VICTIMOLOGY
UNIT 1- Targets of Predators
Professor: May 3, 2007
A. Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects a person's employment or education, unreasonably interferes with a person's work or educational performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working or learning environment. In the interest of preventing sexual harassment, the University will respond to reports of any such conduct (, 1992). Sexual harassment may include incidents between any members of the University community, including faculty and other academic appointees, staff, coaches, house staff, students, and non-student or non-employee participants in University programs, such as vendors, contractors, visitors, and patients. Sexual harassment may occur in hierarchical relationships or between peers, or between persons of the same sex or opposite sex (, 1992).
B. Child Molestation
In determining whether the reported conduct constitutes child molestation, consideration shall be given to the record of the conduct as a whole and to the totality of the circumstances, including the context in which the conduct occurred. While romantic relationships between members of the family and the children may begin as consensual and they may evolve into situations that lead to charges of child molestation, subject to this policy. Child molestation that is not sexual in nature but is based on gender, sex-stereotyping, or sexual orientation also is prohibited by the government's nondiscrimination policies if it is sufficiently severe to deny a person's ability to participate in the creation of a hostile environment. Thus, in determining whether a hostile environment due to child molestation exists, the government may take into account acts of child molestation based on gender.
C. Drug-related Crime
It is often recognized that drug-related crime are triggered by the violence that is brought about by the altered state of mind that illicit drugs induce. In attempting to comprehend the manners in which alcohol and drug utilization may have a say to violent actions, it is similarly imperative to deem the manner in which substance abuse is about human actions generally. A number of attempts have been carried out in the study of psychological expectancies in relation to alcohol's consequence on actions ( 1994), the connection involving alcohol and cognitive functioning, and the dynamic developmental consequences of untimely introduction to alcohol and aggression among young individuals and among women who have been wronged as kids and as grown-ups.
Comparable work has tried to recognize the connection involving illicit drugs and behavior, even though as a result of the interest centered on the indiscretion of these substances; this organization of work have the tendency be most caught up with unlawful behaviors that may well be connected with drugs. Instances from this literature takes account of assessments of the connections involving drug use and criminal behavior amongst juvenilesn( 1993); associations involving substance use and domestic aggression ( 1995); the manners in which the employment and circulation of illicit drugs are connected to all kinds of crime, principally nonviolent property misdemeanors ( 1994); and the effects of drug employment on the capability to sustain interpersonal relationships (1996).
REFERENCES
DISCUSSION BOARD – Victim Precipitation
Professor:
May 3, 2007
In my opinion, the Victim Precipitation Theory first introduced by in the 1940s, which states that the victim shapes and molds the criminals, has not yet been applied effectively to redress the disadvantages and injustices experienced by victims by reason only of their genders or statuses in life. In this sense, respect for human rights fails to be "universal." I think the reasons for this general failure to enforce the Victim Precipitation Theory are complex and vary from country to country (, 1999).
They include lack of understanding of the systemic nature of the subordination of victims, failure to recognize the need to characterize the subordination of victims as a human rights violation, and lack of state practice to condemn discrimination against the victims of crimes. Moreover, there has been unwillingness by traditional human rights groups to focus on violations of victim's rights, and a lack of understanding by organizations of the potential of international human rights law to vindicate the Victim Precipitation Theory.
Although perhaps, the Victim Precipitation Theory gradually evolved in the early 20th century and was fuelled by victim movements in the 21st century; the mild, moderate and radical feminist groups mustered their organizing influence to slowly inflict change in the society. For instance, the barrier that significantly defined the fate of every victim in molding the character of criminals has been increasingly downgraded by the emphasis on competitiveness and productiveness (, 1986).
Still it is imperative and highly relevant for the society to be vigilant particularly when the most important institution in the community – which is the family – is threatened. Recognizing the social damage of increased cases and incidents of violence should be realized as detrimental not just to the victims of the abuse but also the overall well being of the entire community.
