VICTIMOLOGY

MEANING, NATURE, SCOPE AND

EMERGING TRENDS

SUBMITTED TO - SUBMITTED BY –

PROF. DR. AJAY RANGA HARIDHI AGGARWAL

UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF LEGAL STUDIES 243/16

PANJAB UNIVERSITY 10TH SEMESTER

CHANDIGARH SECTION - C
 MEANING, NATURE, SCOPE & EMERGING TRENDS IN VICTIMOLOGY

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This project would be incomplete without expressing my gratitude towards the people who
made it possible for me to finish it on time and with accuracy.
Firstly, I would like to thank our Criminology, Penology and Victimology Professor Dr. Ajay
Ranga for giving me the requisite guidelines and helping me in fulfilling the loopholes of my
project.
Secondly, I would like to thank my family member‘s friends who constantly gave me advice
on the quality of information and helped me in completing my project.
Lastly I would like to thank our library staff for helping me in collecting the material and the
required books for the project.

Haridhi Aggarwal

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENT ....................................................................................................... 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................... 3
VICTIMOLOGY AND ITS DEFINITIONS ......................................................................... 4
CONCEPT AND SCOPE OF VICTIMOLOGY .................................................................... 6
EMERGING TRENDS OF VICTIMOLOGY ..................................................................... 14
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................... 19
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................... 20

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VICTIMOLOGY AND ITS DEFINITIONS

INTRODUCTION –
From late 1989 to late 1993, in the Australian state of New South Wales, a dozen or so young
tourists had gone missing along one of the country’s major highways. Many of the bodies
were later found in the Belanglo State Forest, in varying stages of decay. Some traveled in
pairs, others alone. They were both males and females, aged between 19 and 22. They come
from different backgrounds, different countries, and were traveling to different destinations.
Despite these differences, all of the victims shared a common characteristic that linked them:
they were hikers and backpackers. These similarities had the possibility of providing
investigators with a clue about the likely perpetrator of the crimes, and provide the profiler
with vital information not only about the perpetrator, but about the victims themselves.

Collectively, this information is referred to as “Victimology” or the study of victims: an

examination of every facet of their lifestyle, background, health, and physical characteristics.
It is hoped that through an in-depth examination of the victims, we may know the perpetrator
a little better. Victimology is important in the overall investigative process because it not only
tells us who the victims were, their health and personal history, social habits and personality,
but also provides ideas as to why they were chosen as victims. In many situations, the
offender will hold back from choosing a victim until one that meets his needs comes along,
possibly allowing him to fulfill some fantasy or desire he has. Because of this, the way the
victim is chosen is important and gives an insight into how the offender thinks, which
subsequently affects how the perpetrator acts. If we are able to determine how the offender is
acting now, we may be better able to determine his future behavior, possibly leading to a
successful arrest.

DEFINITION OF VICTIMOLOGY –
The word “VICTIMOLOGY” was coined in 1947 by a French lawyer, Benjamin
Mendelssohn from a Latin word ‘VICTIMA’ and a Greek word ‘LOGOS’. Victimology is
basically a study of crime from the point of view of the victim, of the persons suffering from
injury or destruction by action of another person or a group of persons.

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Schultz (1970) says - “Victimology is the study of the degree of and type of participation of
the victim in the gensis or development of the offences and an evaluation of what is just and
proper for the victim’s welfare”.

Drapkin and Viano (1974) - “Victimology is the branch of criminology which primarily
studies the victims of crime and everything that is connected with such are victim.”

In a Broder prespective Antilla (1975) - “Victimology studies by logical, Sociological,

Psychological and criminological aspects about the victims and brings into focus the victim-
offender relationship and the role played by the victim in occurence of the offence.”

Separovic (1975) - “Victimology is the entire body of knowledge regarding victims,

victimization and to preserve the rights of victim; thus it is composed of knowledge drawn
from such fields Asiminology, Safety, Law, Medicine, Psychology, Social Work, Education
and Public Administration.”7

Parsonage (1979) - “Victimology concerns the interaction in which both the criminal and the
victim have functional role and responsibilities.”

