Victimology and the Role of Victim in Crime

COCHIN UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW

Victimology and the Role ofVictim in Crime

V. V. DEVASIA'

The criminal-victim relationship is called "victimology"and it is considered as an integral part of criminology. Recentlyscholarly attention and involvement have developed about thevictim as a constituent of the criminal situation. For scholarsof criminology and law, victim is not just a passive object butan active component of his or her own victimisation.

The newly developed interest in the victim-victimizer re-lationship shows that the understanding of crime is reaching anew phase. It also indicates the decline of the sole responsi-bility of the victimizer. This phenomenon of the crime problemreflects the growing recognition that criminal justice should con-sider the dynamics of crime and treat the victims and the victi-mizers in the same light. This paper reviews efforts to see thevictim and the offender as components of the same act. Hence,the purpose of this paper is:

to discuss the concept of victimology;

to explain the major issues and aims of victimology;

to examine the victim-offender relationship;

Senior Lecturer, Post-graduate Department of Criminology andCorrectional Administration, M.S.S. Institute of Social Work, BajajNagar, Nagpur - 440010.The Author is grateful to Prof. J. J. Panakal, Head, Department ofCriminology and Correctional Administration, Tata Institute of So-cial Sciences, Bombay, for his valuable suggestions.

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to analyse the pertinent aspects of victim-precipitation; and

to elaborate the nature of victim-compensation and resti-tution.

THE CONCEPT OF VICTIMOLOGY

The part played by the victim in the origin of crime is thecentral problem in victimology. This, in essence, is the questionof responsibility; who is responsible for what and to whatextent?

According to Viano (1976:2), there is a rather well-developed vocabulary in English connected with the idea ofvictim:

Victimhood: the state of being a victim

Victimizable: capable of being victimized

Victimization: the action of victimising, or fact of being victi-mised, in various senses.

Victimize: to make a victim of; to cause to suffer inconvenience,etc. either deliberately or by misdirected atten-tions; to cheat, swindle or defraud; to put todeath as, or in the manner of a sacrificial victim;to slaughter: to destroy or spoil completely.

Victimizer: one who victimizes another or others.

Victimless: the absence of a clearly identifiable victim other thanthe doer.

Victimology focuses on both the victim's condition and thevictim's relationship to the criminal. Hence, there can be twomajor sub-areas of victimology:

the one relating to the scientific study of criminal be-haviour and the nature of the relationships which may be foundto exist between the offender and victim; and

the other relating directly to the administration of justiceand the role of systems of compensation and restitution to thevictim.

V. V. DEVASIA 221

Thee concept of victimology can be better understood ifwe analyse the meaning, issues and aims of victimology.

1) Meaning of Victimology: In a narrower sense, victimologyis the empirical, factual study of victims of crime and as suchis closely related to criminology, and thus may be regarded asa part of the general problem of crime.

In a broader sense, victimology is the entire body of know-ledge regarding victims, victimisation and 'the efforts of societyto preserve the rights of the victim. Hence, it is composed ofknowledge drawn from such fields as criminology, law, medicine,psychology, psychiatry, social work, politics, education and pu-blic administration.

2) Fundamental Issues:

What is the scope of victimology?

Who is the victim?

iii) What is the use of victimology?

the actual usefulness of the model in research, and

the probable outcome of action based upon it.

iv) What is the nature of compensation and restitution?

These issues cause conflicting problems of diverse dimen-sions. Hence the main problems of victimology are related tothese issues.

3) Aims of Victimology:

to analyse the magnitude of the victim's problems;

to explain causes of victimisation; and

to develop a system of measures to reduce victimisation.

The aims of victimology are intricately related to the mean-ing and issues of victimology. Therefore, the study of victimi-sation is the study of crime giving importance to the role andresponsibilty of the victim and his offender.

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PIONEERS IN VICTIMOLOGY

The issues of victim-offender relationships are not new;but for a long time it was a neglected problem. Recently, thepioneering works of certain authors have incited immense interestamong the public and in the administration of justice regardingthe field of victimology. The pioneers of victimological studiesare mainly three scholars from different parts of Europe.

Hans Von Hentig

Hans Von Henting was born in Berlin in 1887. In 1948his book, The Criminal and His Victim, was published by YaleUniversity.