REFERENCES
UNIT 2: Victims of Political or Identity Status: Part I
Professor:
May 3, 2007
The family as a social institution and its basic unit will remain the basis for any society’s concerns regarding happiness, liberty, equality, and prosperity for all its members and the community it belongs to. But historically, the problems regarding domestic violence still exists up to this day. According to (2004) domestic violence is defined as any hurtful or unwanted behavior perpetrated upon an individual by an intimate or prior intimate which normally is characterized by physical, psychological and emotional abuse. Domestic violence is based on the victim-offender relationship in the form of marriage, family ties, romantic relationships or a former marriage. It includes violence and abuse within same-sex relationships, violence by women against men as well as violence and abuse perpetrated by one family member against another (, 2004). However, studies show that most cases of domestic violence which occurred have been on women as well as children ( & , 1992; ., 2000).
argued that despite being weakened and embattled, the family will survive as a fundamental social institution having been the cradle of the modern social order for quite a long time. However it is imperative to distinguish the impact of violence among women and children in order to help the victims cope with the short-term and long-term consequences of the suffering they have experienced.
Since every case of abuse leads to permanent damage and great long-term suffering, domestic violence may also lead to psychological trauma. Shipway defined psychological trauma as the unique individual experience of an event or enduring conditions, in which the individual's ability to integrate emotional experience is overwhelmed, or the individual experiences (subjectively) a threat to life, bodily integrity, or sanity.
Domestic violence not only affects the women. The study conducted by (1990) indicated that 40 to 60% of parents who abuse their partners also abuse their children. Thus, children who are exposed from such violence may have nightmares, insomnia, bed-wetting, anxiety and depression while others perform poorly or behave aggressively in school due to developmental and social problems (, 1990). (1996) indicated that the impact of domestic violence to children includes emotional, behavioral, and developmental impairments simply from witnessing while , and (2003) claimed that children are affected by domestic violence in various ways and their recovery is likewise influenced by a range of factors.
There have been studies which indicated that severely battered women are usually isolated and lack individuals in their social network who can provide them with support ( 2001; , , & , 1996). These women victims are usually in need of friends and relatives who can help them overcome the trauma of being battered and abused by their partners. Psychological help are also made available to victims of domestic violence through the support of different social organizations and the government. Normally there are shelters appropriated for families who have experienced domestic violence. These support systems are made available from the moment of the victims of the concerned individuals’ report of such incident.
The available support systems and resources for victims of domestic violence include people who are knowledgeable of how to best help the victims overcome their bad experiences in their homes. They make it a point to hear out and empathize with the victims. Both government and private organizations have been active in changing and improving the domestic lives of the victims who called and asked for help. Among the battered women who were recruited from domestic violence shelters, (1995) found out that positive support has been directly associated with great well-being while negative support constitutes poorer mental health functioning ( & , 1983).
According to (2002) funding for domestic violence programs used different means and ways to build support since the enactment of the Violence Against women Act of (VAWA) 1994 which included $1.3 billion financial support in order to “(1) improve the criminal justice response to violent crimes against women, (2) expand services and community support for domestic violence victims, (3) improve safety for women in public transit and public parks and assistance to victims of sexual assault, and (4) provide support for a variety of educational, health and database services” ().
Aside from the support systems available to victims of domestic violence, community volunteers and social workers have been active in several social campaigns which includes educating the youth about domestic violence, recommendations regarding health care strategies, as well as improving the incorporation of data regarding stalking, and domestic violence into local, state and national crime information (, 2002).
REFERENCES
DISCUSSION BOARD – Domestic Violence Victims
Professor:
May 3, 2007
I believe that social workers have an important role in the social resolve of domestic violence victims. However, the discussions in this part of the paper will be on account of the resolve of the social workers in dealing with victims of domestic violence.
One issue is the participation of social workers in treatment schemes for domestic violence. Increasing the contribution of social workers in domestic violence would perk up the success of this very important service area. The underlying principle for such extended contribution takes account of development in direct services to victims, assessment and accountability of schemes, assessment on practice concerns, and growth of new treatment paradigms (, 1997).
Social workers are skilled in and accustomed to positive therapeutic methods that present the best possibility of productively employing and assisting chemically dependent consumers. The notions of self-evaluation and examinations for practice development acquire comparatively diminutive attention in domestic violence schemes (, 1997). This lack of evaluation is partially due to the diverse origins and historical separation of domestic violence treatment from the conventional medical and mental health care arrangements.