Shinder (1982) - “It investigates the relationship between offender and victim in crime
causation. It deals with the process of victimization, of becoming a victim, and in this context
directs much of its attention to the problem victim-offender, sequence, i.e. the question of
whether or not victimization can have crimogenic effects or can encourage crime.”

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CONCEPT AND SCOPE OF VICTIMOLOGY

CONCEPT OF VICTIMOLOGY –
Victimology is the scientific study of victims of crime, a sub discipline of criminology. It
seeks to study the relationship between victim and offenders, the persons especially
vulnerable to crimes and the victims. Placement in the criminal justice system (CJS)
Benjamin Mendelsohn has done pioneering work in this field. B. Mendelsohn is credited with
being the first study to the relationship between victim and doer (offender) and taken
together, he termed to else PENAL COUPLE. Mendelssohn studied victims on the basis of
their contributions to crimes and classified them into the following categories.
Completely innocent victims, e.g. Child, Persons in sleep
1. Victims with minor guilt and victims of ignorance such as pregnant women who go to
quacks for procuring abortions
2. Voluntary victims, such as the ones who commit suicide or are killed by euthanasia.
3. Victims who are more guilty then offenders such as persons who provoke others to
commit crimes. EG: the criminal type of victims who commits offences against others
and get killed or hurt by others in self-defense.
Until recently, victims were not studied. They tended to be seen as passive recipients of the
criminal’s greed or anger, “in the wrong place at the wrong time.” The study of victims,
known as victimology, has resulted in theoretical and research studies, and an awareness of
the victim has grown in the public consciousness. There is now recognition that victims have
traditionally not been treated particularly well by the criminal justice system. Victims suffer
not only during the crime, but that there are also sometimes physical and psychological
complications.
Perhaps the first theory to explain victimization was developed by Wolfgang in his study of
murders in Philadelphia. Victim precipitation theory argues that there are victims who
actually initiated the confrontation that led to their injuries and deaths. Although this was the
result of the study of only one type of crime, the idea was first raised that victims also might
play a role in the criminal activity. Subsequently, some general facts have been gathered
about victimization.
1. Victimization is more likely at night (6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.). Personal larceny is more
common during the day, with more serious crime occurring at night.

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2. Crime occurs more in open public areas, although rapes and simple assaults tend to
occur in homes.
3. Crime is most frequent in central city areas.
4. Western urban areas have the highest crime rates, while the Northeast rural areas have
the lowest.
5. The National Crime Survey indicates that 25% of U.S. households have at least one
individual who was victimized in some way during the past year.
6. Personal theft is very common. About 99% of Americans will be the victim of personal
theft at some time in their lives, and 87% will be a theft victim three or more times.
7. Men are twice as likely as women to be victims of robbery and assault. The violent
victimization rate for females has been fairly stable, but there has been a 20% increase
for males in the last 15 years.
8. Victim risk diminishes rapidly after age 25. Contrary to popular belief, grandparents
are safer than their grandchildren.
9. Unmarried/never married people are more likely to be victims than the married or
widowed.
10. The poor are more likely to be victims of crime. They are far more likely to be victims
of violent crime, while the middle class are more likely to be victims of property crime.
11. African Americans are victimized at the highest rates. Crime tends to be intra-racial
(criminals and victims of the same race) rather than interracial (criminal and victim of
different races). About 75% of crime is intra-racial.
12. Strangers commit about 60% of violent crimes. However, females are more likely to
know their assailants.
13. In some studies, over half of offenders report is being under the influence of alcohol
and/or other drugs when they committed the offense resulting in incarceration.
14. The characteristics of those most likely to be victimized might be summarized as:
young, black, urban, poor and male.

