Victim Impact Statement

Victimology draws together academics, activists, and policymakers from a variety of backgrounds and identifies three main victimological perspectives. Positivist victimology dates back to the emergence of victimology as a discipline in the 1940s. It looks to understand the process of victimisation and why people become victims of crime by examining the relationship between the victim and offender through an agency lens. Newburn (2013) identifies positivists such as Miers (1989) who see victimisation as being causal in nature and identify three key features:

Victim impact statements (VIS) are written or oral statements that are given by crime victims, or their family members, during the sentencing phase of a criminal trial. The statements provide information about the impact of the crime on the victim, their family, and the community. Victim impact statements have been developed as a way to give victims a voice in the criminal justice system and to ensure that their experiences and perspectives are considered in sentencing decisions. Supporters argue that victim impact statements help to provide a more complete picture of the impact of the crime and can help to hold offenders accountable for their actions and play a crucial role in criminal proceedings, allowing victims and their families to express

Previous research on victim impact statements has indicated that higher emotionality of the victim impact statements will lead to harsher punishments of the defendant (Myers et al., 1999; Myers et al., 2002), as well as favorability towards the victim (Myers & Greene 2004). Contradictory to earlier findings, participants who were not perspective taking with the

There can be changes in how the criminal justices process deals with rape victims; first, train all criminal justice agency professionals on the traumatic and disturbing effects of rape on the lives of its victims. Compassion for the rights of victims often leads to a more convictions and seek longer sentences. If the experience of victims in the criminal justice process is to be improved, there have to be a better understanding of the impact of victimization and of the need to treat victims of crime with courtesy, compassion, dignity, and sensitivity. There must be continual progress in raising awareness and expanding information services and assistance to victims of crime.

While most of these schools do not give a lot of information about the victim, except for each type of school has had one big case where there the articles give a lot of information about the victim. Harvard was the only Ivy league school to release the name of a victim, Alyssa Leader and two students from the class of 1960 and 1964, from any of the Ivy League school. In an Huffington Post article Alyssa Leader name is used. The article stated, “[Alyssa] Leader officially filed a school complaint against Doe for abuse, sexual assault and harassment in February 2015, prompting a university investigation. Her main goal was to have him removed from her dorm, she told HuffPost,”

Throughout every state and county across the United States there are various means for offering assistance to victims of crime. Each municipality has its own victim advocacy program. For smaller areas such as rural counties they use the next organizational level up as their victim advocates. For the purpose of this paper I sat down with Ms. Mari Dennis of the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD). Ms. Dennis is employed as the Victim Advocacy Unit Coordinator and is embedded within the Investigations division of the department. CSPD employs four staff victim advocates and around 35 volunteer advocates.

When preparing for an interview, a great deal of thought and consideration needs to be completed before the interview even begins. The person conducting the interview needs to think about where the interview is going to take place, the time of which it will occur at, and what kind of technology will be used. They need to review the file and consider who is being interviewed, what the person has experienced, and how they may be affected. Interviewing someone is a crucial part of policing, and ultimately helps police solve crimes. When it is done properly, it can be very successful, but if it is not done properly, it could ultimately end an investigation. Therefore, an interview can either be successful or not, and here are some points displaying the success and improvements that can be done in interviews.

Afterwards, victimology came as a branch of criminology, and it focused on analyzing crime victims and how they contribute to his or her own victimization. The purpose of this essay is to describe theories, methods, and issues constituting the modern field of victimology from the 1940s to 1970s. This paper will also describe the strengths and weakness of these

A person who experiences a traumatic event may be expected to experience a range of psychological effects, and, for many years, it was assumed that these psychological effects would be the same regardless of the cause of the injury. However, a growing body of knowledge is demonstrating that the impact of criminal victimization is different than the impact of other types of injuries because the intent element makes a difference in how the victim perceives the harm. In addition, victims of different crimes may respond differently to victimization. The psychological effects of victimization are important because they can help guide the criminal justice system for how to interact with victims and how to make the process more victim-appropriate. For example, victims of violent crimes, like sexual assaults, may benefit more from a victim-centered criminal justice approach than victims of other types of crimes (Resick, 1987). However, one of the problems with the traditional approach to victimology is that it has distinguished between different groups of victims. Emerging research suggest that victim needs are similar across the entire spectrum of crime, particularly the victims' needs for information about the crime and the needs for financial restitution to make them whole (ten Boom & Kuijpers, 2012).

This assignment will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the positive approach to victimology. It will do this by looking at other victimology approaches such as; Radical, feminist, and critical victimology. Analysing the different theories within each approach, to highlight the negatives and positives within the positivist approach to victimology.

In a criminal investigation case, a victim is usually seeking justice for an offence against them personally. Victims can

Victims often complain about not having enough information about their case and confusion regarding what rights they are entitled to (McDonald & Grossman, 2014, p. 10). The reason victims feel this way is because they do not know how to access the programs set in place for them. Proper measures should be taken to allow clear communication between the Crown, victim, and lawyers. For instance, Mandi Gray, a sexual assault survivor, demanded eight thousand dollars in restitution money so she could hire a lawyer because she felt defenseless during the trial. Whereas, the national criminal lawyers’ association were not in favor of the offender paying such amount and argued that adequate support services are already available for victims (McGillivray, 2017). Incidences like these are likely to paint a negative picture of victim status in Canadian Justice System and decrease the number of victims accessing these resources. Moreover, it shows interest towards being more concerned about protecting the rights of an offender, rather than the victim who has been wronged. Also, if the information regarding these programs is easily available, it will likely increase the rate of victims making use of them. Therefore, to eliminate future issues like these, support services should expand their options available for victims and more counseling services should be provided to explain victims their rights beforehand. Information is the key towards getting rid of any confusion and suspicions regarding the fairness of the judicial

Secondly, the physical aspects of the victim are important as well; is the victim is heavy, and was dragged for a long distance, it can be surmised that the criminal is strong and may have a muscular appearance. (Patterson) Victimology is first and foremost an investigative tool, providing context, connections, and investigative direction. (Turvey) Some people may ask, “Why profile the victim?” but profiling the victim is a very important element that helps profilers better understand the criminal. Profilers look at the general lifestyle and activities of the victim in order to know who had access to them and when. Knowing the victim and properly profiling them may establish a relational link between the victim and criminal. When profiling a victim it is important to look at them as a real person as well as a victim. Some investigators and detectives have a tendency to deify or vilify the victim in a case. Deification involves idealizing victims. For example,

Tom sat on the sofa, his shoulders hunched forward, his eyes staring listlessly into space. In his hands, a forgotten cup of coffee trembled violently, the lukewarm liquid spilling over his fingers. He hadn’t uttered a single word since his impassioned attempt to justify Booker’s assault, and as the minutes ticked by, his silence only added to Doug’s concerns. Although not an expert, as a cop, Penhall understood about trauma, and fearing his friend was going into shock, he made the decision to call 911. With an ambulance on its way, he dialed a second number, and after a brief conversation, he hung up. Turning his attention to Tom, he wondered how to proceed. While he wanted to offer comfort, he honestly did not know what to say. How did you console the victim of sexual assault when the perpetrator was a trusted colleague you worked side by side with day in day out? He was out of his depth and terrified of making matters worse, but he knew he needed to do something other than making a cup of coffee, and approaching Tom, he squatted down and laid a hand on his knee. “How ya doin’, buddy?”

The study of victimology dates back to the early 1940’s. Marvin Wolfgang was one of the first victimologists. To fully understand victimology is to understand what a victim is. A victim is a person that has suffered physical or emotional harm