For Henting, victimology is a part of criminology. He holdsthat the mutual relationship between offender and victim reflectsthe oneness of criminology and victimology. He sees the mutualconnection between victim and victimiser. The main contributionof the understanding of the victim's role in crime is to lead theway toward the study of crime in its totality, and particularlywhere victim-risks and victim-precipitation are concerned.

Henting (1948:383-450) defines the victim essentially as"the doer-sufferer."

Beniamin Mendelsohn

Born in Rumania, Beniamin Mendelsohn did his study oflaw and jurisprudence and was admitted to the bar of Bucharestin 1934. Having been himself the victim of discrimination inhis country, Mendelsohn became much interested in the victimand his/her relationship with the criminal.

Mendelsohn laid the foundations of a science of generalvictimology in his famous speech before the Rumanian Psychia-tric Association in 1947 (see Mendelsohn, 1974: 8-28). Forhim, victimology started as a part of criminology, but it has awider scope and implication. The indispensable goal of victimo-logy is fewer victims in all sectors of society to the extent thatsociety is concerned with this problem. Given that man is thecreative force in society, fewer victims contribute to his progress.

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Mendelsohn considers victimology as a social science. Forhim (1976:9) it is a science of "victims and victimity." Sovictimology can take into account all phenomena which causevictims. "To actually practice victimology, to make the researchfit the name, it will be necessary to concentrate our attentionon the central point, the essential factor common too all victims,victims of man, machinery, society and of biological and socialproblems, etc." (Mendelsohn, 1976:10).

According to Mendelsohn, the victim can be any one, phy-sical or moral person who suffers either as a result of ruthlessdesign or accident. Hence, there are victims of crime and victimsof accident and calamities. For him (1976:9) "the destructiveof harmful factors which produce victims cannot be limited toone element (the criminals) but are instead numerous (the en-vironment, sometimes even the personality of the victim, thelevel of technology, social trends), victimology must then investi-gate all the factors that cause victims."

Therefore, for Mendelsohn, victimology is a separate andautonomous social science. He coined the term "victimology."He sees "victimal" as the opposite of "criminal" and "victimity"as the opposite of "criminality."

Mendelsohn recommended the establishment of a "centralinstitute of victimology," "victimological clinics," an "interna-tional institute for victimological researches," an "internationalsociety of victimology" and the publication of an "internationalreview of victimology." For Mendelsohn, victimology is not apart of criminology. In his view, it is "a science parallel to it"(1974: 26) .

3. Stephen Schafer

Born in Hungary, Stephen Schafer took his degree of Do-ctor of Jurisprudence in 1933 at the University of Budapest.

For Schafer, the victim's importance reflects the offender'sand victim's joint existence in victimisation. "Crime should beseen in its functional dynamics. An all-dimensional view of crimecannot accept the criminal's behaviour and the victim's be-


haviour as two distinct and separate forms of conduct. Thevictim is a part of crime, often playing an esoteric and not anexoteric role" (Schafer, 1976:146).

Schafer considers (1968a:58-104) that victim-offender re-lationship stresses the necessity to acknowledge the role andresponsibility of the victim. Because the victim is not simplythe cause of and reason for the victimisation, but has an import-ant part to play in the search for an objective criminal justiceand a solution to the victimisation problem.

CURRENT THEORY AND RESEARCH

Most of the studies in victimology have been generally con-cerned with victims of murder and other assualts, sexual attacks.theft and fraud and accidents. So major contributions in the fieldof victimology so far led to the following:

growing importance of the victim problem;

better knowledge of the factors determining victimity;

classification of victims;

factors relating to specific and unknown victims.

1. Growing Importance

A growing importance in the study of victimology is seenin the U.S.A., certain European countries, Israel and in Japan.The First International Symposium of victimology held in 1973in Jerusalem called on legislators, courts and other authoritiesresponsible for crime prevention and control to establish, re-evaluate and renovate their organisations and services in orderto increase their effectiveness to reduce human suffering; it alsoexpressed the participants' view that concern with victimologyand a better acquaintance with the victims' role in crime canlead to better sentencing practices and to a general improvementof the legal procedure, which in turn can help to prevent orreduce recidivism and criminality in general" (Schafer, 1976:153). This International Symposium suggested that all countriesmust think of giving compensation to victims of crime.