CONCEPT OF VICTIMOLOGY IN INDIA –

Victimology is science of study of the relationship between victims and violators of
law or offenders. Government has recently reinforced this political commitment in the
form of funds for the National Association of Victim Support Schemes (NAVSS). In

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1964, when the United Kingdom became one of the 1st countries to establish a policy
commitment to victims of crime in the form of criminal injuries compensation Board.
The reports of 1st and 2nd British Crime Surveys have begun to shed some light on
the nature of the relationship between victims and offenders. In particular, attention
has been paid to the attitude that victims have towards the treatment of offenders.1

SCOPE OF VICTIMOLOGY –

 Victimology is study of crime from Victim’s Point of View –

Victimology is basically study of crime from victim’s point of view. The first international
conference on victimology under the auspices of United Nations was held in Jerusalem in the
year 1973 followed by another in Boston in 1976. Where the problems of victims, legal
positions of victims in criminal proceedings, compensation for victims lies.
The victim is the forgotten man of our criminal justice system. He sets the criminal law in
to motion but then goes into oblivion. The present code of criminal procedure does
not recognize the right of victim to take part in the prosecution of the case instituted
on the basis of police report. The victim is merely a witness in a State versus case.
He has no rights to prefer appeal against the order of acquittal of the accused by
trial court in a criminal case started by State. The State reserves the discretion not
to prefer and also to withdraw from the prosecution even in heinous offences. The
victim of crime becomes the victim of our criminal justice system when the political
motivated investigation agency or prosecuting agency shows lack of interest or
apathy in the matter of investigation or prosecution on extraneous consideration.

 Victimology analysis the victim-offender relations and the interaction between

victims and the criminal justice system –
The process of being a victim involves two dimensions, individual and societal. It is therefore
incumbent upon victimology to develop a theoretical models that cut across levels of analysis
and which incorporates the dynamics of normal social intercourse as a basis of understanding
how victims cope and in addressing victim needs. Psycho-dynamically there are three
interfacing roles: victim, prosecutor and rescuer.

1
https://www.academia.edu

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Victimization is not a thing independent of varying interpretations, it is those

intrepretations. Victimizations is not complete until it has been reaffirmed by rescuer. It then
takes on an identity separate from the victim/offender (prosecutor) interaction.

 Victim of Abuse of Power –

The term “victim” has not been defined in the Indian Criminal Jurisprudence. The term
victim of abuse of power is such a broad and ambiguous concept that sometimes it is argued
that this concept includes abuse between entities. An important object to the criminal justice
system is to ensure justice to the victims, yet he/she is not given any substantial right, not
even to participate in the criminal proceedings. The Declaration of United Nations makes it
clear that for some victimization occurs as a result of the actions of the governments and
business laws, and furthermore that must traditional victimization is caused by social
victimization often resulting from the actions of governments and business. 2

 Victimology is also study of restitution and compensation –

Modern State is welfare state in which the welfare of its citizen is of paramount
consideration. With new developments in the field of victimology, the victim of crime has a
significant role. Although the legislation of some states has in one form or another, accepted
the principle of restitution “the unfortunate victims of criminality were habitually ignored”
right up to present time.3 In India, there are five possible statutory provisions under which
compensation may be awarded to victims of crime, namely:
 Fatal Accidents Act, 1855;
 Motor Vehicles Act, 1988;
 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973;
 Probation of Offenders Act, 1958;
 Constitutional remedies for human rights’ violations;
Compensation means something given in recompense, i.e., equivalent rendered. The
object of compensation is not to give punishment for the wrong inflicted. It is neither reward
nor punishment. The sole purpose of is to make good for the loss sustained by the victims or
the legal representatives of the deceased. 4 Legislation conferred jurisdiction on the

2
Katherine S. Williams, ‘Textbook on Criminology’, 3rd Edition, First Indian Reprint, 2001, Universal law
Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., p. 101.
3
Stephen Schafer, ‘Restitution to Victims of Crime’, London Stevens & Sons Limited, 1960, p. 7.
4
R.K. Bag, ‘Perspectives in Victimology in Context of Criminal Justice System’, Journal of the Indian Law
Institute, Vol.41, 1999, p.83.

