This diploma thesis addresses the issues of victims of crimes in criminology. Object of this work is to describe the victim's status and rights, introduce the area of victimology to the reader together with related knowledge of this area, description of recent legislation pertaining victims with particular focus on Crime Victims Act. This diploma thesis is structured as following: Introduction, 10 chapters, systematically divided into subchapters, conclusion. First chapter deals with questions of victimology, it's evolution and subject matter. Second chapter explains the concept of victim of the crime, victimity and special types of victims, e.g. pseudo victim or multiple victim. Chapter three covers the area of victimization and it's characteristics. Debunking of famous victimological myths is also included in this chapter. Chapter four describes an influence of the crime on victim and how possible victimisation results in post-traumatic stress disorder. Chapter mentions which circumstances can deepen victimization and gives an account of syndromes of the victims. Next chapter presents specific victims. There are various victimological researches examined in chapter six and help for victims of crime is topic of the chapter seven. Chapter eight addresses prevention in victimology. Following chapter...

Thesis advisor: James F. Keenan / The United States penal system, fragmented by contradictory impulses toward retribution and incapacitation, is in need of coherent objectives for its prisons and jails. This dissertation draws upon the resources of virtue ethics to suggest a new model of justice, one which claims that a Christian theological framework can offer insight for public correctional institutions. In developing a model of justice as virtue, I incorporate rehabilitative goals and contributions from restorative justice. Advancing beyond these foundations, I draw upon two key sources. First, from a study of virtue and justice in the work of Thomas Aquinas, I argue that the virtue of legal justice - an orientation toward the common good - is the fundamental lens for understanding punishment. The prison can only cultivate justice to the extent that it empowers moral agency and (re-)orients offenders toward right relationship with the community. Second, an inclusive, restorative account of biblical justice - developed particularly from Isaiah, the Psalms, and the New Testament - establishes justice as a saving intervention. Thus, punishment can be a legitimate means but is not constitutive of justice itself. Despite its necessary limitations, the prison must empower the moral agency of inmates through just action, reformulate the role and practices of correctional staff, and facilitate just relationships between offenders and their communities and families. Furthermore, prisons themselves can be understood as moral agents that bear responsibility for cultivating justice in society. For the United States prison, a model of justice as virtue mandates unremitting efforts to transform offenders and the larger community into just moral agents. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences. / Department of Sociology

Concerns over skyrocketing school disciplinary rates have driven the search for alternative methods to address disruptive student behavior. Restorative disciplinary practices are a promising option for our nation's schools. This investigation explores the willingness of educators to adopt restorative discipline by analyzing survey data from the Northwest Justice Forum Pre-Training on Restorative Justice in Schools. Data analysis was conducted using the Theory of Planned Behavior as a model for understanding and predicting future behavior--in this instance, willingness to be contacted for more information or willingness to participate in a future study. A concurrent review of the participant's school disciplinary policies demonstrated how participant views are reflected in practice. The analysis suggested that the respondent's attitude significantly predicted intention, and both attitude and intention predicted behavior. Furthermore, the policy review confirmed that restorative discipline is largely absent and cautioned that there may be misconceptions about its use.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the attitudes of citizens in Vermont and the newly instated restorative justice programs of the Vermont Department of Corrections. To complete this task, 601 Vermont residents were contacted via telephone interview and asked a series of questions concerning their opinion about 3 restorative justice programs, namely reparative boards, the diversion program, and the furlough program. Bivariate analysis determined if a relationship exists between the dependent variables, restorative justice programs, and independent variables, demographic characteristics such as age and gender. Results of the analysis revealed several factors contributing to attitudes about the Vermont department of corrections, including opinions whether the courts can handle their caseloads, overall belief in the criminal justice system, and views about restorative justice programs. Future implications of these findings and recommendations for future study are also included.