V. V. DEVASIA 225

The Second International Symposium on Victimology con-gregated in Boston under the sponsorship of the InternationalSociety of Criminology and the Northeastern University Collegeof Criminal Justice.

The Symposium proceedings were divided into three majordiscussion sections:

Conceptual and Substantive Legal Aspects of Victimology;

Criminal-Victim Relationships;

iii) Restitution and Victim assistance Programmes (Flynn,1976: 573-579).

The Symposium also discussed the concept and scope ofvictimology, victim-typologies, victims in the judicial procedure,victims of traffic offences, victims of rape, victims of crimesagainst the person and crimes against property, corporate victi-misations, the victim's relationship with the media of mass com-munication," the victimisation of the victim by society, and thevictim as a member of his society.

2. Factors Determining Victirnity

According to Mendelsohn (1976:17) a victim can be:

the victim of a criminal;

the victim of himself, from psychological impulse, andsometimes even from a conscious decision (suicide) withno criminal involved;

the victim of anti-social behaviour, either individual or co-llective, on the part of his social environment (individualor collective oppression, social class or political parties uptoand including genocide and war crimes);

the victim of technology, as a result of insufficientprotection;

the victim of the uncontrolled energies of the natural en-vironment, as a result either of the lack of human controlor of the loss of control.


Classification of Victims

For Mendelsohn (1976) victims are classified primarily inconformity with the degree of contribution to the crime. HenceMendelsohn categorised the victims as follows:

The "completely innocent victim." The victim can bea child or a person who is unconscious.

The "victim with minor guilt" and the "ignorant victim."The victim can be a woman who agrees for a mis-carriage andas a result pays with her life.

The voluntary victim and the "victim as guilty as theoffender." The victim can be a person who commits suicide orasks for euthanasia.

The "victim more guilty than the offender." The victimcan be a person who provokes or induces someone to commita crime.

The "most guilty victim" and the "victim who is guiltyalone." The victim can be the aggressive victim who kills theattacker in self-defence.

The "stimulating" or "imaginary victim." The victimcan be a paranoid or a hysteric or a senile person.

Henting applies psychological, sociological as well as bio-logical factors in the categorisation of the victim typology. Hisgrouping of victims is more elaborate than of Mendelsohn's.

Henting differentiates "society-made" victims, from "born"victims. His classification is as follows (Henting, 1948: 404-433) :

The "female" victim. The female is a symbol of weak-ness. The male criminals have the benefit of greater physicalstrength in crimes against women, especially in sexual assault.

The "young" victim. For Henting, children are physicallyunderdeveloped and psychologically immature. They are weakcompared to adults. So they are easy prey to kidnapping and sex

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offences. Children also fall victims of criminals and assist incommitting crime.

The "old" victim. They are physically and mentallyweak. They often fall victims of crimes.

The "mentally defective and mentally deranged." Theyare commonly potential and actual victims of crimes. The insane,the alcoholic, the drug addict, the psychopath and those whosuffer from any other mental abnormality can frequently bevictims.

The "immigrant." He has to face innumerable problemswhile adjusting to a new society and its culture. The immigrantmight feel helpless and unwanted in necessary human relations.His capability may evoke hostility of certain persons in the newcountry.

The "minority." Because of racial, linguistic, religiousand caste prejudice they often become victims of powerfulgroups.

The "dull normals." Henting considers them as "born"victims. He thinks the "success" of certain criminals due to the"folly" of their victims. The dull normal can be a moron or anidiot.

The "depressed." He is a psychological victim type. Hesuffers from feelings of inadequacy and hopelessness, apathy andsubmission. He can be his own victim.

The "acquisitive." His desires motivate crime and leadhim to being victimised.

The "wanton." He is malicious. His actions are gene-rally unjustifiable. He acts without adequate motive or provoca-tion. He has often no regard for what is right. He can besexually lawless and unrestrained and he frequently falls victimof physically powerful criminals.

11. The "lonesome and the heartbroken." These personscan have a desire for companionship and happiness and in thisprocess become victims.


The "tormentor." He tortures others and at the endhe himself become the victim of the tormented.

The "blocked, exempted, and fighting" victims. Thesepersons try to "save" themselves and fall victims. Henting'sknowledge in psychology and psychiatry was limited. Hence hisclassification is not in conformity with psychology.