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criminal courts under Section 357(3)5 for awarding unlimited amount of compensation
to the victims at the time of passing judgment of conviction. This provision is not
ancillary to other provisions of criminal procedure code, but in addition thereto. By
the landmark judgment in Hari Kisan’s case6 the Supreme Court not only awarded
compensation of Rs.50,000/- to the victim, but also directed the subordinate criminal
courts to exercise the power of awarding compensation to the victims of offences in
such a liberal way that the victims may not have to rush to the civil courts for
compensation to the victims. Unfortunately, the subordinate judiciary is rarely invoking
this provision to award compensation to the victims, where the accused persons are
acquitted of the charge on benefit of doubt or on any technicalities of laws.
The General Assembly of the United Nation’s has recommended payment of
compensation to the victims of crime by the State, when compensation is not fully
available from the offender or other sources. Unfortunately, the victims of communal
riots, dacoity, arson and rape are not getting compensation in our present justice
system. Since the State is under duty to protect the life, liberty and security of its
citizens, it is bound to pay compensation to the victims of crime irrespective of
whether the accused is convicted or acquitted of the criminal charge. As the
government is indifferent to the crying need of the victims, the apex court directed
the Government to set up a criminal injuries compensation Board, under the
supervision of criminal courts for awarding compensation to victims of all crimes
including rape or dacoity, in addition to the directions given to National Commission
for women to evolve a proposal for rehabilitation and compensatory justice to rape
victims. Payment of compensation to the victims of crime for any injury caused to
him has not been institutionalized under the Indian Penal Laws. Nor any legal right
to be compensated has been created in favour of the victim. In case of irreversible
injury monetary compensation is the sole effective remedy. In India there is neither a
comprehensive legislation nor a statutory scheme providing for compensation by State
to offender to victims of crime.
The legislative vacuum of a legal right to monetary compensation for violation of
human rights has been supplemented by the higher judiciary by developing a parallel
constitutional remedy. The Supreme Court for the first time in made it categorically
clear that the higher judiciary has the power to award compensation for violation of

5
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
6
Hari Kishan & Anr. v. Sukhbir Singh & Ors., AIR 1988 SC 212.

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fundamental rights through the exercise of writ jurisdiction and evolved the principle
of compensatory justice in the annals of human rights jurisprudence.7 The Supreme
Court direct State of Bihar to pay the sum of Rs.15,000/- as compensation to Bhama
Oraon who was illegally detained for 6 years and kept in mental hospital when he
was not in same. 8 On account of failure of Government to produce in habeas corpus
petition filed by wives, apex court awarded cost of Rs. 1 lac to be given to wife of
each of detenue.9

 Innovative approach of Apex court –

The Supreme Court has forged new tools, devised new methods and adopted new
strategies for the purpose of making fundamental rights meaningful even to the
victims of crime of crime in AIR 1995 SC 14, the Supreme Court10 directed the
State of Uttar Pradesh to suspend and start disciplinary action against two police
officers and one medical officer for making perfunctory investigation of rape case to
pay the amount of Rs.2,50,000/- as compensation.
There is plethora of decisions, where Supreme Court awarded compensation to the
victims, whose plight was brought to the notice of the apex court either by
themselves or by way of public interest litigation. Millions of victims of crime, who
cannot approach the apex court out of ignorance of lack of resources are still crying
for justice with the aim of protecting the human rights of victim in our criminal
justice system and to fulfill the constitutional obligation. The Supreme court should
ask the Government to confer jurisdiction on the criminal courts by making statutory
provision for the compensation of the victims of crime, irrespective of whether the
accused is convicted or not and to make statutory provision for participation of the
victim in prosecution, along with prosecuting agency in a criminal case instituted on
report of police.

