Victims with mild intellectual disabilities in the criminal justice system

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nienke A Spaan ◽  
Hendrien L Kaal
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Crime Victims ◽  
Secondary Victimization ◽  
Expert Meeting ◽  
System Requirements ◽  
Victims Of Crime ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Insufficient Knowledge

Summary People with mild intellectual disabilities are more vulnerable to become victims of crime. Victims with intellectual disabilities can face attitudinal, procedural and practical barriers within the justice system. This exploratory study looked at obstacles encountered by victims of crime with mild intellectual disabilities in effectuating their rights, their vulnerability to secondary victimization and ways to support them. In 2014, 35 respondents from across the Dutch justice system and 10 respondents with mild intellectual disabilities-expertise were interviewed. Inductive and deductive content analysis was carried out. Resonance of findings was checked in an expert meeting. Findings Three major problems were identified: (1) victims’ incomprehension about the process and the proceedings; (2) victims’ difficulty meeting system requirements and expectations; and (3) impact of prejudices concerning mild intellectual disabilities. A system adequately set up to deal with victims with mild intellectual disabilities could ease these difficulties. However, additional problems were identified, namely: (1) limited recognition of mild intellectual disabilities; (2) insufficient knowledge and understanding of consequences of mild intellectual disabilities; (3) issues related to accessing and accepting support; (4) communication unsuited for victims’ reading and comprehension-level. These problems influence the ability of victims with mild intellectual disabilities to effectuate their rights and increases risk of secondary victimization. Applications Besides the importance of these findings for policymakers, results are of importance for all those working with victims or with people with mild intellectual disabilities. Individually tailored forms of support are required to overcome the identified problems. Awareness of the barriers that victims with mild intellectual disabilities may encounter will aid providing adequate support for victims with mild intellectual disabilities to exercise their rights and protect against secondary victimization.

Addressing vulnerability in Ireland’s criminal justice system: A survey of recent statutory developments

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 280-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Cusack
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Crime Victims ◽  
Sexual Offences ◽  
System A ◽  
Victims Of Crime

For over a quarter of century Ireland’s statutory special measures framework, as originally enacted by the Criminal Evidence Act 1992, remained largely unchanged, falling beyond the reformative gaze of successive Irish governments. This period of political inertia, however, came to an abrupt end in 2017 when Irish policymakers, motivated by developments at a European Union level, introduced two landmark legislative instruments which promised to reimagine the availability and diversity of Ireland’s store of statutory testimonial accommodations, namely the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 and the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017. By interrogating these newly-commenced instruments in light of the experience of crime victims with intellectual disabilities, this paper surveys the current procedural landscape governing the treatment of vulnerable crime victims in Ireland and is intended to go some way towards exposing the embedded evidential barriers which continue to prejudice efforts aimed at securing their best evidence in court.

Mandatory Compensation Orders for Crime Victims and the Rhetoric of Restorative Justice

2003 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Warner ◽  
Jenny Gawlik
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Crime Victims ◽  
Property Damage ◽  
Victims Of Crime ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Legislative Measures

Increased recognition of the need for victims of crime to be integrated into the criminal justice system and to receive adequate reparation has led, in a number of jurisdictions, to legislative measures to encourage the greater use of compensation orders. The Sentencing Act 1997 (Tas) (which came into force on 1 August 1998) went further and made compensation orders compulsory for property damage or loss resulting from certain crimes. This article shows that this measure has failed victims and argues that they have been used in the service of other ends. Mandatory compensation orders are a token gesture repackaged as restorative justice to gain public support for the administration of the criminal justice system.Ways in which compensation orders could be made more effective and the possibilities of accommodating restorative compensation into a conventional criminal justice system are explored.

scholarly journals Legal Protection for Cyber Crime Victims on Victimological Perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 08004
Author(s):  
Angkasa
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Crime Victims ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Child Victims ◽  
Cyber Crime ◽  
Child Victim ◽  
Victims Of Crime ◽  
Source Of Error

All this time, a second victimization in a criminal justice system is considered to be an identical problem for the victims of crime. Thus, it is fair if the whole assessment is more oriented to the legal protection for the victims, especially the child victims in the crime of fornication and coition. However, when viewed from different sides, the source of error is not always absolute to the perpetrator but also because of the victim precipitation. This study examines the victim precipitation and its prevention with the aim to understand the degree of victim precipitation and the proportional prevention, that is not only from the aspect of the perpetrators but also from the aspect of the child victim and the community who have the potential to become victims. This research was conducted in the jurisdiction of Purwokerto City and Banyumas Regency, using sociological juridical research and qualitative research approach. The results show that there are several forms of victim precipitation in the crime of sexual fornication and coition to the child. Meanwhile, the prevention must be conducted comprehensively, either from the internal of the victim, or externally from various related parties.

