NCJ Number
113965
Date Published
1988
Length
12 pages
Annotation
After an introduction of the four main trends within the victims movement internationally, this chapter discusses the various stages of its ideological development since the 1960's, followed by an overview of the achievements of the victims movement in various parts of the Western world and an exposition of the author's own 'victimagogic' preferences.
Abstract
The four victimagogic ideologies within the victims movement are the care ideology, which holds that the community should carry the burden of severe hardship on individual citizens; the rehabilitation ideology, which reasons that the state should, in so far as possible, restore crime victims to their states before crimes; the retributive ideology, which holds that victims deserve justice; and the abolitionist ideology, which supports civil proceedings for the resolution of offender-victim conflicts. The first wave of global trends in the victims movement since 1960 consisted of state victim compensation and initiatives by probation officers (1965-75). The second wave involved the establishment of rape crisis centers, shelter homes, and victim support schemes (VSS) (1975-80). The third wave has involved the institutionalization of victims support and the call for justice (1980-87). In the third wave, guided by the care ideology and the retributive ideology, the victims movement has been successful in expanding victim assistance across North American and Europe and improving the victim's position in the framework of criminal law. The author views the ideal victims program as a combination of a humanized criminal justice system and a network of outreaching VSS with a strong input from the local community.