 Compensation to Rape victims -

Right of the rape victim to receive compensation flows from Art.21 of the
constitution. Every court has jurisdiction to grant compensation not only at the final

7
Rudal Sah v. State of Bihar, AIR 1983 SC 1086.
8
Oraon v. State of Bihar.
9
Sebastain v. Union of India, AIR 1984 SC 1826
10
AIR 1995 SC 14.

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stage of trial but also to award interim compensation at any interlocutory stage of
trial . 11 The Apex Court indicated a scheme to award compensation to rape victim both
at the time of trial i.e., interim compensation to rape victim and at the end of the
trial. The Supreme Court suggested the establishment of criminal injuries
compensation Board under Art. 38(1) of the Constitution of India. The rape victim shall
be paid compensation by this Criminal injuries compensation board or the court and
while awarding compensation the following particulars are to be taken into account
to calculate the compensation amount i.e., pain, suffering and shocks experienced by
the victims and also loss of earnings due to pregnancy and the expenses of child
birth if this occurs as a result of the rape.. Unfortunately till now this criminal
injuries compensation Board has not been established by the Central Government.12
In D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal13, the landmark judgment Supreme Court
has laid down number of guidelines to prevent custodial violence including rape,
and has recognized that custodial rape could be compensated as the same violated
Rights to life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the
Constitution. The Hon’ble Apex Court has held that the court of session have every
authority to award interim compensation if prime facie case against the accused has
been established that a person had sexual relationship with the prosecutrix on false
assurance of marriage. The Supreme Court has directed the guilty person to pay
Rs.1000/- pm as interim compensation to the prosecutrix during pendency of case. 14
This judgment is a precedent for granting interim compensation to the rape victims.
The Supreme court held that even a prostitute has a right to privacy and no person
can rape her just because she is a woman of easy virtue.15

 The duty of Court while trying rape cases –

The police, court and lawyers should come forward to provide all sorts of assistance
to victims of rape. Courts must deal with such cases with utmost sensitivity. The court
should examine the broader probabilities of case and not get swayed by minor
contradictions or insignificant discrepancies in witness statements. The court should also
provide adequate financial assistance to the victim of rape. It could also award

11
AIR 1996 SC 922.
12
Delhi Domestic Working Women’s Forum v. Union of India, 1995(1) SCC 14 .
13
(1997) 1 SCC 416: AIR 1997 SC 610.
14
Bodhi Sattra Goutham v. Subhra Chakraborthy.
15
State of Maharashtra v. Madhukar N. Mardikar, (1991) 1SCC 57.

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interim compensation as in Rathinam / State of Gujarat the court awarded interim

compensation to tribal woman who was illegally raped in police custody in the
presence of her husband. Sum of Rs. 50,000/- was provided by the State of Gujarat. Apart
from providing financial assistance the victim should be provided medical, social,
psychological assistance which would help her to come out of her trauma.
U/s. 18(3) of the protection of Human Rights Act 1993 National Human Rights
Commission has powers to advance the cause of compensatory justice to the victims
of Torture. There is ample scope of law reform to protect the victims of sexual
offences in general and the victims of rape in
particular. Evidence Act is amended suitably. Evidence of victim is taken in close room.
Defense counsel be prohibited from putting question on past character of victim.
Judges and prosecutors may be sanitized to the need of evaluation of evidence of
victims of rape. Though there is a need of legislation in the field, it is equally
essential to implement the existing provisions. The people should be aware of these
laws for their effective implementation. All concern responsible citizen should take
effective steps to implement the provisions under law.

