Victims should play a big role within the criminal justice system as the majority of crimes that are investigated by the police are reported by the victim; they can also provide evidence and information on a crime, as well as stand as witnesses in court (Davies, 2007 pp253-254). With playing such an important role within detection, reporting and ‘prosecuting’ crime that the criminal justice system should hold them in a higher esteem. One of the many aims of the criminal justice system is “to deliver justice on behalf of the victims”(Davies, 2007, p255) but it is commonly known that the justice system is based more on punishing the offender and delivering justice to society as a whole than to an individual victim.
This wasn’t always the case, in the middle ages, before the police service and the state were produced, it was the victim and/or the victim’s family that brought the offender to justice and they were responsible rectifying and gaining some means for the harms committed against them, they had a more “central role” (Spalek, 2006, p15). They also received any payment made by the offender, like the state now does with criminal fines. The criminal justice system emerged in the mid 20th century alongside the Industrial Revolution, which developed urbanised communities making bonds between people less personal, and the Crown gained control over the compensation received from the offender, this made the attention of the criminal justice rapidly focus on the punishment of the offender than restoring the victim, a focus which hasn’t changed.
Victims suffered from many issues and concerns when the state reduced their role within the justice process, mainly in the form of secondary victimization. This is where the victim is subsequently harmed even more through the criminal justice system and its process, (Newburn, 2007) the media can also cause secondary victimization. It has been known that victims have suffered from a number of the criminal justice agencies, they have been neglected by the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the courts; they have been blamed for the crimes committed against them by the police, the courts and the media. Victims had too, still do, stand up in court and they have to defend themselves and their actions as to why they were victimized against (Carrabine, Iganski, Lee, & Plummer, 2004). Every victim is different and therefore so is their emotional and physical needs but it wasn’t until the 1940’s that study of victims and victimology emerged.
It was when this new subject of victimology was examined and explored that landmarks in victim’s assistance and support were campaigned for and introduced. The first by Margery Fry, in the 1950’s, who campaigned for compensation for victims and this resulted in the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. It was in the 1970’s when the majority of the victim’s movement, Victim Support emerged as well as Women’s Aid. Legislation was also campaigned for which resulted in acts like the Domestic Violence and Matrimonial Proceedings Act. In the 1980’s the first funding for Victim Support was granted by the Home Office, Childline was established, and the first British Crime Survey was introduced and published. In the 1990’s the first Victim’s Charter was published, and over the last 8 years many legislations and acts have be revised in order to fulfil some of the many needs and rights of the victims (Davies, Francis, & Greer, 2007).
The new legislations, rights and codes have indeed helped many victim’s, there is now a range of financial aid. There is support and treatment for victims involving counselling, medical treatment and compensation (Elias, 1993, p27). But the majority of this support is made through unofficial agencies of the criminal justice system; through the help of charities and independent organisations. The British Crime Survey 2007/2008 found that only 36% of victims were very or fairly confident in the way the criminal justice system treated them (Home Office, 2008). But having legislation and Codes of Practices put into place does not necessarily mean that the criminal justice system is now more interested in serving the victim and placing them at the top of their agenda.
The criminal justice system has done a lot over the last 40 years to help the victims and ensure their rights and needs are met, but they seem to be doing this through secondary sources such as charities and independent organisations, many of which would possibly not be around today if it wasn’t for the emergence of victimology, which was developed by academics. The criminal justice system needs to come up with a system where their priorities of punishing the offender and delivering justice to the victim are equally balanced. Victims should be made to feel important within the criminal justice system and that the information that they provide is important to the investigation and then maybe more victims would come forward and report their crimes. The criminal justice system is going the right way about bringing the victim to its heart but it has taken 40 years to get this far and it will take a number of more years until the victims are rightfully placed.
References
Carrabine, E., Iganski, P., Lee, M., & Plummer, K. &. (2004). Criminology: A Sociological Introduction. Abingdon: Routledge.
Davies, P., Francis, P., & Greer, C. (2007). Victims, Crime and Society. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
Dignan, J. (2005). Understanding Victims and Restorive Justice. Berkshire: Open University Press.
Hale, C., Hayward, K., Wahiden, A., & Wincup, E. (2005). Criminology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Home Office. (2008) Crime in England & Wales 2007/2008: Findings from the British Crime Survey and police recorded crime. Retrieved November 2008 from http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs08/hosb0708.pdf
Johns, S. (2006). Criminology (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Newburn, T. (2007). Criminology. Devon: William Publishing.
Spalek, B. (2006). Crime Victims; Theroy, Policy and Practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
