This study examined the relationships among participants’ emotional intelligence and participants’ sympathy for an alleged rape victim[1], sympathy for a defendant, and verdict in a mock rape case. Participants were 219 (127 female, 92 male) United States jury eligible individuals between the ages of 18 and 66. Participants were given a rape trial summary accompanied by a manipulated emotional facial expression of the alleged rape victim (angry, sad, afraid, or neutral), or no photograph. Participants were asked to render an individual case verdict and complete a questionnaire with measures to test sympathy for the alleged rape victim, sympathy for the defendant, self-emotional intelligence, other-emotional intelligence, and rape-myth acceptance. Results provided evidence that self and other-emotional intelligences are positively correlated; sympathy for rape victim and sympathy for the defendant do have an effect on case verdict; and, participant characteristics including gender, age, and race are predictive of rape myth acceptance, sympathy for the defendant, sympathy for the victim, and emotional intelligence. Further research should expand on emotional intelligence as a juror characteristic in the United States as well as internationally. [1] The term rape victim, rather than rape survivor, is used in this study to refer to an individual’s victim status in the context of the legal system.

Criminalistic study of crime victims (criminalistic victimology) In this thesis I try to briefly outline some of the most important issues and topics concerning criminalistic victimology. I address both how the victim affects the crime itself and its investigation, but also how the crime investigation affects the victim. When investigating a specific criminal act, there are two major conflicting goals we try to achieve; to investigate as thoroughly and effectively as we can, and to avoid secondary victimization of the victim. Both professional and attentive approach is vital to criminalistics as a whole, not just criminalistic victimology. A successful investigation depends in many cases greatly on whether and how the victim cooperates, and that in turn depends on how the victims and the general public view the police, the courts, and other criminal justice authorities. It is therefore necessary to understand the victim, to comprehend their role in the formation of the criminal act, and to ensure their confidence in the criminal justice. This thesis opens with a brief summary of the subject's history, afterwards it explains the key concepts and expressions found in the paper. It then carries on to deal with the victim's part in the creation and preservation of evidence and in reporting the criminal act. The...

This Master's Thesis deals with the issue of crime victim in criminology. The aim of this work is to create an integrated document that presents a current victimological knowledge and to evaluate current law in this area in the (relatively new) Statute about crime victims and eventually to propose changes where convenient. Besides the introduction and the conclusion, the thesis consists of eight chapters, which are then further divided into relevant subsections. The first presents historical insight into the role of a victim in criminal proceedings. The second introduces victimology, a science about victims, which is usually perceived as a part of criminology. Further chapters of the thesis deals with main areas of victimology. It is biological and psychological characteristics of a victim in the third chapter and victimization process in chapter four, including the role of a victim in her victimization and a relationship between her and an offender. It also deals with the role of victims in criminal proceedings. The sixth chapter consider means of help provided to victims by both, lay persons and professionals, especially by a range of nongovernmental organisations, eg. Bílý kruh bezpečí. Another important issue is informing of the society and education of the public in order to prevent crimes in...

Victims of domestic violence and their Criminal Law protection This diploma thesis deals with a domestic violence, its victims and options of their protection that can be found at Criminal Law. Domestic violence, due to its unique aspects, is considered to be a really sensitive issue that had unfortunately stayed in silence for many years. This silence had been caused especially by the fact that violence incidents usually occur outside of public, in privacy of victims' home. That is why some people tend to improperly consider domestic violence as strictly private manner that does not need to be regulated by state officials. There has been a significant shift for few last decades thanks to interest of professional and also non-professional public. The phenomenon of domestic violence has become being on stage and programs and preventive plans of help for treated persons are just being implemented. Despite all of mentioned improvements, domestic violence does represent the widespread, but still underestimated, social problem. The aim of this paper is to clarify the characteristics of domestic violence, especially with reference to its key features, symptoms, types of offenders and victims, and regarding existing legislation as well. The introductory part does further describe the actual development of...

Domestic violence is a pathological phenomenon which has strong roots in the society. The mapping of its presence is fairly difficult, just like preventing the development of an abusing relationship. The aim of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive view of the Czech legislation regarding this phenomenon while accenting its procedural aspects. Taking the progress on the international level into account, the thesis therefore aims to compare selected aspects of national legislation with the relatively novel Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention). The Convention has recently been signed by the Czech Republic and its ratification is to take place soon. The thesis itself is divided into six chapters. The first chapter provides an insight into the issue of domestic violence, the perpetrators, victims and possible solutions of the phenomenon. Following a summary of the historical development of the Czech legislation in chapter two and an introduction to the Istanbul Convention in chapter three, the thesis then focuses on the statuary provisions regarding this topic in the Czech Republic. In the fourth chapter which deals with substantive law the thesis analyses selected crimes which are related to domestic violence while also focusing...

