VICTIMOLOGY REVISITED A Critique and Suggestions for Future Direction

Recent theoretical and research contributions related to victimology generally have supported earlier ideas of victim precipitation implied by von Hentig, Mendelsohn, Ellenberger, and others. Here we identify and evaluate some of the underlying assumptions of victim precipitation. In addition, suggestions are offered for the future development of victim-precipitation explanatory formulations in victimology.     

我国被害人学研究的回顾与展望

被害人学是一门新兴学科,20世纪80年代我国才开始研究.进入新世纪以来,我国被害人学领域取得了丰硕成果,在被害人诉讼地位、被害人权利、被害人补偿、被害人援助、被害预防等方面有了新进展.同时,我国被害人学研究中还存在一些不足.只有对当前被害人学研究状况进行科学地分析和评价,才能不断推动我国被害人学发展.     

The case for a victimology of nonhuman animal harms

For the last twenty years ‘victimology’, the study of crime victims and victimisation has developed markedly. Like its ‘parent’ discipline of criminology, however, very little work has been done in this field around the notion of environmental victimisation. Like criminology itself, victimology has been almost exclusively anthropocentric in its outlook and indeed even more recent discussions of environmental victims – prompted by the development of green criminology – have failed to consider in any depth the victimisation of nonhuman animals. In this paper, we examine the shortfall in provision for and discussions of nonhuman animal victims with reference to Christie’s notion of the ‘ideal victim’ and Boutellier’s concept of the ‘victimalization of morality’. We argue that as victimology has increasingly embraced concepts of victimisation based on ‘social harms’ rather than strict legalistic categorises, its rejection of nonhuman victims from the ambit of study is no longer conceptually or philosophically justified.     

Promises or Pitfalls: A Prospectus on Comparative Victimology

Most of the systematic theory and research conducted in the field of victimology has been generated within the past decade. Compendia of the victimological literature are, however, almost entirely devoted to studies within the United States, while little atttention is given to the subject of comparative victimology. This article discusses the victim in a cross-cultural perspective and its importance to the advancement of victimological knowledge. Emphasis is placed on various aspects of victim-criminal justice system interactions and the practical implications of cross-cultural inquiries.     

Collecting on Moral Debts: Reparations for the Holocaust and Pořajmos

In the early 1980s, Sebba (1980) explored the victimological and criminological dimensions of German Holocaust reparations, utilizing a broad definition of victimization similar to Mendelsohn's (1976) earlier framing of this notion, which included victims of genocide and mass violence. Since this time, scant attention has been paid to the victimology of state crime, and even less to the victimological implications of genocide and mass violence. This is unfortunate since critical victimological lessons can be drawn from the study of the victims of genocide and mass violence. In this article, we focus on the post–World War II monetary reparations, or "compensation," demands made against the West German state by Jewish and "Gypsy" survivors of Nazi state-sponsored violence. Through a comparative analysis of these two cases, we seek to illustrate the organizational, social, and discursive conditions that either enabled or obstructed victim mobilization and, in so doing, to develop critical tools for better understanding "victim movements" and the trauma narratives they construct.     

Police–victim engagement in building a victim empowerment approach to intimate partner violence cases

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been highlighted as a priority for UK governments and criminal justice agencies since the 1990s. However, whilst generating significant policy and procedural responses, the overall impact continues to be criticised. This paper examines contemporary approaches to IPV identification and response, highlighting the limitations within victim engagement and empowerment. It then moves on to specific developments and theories in victimology, demonstrating how research into victim engagement is emerging and could be utilised in practice to enhance victim empowerment. It argues that policy and procedure based upon an enhanced victim empowerment approach would be necessary in striving for positive criminal justice outcomes and for increasing victim satisfaction.     

英美刑法上的被害人共同责任

在认定行为人的刑事责任时,英美刑法传统上坚持"不得谴责被害人"的原则,但这一原则不符合被害人学的原理,而且,在英美刑法中,实际上在诸多方面例如被害人同意、自我防卫与挑衅行为中均承认了被害人的共同责任。承认被害人的共同责任,具有合理的规范性基础。根据权利的限定性原理,被害人共同责任可区分为自愿的权利减少型和非自愿的权利减少型,在此基础上考虑行为人与被害人在具体案件中相关权利的重要性程度、比较因果关系与比较罪责等因素,从而为被害人共同责任的适用提供了具体的判断标准。英美刑法的被害人共同责任原理对我国司法实践具有重要的借鉴价值。     

Victim Compensation and Offender Restitution in the Federal Republic of Germany—a Western-European Comparative Perspective

In the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as in most other Western European countries, the growing emphasis in victimology during the last 15 years has led to several legal schemes for victim compensation. The German Victim Compensation Act of 1976 provides compensation for violent acts within the framework of a social security system with periodic payments, while most of the other West-European countries grant lump sums from a special compensation fund. The German legislation, however, has given the victim a relatively weak position. The problems are aggravated because of the restrictive, and concerning the Federal states—different, application of the law. Victim compensation as a restitutional sanction within the penal law doesn't play an important role. Furthermore, the financial situation of most offenders is so bad, that the civil claims of the victim for damages cannot be compensated. In Germany, however, remarkable efforts are made by the debt relief programs for offenders, which allow victim compensation on the one hand and offender rehabilitation on the other. This balancing of victim-offender interests seems very important for criminal policy in general. An extension of the legal provisions for victim compensation is considered necessary as is the wider application of restitutional sanctions whether instead of or combined with penal sanctions. Furthermore, help for victims should include social and psychological assistance programs, which are not yet developed in Europe to any great extent.     

