What Is The Role Of A Victim In Criminal Justice

Improved Essays
victims that began in this country in the early 1970s, the sentencing process now frequently includes consideration of the needs of victims and their survivors. 62 In times past, although victims might testify at trial, the criminal justice system frequently downplayed a victim’s experience, including the psychological trauma engendered both by having been a victim and by having to endure the criminal proceedings that bring the criminal to

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Direct Victim Case Study

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Direct Victim: The direct victim in the case study is a factory manager who explains that he was shocked and horrified by the mess and damage from the crime. His financial losses were not only the cost of the damages, but also the loss of making money the entire day as the day was spent cleaning up the mess (Crosland, P., & Liebmann, M. 2003). Although the financial needs of the direct victim were not met because the offenders were young children and could not repay it; according to the victim motives for participation in our textbook, the victim’s emotional needs seem to have been met. Some of the needs that were met are holding the offender accountable (the offender took full responsibility for his part in the crime), learning…

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Just Mercy Book Review

    • 2241 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Throughout the quarter, we have read books that address a number of complicated legal topics. Author and journalist Barry Siegel’s book, Claim of Privilege, concerns the case Reynolds v. United States, a suit against the US government that began as a simple investigation into a freak Air Force plane crash but quickly metastasized into a conversation about the necessities of governmental secrecy. Author and journalist Jon Krakauer’s book, Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town, concerns a number of suits made against [BLAH]. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption details author and attorney Bryan Stevenson’s work with death row inmates in Alabama, and the numerous trials and tribulations he faced in attempting to get them freedom. All three of these books, despite the differences in their content, deal with the concepts of victimhood; in each of the provided scenarios, [AAA].…

    • 2241 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sindiswe Case Study

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The victim has a need for information regarding the entire process, such as the progress related to the case, how the criminal justice system works and the need to make sense of and understand their victimization. The need for continuity. Victims have the need for consistency during the criminal justice process. Be it that the langue that is used during the entire process remains the same, or that they receive constant support throughout the process.…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    There are many faults to the United States criminal justice system. Weaknesses in today’s judicial system fail to uphold our nation’s values and protect society’s most vulnerable members. Many of these weaknesses can be mistakes found in the way people think or the psychology behind many cognitive forces. One of these flawed psychological processes frame the way we see victims of crime. The book, Unfair, written by Adam Benforado points out how labeling victims can influence exactly how a case is handled.…

    • 1348 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Within the twenty-three years Milgaard spent in prison, David faced unspeakable horrors. He was sexually, physically and emotionally abused within the system and even after being freed Milgaard still felt trapped. Milgaard suffered numerous suicide attempts both inside and outside of prison, he claimed he “did not feel he could be a part of society again.” (4). Once out David turned to alcoholism and isolation, feeling that the world had all moved without him and there was no way for him to get back.…

    • 344 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nils Christie wrote “Conflicts as Property” arguing the importance of conflicts in society and how they have become property that can be used and stolen. In this critical summary I will summarize and then critically analyze his work to determine if I agree with his argument. Christie opens the paper by arguing the importance of conflicts in our society and that “they ought to be used, and become useful, for those originally involved in the conflict.” He continues by describing how conflicts are taken from the victim, who “is so thoroughly represented that she or he of most of the proceedings is pushed completely out of the arena, reduced to the triggerer-off of the whole thing.” The author also denounces courts and lawyers that, he believes, are trained to steal, prevent, and solve conflicts.…

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Effects of Sexual Assault on Victims and Secondary Survivors Sexual assault is a very serious offence. Sexual assault may seem to affect only one person, the victim. However, sexual assault effects the family and social support networks of the victim, these people are called secondary survivors. From the moment the assault takes place thorough medical attention, therapy and in most cases, all the proceedings that come with laying charges and ensuing legal proceedings, the victim goes through a series of anguish and healing with the result of having the chance to never be fully healed. This essay discusses the effects of sexual assault on individuals and their family and social support network as a whole while emphasizing that sexual assault is a large and serious issue with serious impacts that are mental and physical.…

