Victimology: Understanding Victims in the Criminal Justice System

By: shaik Fiza Ifra of Lovely Professional University

Introduction

This blog is an overview of the main concepts of victimology, the different legal and compensatory mechanisms in India, and the development of technology and AI in support and rehabilitation for victims.

Definition and Meaning

 Victimology is a science that studies victims in connection to offenders and the whole criminal justice system. This word, which comes from the Latin “victima” meaning a sacrificial animal plus the Greek “logos” which means a study, was first used by the leading victimologist Benjamin Mendelsohn in the 1940s. He asserted that the victim’s part played in the crime must be known for the crime to be entirely grasped.

According to the United Nations Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power, 1985, victims were people who had suffered a loss, either individually or as a group, such as through acts or omissions that violated criminal laws, because of physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss, or impairing of rights. Victimology has a significant role to play in the criminal justice system as its central function is to identify the victims.

 However, the scope of victimology extends even further and covers the following areas. It studies the different types of victimization and also considers the relationship between the victim and the offender. Study of different mechanisms of compensation, protection, and rehabilitation of victims. Different theories have been describing the dynamics of victimization for a long time. Such a framework helps to understand why sometimes individuals or groups become more vulnerable to crime.

1. Victim Precipitation Theory

This theory, founded by Marvin Wolfgang in 1958, states that the victim through his or her behavior or decision-making might set up the crime.

Application: The theory has found its application in the finding of the cyclical conflict patterns in the domestic violence cases. Although a number of critics warn against victim blaming, the theory is considered as one which ought to be analytically rather than judgmentally applied. The lifestyle theory—also called exposure—posits that one’s daily habits and activities,

 e.g., late-night partying, frequenting unsafe places, or associating with crime-prone people, determine a person’s chances of coming into contact with a potential offender (Hindelang, Gottfredson, and Garofalo, 1978).

      B.      Deviant Place Theory

 This view contends that the victim’s chances of being targeted for   crime are greatest in undesirable areas where poverty and lack of social control prevail. It is different from the Lifestyle Theory in that the latter is concerned with personal actions while the former is concerned with the places and conditions that favored such crimes. This is a theory stating that for a crime to happen, three factors must converge at the same time and first suggested by Cohen and Felson in 1979: A motivated offender For example, when we consider all of these dynamics and their interplay in the increase of cybercrime, one can see the picture of a motivated hacker looking for unsecured data, passing through vulnerable cybersecurity systems, and finally not being detected because of lack of guardianship.

 Legal Provisions and Compensatory Reliefs

a. Code of Criminal Procedure, CrPC.

 Section 357 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, gives the authority to all courts to award compensation to victims for loss or injury suffered due to the crime. Section 357A, which was added in 2009, mandated every state to work with the Central Government to establish a Victim Compensation Scheme so that monetary payment could be given even if the offenders are not able to pay the amount.

 b. NALSA And DALSA

Under thelegal-services-authorities-act-1987, the national legal services authority has been at the forefront to ensure victim assistance by implementing schemes for compensation, legal aid and counseling. In this regard, the DLSA at the district level manages and operates state compensation funds that enable the victims to apply for such schemes thereby having equal access to justice.

 c. Probation of Offenders Act, 1958

Although this is an Act mainly concerning the rehabilitation of offenders it is a restorative approach to justice The courts may release an offender on probation with conditions to provide compensation to the victim with a view to reconciliation rather than punitive isolation.

d. Motor Vehicles Act, 1988

Sections 161 to 163A award compensation to the victim or his dependants in case of death or injury or loss of property due to road accidents, even on account of “no fault” liability. Motor Accident Claims Tribunals make sure that such cases are resolved quickly as a part of the scheme of victim restitution in both civil and criminal contexts.

e. Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023

Compensation to the victim is provided under Section 479 through the Victim Compensation Scheme. Therefore, Section 531 makes available the copy of FIR, judgment and charge sheet to the victim in order to promote transparency and participative justice. i. Acid Attack Victims Acid attacks, under the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2013, have been made offenses by inserting Sections 326A and 326B in the IPC. Not only that, but victims have also become entitled to minimum compensation of ₹3 lakhs which was laid down by the Supreme Court of India in Laxmi v. Union of India, 2014. Compensation is also disbursed by NALSA through the Scheme for Compensation to Women Victims

/Survivors of Sexual Assault/Other Crimes, 2018, along with medical assistance and rehabilitation. ii. Victims of rape

Support and rehabilitation of victims

a. Central Victim Compensation Fund(CVCF)

b. Rehabilitation Measures for Victims of Crime Key schemes include: Facilities include one-stop centers under Nirbhaya Fund for providing integrated services to women affected by violence. Ujjawala Scheme for the rehabilitation of trafficked women. Non-governmental organizations as well as social workers also provide much-needed help in trying to reintegrate the victim and even in preventing secondary victimization.

c. AI-Based Victim Support Tools d. Impact of rehabilitative measures in the field

Analytical Insights:

Victim-Offender Relationship and the Role of Technology

1. Victim-Offender Dynamics Restorative justice approaches are based on dialogue, accountability, and reparation, rather than punishment alone. Programs like Victim-Offender Mediation in the United States and some pilots in India have shown the way in which structured communication between offenders and victims can help both find closure and head toward rehabilitation. Procedural barriers were reduced through online FIR registration and e-Courts portals. Immediate interventions come by the use of mobile apps 112 India and Women Helpline 181.

The use of virtual evidence rooms ensures the privacy of victims of sexual violence at deposition. AI and digital platforms responsibly used democratize justice, ensuring speed, confidentiality, and access; however, their deployment has to be kept human-centered and ethically guided. Victimology has come a long way-from the fringe of academic thought into the mainstream of criminal justice reform. It redirects perception from crime as a legal transgression to crime

• Technology and Digital Platforms in Victim Support The process of digitalization has virtually redefined the whole access to justice. The reduction of procedural barriers is a result of online FIR registration and the e-Courts portals. Supporting mobile applications such as the 112 India and Women’s Helpline 181 offer prompt assistance. Evidence rooms created in virtual space provide a secure atmosphere for the victims of sexual violence to give testimony. If used properly, AI and digital platforms are going to be the ones who will bring justice to the place by giving a chance to everyone, at the same time, confidentially and all done in a very speedy manner. However, the onus is still on us, humans, to make sure that the technology use is not only efficient but also moral.

Conclusion

Victimology has travelled through time as an unimportant academic concept to being one of the main pillars in criminal justice reform. It shifts the emphasis from the law violation aspect of the crime to the human experiencing of it—recognizing pain, restoring dignity, and reclaiming lives. The Indian legal system, from CrPC to BNSS 2023, is showing that it is getting more and more victim-sensitive but still, there are gaps in the implementation. Monetary compensation, notwithstanding its fundamental role, cannot take the place of emotional and social surgery. The engagement of technology and AI in an ethical manner can improve the efficiency but it cannot invade the realm of empathy or human judgment. In the end, justice for the victims should be comprehensive one that takes into account the recognition, restoration, and reintegration. Therefore, victimology is not solely the study of victims; it is the demand for a loving and inclusive justice system that does not forget any story behind every statistic.

References:

1. Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (as amended by Act 5 of 2009).
2. Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
3. NALSA Compensation Scheme for Women Victims/Survivors of Sexual Assault/Other Crimes, 2018.
4. Laxmi v. Union of India, (2014) 4 SCC 427.
5. Delhi Domestic Working Women’s Forum v. Union of India, (1995) 1 SCC 14.
6. Cohen & Felson (1979), “Social Change and Crime Rate Trends.”
7. Mendelsohn, B. (1947), “The Origin of the Doctrine of Victimology.”