Limits to tolerance: Tribal social order versus human rights

In a globalized world, there are clear differences in ideologies that are usually not spelled out. The paper follows the approach prescribed by Ben David’s “Victim’s Victimology” (2000) and applies a classical approach to ideologies in social sciences by W.B. Miller (1973). The main subject of this paper is the difference between local order ideology and human rights ideology. The aim is to show that formal social control is determined or influenced by these different ideologies. The authors analyze four cases of victimization of women in different social settings , in Sudan (2012), Canada (2012), India (1985) and in Pakistan (2002). In all these cases the local order ideology clashes with a human rights ideology. Limits to tolerance must be clear

The Criminal Justice System’s Interventions toward Crime Victimization: Aims and Challenges

The crime victim frequently suffers psychological/emotional damages along with physical, financial, and social damages. Understanding the damages victims suffer is essential in complex victim care. Individuals, criminal justice institutions, and victim support organizations attending to a victim post-victimization must be mindful of these damages to assist better and avoid further emotional damage in the form of secondary victimization. We accept the Criminal Justice System (CJS) as a given solution to criminalizable situations in society. There are enough indicators that challenge its effectiveness and use. In fact, our belief in its function is not based on any facts. In this paper, we examine where we fundamentally went wrong in our concepts of the criminal justice system; from crime to punishment and rehabilitation of offenders, from victimization to justice, and victim support. Furthermore, the article identifies some of the challenges that professionals in CJS and victim support face, including a fundamental belief that “victims are revengeful”, professional language use, and scientific knowledge limitations

Absence of Respect and Recognition of Victims in the Criminal Justice System in Bangladesh

This study explores how the victims of crime are treated in the criminal justice system of Bangladesh. Therefore, this study aims to learn victims’ access to justice, victims’ participation in criminal proceedings, victims’ rights and needs of protection and support services and to identify the ongoing victimization process and capacity gaps existing within the criminal justice system. As a matter of fact, in Bangladesh victims are often found utterly dissatisfied with the treatment of the current justice system as it does not ensure their due respect and recognition. The qualitative techniques are applied in this study. However, the prevailing legal provisions do not manifest victims’ respect and recognition. Supports of the criminal justice system to the victims are quite inadequate compared to the rights of the victims. Indeed, in Bangladesh victims have a limited legal right to access to the court proceedings. But, because of victims’ lack of awareness about those rights, unfair treatment towards them and the absence of the rules of law, victims cannot get full benefits even of those inadequate laws. Thus, victims undergo different challenges in all stages of the justice system which include reporting the case, investigation by the police, giving testimony, trail process, plea bargaining etc. Finally, a victim protection scheme should urgently be developed to provide the victims with a fearless environment for seeking justice, physical security, psychological assistance, reparation and rehabilitation etc, with a view to establishing the rights of the victims

Victims of Black Magic

In a victimological framework, 'Witches' (performers of black magic) and special social reactions towards them are described and analyzed. Three groups of victims are distinguished: the (discovered) black magician, the customer and in special cases the victim who is used as a target of the 'black magic'. It deals with the theoretical victimological framework and describes several groups of victims. It then turns to the social - informal and formal - reaction towards uncovered, discovered practitioners of black magic. In this context, it deals with some problems of formal justice interventions into 'black magic: not with 'white magic' (that is intended to help people). Black magic is to damage people. The article uses a victimological theoretical framework. Victimology is a rational social science of victims, victimisations and the social reaction towards both. It is the social science of victims of Human Right violations including crime. As a social science, it is obliged to follow rational, logic courses of explanations of reality (see Momsawa-Kirchhoff, 2009; Kirchhoff, 2010)

Hidden victimization by sex offenders. The Michigan Sample

Die Pilotstudie verfolgt das Ziel, Zusammenhaenge zwischen einer Viktimisation und dem Sexualleben der/des Opfers zu erhellen. Die Ergebnisse der Fragebogenuntersuchung an Studenten(innen) der Michigan University lassen sich wie folgt kurz umreissen: 1. Es fanden sich 4 Hauptgruppen von Sexualdelikten - Exhibitionismus, Inzest, Vergewaltigung und Unzucht mit Kindern - 2. Frauen leisten haeufiger Widerstand 3. Die Viktimisation geschieht nur selten durch Fremde 4. Die Viktimisation hat meist keinen Einfluss auf das Sexualverhalten des Opfers, da dieses meist schon ueber sexuelle Erfahrungen zum Zeitpunkt der Tat verfuegte. Aufgrund dieser Ergebnisse halten die Autoren es fuer notwendig, das Strafrecht in diesem Punkt zu ueberdenken. (BS)Available from UuStB Koeln(38)-8006557 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman