Victimology Assignment
In the Victimology field of study, there are various aspects involving victims that are described. In the criminal justice system, there is much that takes place. The aim is to avoid a scenario where the one-sided story is obtained. The study mostly involves the psychological, emotional, and financial harm that people suffer in a situation that a crime occurs. In the field, both the perpetrator and the victim are studied. In this essay paper, the various portions including rights, financial remedies, and victim notification are analyzed about the documentation at Maryland Crime Victim’s Resource Centre,
There are distinct distinguishable differences that come out in the programs of victim compensation and that of restitution. As a result of a crime, various expenses occur due that are met by the victim of the crime. Regardless of the figure, the victim of the crime needs a compensation of the costs. The two ways through which a victim is compensated is through restitution and victim compensation. Therefore, restitution is a judgment passed during a civil case against the offender for allowable expenses. It is usually part of the sentence that the offender gets during the hearing of criminal cases.
On the other hand, victim compensation programs aim at offering state compensation to people who have been victimized by crime. The funds are given by state through OVC or Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. The compensation in these programs involves eligibility for the benefits of medical service reimbursements, lost wages, or any other cost that resulted from the crime. The difference as it stands, therefore, is the offender pays that reinstitution while in the compensation program, it is the state that makes the payment as illustrated.
In the circuit court of Maryland, crime victims have various rights that are bestowed to them. If one is a victim, there is a right to be treated with respect, sensitivity, and dignity in the time of all phases of the process. Secondly, one is given the right to be notified of any court event that is related to his case and is atomically entitled to get a notification via the VINE system. Additionally, one is entitled to having a right to be present in the courtroom as the court events related to your case unfold. On top of these rights, there is a right of one being heard through written and oral statements before the sentencing is imposed. Restitution obtainment from the offender is another right that a victim of crime gets. Lastly, the victims have a right to be informed of any plea arrangement that is made although limited in that one cannot decide whether the plea is accepted (Bolan and Russell, 4)
Lastly, in Dawson’s family murder, Angela Dawson, her five children and her husband all died in a firebombing (Gettleman, 1). They were victims of crime who were burnt down by Darrell Brooks. The black woman had called the police in complaining about the drug dealers, who were making the sidewalks of these streets in East Baltimore unsafe. There was negligence in protecting the family, albeit the numerous threats that they had received before. The prosecutors of the case and the police knowing the depth of the risk that the Dawson family were placed, could have at least responded by offering much security or even relocating them to avoid the mess that they received due to the point of standing out to eliminate violence.
Works Cited
Boland, Mary L., and Russell Butler. “Crime Victim’s Rights: From Illusion to Reality.” Crim. Just. 24, (2009): 4.
Gettleman, Jeffrey. “Ashes and Tears in Lost Battle of Drug War.” Nytimes.Com, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/18/us/ashes-and-tears-in-lost-battle-of-drug-war.html.