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EMERGING TRENDS OF VICTIMOLOGY

Compensatory Criminal Jurisprudence –

The policy of our criminal justice system is victim-oriented and we have to a certain extent
incorporated the idea of compensatory criminal jurisprudence. The problem arises in
implementation of this policy. The attitude of the judiciary needs change. The provisions
being discretionary, it neither imposes a legal obligation on the judge to order compensation
in all suitable cases to the victim of crime, nor does it require reasons to be recorded for not
doing so. Similarly, these provisions do not vest in the victims a legal right to be
compensated either by the accused or the state for loss or injury caused by the commission of
the offence. The victim remains at the mercy of the discretion of the judge for the award of
compensation because of the word ‘may’ in Sections 357(1) and (3) of CrPC; this being the
vanishing point of victim compensation in India. Mere punishment to the accused though it
may exhaust the primary function of criminal law, is not fulfilment of the Rule of Law.
Hence, the court should be liberal in utilising the discretion vested in them in granting
compensation to the injured in a criminal case. It is imperative to convert the discretionary
power of the court into a legal mandate requiring it to in all suitable cases, pass compensation
orders and when it decides not to do so, make it obligatory to record reasons for not doing so.
From the aforesaid cases we may conclude that the Apex Court in India has set a trend of
compensatory criminal justice jurisprudence, which in effect is developing the ground
towards restorative justice in our criminal justice system.

An informal approach to delinquents and their victims: An alternative to standard

punishment –
Though positive criminology was focused on a delinquent population hoping to prevent
recidivism, it is important to understand the methods and approaches used, which have been
proven to be successful. In the field of positive victimology, these methods may be adapted
and improved when applied on victims. In our humble opinion, by creating a platform to the
field of positive victimology, we are in fact giving a voice to the victim, while being attentive
to his or her special needs in this process of reconnection. In other words, in order to build a
perspective that will reflect the voice of the victims16 we must check the unifying components

16
Ben-David, S. (2000) Needed: Victim’s victimology. In: P.C. Friday, G.F. Kirchhoff (eds.) Victimology at the
transition from the 20th to the 21st century. Mönchengladbach: Shaker Verlag and WSVP, pp. 55-72.

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that were presented in regards to the criminal population. Positive victimology addresses an
element of prevention. Despite the fact the subject of prevention is already established within
the world of criminology. 17Prevention of victimization or further victimization is in need of a
special focus, that of the victim. This practice may be a continuation to the communitarian
approaches discussed in many prevention models 18, only with a different level of sensitivity
to the current or potential needs of the victims. When it comes to victims’ rehabilitation, a
holistic, spiritual approach exemplifies positive victimology, as it highlights the possibility
for growth beyond the pain19. Such an approach may include self-help components, similar to
those used successfully in the recovery of other populations. 20 in which social acceptance,
understanding and support are key features. Since victimization many times creates a process
of social alienation. 21 The role of social acceptance and inclusion is central to positive
victimology. In the field of law-enforcement, positive victimology should take on a victim-
oriented, integrating practice. Unfortunately, law-enforcement systems in their current
approach, as seen worldwide, tend to cause secondary victimization (Hulsmann, 2006).
Positive victimology raises the need for a different approach by, for example, expanding the
concept of “due process“, traditionally directed towards offenders only. Positive victimology
aspires to include victims under “due process” during law-enforcement proceedings.
Furthermore it should include victim-oriented practices by law-enforcement that have the
ability to enhance positive experiences for survivors.22
Positive victimology supports the ideas inspiring to promote a therapeutic jurisprudence
model, and those suggesting rehabilitation for all the involved parties. Finally, the principles
of positive criminology in law-enforcement are to a great degree exemplified by the practice
of restorative justice, that attempts to bring together the interests of all parties involved. 23