Social workers can carve up the development of domestic violence treatment by launching higher norms of professional accountability and by scheming and performing research on key programmatic concerns. For instance, social workers are well prepared to break through in generating instruments to track clients' treatment development and effects for their programs.
REFERENCES
UNIT 3: Victims of Political or Identity Status: Part II
Professor:
May 3, 2007
Terrorism is the deliberate creation and exploitation of fear for bringing about political change. All terrorist acts involve violence or equally important the threat of violence. These violent acts are committed by nongovernmental groups or individuals that is, by those who are neither part of nor officially serving in the military forces, law enforcement agencies, intelligence services, or other governmental agencies of an established nation-state (, & , 1978). Terrorists attempt not only to sow panic but also to undermine confidence in the government and political leadership of their target country. Terrorism is therefore designed to have psychological effects that reach far beyond its impact on the immediate victims or object of an attack.
Terrorists mean to frighten and thereby intimidate a wider audience, such as a rival ethnic or religious group, an entire country and its political leadership, or the international community as a whole. Terrorist groups generally have few members, limited firepower, and comparatively few organizational resources. For this reason they rely on dramatic, often spectacular, bloody and destructive acts of hit-and-run violence to attract attention to themselves and their cause. Through the publicity generated by their violence, terrorists seek to obtain the leverage, influence, and power they otherwise lack (, & , 1978). Terrorism has existed for at least 2,000 years and is likely to remain a fixture on political agendas, both domestic and international, for years to come. Terrorism provides a means by which the weak can confront much stronger opponents. It therefore has an enduring appeal to the alienated and the disenfranchised, the aggrieved and vengeful, the powerless and the would-be powerful. In addition, it is relatively inexpensive to conduct while offering a vast potential payoff: the ability to evoke fear and alarm and inflict pain and suffering in the hope of compelling agreement to demands made. Terrorism, moreover, is evolving constantly to overcome governmental countermeasures designed to defeat it. Terrorism thus involves an ongoing search for new targets and unidentified vulnerabilities in its opponents. This quest also raises the possibility that terrorists may pursue unconventional means of attack, such as chemical, biological, or radiological weapons, or nuclear weapons. Future terrorist tactics could include cyber-terrorism or electronic warfare that targets critical infrastructure, such as communications and power facilities, or societies in general (, & 1978).
Throughout the world, terrorism reinvents itself in new and more dangerous forms. As older groups are defeated or exhausted, more radical and more violent successors often take their place. Although terrorism likely can never be completely eradicated, countering its threat requires continuing vigilance. The highly individual nature of terrorism’s causes, the diversity of its perpetrators, and the complexity of its fundamental characteristics present enormous challenges to those who must effectively counter this menace (, & , , 2004). Stereotyping is a thing if given to a person or a group of person becomes hard to remove. Having given stereotypes makes a person or a group of people prone to violence, hate, and discrimination.
In reading and understanding the global war on terror, terrorism and civil wars we, can see a direct relationship between global war against terrorism and the civil wars that is happening in many countries of the world. In short we can see that the global war on terror provides a valid and applicable framework that encompasses civil wars in different parts of the globe. This framework is evident because the idea of global war on terror tends to simplistically brand military actions and offensives as events that are perpetrated by terrorists. The global war on terror provides capacity and the rationalization to governments that deals with civil wars. The global war on terror therefore is a situation and a framework where all events and actions made by a group fighting in a civil war are grouped and labeled together. The global war on terror provides easy classification and categorization of acts that are labeled as terrorism just because the group is labeled as a terrorist.
REFERENCES
DISCUSSION BOARD – Hate Crime
Professor:
May 3, 2007
I think that hate crime may take many forms, often combining physical, emotional sexual, psychological and financial abuse. The level of abuse and violence varies within each partnership, often occurring on a continuum of severity and effect. For some the violence and abuse are periodic with minimal long-term effects. However, countless victims are so controlled and inhibited that they are unable to make even simplest decision or act without permission, responding with complete obedience to every order given and every rule imposed by their partners and this mostly happened to those women/wife living away from their own nation (, 1995).
