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Summary CMY3705 Victimology - study notes
- Institution
- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
Study notes made in preparation for the exam for CMY3705 Victimology. To be used in conjunction with the approved study guide
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Unisa (University of South Africa). 2019. Victimology: Tutorial Letter 501 forCMY3705. Pretoria
Victimology CMY3705
What is Victimology?
Scientific study of the relationship between an injured party and an offender.
It examines:
1. The causes and the nature of the suffering.
2. Relationship between perpetrator and victim
3. Why a particular person or place was targeted.
4. How socio-economic conditions and cultural practices can result in victimisation
Criminal victimisation may result in economic costs, physical injuries, and psychological
harm.
BRIEF HISTORY
Twentieth century, the victim of crime was marginalized or ignored
Victimology emerged in the 1940s
Von Hentig and Mendelsohn, studied crime victims.
They theorised that the victim's behaviour and attitude caused or contributed to the crime.
Definition of concepts
Victims: “persons who have suffered harm, including physical or mental injury, emotional
suffering, economic loss or substantial impairment of their fundamental rights, through acts
or omissions that are in violation of criminal laws
Crime victim" any person, group, or entity who has suffered injury or loss due to illegal activity.
The harm can be physical, psychological, or economic.
Legal definition of "victim" is a person/institutional entity who has suffered direct, or
threatened, physical, emotional or pecuniary harm as a result of the commission of a
crime;
"primary crime victims"
"secondary crime victims". experience the harm second hand, and include intimate
partners or significant others of victims.
"tertiary crime victims" who experience the harm vicariously, such as through media
accounts or from watching television.
VICTIM SUPPORT AND EMPOWERMENT
Definition of concepts
Secondary victimization – the ill-informed, insensitive, blaming treatment of victims by
officials who work for the criminal justice system and the victim’s family, friends or
community.
Essay:
Secondary victimisation in the criminal justice system (CJS)
Traditionally, courts ignored witnesses’ needs.
This led to secondary victimisation = victims were treated with disrespect and had their basic
human rights ignored.
May be experienced more negatively by the victim than the initial trauma.
How does secondary victimisation occur?
Starts when the victim first reports the crime to the police.
Victims (especially women and children) of crime (especially sexual assault or rape) have
to face the police’s disbelief that the crime occurred.
The insensitive manner in which they are treated begins the process of secondary
victimisation.
Discouraging or preventing the woman from laying charges further perpetuates the victim’s
, Unisa (University of South Africa). 2019. Victimology: Tutorial Letter 501 for
CMY3705. Pretoria
negativity and increases her sense of vulnerability.
This resistance may exacerbate the trauma, leaving this individual feeling alone and
isolated.
Often the negativity follows the victim into the court process.
Few victims understand the dynamics of the court process.
Victimisation takes place at various levels during the court process:
1. A failure to provide private waiting or report-taking facilities;
2. Not informing victims of court procedures and evidence;
3. Failing to explain why certain questions are being asked or procedures followed;
4. Not updating victims on the progress of the investigation or trial.
Long waiting periods for victims before they are examined and treated, as well as the time
which often lapses between reporting an incident and appearing in court, may all contribute to
and further exacerbate the victim’s stress.
During the hearing itself, the victims’ rights may be infringed upon by the defence.
There are far-reaching secondary effects experienced by victims of crime (e.g. a c t i n g
out, truancy, substance abuse, etc.)
What is victim empowerment and support?
Victim empowerment: the process through which individuals who have suffered conflict and
violence are helped to overcome their grief and resentment, thus enabling them to
become more positive, proactive and self-motivated members of society.
Strategies and public policies which provide communities with the skills and self-
confidence, support and tools necessary to become more effective advocates of the rights
and needs of victims.
Victim support models
The care model
Services can be delivered as a specific form of welfare or charity
Governed by an ideology of care
Examples: state compensation schemes – awards for victims of crime.
Western countries, such schemes were introduced between 1965 and 1980.
Criticism:
Only some victims are eligible,
The actual delivery tends to be time-consuming and burdensome for the claimants.
In developing nations, where few people are fully covered by insurance for medical bills,
state compensation is an important provision.
An important second category of care-oriented services are rape crisis centres, shelter
homes for victims of spouse abuse and general victim support schemes.
In most western countries these kinds of services were originally offered to female
victims.
In the 1980s similar services started to become available for all victims of all types of crime.
In the UK and Netherlands, all victims of either serious or less serious crimes are now
routinely contacted by trained volunteers, and offered immediate practical and moral
support.
The police are instructed to ask all victims permission to give their names and addresses to
local support schemes.
The criminal justice model
Victim services can be part of the administration of criminal justice
Governed by the ideology of human rights or a just society
Victims are provided for and included within the criminal justice process.
They are taken into consideration by the police, are referred to support agencies, are given
advice on preventive measures, and have the right to be notified of the outcome of the
investigation or of the ensuing criminal proceedings.
, Unisa (University of South Africa). 2019. Victimology: Tutorial Letter 501 for
CMY3705. Pretoria
They have the right to inform the court of the impact of the victimisation in the form of a
Victim Impact Statement, and are afforded the right to receive restitution from the offender.
The prevention model (victim services)
Sees victim policies as an integral part of crime prevention.
The implementation of justice-oriented provisions for victims is sometimes hampered by a
lack of motivation on the part of the relevant professions.
Helping victims is often not seen as part of the core business of the police or the
prosecutor.
Third model of victim services; victim services as part of crime prevention.
Reasons why a better deal for crime victims is important in the fight against crime:
1. Most crimes are brought to the attention of the police by victims or their relatives.
2. The chance to arrest the offender and obtain a conviction largely depends on the
information supplied by the victim.
3. For criminal investigations to be at all functional, the victim’s cooperation is essential.
This is why the number of satisfied victims ought to be used as a performance measure
in criminal investigation departments.
Criminality can be prevented by doing something about the economic hardship of groups at
risk and limiting their chances of becoming offenders.
Offenders should be empowered to stay crime free after their release from prison.
Since the level of crime is partly determined by the availability of suitable targets,
potential and actual victims can improve their own self-protection measures (if potential
victims offer fewer opportunities for crime, fewer opportunistic crimes will be committed.)
Only some of the crimes prevented by better protection are displaced to other targets.
South African perspective on victim empowerment and support
South African scenario regarding models of care
Reasons for the high rate of victimisation in South Africa:
1. The presence of economically deprived youngsters, and the availability of suitable
targets (the affluent).
2. Structural causes that need to be addressed by a comprehensive crime policy.
In South Africa, many crime victims who report their victimisation to the police are
dissatisfied with their treatment.
Many would like to receive some sort of specialised help, but this help is simply not
forthcoming.
The victim policies needed: the care ideology, and the criminal justice ideology.
Many of the poorer victims of violence would greatly benefit from a state compensation
scheme.
It is also essential to develop a nationwide network of support agencies for all victims.
A purely care-oriented approach will not suffice.
The victim’s demand that justice be done and this can only be achieved by the criminal
justice system.
Should draft a comprehensive bill of rights for crime victims in South Africa – one that
includes proposed changes in the law, changes in procedures, and new codes of conduct for
the professions involved.
Potential and actual crime victims can support the police by improving their own self-
protection measures, e.g. installing burglar alarms.
By treating victims more fairly, the criminal justice system can maintain or restore the victim’s
respect for the law.
Helping crime victims is a task for welfare agencies and volunteers, in close cooperation
with the police, the prosecutors and the courts.
A victim policy clearly calls for a multi-agency approach.
Development of the victim empowerment programme from the National Crime Prevention
Strategy (NCPS):
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