17
Hawkins, J.D., Arthur, W.M., Olson, J.J. (1997) Community interventions to reduce risk and enhance
protection against antisocial behavior. In: M.D. Stoff, J. Breiling, D.J. Maser (eds.) Handbook of antisocial
behavior. New York: John Wiley, pp. 365-374.
18
Etzioni, A. (1988) The moral dimension. New York: Free Press.
19
Ronel, N. (2006) When good overcomes bad: The impact of volunteers on those they help. Human Relations,
8, pp. 1133-1153.
20
Brende, J. O. (1995) Twelve themes and spiritual steps. In: G.S. Everly, Jr., J. M. Lating (eds.)
Psycotraumatology. New York: Plenum Press, pp. 211-229.
21
Levy, I., Ben-David, S. (2008) Blaming victims and bystanders in the context of rape. In: N. Ronel, K.
Jaishankar, M. Bensimon (eds.) Trends and issues in Victimology. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars
Publishing, pp. 175-191.
22
Aharoni-Goldenberg, S., Wilchek-Aviad, Y. (2008) Restitution: A multilateral penal approach. In: N. Ronel,
K. Jaishankar, M. Bensimon (eds.) Trends and issues in Victimology. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge
Scholars Publishing, pp. 88-111.
23
Shachaf-Friedman, E., Timor, U. (2008) Family-group conferencing in Israel: The voices of victims following
restorative justice proceedings. In: N. Ronel, K. Jaishankar, M. Bensimon (eds.) Trends and issues in
Victimology. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 57-87.

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Restorative justice raises another related component of recovery, according to positive

victimology, that is, reconciliation and forgiveness.24 Although it is challenging for victims to
forgive their offenders. The study of forgiveness repeatedly presents the value for victims as
they succeed, under appropriate conditions, to experience some degree of forgiveness.25
Forgiveness, by definition, is an inclusive practice. It might be the cornerstone of recovery
programs designated for survivors of victimization. Early victimological literature indicated
several categories of victims. Most of these typologies named weak individuals or groups as
potential victims with woman, the young, the old and the mentally retarded being primary
examples. However, Ben-David (2000) questions how much these observations do represent
an objective? Positive victimology attempts to provide an answer by changing the way we
look at victims: rather than emphasizing their weakness and risks, we attempt to appreciate
their strengths and opportunities for growth. The event or process of victimization, which is
usually a turning point in an individual’s life, is viewed as a challenging process aspiring to
end with a positive transformation that accepts the victimization, while gradually moves
forward.

The voices of victims following restorative justice proceedings –

One area often questioned is the use of restorative processes in cases of victims of physical
and sexual abuse. For the victims of physical and sexual abuse it can be just to argue that
criminalization of domestic violence was important in changing societal views towards
violence in relationships and that the use of restorative practices can give a platform to return
domestic violence to a private sphere and the resultant continued victimization. Physical and
sexual abuse such as rape results in mental and physical health, social, and legal
consequences. For the latter, restorative justice-based programs might augment community
response. This paper tries to identify survivors' needs and existing community responses to
them.
There is a need for identifying common ground in advocacy and restorative justice goals and
calls for a holistic approach to the needs of rape survivors that includes advocating for
expanded justice alternatives. A positive approach is indeed needed to implement restorative
alternatives to expand survivor choice and offender accountability. Conventional and

24
McCullough, M.E. (2000) Forgiveness as human strength: Theory, measurement, and links towell-being.
Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 1, pp. 43-55.
25
Flanigan, B. (1992) Forgiving the unforgivable. New York: Macmillan.