The violence becomes insidious, permeating every action, every thought that deed until eventually, for some women, suicide remain the only escape. Other victims express their self-disgust and powerlessness through alcohol or drug abuse or self-mutilation, exhibiting signs of severe depression and total dependency on the abuser. Intimate partners, may demand and achieve, through physical and emotional violence, complete obedience to every order, using humiliation as an important strategy in obedience training in their women.
Nowadays, I think the issue of hate crime has become more and more prominent. The issue is no longer of concern only from non-government organizations but to government and other members of the society as well. In England for instance, there exist 150 multi-agency for a in which social services, police, legal professionals, probation, housing services, health services and voluntary agencies are working hand in hand in local communities to deal with hate-crimes specifically for those people who came from different nations.
International human rights law has not yet been applied effectively to redress the disadvantages and injustices experienced by victims of hate-crimes. In this sense, respect for human rights fails to be "universal." The reasons for this general failure to enforce human rights are complex and vary from country to country (, 1995). Moreover, there has been unwillingness by traditional human rights groups to focus on hate-crimes, and a lack of understanding by groups of the potential of international human rights law to eliminate hate-crimes.
REFERENCES
UNIT 4: Victims in Organizational Contexts
Professor:
May 3, 2007
Prison Violence
Prison violence has been defined as a continuum of behavior ranging from verbal abuse, physical and sexual assault, to rape and even homicide in prisons. The vast majority of such incidents and the most severe and chronic events are perpetrated by prisoners against prisoners
School Violence
It is undeniable the students in contemporary society are in crisis as they are facing a lot of difficulties and conflicts. This crisis is of great scope and magnitude. The crisis of this generation of students includes, too, younger children. The character and detail of this crisis is social and derives its characteristics from two basis properties: a high risk environment and negative justice system. One of the problems encountered by the students today, especially those who are considered as young offenders is about the context of custody. In this manner, the authorities, specifically the justice system and other concern citizens are trying to provide a comprehensive system to protect the youth and to prevent youth problems.
School violence commonly accompanies social disorder. A survey in Britain of thirteen thousand young teenage students revealed that more than half had committed at least one crime. Since many young students are engaged in delinquencies, criminal behavior and wrongdoings, the issue of young offenders’ custody is in the limelight. In addition, justice system for youth is also in the list of the issue.
Davis adheres to the notion that school offenders must be able to have a well managed custody and security. There must be an implementation of a strategy for the secure estate, which will provide dedicated and child-focuses units for students who are sentenced to custody, a main independent review of physical restraint and the specification of advocacy services in order for the students in custody to voice out their concerns and perceptions. In addition, the achievement also include the establishment of Juvenile Awareness Staff Programme (JASP), this aims to trains all staff in Young Offender Institutions to ensure protection and as well as to tackle safeguarding issues and concerns.
Workplace Violence
The aftermath of most resistance to change cases among organizations and companies often leads to workplace violence. Because of the adjustments that the newly combined workforce would have to endure, it is not surprising that at first the new management would hold so much power and decision-making authority. The management would have the tendency to seldom consult its employees especially in making crucial decisions. As a precautionary measure, the change management would include having a perfectionist type of management to make sure that the new reporting system would remain consistently efficient. The motivation environment is often characterized through the establishment of a new structured set of rewards and punishments (. 2001).
However, as time goes by the workforce and the new management gets to jive with each other. Along with this is the changing of leadership type from autocratic to a democratic type. This way, the participation of all key stakeholders especially the workers will be more encouraged. If they feel something is right or wrong, or if they want to tell something important to the management, they can now be free do so without any worries. Also, a democratic leadership approach allows the management to have a feedback regarding the policies and regulations being implemented. They will immediately know if there is any tension going on between or among the stakeholders involved. Thus, immediate action can be planned and implemented by the management to keep matters from getting worse.
It is normal that when the new management starts to assume its post, it will have to implement stricter rights and privileges for its workers. There is a possibility that the once strong and transparent relationship that existed between the management and workers prior to the acquisition or merger would be replaced by frustration and hatred. When this happens, the performance of the new workforce will surely be severely affected and their efficiency will decline. This is because of concentrating on their work, they will now be more concerned about the diminished benefits they would be possibly be getting. These worries and anxieties will pave the way for them to inhibit frustration and anger towards their new supervisors and the management as a whole, feeling they are already taken for granted (Baumol, 2002).