Magister Legum - LLM / By any standard, victim participation is a relatively new phenomenon in international criminal law proceedings. Incredible advances have been made in the effort to end impunity for crimes against umanity, war crimes, genocide and, more recently, aggression. As a result, great strides have been made in ensuring the direct participation of victims of grave violations of human rights in court proceedings against their perpetrators. Prior to this, grave violations of human rights committed during conflicts or periods of mass violence were either largely ignored or even if action was taken, victims of the crimes hardly had a ‘say’ in the proceedings. With the advent of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) new dawn in the proceedings of international criminal law has emerged. The statutes that govern the ICC and ECCC have given a voice to victims in court proceeding buy ensuring victims participation.Despite these advances, scholars have criticized victim participation for being inconsistent in its application at the International Criminal Court.1 The criticism has come from scholars who have highlighted the unintended consequences of victim participation in court proceedings, arguing that their participation has resulted in the under- or misrepresentation of the actual experience of survivors of war, mass violence, or repression. These problems have arisen largely because the need to establish the guilt or innocence of the accused and to protect their due process rights, to abide by the rules of evidence and procedure, and to conserve judicial resources all cut against victim-witnesses'ability to tell their stories at these tribunals thereby resulting in a limited, and sometimes inaccurate, record of victims' experience. / South Africa

The goal of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive comparison of national legislations governing assistance provided to crime victims in both the Czech Republic and Finland. Although emphasis has been placed on analysis of the respective legal regulations of both countries, it also places the issue into historical context while analyzing international requirements laid down by the Council of Europe, the European Union and the United Nations. At the end of the thesis, the level of victim protection in both countries is assessed and particular de lege ferenda proposals are submitted. The first chapter offers historical and international insight into the assistance of victims of crime and details how this field has evolved over the last hundred years. The second chapter describes the development of protective legislation in the Czech Republic and Finland. In chapter 3, the different types of assistance provided to victims in practice, regardless of the existence of relevant regulations, are analyzed. The fourth chapter explains the legal terms "victim" and "injured party", with a view toward their use in subsequent chapters of this thesis. Chapter 5 discusses the position of the injured party in criminal proceedings, including the feasibility of achieving their rightful claims while the sixth...

The topic of the thesis is the incidence and prevention of different stages of bullying on business academies. The thesis contains the necessary theoretical background for understanding the concept of bullying. Firstly, the characteristics of the participants, aggressors and victims are described. After that, a detailed description of bullying stages follows. The thesis also deals with one of the forms, cyberbullying, which is very widespread today. An important part of the thesis presents an analysis of the first aid in the fight against bullying. Other options of dealing with bullying and methods of remediation are also described in details. The thesis introduces the consequences of bullying, which affect many areas. Finally, the thesis deals with a very important prevention, which is essential for the successful treatment of bullying. The issue provides the information necessary to prevent and tackle bullying in high schools. In the practical part, questionnaire that examines the current situation and students´experience in bullying is analyzed. Interview with a counselor dealing with bullying and its prevention at schools is a part of the dissertation.

abstract: Several states within the United States have recently passed the Victim Life Photo Act, which allows prosecutors to present photographs of alleged murder victims when they were alive during the guilt phase of a trial. Critics argue that these photographs do not offer any relevant information about the crime or the defendant’s potential guilt and might bias jurors to vote guilty based on their sympathy for the victim—perhaps disproportionally so for high-status victims. Two mock trial experiments tested whether online participants who viewed alleged murder victim photographs would convict more because they increase anger, disgust, fear, sadness, and/or sympathy. Mock jurors who saw photographs of White (but not racial minority) victims while they were alive reported more sympathy for the victim relative to those who saw the same evidence without a photograph of the living victim—but the sympathy did not increase convictions (Study 1). Study 2 extended this study by testing whether the living victim photographs are more impactful in conjunction with seeing gruesome photographs of the victim after her death, creating a particularly disturbing contrast effect versus seeing the living photograph alone. Study 2 found that (a) living victim photographs on their own again had no effect on participants’ verdicts, (b) gruesome photographs on their own increased convictions through increased disgust, and (c) participants who saw both living and gruesome murder victim photographs (versus gruesome alone) were more conviction prone due to increased anger and sympathy. These studies inform current debates regarding the controversial Victim Life Photo Act: Admitting living victim photographs during the guilt phase—if presented along with gruesome photographs—can make jurors more sympathetic and angry, which can increase convictions. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2020

This qualitative study adopts a criminological perspective to investigate how newspaper headlines surrounding western-raised female Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) are being framed by the British media. This investigation employs a case study approach, to thematically analyse how narratives surrounding a high profile British FTF, Shamima Begum, were framed by headlines of British newspapers once she requested repatriation to the United Kingdom (UK) after four years as a FTF in Syria. When Begum left UK in 2015, aged 15, the media narrative leant towards suggestions of Begum being considered to be a victim. Therefore, this study looks at how the more recent newspaper headlines frame Begums more complex narrative in 2019 when the UK was faced with the conundrum as to how to respond the repatriation request of a British-born female FTF who was also heavily pregnant at the time. Therefore, the focused timeframe of the study is from February 2019, until August 2019. Only the headlines of British newspapers were examined to see how the snapshot of the framed narratives surrounding Begum during this time were presented. The aim was to investigate from a criminological perspective whether the choice of framing was creating a societal perception as to whether the FTF is a perpetrator or victim, according to the societal “trial by media” that newspapers often inspire. Whilst objectivity is always an issue, this study is not designed to make any judgment either way in regards to the Begum case or her agency in her FTF experience but to simply raise awareness as to how narrative around perpetrators or victims can create societal and individual biases and can serve to reduce or increase fear of the “other”. This study demonstrated that the framing chosen by the media increases the level of bias with the focus on the security risk and punishment aspects of the discussion surrounding Begums situation. This is important to be aware of as this in turn significantly contributes to greater racial, ethnic or religious tension within society. Unless we address how perpetrators and victims are discussed, then we increase the risk of greater racial, ethnic or religious tension within society which can create a multitude of other societal and criminological issues.