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restorative justice is often viewed as mutually exclusive whereas the article argues that they
are complementary.
The word ‘restorative’ means to restore or make restitution, that is, to bring back to an
original condition or to put back in a former position. On the other hand, 'justice' is the
quality of being just. A restorative justice conceptualization involves first the survivor or the
direct victims and secondarily victimized family and friends who suffer distress along with
their loved one; the community members who experience less safety and social connection
when they perceive high levels of crime and who simultaneously may be contributing to an
environment supportive of violence; and the offenders as well as their families and friends,
who experience guilt and shame that is associated with being accused of a crime or belonging
to the interpersonal relationship context from which the offense arose.
In common parlance Restorative Justice is a way of seeing crime as more than an act of
breaking the law but as a source which causes harm to people, relationships, and the
community at large. Restorative justice is a theory of justice that emphasizes repairing the
harm caused or revealed by criminal behaviour. It can be accomplished through cooperative
processes that include identifying and taking steps to repair harm, involving all stakeholders,
and transforming the traditional relationship between communities and their governments in
responding to crime. Some of the programmes and outcomes typically identified with
restorative justice include: Victim offender mediation, Conferencing, Circles, Victim
assistance, Ex- offender assistance, Restitution, Community service. The basic principles of
restorative justice is that, the justice which primarily requires restoring those who have been
injured and thus should involve all those who are directly affected by crime if they wish to.
In reviewing criminal justice system in India it is a fact that, the sufferings of the victims of
crime have been largely neglected, the victims receive compensation only in a limited ways
when the offender is convicted and sentenced. Although victim assistance is a rarity in India,
its bases exists under the Indian Constitution, which provides that the state is mandated to
secure “the right to public assistance in cases of disablement and in other cases of undeserved
want.”
Braithwaite in his work on restorative justice and civil society said that, "the State, under the
guise of caring for its citizens, steals their conflicts and hands them over to the courts. The
crime is against the State and State interests drive the process of doing justice. Victims of
crime are left on the sidelines of justice, with little or no input and thus feel twice victimized -
first, by the offender and second, by the disregard of their interests by the criminal justice
system.

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Victim and the Criminal Justice System –

One important and basic factor in the administration of criminal justice is the victim’s
decision as to whether he should invoke the judicial process. There are a number of motives
and factors responsible for the wide gap between the actual volume of the crime and the
reports made to the police about it. Only in the 1940’s did scholarly interest in the criminal-
victim relationship develop, although the founders of criminology had been aware of how
crucial it was. Hans Von Hentig, Benjamin Mendelsohn and Henry Ellenberger, the last in his
study of the psychological relationship between the criminal and his victims.
It is a parody on the vagaries of the criminal justice systems of the Developing World that
inspite of Thirty years of Independence there has been no conceptual study or empirical
research regarding the victims of criminal offences.
A movement for the recognition of the modern victim of crime as deserving more effective
remedy than the traditional practice of bringing civil suits was begun by the English penal
reformer Margery Fry in 1955. Her call for reform was heeded in New Zealand in 1963,
when that country’s parliament established the first crime compensation tribunal. This board
has discretionary power to award public compensation to the victim or his dependants in the
case of certain specified offences. The next year, Great Britain’s Tory government announced
a similar but non statuary program. In the United States the first jurisdiction to adopt the
compensation principle was California; which enacted its programs in 1965 and put it into
operation two years later. Since that time, similar or related programs have been established
in some thirty states in the United States and in all the Canadian, provinces. Financial
restitution by the offender to the victim represents another development in the legal handling
of the victim, in the United States, at least forty normal restitution programs are in operation.

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CONCLUSION

The victim is essentially an inseparable part of crime. Therefore the phenomenon of crime
cannot be comprehensively explained without incorporating the victim of a crime. Crime
victim, despite being an integral part of crime and a key factor in criminal justice system,
remained a forgotten entity as his status got reduced only to report crime and appear in the
court as witness and he routinely faces postponements, delays, rescheduling, and other
frustrations. All their means loss of earnings, waste of time, payment of transportation and
other expenses, discouragement, and the painful realization that the system does not live up to
its ideals and does not serve its constituency, but instead serves only itself. Many believe that
the victim is the most disregarded participant in criminal justice proceedings.
It is, therefore, the Indian Higher Courts have started to award the compensation through their
writ jurisdiction in appropriate case.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Puri, Ramakand, Handbook of Criminology, Dominant Publishers and Distributors, Delhi,

2014.
 Sinha, Dr.Rajeev Kumar, Victims of Crime and the Law, Regal Publications, New Delhi.
 Siddique, Ahmed, Criminology:Problems & Perspectives, Eastern Book Company,
Lucknow, 2015.
 Randhawa, Gurpreet Singh, Victimology and Compensatory Jurisprudence, Central Law
Publications, Allahabad, 2011.

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