    • 852 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The state of Texas has robust laws in place to protect victims and their rights. In Texas a victim of crime is defined as someone who is the victim of sexual assault, kidnapping, or aggravated robbery or who has suffered bodily injury or death because of the criminal conduct of another, the close relative (spouse, parent, adult brother or sister, or child) of a deceased victim, or the guardian of a victim. The law also applies to victims of juvenile crime, including victims who suffer property loss. As do most states, In Texas, victims of crime are guaranteed certain rights and participation in the criminal justice system under Texas law. The Crime Victims’ Rights are within the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.…

    • 265 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sex Offender Registry

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages

    As with many social problems, the question of labeling a sex offender on a national registry is met with many different options. The different viewpoints of the offender, the victim, the family, and the administrators of justice must all be taken into consideration. This can make it difficult to disperse a clear and uninformed form of justice in these types of crimes. Being placed on the national sex offenders registry changes a person 's life dramatically and I feel the punishment should fit the crime. They are restricted from living and working in certain areas that seem common to regular citizens whose lives are not under constant surveillance.…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When it comes to crimes, there is always a criminal and there is a victim. The criminal if convicted is sent to jail and they have to serve out their sentence. But the victim, even though they may obtain justice, will still have to live with what has been done to them. And depending on how law enforcement treats the victim, it will either allow them to move past the violence of the crime, or to live in it every day because nothing was done to be able to move them forward. Because of the lack of training that law enforcement has had to deal with victims, it could account for why so many victims still cannot get over the crimes that were done to them.…

    • 2221 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The rational focus of crime differs for serious crimes as compared to minor crimes. Serious crimes such as sexual assault are more punitive than property crimes. Sexual assault cases are taken seriously, however, the victims are ignored in sexual assault cases. The justice system continues to avoid victims, many victims feel re-victimized because the system denies them from having their voices heard (McGlynn, 2011, p.825). This paper will focus on crimes of sexual assault and the challenges of the contemporary systems of justice and how restorative justice allows for opportunities of healing.…

    • 239 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As a response to years of domination and human rights movement, the phrase “blaming the victim” was coined by William Ryan in the book he published in 1971 (Schoellkopf,2012). Many people have adopted the phrase including supporters of crime victims, specifically rape victims. In the Old Testament concerning tragic events, various instances of victim blaming can be found considering blaming the victim as sinners (Robinson as cited in Schoellkopf, 2012). Victim blaming is one of the unfortunate consequences of a belief in a just world. According to Schoellkopf (2012), it is an occurrence that has been recently recognized as a dynamic used in maintaining status quo and empowering criminals.…

    • 240 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Drunk Driving Movement

    • 1558 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Such construction, I submit explains Industry support for the movement.” (p.105) Criminologist have said that victim impact panels have a higher probability for success because of the social situation the offenders are…

    • 1558 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Scrutinizing how alienated survivors can feel by their communities after living through a sexual assault, one can see how education is not only necessary for potential victims to become aware of the risks of sexual assault, but also proves imperative for community members so that a more understanding and accepting climate for victims of attacks can be created. Justice systems are put in place so that criminals can fairly be punished. However, when there is mistrust in penal systems, survivors may feel discouraged from reporting sexual assault. Ergo, the offenders of sexual assaults will not be punished for the crimes they committed. Evan Zeldin served on a completely student-run honor court as an undergraduate student at the University of North…

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Shawshank Redemption is a movie that contains many different criminal justice themes, as well as many important life lessons. The movie allows for the audience to see an innocent man being punished by the criminal justice system, the brutal life inside prison, and the harsh reality for criminals once they are released from prison and try to re-acclimate to society. The movie brings to light several criminal justice themes and the truths behind them that are usually unseen to the general public. The movie begins with a banker named Andy Dufresne, being accused for the murder of his wife and her lover.…

    • 1416 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays