NCJ Number
223157
Date Published
2007
Length
36 pages
Annotation
Given the unprecedented increase in interest in the needs and situations of crime victims among various scientific disciplines, feminism, and policymakers over the last 30 years, this chapter presents a comparative analytical overview of these developments across a number of Anglo-speaking countries from the northern and southern hemispheres.
Abstract
From the evidence collected and analyzed, the chapter concludes that the degree of recognition of victims' rights differs by jurisdiction but is apparently most widespread in the United States, where all States provide victim support and compensation; and approximately 30 States have mandated victims' rights. The U.S. Government has made the extraordinary step of extending this mandatory support to U.S. citizens who are the victims of terrorists within and outside its borders; however, regarding the inclusion of victims in the justice process, the "circle" sentencing of Indigenous offenders of the kind established in Canada and now widely used in Australia provides the most scope for the involvement of victims in the criminal processing of their cases. In juvenile justice systems across Anglo-speaking countries, the increasing use of youth conferencing and restorative-justice models of intervention have also improved the role of victims in processing certain types of crime. Specialized courts designed to provide a context sensitive to victims of certain crime types is the newest measure being considered for implementation in the United Kingdom and for pilot testing in Australia. The emergence of victim's charters; victims' registers; and the use of victim impact statements in sentencing, probation, and parole hearings have also extended the victim's role in the administration of criminal justice. Most of the measures, however, are still limited, are in the early stages of development, or are symbolic without changing the fundamental status of or services to victims. 20 notes and 88 references