试论刑法中的被害者过错制度

被害者过错问题是被害学理论中的一个关键问题。被害者过错问题的研究有着重要的刑法学意义,而这一问题虽已在不同程度上被各国刑法学界意识到,并在立法中有着片段性的反映,但问题没有被系统化地认识和规制。根据其对刑事事件发生的影响力大小及性质的不同,具体被害者过错可以被分为迫发行为、引发行为、激发行为和触发行为等几个层级,并和加害者刑事责任的大小呈反比对应关系。抽象被害者过错有着与此一致的道理。在刑法及一些相关法律中确立完整、系统的被害者过错制度,意义显著。     

Has victimology outlived its usefulness?

Victimology has made important contributions to understanding victimization in the last several decades. Yet it has done little to reduce victimization. Instead, victimological findings and victim advocacy have been used by policymakers to promote ineffective ‘law and order’ crime policies. Victimology has been substantially co-opted, largely because it has either shunned politics or at least implicitly endorsed a counterproductive politics. Instead, victimology must re-examine its direction and politics. The possibilities are illustrated by examining several alternative, anti-crime ideologies and case studies. The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. Albert Einstein     

Victim age and capital sentencing outcomes in North Carolina (1977–2009)

Age is prominent among theories of criminology and victimology. It is less conspicuous in punishment theory, despite its emphasis in retributive theory and lawmaking. The present study evaluated competing ‘years of life lost’ and ‘vulnerable victim’ hypotheses to examine the influence of victim age in capital sentencing decisions. Using case file data on the population of capital murder trials in the State of North Carolina (1977–2009), our findings produce mixed results. Our quantitative analyses suggest that death sentences are significantly less likely in direct proportion to victim age. Killers of elderly victims are less likely to receive the death penalty; conversely, the odds of a death sentences are slightly greater for killers of child victims. Supplementary qualitative analyses suggest that while many child and elderly victims were not per se ‘vulnerable,’ a substantial subset of each clearly were treated as such. We discuss implications for vulnerable victim research and the role of quasi-legal factors in case outcomes.     

金融风险与金融犯罪被害

本文将金融风险和被害人因素结合起来，借鉴被害人理论，社会学的风险社会理论，经济学的金融风险理论，结合收集到的关于金融犯罪被害的实事材料，通过分析金融风险转化为金融犯罪被害的三种模式对导致金融犯罪被害的风险因素进行分析，探讨金融犯罪被害风险问题。具体分析金融风险与金融犯罪被害的关系，金融风险是在何种机制下转化成金融犯罪被害事实，这个转化过程是怎样发展演化的，找出由金融风险转化为金融犯罪被害的关键。在特定被害情境下，金融风险通过风险载体与加害人发生联系，并被加害人加以利用，进而使金融风险发展成金融犯罪的被害要因，由潜在的被害可能性向现实的被害结果转化。探索隐含于金融活动中的各种风险与金融犯罪被害之间的关系，为正确认识金融风险，化解金融风险，也可为防范金融犯罪被害提供决策依据和指导建议。因此，探索金融领域的风险与金融犯罪被害之间的作用机制，消除金融风险的负面影响，进而减少金融犯罪被害问题是十分有意义的。     

Is knowledge power? The effects of a victimology course on victim blaming

The current study examines the impact of a victimology course on students' perceptions of the blameworthiness of crime victims and knowledge of victimization issues. Victim-blaming attitudes among college students enrolled in a victimology course were compared with students enrolled in other courses. Results from a pretest and posttest suggest that the victimology students were significantly less likely to blame victims and these students also gained significantly more knowledge over time compared with the students who did not enroll in the course. Results from the multivariate analysis indicate that less knowledge over time and a higher propensity to blame victims at the beginning of the semester predicted more victim-blaming attitudes on the posttest. Overall, the findings suggest that knowledge of victimology significantly affects students' propensity to blame victims of crime.     

Managing victim status in group therapy for men: a discourse analysis

In contrast to the abundance of research on women victims, this article sheds light on the discourse of men who are self-identified as victims of their female partners' abuse. The purpose of this study was to investigate the most salient identity constructions and abuse conceptualizations among participants of group psychotherapy for men who have been abused in intimate, heterosexual partner relationships (i.e., Calgary Counselling Centre's 14-week group program titled "A Turn for the Better"). The men's identity work was examined using the methods and theoretical perspective of discourse analysis. Analysis of the talk demonstrated that the group agenda was to work through the ambiguity of abuse in the service of having the men identify themselves as victims. Thus, both the men and the group facilitators actively constructed "true victim" subject positions through their resistance to commonsense orientations of (a) "men as perpetrators" and (b) whether abuse consisted of more than physical violence. The therapeutic language of resistance was a common strategy used to manage victim status but also required further negotiation as it entailed a component of abuse (i.e., risked positioning the men as abusers rather than victims). The discussion focuses on how these findings may differ from the identity work present in women victim therapeutic groups. In addition, we note that it is difficult to uphold the victim-versus-perpetrator dichotomy in therapeutic discourse.     

