victimology is a term originating from a study of victims of crime that goes back to the year 1937 (Friday and Kirchhoff, 2000, p. 1). The introduction of this term was meant to describe the aspects of a crime victim interaction and relation to different stakeholders in the crime and the criminal justice system. The term also describes the relation and connection between a victim and other institutions or social movements and organizations. From this development, it is essential to recognize the there has been a significant focus on the victim of a crime in the criminal justice system. Before going into the critical perspective of a victim in a crime, it is important to note that a victim is a person or group of persons that have been directly affected by a criminal action. In positivist victimology, for instance, the focus is still on the victim of a crime. The positivist view of victimology tries to evaluate the existence of any socio-cultural factors that lead to persons becoming victims of crime. In this paper, the discussion given revolves around the importance of the victim in the criminal justice process. The paper explores the possibility of the victim playing an important role in the prevention of crime. Discussion To understand the central role of the victim in the criminal justice process, this paper will look at the four main perspective of victimology. These are positivist perspective, radical victimology, critical victimology and normative victimology. All this perspectives give an aspect of the role of the victim in the criminal justice process. In positivist victimology, the researchers try to find out the role of the social and cultural environment of the victim that cam make an individual become a victim of a crime. This approach to victimology focuses on the objective nature of science and develops its viewpoints based on empirical data. It also distances itself from the humanist activist perspective of victimology but is closely linked to the concept of victim precipitation. In most violent crimes like rapes, robbery with violence, homicides and assault, positivist victimologists attempt to understand the role of the victim on the crime. As such, both the perpetrator and the victim are an important subject in the investigation. To the criminal justice system, the victim would assist in determining the methods that could be implemented to for preventing the occurrence of the same crime. The prevention methods, in this case, are measures to be taken by the probable victims in combating the possibility of a crime happening to them. As noted before, a crime has both a perpetrator and a victim. In order to prevent it from occurring, there is a need to take action from both parties perspective. Positivist perspective of victimology has unearthed valuable insights into the causes of susceptibilities that can lead to criminal victimization. This has majorly been achieved through identification of victim types, victims contribution in a crime and interpersonal crimes (Miers, 1989, p. 20). All these notions have significant flaws in theory and reality. As such it is difficult to pinpoint a single situation as victimizing and others as non-victimizing. The bottom line is that in the criminal justice process, a careful analysis of a victims contribution in a crime is as important as the role of the perpetrator of the crime. In radical victimology, the main assumption taken is that a society is stratified in to conflicting groups of persons. The other assumption is that a many laws of the society are dependent on or support a capitalistic economy. Due to these views, the societal problems like poverty and crime can only be addressed through major impacts on the social order of the society. From this preceding discussion, it is important to deduce the fact that the societal balance is maintained by the penal law and the criminal justice system that gets its powers from the penal laws. According to radical victimologists, the system that is in charge of enforcing the penal code has the potential of victimizing offenders and by extension the general public, in the long run. Even though this victimization is intangible and diffuse, it remains a logical aspect of victimization. Therefore, the radical victimologists apart from considering the victimization of the victims of criminal offenses also consider man made victimizations by the criminal justice system (David and Kirchhoff, 1992, p. 35). In radical victimization, it is difficult to identify the victim and the victimizer. The reason for this is the complex interplay of economic and social factors, the criminal activity identified and the criminal justice system. Some school of thought has emerged that looks at the societal inequalities and their effect on what defines a crime and a victim. However, these modalities have been refuted, and the most acceptable approach is that in any criminal justice process, the players recognized are four. These are the offender, the victim, the police and social controllers like support groups. In the critical theory of victims study, a broader social context of the subject is explored By Mawby & Walklate (1994, p. 70). In this theory, an analysis of the reactions and services given to a victim of a crime is the central focus. Critical Victimology also focuses on the historical and cultural aspects that give rise to the victimizing practices. This study by Mawby and Walkate also opines that it is essential to explore victimization at the international level. Through this exploration and analysis, the approaches taken by the society in responding to crime and victims of crime can be understood. To different organizations that support the victims of crime, their role remains complementary to the services offered by other institutions in the criminal justice process. Critical criminology puts the victim at the center of these reactions that emerge from different groups and attempt to understand the benefit of each. Critical Victimology can be understood in this context to have a single aim. This is to provide a level of retribution to the victim of criminal activities in the society (Wilson, 2009, p. 6). It is essential to note here that any activity done in the criminal justice process is as a response to the moral obligation that each group or stakeholder owes to the victim. As such the victims of crimes are important stakeholders in a criminal justice process. In critical victimology, the services offered by different organizations could be to provide information or support or maybe a retribution in terms of compensation. The most important thing is the focus of such services. While the criminal justice system is seen as punishing, the perpetrator of a crime, the person who benefits in this process is the person to whom justice has been served. This in most case is the victim of a crime. Another example of victims importance in the criminal justice process is the provision of information and prevention of crime. As noted by the positivist perspective of victimology, the victims role in a crime is crucial in the prevention of future recurrence of crimes. As such a victim becomes the central focus to the law enforcers in their bid to understand and develop methods of preventing crime. Normative victimology is another perspective that can be used to understand the importance of the victim in the criminal justice process. According to this perspective, the motivation of the individual is based on the weaknesses that are projected by differing victim statues. Such differences can lead to manmade victimization of such individual in a criminal justice process. This study describes the fact that normative victimology gains its strengths from what is considered as normal and ethical within the society. Normative Victimology takes any forms depending on the focus of the individual or group that is observing this kind of victimization (Van Dijk, 1999). In conclusion, it is important to affirm that the victim of a crime remains at the center of the criminal justice process. To aid this argument, this paper discuses the four major perspectives of victimology. In positivist perspective, the subject of a victims contribution to a crime is explored. This perspective gives the view that in any criminal action, there have to be significant socio-cultural contributors that lead to a person becoming a victim of a crime. The underlying fact here is that there cannot be a crime without a victim of the same. In offering retribution through the justice system, it is, therefore, essential to analyze the impact of a victims participation for the criminal justice system to be fair in their judgment. The critical theory of victimology, on the other hand, examines the responses of the different stakeholders in a criminal justice system. In this theoretical approach, the victim still plays a pivotal role. From the perspective of activist or humanists, their support is focused on providing a healing or the pursuit for justice or any form of retribution for the victims of different types of crime. The intention of the judicial system, the main intention is to serve justice to the victims of a crime. It is, therefore, effective to conclude that the victim of a crime remains pivotal to the criminal justice process. Bibliography WILSON, J. K. (2009). The Praeger handbook of victimology. Santa Barbara, Calif, Praeger. MAWBY, R. I., & WALKLATE, S. (1994). Critical Victimology: International perspectives. London [u.a.], Sage. VAN DIJK, J.M. (1999). Introducing victimology. International Victimology Available at:: http://www.victimology.nl MIERS, D, (1989). Positivist victimology: a critique. International review of victimology DAVID, G. AND KIRCHHOFF, F. (1992). International faces of victimology. Monchengladbach: WSV Publishing FRIDAY, P.C. AND KIRCHHOFF, G. F. (2000). Victimology at the Transition From the 20th to the 21st Century. Monchengladbach: WSV Publishing Read More