Cette recherche décrit et analyse le processus de mise en œuvre d’un dispositif de justice restaurative au sein du système de justice des mineurs. Le projet s’inscrit dans la politique générale du Ministère de la justice et particulièrement de celle de la Direction territoriale de la protection judiciaire de la jeunesse (DTPJJ). Il est l’un des premiers à être expérimenté sur le plan national avec pour objectif la tenue de conférences restauratives, c’est-à-dire des rencontres en face à face entre infracteurs et victimes, accompagnés de leurs proches et en présence d’un facilitateur ou médiateur. L’expérimentation a associé deux entités du Ministère de la justice, le tribunal de grande instance de Caen et le Service Territorial éducatif de milieu ouvert (STEMO) et trois entités du milieu associatif que sont l’ACJM, le CIDFF qui sont des services d’aide aux victimes et l’Association de thérapie familiale systémique (ATFS).L’expérimentation n’a pu déboucher que sur une seule conférence restaurative entre un jeune, auteur d’un vol avec effraction dans une école et la directrice de cet établissement. Elle a abouti à la conclusion d’un plan de réparation proposé par le mineur et accepté par la victime puis consigné dans un rapport et validé par le médiateur.Le présent travail restitue les enseignements d’une immersion par participation active aux différentes phases du projet, depuis la signature du protocole initial jusqu’aux différentes réunions de bilan du processus. Cette implication, assise sur les enseignements tirés de ma participation antérieure à un programme de justice restaurative en Côte d’Ivoire, m’a permis d’effectuer une enquête ethnographique approfondie.Après avoir situé les enjeux socio-politiques liés à l’implantation internationale de pratiques de justice restaurative et restitué les enseignements de mon expérience Ivoirienne, j’analyse le déroulement de l’expérience caennaise dans un cadre théorique ouvert référé à la sociologie de la traduction et aux économies de la grandeur.Cet ensemble vient selon moi documenter la question suivante : peut-on, malgré les lenteurs et difficultés inhérentes à l’instauration d’une innovation sociale telle que la justice restaurative parier sur les effets bénéfiques d’une rencontre médiée entre les protagonistes d’une infraction ? / This research describes and analyzes the process of implementing a restorative justice system within the juvenile justice system. The project is part of the general policy of the ministry of justice and particularly that of the Direction territorial de la protection judiciaire de la jeunesse (DTPJJ). He is one of the first to be experimented at the national level with the aim of holding restorative conferences, in face to face meetings between offenders and victims, accompanied by their relatives and in the presence of a facilitator or mediator. The expert appraisal involved two entities of the ministry of justice, the hight court of Caen and the Service territorial éducatif de milieu ouvert (STEMO) and three associations that are Association de contrôle judiciaire et médiation (ACJM), Centre d’informations sur les droits des femmes et des familles (CIDFF) which are victim support and Association de thérapie familiale et systémique (ATFS).The experiment was only able to stop at a single restorative conference between a young person who had broken into a school and the director of that school. It led to the conclusion of a repair plan proposed by minor and accepted by the victim then recorded in a report and validated by the mediator.The present work presents the lessons of an immersion through active participation in the various phases of the project from the signing of the initial protocol to the various review meeting of the process. This involvement based on the lessons learned from my previous participation in the program of restorative justice in Côte d’Ivoire allowed me to carry out an in depth ethnographic survey.After having located the socio-political issues related to the international implementation of practices of restorative justice and restituted the lessons of my Ivorian experience, I analyze the unfolding of the Caen experience in an open theoretical framework refered to the sociology of translation and economic of greatness.This set comes in my opinion to document the following question: Can one despite the delays and difficulties inherent in the establishment of a social innovation such as restorative justice bet on the beneficial effects of a mediated meeting between the protagonists of offense?

The negative effects of retributive disciplinary measures in school settings are well documented. Exclusionary practices, such as suspensions, position students on the school-to-prison pipeline, perpetuating a cycle of failure. Restorative justice practices in educational settings provide an alternative to the retributive approach to student discipline. In this research study, a middle school in California was examined for its implementation of restorative justice practices. Numerical data pertaining to a five-year suspension history report for the school were utilized for the quantitative analyses, and four individual chi-square goodness of fit tests were conducted. The results demonstrated that the implementation of restorative justice played a significant role in the declining student suspensions across school years. It was found that the introduction of restorative practices to the middle school played a role in creating an inclusive school environment, with student suspensions having been applied to a lower proportion of African American and Hispanic students from pre-implementation of restorative justice to post-implementation. Through the use of a restorative framework, students may learn how to solve problems and repair relationships in school and life events, rather than being placed on the school-to-prison pipeline.