The rights of rape victims are enhanced: Using the law of premise liability for compensation

The field of victimology has been inundated with empirical evidence which demonstrates victims of crime have very few rights. Yet a new field of civil liability has been growing in the last few years which gives rape and assault victims a new avenue to be compensated for their injuries. This paper will demonstrate how the victims’ target is not the criminal justice system (through compensation from restitution or victim’s compensation statures). Nor is it the defendant (who usually makes no money). Rather, the target is the rich apartment complex owners and other owners of commercial premises who have failed to maintain their premises safely. As a result of their negligence, the victims fail to be afforded the right to visit or habitat or to sleep without fear and are ultimately raped. Jury verdicts in these premises liability cases have reached more than nine million dollars. This paper will analyze the legal process whereby one particular rape victim actualized her rights and gained significant monetary damages under this evolving law of premise liability. Finally, it proposes the creation of a new institutionalized program that promotes the rape victim’s rights to adequate compensation for her injury-the Rape Victims’ Rights and Opportunities Program.     

自杀的认定及其相关行为的刑法评价

刑法中认定自杀有主客观两方面要求。在主观方面,被害人不仅应当认识到并且意欲死亡结果发生,而且必须自愿地、也即自主决定地选择了死亡。对于自愿性的判断应当以有效承诺的主观要件为标准。重大的动机错误同样导致不能成立自杀。此外,被害人还必须客观上事实性地支配着直接导致死亡的行为,在将不可逆转地造成死亡结果的最后关键时刻自己控制着事态的发展。自杀本身并非刑事不法行为,教唆或帮助自杀、对自杀者不予救助或者过失导致他人自杀等自杀相关行为也不应受到刑事处罚。     

保辜制的制度与思想探析

保辜制度是中国古代的一项旨在保护人身伤害事件中的受害人的利益、追究加害人责任,进而整合社会关系的刑事法律制度。此制度在中国古代社会存在发展了两千余年。唐代是保辜制度的发展成熟时期,保辜制度得以定型化、系统化。宋、元、明、清历代继续发展,并在立法及司法领域产生了一系列重要变化。保辜制度有其深刻的思想源渊,并存在自身的规律性。     

Status Disparities in the Capital of Capital Punishment

Numerous studies have examined the influence of victim race on capital punishment, with a smaller number focused on victim gender. But death penalty scholars have largely ignored victim social status. Drawing on Black's (1976) multidimensional theoretical concept, the current research examines the impact of victim social status on the district attorney's decision to seek the death penalty and the jury's decision to impose a death sentence. The data include the population of cases indicted for capital murder in Harris County (Houston), Texas, from 1992 to 1999 (n=504). The findings suggest that victim social status has a robust influence on the ultimate state sanction: Death was more likely to be sought and imposed on behalf of high‐status victims who were integrated, sophisticated, conventional, and respectable. The research also has implications beyond capital punishment. Because victim social status has rarely been investigated in the broader sentencing literature, Black's concept provides a theoretical tool that could be used to address such an important omission.     

Event and Victimization

This article contributes to recent existentialist interventions in critical criminology (see Lippens and Crewe 2009) and offers the existential concept of ‘event’ as a guiding image for critical victimology. Whereas existential criminologists have examined crime and wrongdoing, very little attention has been given to victimization. I utilize the existential phenomenology of Martin Heidegger and Claude Romano to offer a critique of existing approaches to victimization within mainstream criminology and develop an evential analytic to understand the event of victimization. This paper brings together existential philosophy and victimology to offer an alternative approach to victimization. I engage with the ‘problem of number’ in conventional victimology and offer a critique of quantitative approaches to victimization based on the unsubstitutability and singularity of existence. Through a discussion of selfhood and embodiment from an evential standpoint, this paper moves beyond existing victimological approaches to identity. I also consider the relationship between victimization and trauma. In the final section of the paper I carve out an alternative research agenda through a discussion of bearing witness and events of victimization.     

REFUSING TO BLAME THE VICTIM FOR THE AFTERMATH OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

This note addresses the decision of Nicholson v. Williams and the significant impact it will have on the rights of domestic violence victims. Victims are faced with unique challenges with regards to protecting their children from witnessing domestic violence. The Nicholson decision recognizes that the dynamics of domestic violence require special consideration in "failure to protect" cases and that removal from the home is not necessarily the best alternative for the well-being of the children. This note attempts to explain that the abuser, not the victim, is responsible for the effects that domestic violence has on the children who witness it and that it is important to keep the victim and children united to cope with the effects of domestic violence.