Victims and the Criminal Justice System

Introduction

• The concept of victimhood is dynamic and continues to evolve.
    - It reflects various social characteristics such as:
      - Race
      - Class
      - Gender
      - Sexuality

• The definition of victimhood is intertwined with broader social values, moral judgments, and power relations.

• Example of societal perception:
    - The death of a police officer often evokes more outrage compared to the death of other individuals in the community.

Victimhood and Gender

• Women killed by male partners often face greater risks but receive less attention and sympathy, particularly when compared to police officers who are killed in the line of duty.

Media Representation of Crime Victims

• The primary objective of media representations of crime victims is to convey factual information in a manner that is both engaging and entertaining.
    - Media outlets need to sell their product; as a result, crime stories constitute the fourth largest category in newspapers and television.

• There is a significant overrepresentation of crime in the media compared to actual crime rates.

• Trends in crime news:
    - Focus largely on violent crimes, especially homicides.
    - Homicides are the least common criminal occurrences yet are reported disproportionately in the news.
    - The quantity of reported crime does not directly correlate with the actual amount of crime occurring.

• Police as a primary source of crime news:
    - Police provide efficient and seemingly accurate information regarding crime.
    - Crime news typically prioritizes the focus on offenders, often neglecting the perspectives of victims.
    - The portrayal by police often represents victims without a complete understanding of their narratives.

What is Victimology?

• Victimology is a sub-discipline of criminology focusing on all aspects concerning victims.
    - It encompasses two main approaches:
      - Mainstream Approach:
        - Concentrates on the victim's relationship with the state, notably the criminal justice system.
        - Conventional victimology studies the relationship between crime victims and offenders.
        - Traditionally lacks emphasis on victims' issues within this system.
      - Critical Approach:
        - Challenges the definitions of victimization, investigating the social, political, and structural factors influencing it.
        - Examines power dynamics that shape the criminal justice system's workings.
        - Questions the presumed neutrality of police, courts, and corrections.
        - Critiques how societal status influences perceptions of victims and offenders, diverting attention from the role of the state in crime production.

Emergence of Various Approaches in Victimology

• Key focal points in the evolution of victimology:
    - Class focus
    - Feminist perspective
    - Ethnic and racial perspectives
    - Consideration of sexual orientation
    - Age-related issues

Defining the Victim

• Victims are defined as individuals who have experienced victimization and possess certain distinguishing characteristics, setting them apart from non-victims:
    - Emphasizes the differentiation of victims from offenders.
    - Highlights the passive role of victims as recipients of harm.
    - Acknowledges the state's active role in determining which victims are visible or recognized.
    - Example: The colonization and subsequent systemic exclusion of Aboriginal peoples in Canada illustrates how historical and social factors shape victimization narratives.

The Role of Victims in the Criminal Justice Process

• The mainstream approach within the criminal justice system usually restricts the victim's role to that of a witness for the prosecution.
    - This process often prioritizes the offender's actions and state-controlled crime measures, sidelining victim needs and experiences.

• After a case concludes, victims typically receive no further support or services, reinforcing their marginalization.

Characteristics of the Ideal Victim

• The Ideal Victim is someone to whom society readily assigns complete legitimacy as a victim due to various attributes such as:
    - Being perceived as weak.
    - Engaging in a respectable project or behavior.
    - Lacking any responsibility or blame for their victimization.
    - Having enough power or social capital to bring their case to public attention.

• The Offender is often characterized as:
    - Bad, with no personal relationship to the victim.
    - Ideally, the victim is perceived as harmless or weak, so as not to infringe on the interests of society's more powerful groups.

Portrayal of Non-Ideal Victims

• Victims considered less legitimate often include:
    - Sex trade workers
    - Drug users or dealers
    - The homeless

• Historical examples demonstrate how societal norms have framed certain individuals as acceptable targets:
    - Previous rape legislation rendered wives as culturally legitimate victims of rape.
    - In some cases, parental discipline has been construed as justifiable harm to children.

Specific Challenges for Aboriginal Women

• Societal perceptions lead to the normalization of violence against Aboriginal women, leading to such cases often going unreported or receiving minimal response from the justice system.
    - Example: The Picton case outlines the systemic violence faced by vulnerable populations.

Gendering the Concept of Victim

• The examination of victimization involves an analysis of gender as it intersects with:
    - Social scripts
    - Moral judgments
    - Social reactions within the criminal justice system.

Historical Context of Sexual Assault

• Traditional definitions of rape included:
    - Involving sexual intercourse initiated by a man with a woman who is not his wife, without her consent or under circumstances of consent obtained through threats.

• Key aspects included:
    - Focus on penetration as a measure of rape.
    - Rape could only be perpetrated by men against women, excluding marital rape.

Treatment of Rape Victims by Law Enforcement

• Historically, rape victims experienced negative treatment by police and judicial systems:
    - The case of Jane Doe illustrated that law enforcement would sometimes exploit women as means to apprehend serial offenders (1986).
    - Victims faced distrust and were often seen as unreliable witnesses.
    - This treatment highlighted violations of victims' rights under the Charter, in terms of personal security and equal protection under the law.

Legal Developments Post-Rape Laws

• Jane Doe's successful lawsuit resulted in a $220,000 compensation.

• In 1984, Canadian rape laws were repealed and replaced, introducing three levels of sexual assault laws:
    - De-emphasized penetration.
    - Removed gendered language that restricted perpetration and victimization to specific genders.
    - Shifted focus to violent acts characterized by power dynamics and aggression.

Continuing Issues for Sexual Assault Victims

• Challenges persist for victims of sexual assault, including:
    - The prevailing assumptions about victims' behavior impacting credibility, which should not be relevant to their experience.
    - High non-reporting rates for sexual assault at 88%, in contrast to 66% for other types of criminal victimization.
    - Limited statistical data regarding male sexual assault victims.

Masculinity and Victimization

• Social constructs of masculinity contribute to barriers for men in reporting fears of assault.
    - This reflects broader issues of male dominance and entrenched power structures within society.