Barnes and Teeters (1951: 595-596) give another cate-gory of "negligent or careless" victim type. The negligent andcareless attitude of a person towards his belongings makes iteasy for an offender to commit a crime.

4. Specific and Unknown Victims

The inhibitions an offender may have seem to changeaccording to the type of gaulities the victim possesses. Theattitude and behaviour of the victim influences the offender andwhich makes possible the criminal act. According to Fattah(1976:33) "acts causing immediate and concrete harm to areal, specific and personalised victim are likely to evoke strong&moral resistance than acts in which the victim is totally absent,impersonal, anonymous or unidentifiable, or where the victim isonly an abstraction."

Crimes committed against a willing victim are likely to pro-voke less ressistance than crimes against an unwilling victim.The willingness of the victim to commit an offence upon himor her makes the offender legally stronger. The consent of thevictim whom the law intended to protect encourages the offender."Victim solicitation even more than victim's consent, confers onthe act a kind of legitimacy that is likely to break down thestrongest moral barriers and to eliminate the deepest moral obli-gations the person may have regarding the criminal act" (Fattah,1976:36).

Certain times, while remaining a victim, the victim co-operates with the criminal. The victim even instigates, sustainsand defends the victimisation while at the same time sufferingfrom it and disliking it. Money-lending at exorbitant rates canbe an example.

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The crime committed against a provoking victim allows thecriminal to shift his blame on the victim. So the part playedby the provoking victim, consciously or unconsiously invitesvictimisation. Through provoking or precipitating behaviour thevictim becomes a deserving victim. The criminal act is possiblethrough the words, gestures or deeds of the victim.

A crime which does not involve the infliction of physicalor psychological harm or material loss upon a real, specific andpersonal victim is likely to arouse less guilt feeling than othercrimes where harm affects a personal identifiable victim. Theabsence of a victim reduces the seriousness of the crime (Fattah,1976:37-45).

If the victim is physically absent or unknown, the awarenessof the victim is absent in crime. But when a crime is committedagainst a tangible and personal victim the seriousness of theaction and victimisation increases, and it creates more feelingsin the mind of the victimiser. Stealing from the government orcheating a large firm evokes fewer moral scruples than cheatinga person or stealing from a family. Personalisation of the victimevokes pity and compassion in the potential victimiser towardthe victim.

SEX AND AGE OF VICTIMS

1. Sex

Generally men commit more crimes than women and alsomore men become victims of crime than women. According tothe President's Commission on Crime (1966:45,79) the numberof victimisation against men are three times as great as thosefor women. But in violent crimes women are often victimised.In Schafer's findings, the proportion of man and woman homi-cide victims is almost one to one (1976:157), and in Patternsin Criminal Homicide (p. 60), Wolfgang found almost threemales to one females. In their study "Murder," Gibson. and Kleinfound that female homicide victims are more than male victimsand the ratio is approximately three to two (see Schafer, 1976:157).


According to Wolfgang (1974:87) more husbands thanwives are victims in victim-precipitated mate slaying. The rea-sons he has given are: "1) husbands actually may provoke theirwives more often than wives provoke their husbands to assaulttheir respective mates; or 2) assuming that provocation by wivesis as frequent or even more frequent, than provocation by hus-bands, then husbands may not receive and define provocationstimuli with as great or as violent a reaction as do wives; or3) husbands may have a greater felt sense of guilt in a maritalconflict for one reason or another, and receive verbal insultsand overt physical assaults without retaliation( as a form ofcompensatory punishment; or 4) husbands may withdraw moreoften than wives from the scene of marital conflict, and thuseliminate, for the time being, a violent overt reaction to theirwive's provocation .... In any case, we are left with the un-deniable fact that husbands more often than wives are major,precipitating factors in their own homicidal death" (Wolfgang,1974:87).

2. Age

Crimes of violence often take place in a personal situationof the victim and the offender (Viano, 1976:1-7). In thesetypes of victimisation the age of the victim and the offender isgenerally the same (Separovic, 1974:15-24). In case of menthose who are below 21 years of age and those who are 51 orolder are most frequently victimised. In the older age group, 61and above, obviously the largest category of victims are women(Schafer, 1975:25-28).

