A study review of the treatment of victims and offenders under the criminal justice system
Research Question
What is the treatment of victims and offenders under the criminal justice system?
Aim
To critically compare and contrast the treatment of victims and offenders under the criminal justice system.
Objectives
To identify victim’s and offender’s rights in the criminal justice system.
To establish the impact of victims’ rights on the treatment of offenders in the criminal justice system.
To propose recommendations that would improve the treatment of victims’ and offenders’ in the administration of justice.
Abstract
In the administration of criminal justice, two parties are involved: the victim and the offender. Generally, a victim is regarded as the disadvantaged or aggrieved person in the crime whereas an offender is termed as an individual who commits an offence contract to the law. This typically includes but not limited to, murder, homicide, burglary, property theft robbery without violence among others. The law presumes that an individual is termed innocent until proven guilty. According to a study conducted by McQuade (2014), the degree of the relationship that exists between an offender and the victim has been as a major variable in the general outcome of cases in the criminal justice system.
There are many contexts, in which the relationship between offenders and their victims can be looked at, including proximity to home, method of homicide, fear of rape and duration of stalking. Dawson (2006) asserts that, in the system of criminal justice, the degree of closeness that co-exists between victims and offenders has contributed to a major variable towards the outcome of cases. Understanding the nature of relationship between offenders and victims greatly helps to know certain concepts of crimes, the offenders who were involved in committing those crimes and the general outcomes of those crimes after trial. Among the issues which revolve around trials with victim-offender relationships are charge reductions, victim provocation and defendant culpability.
For instance, according to Wolfgang (1957), victim precipitated normally applies to those criminal homicides whereby the victim is directly involved as the main contributor to the crime hence leading to victim’s death. In criminal law, the role of the victim is regarded as the first person to get involved in the homicide through the use of forceful means against another person. Wolfgang’s study focuses on the coherence relationship between the victim and the offender. The victim is the first actor to display conflict in the homicide drama. Because he is the first cause of aggression, it is presumed that the victim has had a previous less physical assault criminal record in the police. These assumptions are backed up by hypotheses which reveal that, in the victim precipitated cases, the probability of the victim having a previous criminal offence is higher than that of the offender in the long run. Findings from Wolfgang (1957), the data shows 62% of the victim offences and 54% of the offender of the victim precipitated cases. Because he is the main contributor to aggression and provoker of his subsequent slayer in the homicide situation, this victim must have engaged in a previously less physical assault than the present situation. Therefore, the present situation reveals that the victim has been engaging in other several physical assaults which never went successful hence it was not the first attempt.
As a result of restorative justice, victims now have a great input in the criminal process. Their participatory rights are regarded as a crucial aspect in the criminal justice system. In one way or another, victim participation helps victims who may be willing to be part of the proceedings hence creating chances for smooth operation of proceedings in the criminal justice system (Erez &Robert, 2007). Earlier on, crime victims assumed the role of the offender and presented them for trial in judicial courts. This state of affairs changed over time.
Treatment of victims and offenders in the Criminal Justice System
Criminal justice is a system which comprises of institutionalized policies and practices to deter and control crimes through the use of rehabilitation and sanctions. The law does favour neither the victim nor the offender. Legal procedures are put into consideration when determining law prosecution of the offender. For example, law enforcement criteria in the United States are a localized activity rather than a central process (Bettie, 1955). Each city and town in all the states has its own police departments which generally maintain law and order at the county level. The role of police is to ensure that law and order is maintained- to the interests of the community residents rather than the entire US territories. In addition, the system of criminal prosecution is carried out at a local level by elected judges, magistrates and other law enforcers. Even in the area of correction, the whole process is done at the local basis as most of the cities and towns operate jails and remand centres.
The United States has a dog-pile system put in place whereby fines are in form of incarceration. Offenders in the United States face fines go through probation, serve time behind bars, and at the same time, their odds for securing legal employment are drastically reduced. In a scenario where Germany is forced to imprison offenders, as this usually happens to six percent of offenders, it only detains them for short period. Precisely, 92 percent of sentences in Germany are below two years, and three-quarters of these sentences end up suspended. In the meantime, the United States has an average prison stay of three years. The Netherlands and Germany incarcerate a small proportion of offenders, meaning that they are in a better position to enrol inmates in rehabilitation programs, which, in turn, reduces their likelihood of reoffending. Subramanian and Shames (2013) have noted that Germany and the Netherlands have more goal-oriented and less punitive confinement conditions. The authors further posit that these nations do not incarcerate individuals with mental illnesses, whereas, in the United States, prisons are filled with people in dire need of help rather than punishment.
According to King & Jennifer (2015), public opinion towards some crimes is a nuance as it depends on the nature of questions asked and the depth of information provided. Recent research was conducted on the public attitude about sex crimes. The outcome of the results suggested that some information about the offense, the victim and the offender had a negative perception. The attitude of victims and offenders is much depended on the nature of crime linked to them. As a result of interpersonal ties, conflicts and disagreements emerge among the people. For instance, attitude towards sex crime is such a sophisticated matter especially in women who hold less negative attitude than male victims.
Recommendation in law enforcement
The American Criminal Justice has been playing a critical role in the provision of polices and regulations that discipline individuals who ultimately break laws hence contributing to threats to its citizens. The Criminal Justice System operates to ensure that law breakers are penalized accordingly for their crimes they committed in an effort to make them reproductive citizens after being released from prison. A report released by, Washington DC, United States asserts that there are 2.5 million people in the prison. U.S policy makers should cross their borders and see how they can help improve the well-being of its citizens as well as save money for other developments. In the last four decades, the prison population in the United States has increased by 700 per cent, and as of 2012, state corrections expenditures stood at a staggering $53.5 billion (Subramanian and Shames, 2013; Kirby, 2017). Even in face of such huge investments in incarceration, the recidivism rates in the country remain at an adamant 40 per cent; this implies that out of every ten incarcerated individuals, four will re-offend and get apprehended within three years of being set free (Kaeble, Glaze, Tsoutis and Minton, 2016). To get a bigger picture of the United States’ over-incarceration epidemic, it is worth looking at other nations that do not face the same problem. The United States of America is faced with a number problem in its efforts to deal with criminology.
Conclusion
In the process to administer justice, victims have to be recognized because they possess special rights. Base on the above arguments, different states have different ways on the method of victim-offender treatment. For instance, the United States and Netherlands differ on how justice is administered. The US mode should emulate other nations basically to ensure that both parties are considered appropriately. This paper also points out that the attitude of public opinion towards punishment of an offender depends on the nature of the crime committed. Some crimes were found to have less negative attitude whereas others had a positive attitude. In the Criminal Justice System, the police play an important role of maintaining order. Seemingly, the law does favour neither the victim nor the offender. Legal procedures are put into consideration when determining law prosecution of the offender.