A restorative approach to justice focuses on accountability for healing the harm done to victims and communities as a result of criminal acts. Hate crimes are intended to send a threatening message to a particular group of people. There is enough reliable research on restorative justice principles and practices, and on the causes, meaning and impact of hate crimes, to bring together a representative selection of available literature for a critical review. This thesis critically reviews the literature of restorative justice principles and practices, and the literature of hate crime causes, definitions, laws, and typologies of offenders, using as a model Comstock's seven-step Critical Research Method. Findings suggest that congruencies between the two fields of study are primarily found in how activities appropriated to define the fields have increased the ambiguity of the definitions. Further findings suggest that there are important underlying issues of class and power distribution in need of attention in both fields of research. These findings are discussed and suggestions are made for future areas of research.

This study explores the connections between justice understood biblically, and restorative justice. Restorative justice theory has argued that its foundational principles and its forms of practice draw directly from the taproot of biblical justice. This study argues that biblical justice as conceived by restorative justice is incomplete. More, the primary theological and biblical work in the field has not drawn the connections to the way restorative justice is practiced. This study argues that judgment and forgiveness are essential components of biblical justice that are missing from discussions of restorative justice. It concludes by drawing some of the implications of incorporating judgment and forgiveness for restorative justice practice by suggesting language that can be used by mediators. Chapter 1 outlines the main principles of restorative justice and describes the ways in which these principles were initially grounded on a description of biblical justice. The ways in which recent writing about restorative justice has identified an apparent loss of vision are explored, a loss that flows from a theological grounding that has failed to adequately reflect the fulness of biblical justice. Chapter 2 explores the main themes of biblical justice. Drawing connections between biblical understandings of peace, covenant, and justice, it discusses the ways in which restitution, vindication, vengeance, retribution, punishment, mercy, judgment, and forgiveness are all constitutive of a full understanding of biblical justice. Finally this understanding of justice is described as central to repentance and reconciliation. Chapter 3 draws the connections between biblical justice and restorative justice. Arguing that biblical justice is a justice for the nations, that it is what justice ought to be, the role that judgment and forgiveness can play within restorative justice is described. Chapter 4 connects the discussion to the work that mediators do in restorative justice. Offering potential language for restorative justice practitioners, it seeks to find ways for the biblical and theological discussion to influence their work with victims and offenders. Chapter 5 draws the argument together, and identifies the necessity of restorative justice programmes remaining rooted in the church so as to retain the courage and creativity to continually experiment with new forms of practice.

This study explores the connections between justice understood biblically, and restorative justice. Restorative justice theory has argued that its foundational principles and its forms of practice draw directly from the taproot of biblical justice. This study argues that biblical justice as conceived by restorative justice is incomplete. More, the primary theological and biblical work in the field has not drawn the connections to the way restorative justice is practiced. This study argues that judgment and forgiveness are essential components of biblical justice that are missing from discussions of restorative justice. It concludes by drawing some of the implications of incorporating judgment and forgiveness for restorative justice practice by suggesting language that can be used by mediators. Chapter 1 outlines the main principles of restorative justice and describes the ways in which these principles were initially grounded on a description of biblical justice. The ways in which recent writing about restorative justice has identified an apparent loss of vision are explored, a loss that flows from a theological grounding that has failed to adequately reflect the fulness of biblical justice. Chapter 2 explores the main themes of biblical justice. Drawing connections between biblical understandings of peace, covenant, and justice, it discusses the ways in which restitution, vindication, vengeance, retribution, punishment, mercy, judgment, and forgiveness are all constitutive of a full understanding of biblical justice. Finally this understanding of justice is described as central to repentance and reconciliation. Chapter 3 draws the connections between biblical justice and restorative justice. Arguing that biblical justice is a justice for the nations, that it is what justice ought to be, the role that judgment and forgiveness can play within restorative justice is described. Chapter 4 connects the discussion to the work that mediators do in restorative justice. Offering potential language for restorative justice practitioners, it seeks to find ways for the biblical and theological discussion to influence their work with victims and offenders. Chapter 5 draws the argument together, and identifies the necessity of restorative justice programmes remaining rooted in the church so as to retain the courage and creativity to continually experiment with new forms of practice.