Impediments to the Recovery of Restitution by Crime Victims

1990 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan T. Harland ◽  
Cathryn J. Rosen
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Crime Victims ◽  
Actual Case ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Technical Data ◽  
Victims Of Crime ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Case Dispositions

Restitution is unique among criminal justice policies by virtue of the widespread support it has attained from many diverse constituencies. Restitution has received such universal praise as a panacea for victims of crime that in recent years a number of American jurisdictions have adopted legislation that creates a presumptive norm that restitution be awarded in appropriate cases. Despite popular support for its increased use and enactment of enabling legislation, restitution continues to be underutilized in actual case dispositions. The authors suggest that the underuse problem will not be cured and the powerful potential that restitution holds as a criminal justice sanction will not be realized until a consensus regarding the definition of restitution is achieved, significant gaps in the technical data about how restitution is effectuated are closed, and practical impediments to awarding and collecting restitution are dissolved. These goals, in turn, cannot be met until policy makers confront and begin to resolve the inherent conflicts posed when a restorative sanction, such as restitution, is pursued in a criminal justice system that is primarily punitive in nature.

Crime Victims’ Perceptions of Restitution: The Importance of Payment and Understanding

2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 697-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry R. Ruback ◽  
Alison C. Cares ◽  
Stacy N. Hoskins
Keyword(s):  
Multivariate Analysis ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Distributive Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Crime Victims ◽  
Fair Process ◽  
The Future ◽  
Victims Of Crime ◽  
Willingness To Report

The Office for Victims of Crime recommends that victims should be informed, consulted, respected, and made whole, rights that relate to informational, procedural, interpersonal, and distributive justice. We surveyed 238 victims in two Pennsylvania counties to test whether crime victims’ satisfaction with the criminal justice system was related to their perceptions of the fairness of the process and of their outcomes in their case, particularly with regard to restitution. Results indicated that payment of restitution, perception of fair process, and good interpersonal treatment were positively related to victims’ willingness to report crimes in the future but that satisfaction with information about the process was not. Victims’ understanding of the restitution process was a significant predictor of willingness to report in a multivariate analysis.

scholarly journals Role of Victim in the Criminal Justice System

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 30-36
Author(s):  
MEERA MATHEW
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Crime Victims ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Victims Of Crime ◽  
The Impact

The victims of crime are those who have formerly endured injury or are possibly suffering as an outcome of crimes having been committed. The direct family or dependants of the direct victims, who are harmfully affected, are also included within the meaning of the term “Victims”. The predicament of the victims does not finish with the crime but it persists. It may even increase, following the crimes; since they have to face the rigors of the actuality, such as deficient support system, dearth of social backing, and sense of anxiety. They also experience the intricacy of police inquiry, magisterial investigation and criminal trial. The impact of victimization on different kinds of victims due to different types of crimes has been varied such as physical, psychological and financial. Through this paper writer has endeavored to check the situation of victims of crime in India and the criminal justice system. It is apparent that the desolation of the victims have not been effectively addressed or even gone out of contemplation. Victims are disregarded, may, forgotten. The paper also stresses the need to provide support to crime victims. The author of the present paper has also recommended some of the imperative steps that are to be implemented by the law enforcement agencies in India to improve the position of victims in the criminal justice system.

scholarly journals Challenges of the reform of the position of juvenile victims of crime in the Republic of Serbia

Temida ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 539-552
Author(s):  
Filip Miric
Keyword(s):  
Justice System ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Criminal Procedure ◽  
Secondary Victimization ◽  
Victims Of Crime ◽  
Child Friendly ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Criminal Legislation

The paper offers an analysis of the possible directions of the reform of juvenile criminal legislation with regard to the position of juvenile victims of crime in Serbia. The paper analyses provisions of national and international legal acts, relevant and important for the legal protection of juvenile victims. The aim is to point out the challenges and problems in the process of reform of juvenile law, which are directed towards building a ?child-friendly justice? system. In this way, as the author points, it is possible to get valuable information on which direction the reform of juvenile criminal legislation should go in order to provide basis for prevention of secondary victimization of juvenile victims of crime in the criminal procedure.