Otto Pollack (1961:121-136) writes that women reach at"the peak of their criminal activities at a later age than men.But it is also noted by Nelson and Amir (1975: 47-64) thatwomen have a greater risk of becoming victims at a youngerage than men. Schafer (1968a) found that among individualsover 60 years of age, the mate seems to be the major target ofviolent crimes. In fact, this is the only age group where majorityof the violent crimes are committed against the spouse.

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VICTIM OFFENDER RELATIONSHIP

Victim-offender relationship is one of the most importantnotions in victimology. Mendelsohn calls the victim and hisoffender the "penal couple."

For Schafer (1976:157) victim-offender relationships maycontain the origin of victimisation. "The marital status of theoffender and that of the victim - or the fact that one personis the spouse or a friend or an acquaintance or just a stranger(third person) - may contain the seeds of crime. Married per-sons of both sexes are more often victims, than persons in anyother marital status. It has also been observed that legally di-vorced individuals are less often victims of violent crimes thanthose who are in other relationships with the criminal" (Schafer,1976:157-158) .

It is found by the President's Commission on Crime thatprimary group relationships seems more important in crimeagainst person, especially in homicide cases. It was also foundthat 80 per cent of the murder and aggravated assault victimsbelonged to primary group relationships. In England little over40 per cent of female murder are suspected to be committedby huSbands. In .25 per cent of female murder cases, the suspectwas either a relative or a lover (Schafer, 1976: 156-161) .

Wolfgang (1958:213) states that when a man is killed bya woman "he was most likely to be killed by his wife" and itis also found that a woman was more likely than a man to killher mate. According to Schafer, "female criminals commit vio-lent crimes against their spouse three times more often than domales, and nine times more often against their children"(Schafer, 1976: 158) . Let us now analyse the different dimen-sions of victim offender relationship.

1. Nature of Victim-Offender Relationship:

According to Hentig (1948) the relationship between thevictimiser and the victim are very intricate. The victim, onewho suffers and the victimiser, one who harms, appear in victi-misation in a close interpersonal relationship and the victim


plays a determinant role with the victimiser. For Cho (1974:96), "the victim and victimiser should be understood in termsof victimisation incidence and relationship. Both "affinity" and"propinquity" factors should be considered for the differentialsin participation, commitment and involvement in victimisation.Though not intended for creating an impression that the victimand victimiser are "guilty by association," we are suggesting thatthe interaction and relationship should be explored rather thanassumed, and that guilt should be understood objectively, ra-ther than assumed to be a hallmark of the victimiser."

So victimisation occurs in interpersonal interaction betweenthe victim and the victimiser and the situation. So the issues are:

Is victimity an exclusive characteristic of the victimiser?

Is it a depending quality or a developed personal trait?

Is it dispatchable genetically or culturally?

Is victimity additive, substractive, transferable or co-extensive with anti or non-victimity?

Is victim a dynamic participant in victimisation? and

Does victimity emerge from assigned criminal status androle expectations?

2. Grades of Victim-Offender Relationship:

There are different grades of victim-offender relationship.

The victim has no prior knowledge of the crime. Hedislikes very much being made a victim. He informs thepolice about the victimisation.

The victim has no prior knowledge of the crime and hedisapproves being made a victim, but refrains from call-ing the police.

3. The victim has some prior awareness of the possiblecrime.

The first of these might be called victim non-acceptance.The second and third might be termed as victim-acquiescence,unwilling, with or without previous knowledge. According to

V. V. DEVAS7A 233

Mack (1974: 127) these three envelop a number of social situa-tions of which the major ones are:

The victim himself is a criminal.

The victim is a near criminal.

The victim has no open criminal associations.

The victim 'belongs to an enthnic minority group.

Hence, victimisation is a problem of relationship and res-ponsibility. Who is responsible for what and to what extent?

3. A Shared Responsibility:

The victimizer and the victim act on each other directly bysharing a common place, or indirectly by symbolic relationship.

Hence, the victim can be viewed as a dependent variableby examining the effects of being victimised or as an independ-ent variable by examining the conditions which predispose cer-tain kinds of persons to victimisation.