REFERENCES
DISCUSSION BOARD –Violence
Professor:
May 3, 2007
We must agree that violence as of today’s generation is considered to be as one of the controversial issue as of today’s generation involving ordinary people that will have a sense of substantial impact to the lives of individuals and how the society is responding to the issue according to legal procedures as well as the principles of law in giving importance to the issue for the betterment of such country and its territory and the people that governs the law within the embodiment of truth and justice to all mankind involved (, 1997).
Therefore, when studying the different forms of violence the focus must involve a matter of taking legal actions against the supposed alleged individuals as handled by the law of the state that committed those acts of violence and invasions of privacy against others (, 1970). Thus, in speaking of violence as it implies an informal complaint and formal grievance procedure, both of which merit action by any institution and that the implemented policy regarding the issue could adhere to the failure to communicate with the people claiming they've been violated.
Moreover, the government must be dedicated in generating and upholding a community wherein persons participating in the programs and activities can work and learn together in an atmosphere free of violence and exploitation as they will respond effectively to certain reports of violence and will take appropriate action in order to prevent and correct that violates such policy.
REFERENCES
UNIT 5: Victimless Crimes and Responses to Victimization
Professor:
May 3, 2007
The Victims Rights Amendment bars unreasonable explorations and arrests by the government. Arrest of an individual takes place when, considering all of the situation surrounding the event, an individual sensibly deems he or she is not free to leave a meeting with a government officer. The Victims Rights Amendment confirms that no individual shall be obliged in any criminal proceeding to be a witness in opposition to himself. This passage is an unsettled conundrum of huge degree for the reason that courts and academics have not been capable to describe the appropriate range of the privilege. This is so for the reason that the historical origins of the Victims Rights Amendment have been polished by the progress of the law and the truths of contemporary law enforcement to the degree that courts vaguely relate the opportunity in opposition to self-incrimination ()
The Victims Rights Amendment was intended to defend the defendant from this dilemma. Therefore, a lot of Victims Rights Amendment academics and judges suppose that the passage concentrated on inappropriate schemes of acquiring data from criminal suspects instead of providing defendants an entitlement to remain silent; the battle not to be obliged did not imply the real right to remain silent, but the entitlement not to be required to talk.
The amendments to the Victims Rights Amendment promise victims the entitlement of due process of law, which is frequently labeled merely as due process. The Victims Rights Amendment clauses offer that the government has to perform reasonably in proportion to recognized legal processes, with reference to an individual's rights to life, liberty, and property. Based on the discussions above, due process implies that a person charged of an offence is assured specific legal procedural rights, like the right to be acquainted with the accusations in opposition to him, to face up to his complainants in court, to have legal representation, and to have a trial. These and other entitlements of the victim are indicated in the Victims Rights Amendment.
REFERENCE
DISCUSSION BOARD – Victimless Crime
Professor:
May 3, 2007
Due to its complexity, the problem of violence and crime requires diversified solutions depending on various causal factors – individual, academic, cultural and social – which could be at its root and have to be recognized beforehand. There is no typical answer nor is there an easy solution for dealing with “victimless crimes”, as is the case with other problems within a society. Thus, the whole community is challenged, politicians at various levels, parents, and the youth themselves (, 1996).
However, we know that the answer does not only lie in the pedagogical aspect nor does it lie solely in the society itself, but we do recognize, that families have an important role in implementing preventive measures, considering the impact that they have on the day-to-day life of today's youth. In fact, this impact is not always positive and rewarding, which also turns the family environment into one of the most frequent scenarios of child and adolescent violence directed at both peers and adults.
It is therefore important and urgent that parents and all people responsible for the individual and collective life are equipped with the necessary ability and competence to be able to prevent and solve the problems that arise in societies (, 1999). They need to be able to decide, in collaboration with other sources (either family or community), on the course of action to take against the causes and manifestations of violence in their surrounding social and cultural environment.
REFERENCES
0 comments:
Post a Comment