scholarly journals Protection of crime victims by legal means: International and European law and policy

Temida ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-29
Author(s):  
Marc Groenhuijsen
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Crime Victims ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Framework Decision ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
Victims Of Crime ◽  
Principles Of Justice

The article addresses the development of international and European policy in relation to victims of crime. It starts with an outline of the 1985 United Nations (UN) Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power. It demonstrates that compliance by Member States with the provisions of the Declaration is still unsatisfactory, despite serious efforts by the UN to promote its standards and norms. A similar trend is described on a regional level in Europe. In 2001, the European Union adopted a Framework Decision (a legally binding instrument) on minimum rights for crime victims in the criminal justice system. This document brought some improvement to victims and their position compared to the UN Declaration, particularly in terms of limit repeated questioning, advanced informational rights, reimbursement of expenses and construction of court facilities. Nevertheless, evaluations undertaken in 2004 and 2009 have proved that none of the Member States fully complied with its content. This document was replaced with the new one - the EU Directive on establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime. It is stronger instrument than the Framework Decision and it includes more demanding standards. But, its implementation needs to be monitored. Therefore, in the presentation it is argued that a lack of compliance is usually followed by the adoption of an even stronger legal instrument, containing even more ambitious rights for victims of crime. It is questioned whether this is the most productive approach. It is doubted that ?hard law? is always more effective than ?soft law?. The most recent generation of more elevated rights run the risk of leading to ?victim fatigue? on the part of the officials responsible for the operation of the criminal justice system.

scholarly journals Victims and the criminal justice system in India: Need for a paradigm shift in the justice system

Temida ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murugesan Srinivasan ◽  
Mathew Eyre
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Crime Victims ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
The Past ◽  
Victims Of Crime ◽  
The Way

Until 1970s the victims of crime were a forgotten entity in the criminal justice system. The attitude began to change as the discipline of victimology came into its own. The past few decades have witnessed a revolution in the way society deals with victims of crime. Many countries have now recognized the need to provide services to victims to help them recover from the effects of crime and assist them in their dealings with the criminal justice system. But in India, there has not been any significant improvement in the position of victims in the criminal justice system. The present paper has attempted to examine the position of victims of crime in India and the criminal justice system. The paper also emphasizes the need to provide assistance to crime victims. The authors of the present paper have also suggested some of the immediate steps that are to be implemented by the law enforcement agencies in India to improve the position of victims in the criminal justice system. .

Protecting Victims or Protecting the Brand? Secondary Victimization and Cruise Ship Crime

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110358
Author(s):  
Morgan Wilson ◽  
Natalia Hanley
Keyword(s):  
Justice System ◽  
Mandatory Reporting ◽  
Cruise Ship ◽  
Crime Victimization ◽  
Sexual Offences ◽  
Secondary Victimization ◽  
Cruise Industry ◽  
Cruise Ships ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
Victims Of Crime

It is now widely recognized that victims of crime in general, and victims of sexual offences in particular, commonly experience secondary victimization resulting from dismissive, poor, and sometimes retraumatizing treatment when they encounter the formal criminal justice system. However, little is known about victims’ experiences when initially reporting crime outside of the formal justice system, for example crime that occurs during cruise ship holidays. The cruise industry is the fastest growing tourism sector. The total number of passengers onboard cruise ships internationally was expected to reach 30 million in 2019. There is limited reliable data about how many people experience crime onboard cruise ships, though crime victimization does occur. While victimization onboard cruise ships has received some attention, there is a dearth of evidence about when and how victims report crime, how victims are treated when they report their experience of crime to cruise ship companies, or the justice outcomes. Nor does the available data address whether victims of crime from diverse social groups are treated differently by cruise companies. Drawing on qualitative accounts produced by primary and secondary victims of crime onboard cruise ships, it is argued that as well as the known challenges that victims face, the addition of brand protection can compound cruise ship victims’ experiences of secondary victimization. Secondary victimization refers to additional, or compounded harms experienced because of social or systemic responses to their experience of crime. There are three key implications of these findings: greater understanding of crime victims’ experiences should be developed via refined, mandatory reporting of crime onboard cruise ships, and robust qualitative research; cruise ship staff need improved specialized training in responding to victims of crime, and legislation should be considered mandating an independent authority onboard cruise ships to receive, investigate and monitor victimization reports and responses.

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