For Hudson and Galway (1975:xii) "the central thrust ofthe study of victim-criminal relationships i's that to some va-riable extent the officially labelled 'victim' of criminal act maydirectly share in responsibility for -the victimisation." Therefore,the performance of the victimiser should be seen as a sharedresponsibility. From this point of view, who may take on therole of victim or victimiser in particular situations may havemore to do with sheer chance than with anything else (Wolfgang,1958:265).

VICTIM PRECIPITATION

The concept of "victim precipitation" deals with the casein which the victim has had something to do with his own victi-misation. Hence, "the victim-precipitated cases are those inwhich the victim was the first to show and use a deadly wea-pon, to strike a blow in an altercation - in short, the first tocommence the interplay or resort to physical violence"(Wolfgang, 1974: 80).


According to Reckless (1970:143), "there are three basicpoints in the study of the role of the victim in criminal delin-quent behaviour:

doer-victim relationships do not apply to all criminaldeeds; rather they apply only to a suspected minority,since reaching out behaviour focuses more on objectsthan on persons;

Criminology at present is not able to account for aclosure of doer-victim, although it is conceded thatdisability of persons makes them vulnerable as victims,on the principle that doer's behaviour seeks paths forweak resistance;

3. in a minority of victim-related criminal deeds, the victim,because of certain postures and states triggers a non-reaching-out person, initiates the deeds and is the finalrecipient of the consequence."

Hence, the concept "victim-precipitated victimisation" isapplicable to those victimisation in which the victim is a direct,positive precipitator of his her own victimisation.

1. Nature of Precipitation:

The provocation of victim has a definite part in the etiologyof victimisation, either by inciting the criminal to commit it bycreating or fostering a situation likely to lead to victimisation.This type of victim can provoke the crime by his own action.According to Fooner (as cited in Silverman, 1974:100) if "aperson has not acted with reasonable self-protective behaviourin handling his money, jewellery, or other valuable and hasbecome the victim of robbery, he cannot be considered an inno-cent victim - he has .... created a "temptation - opportunity"situation, giving the criminal incentive and help."

For Schafer (1968a) victims are essential for crime, sodirectly or indirectly all victims are somewhat responsible forvictimisation. Contrary to this, Silverman (1974:100) feels thatit is not logical to think that "we are all somewhat responsiblefor our own victimisation simply because we exist."

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The role of the victim may be of a varying nature. In di-fferent ways a victim can contribute to the victimisation. In astudy conducted by Separovic (1974:18), the statistical profileof the murder-victim relationship, the victim precipitated oneout of four homicide cases. The findings of Wolfgang's studieson criminal homicide in Philadelphia are similar to the resultof Separovic's study. In the same way, Horowitz & Amir (1975:93-98) found that the victim precipitated one out of five rapecases.

Contributing Factors:

Victim precipitation is, culture, time and place bound. Thevictimiser is the person who consciously or unconsciously inter-prets events that are precipitating. For Silverman (1974:107)"victim precipitation occurs when the offender's action in com-mitting or beginning to commit a crime is initiated after anddirectly related to, an action (be it physical or verbal, consciousor unconscious) on the part of the victim. The offender per-ceives, the victim's behaviour as a facilitating action (includingtemptation, invitation) to the commission of the crime. Theaction of the victim might be said to have triggered the offen-der's behaviour." •

Often adolescent gangs make a careful choice for victimi-sation. According to Fattah (1974: 29-53) and Viano (1975:145-164), the personal qualities of the victim has a major rolein this selection. For Sutherland (1965) professional thieveshave their own "code of ethics." They generally follow somerules in the selecteion of their victims. A large firm or govern-ment are both considered by many targets for victimisation. Theimpersonal character, the wealth and the indirect harm arelikely to facilitate victimisation.

Environmental Factors:

There is an inter-relationship between the environment ofthe victimiser and of the victim. Hence, victim precipitation alsodepends on these environmental factors. Knowledge of the so-

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cial relationships of the victim is not merely added to the know-ledge of the social relationships of the victimiser. The under-standing of one area helps to unfold the other. By this methodthe victimiser's and the victim's personality could be madeknown.

Nkpa's (1976:71-83) studies in Nigeria show that the geo-graphical aspect of crime offer major guidelines for potentialvictimisation. The size of the area, the place of the actual com-mission of crime, the strength of the population, the ethnic cha-racter, all these factors serve an important role and points outthe chance of victim risk.

COMPENSATION AND RESTITUTION TO THE VICTIM

The question of compensation and restitution to victim isa part of victimology. The victim is a productive member of asociety which has failed to protect himlher against victimisation.Hence society has an obligation to provide compensation andrestitution to the victim.

1. Compensation

Compensation to victim is one of considerable complexity.In earlier days, many states encouraged compensation to victims,but in the modern era, reimbursement of the victim or of hisfamily by the victimiser is not common The concept of com-pensation and restitution are understood interchangeably. Butcompensation is the counter-,balancing of the victim's sufferingand loss that results from the victimisation. It is a sign of theresponsibility of the society which is civil in nature and repre-sents a non-criminal purpose and end.

United States Senator Mike Mansfield, in introducing a billin the Senate to compensate the victims of crime, said: "Thepoint has been reached where we must give consideration to thevictim of crime - to the one who suffers because of crime. Forhim, society has failed miserably.... Society has an obligation;when the protection of society is not sufficient to prevent a

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person from being victimised, society then has the obligation tocompensate the victim for that failure of protection" (Wright,1975:408).

It would seem appropriate to discuss the essential elementsrequisite to have an efficient scheme to compensate the victim'sof crime.

A compensation plan must be based on the conclusionthat the government has failed in its responsibiliy ofprotecting its citizens from crime.

Compensation must be available to all victims of crime.

All expenses incurred such as medical bills and loss ofwages must be covered.

An effective compensation plan must provide for aspeedy system of compensation.

Wolfgang supports victim compensation. According to him,since the state has the power and right of punishment and re-habilitation of the criminal, it should also take up the responsi-bility of looking after the victim.

Elizabeth Fry holds that " the State which forbids ourgoing armed in self-defense cannot disown all responsibility forits occasional failure to protect" (as cited in Echafer, 1976:163). So compensation calls for action by the victim in the formof payments by the society.

Contrary to the above view Mueller (1968:321-329) statesthat 26 per cent of all homicide and 35 per cent of all rapevictims in America share blame with the offender. He seesvictim compensation programme "as planned attempts to doletax money to the "good guys" (victims) and to care for the"bad guys" (offenders). For Mueller (1968), politicians facepolitical suicide if they refuse to approve compensation schemes,especially if they have previously supported criminal rehabilita-tion programmes. He further argues that a state plan to reim-burse victims may increase rather than decrease crime.


2. Restitution

Margery Fry, Elizabeth Fry, and John Howard, Britishpenal reformers, originally proposed that offenders must con-tribute to the restitution of their victims as part of the redem-ptive process of imprisonment.

Resitution is the reparation of the victim's suffering andloss. It is victim's restoration of his place in the communityand right that were injured or extinguished in the process ofvictimisation. Restitution is a token of the responsibility of thecriminal. It is penal in character and it stands for a correctiionalgoal. Hence, restitution calls for a decision by a court and pay-ment or work by the victimiser.

According to the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958, thecourt has power to ask released offenders to pay compensationand costs: "(a) such compensation as the court thinks reason-able for loss or injury caused to any person by the commissionof the offence; (b) such costs of the proceedings as the courtthinks reasonable" (section 5). Hence, restitution to victimsis considered as a major element of punishment besides theprotection of law and order and the reformation and rehabi-litation of the criminal.

Restitution to victims is based on two obligations:

Obligation of the offender

Obligation of the society.

The financial position of the offender generally determineswhether the victim will receive restitution. It is argued thatwhen the State fails to fulfil its basic responsibility of furnishingsafety measures and security to its citizens, the State is morallyresponsible for the suffering inflicted upon the victim.

CONCLUSION

Victimology tries to understand and analyse various factorsand processes of victimisation in which certain types of peopleand certain cate gories come forth as conspicuous and recurrent

V. V. DEVASIA 239

victims. The fundamental goal of victimology is fewer victimsin all sectors of society which means fewer losses.

As an integral part of criminology, its central objectiveconsists of developing and codifying a reliable and reasonablyaccurate body of knowledge, relating to the concept of victim,and to its socio-cultural foundations. To the degree to whichour society feels threatened by certain forms of victimisationand presses for remedies, to that degree the task of advancingto levels of prediction and prevention may be viewed as theultimate objective of victimology.

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Documents

Victimology and the Role of Victim in Crime