Personal Security and the 'Right' to Protection

Welfare organizations and social services deal with issues of personal security. They are involved in risk assessment and in the protection of individuals and families. However, their mission in this domain is not defined, and its boundaries are not set. The article discusses the right to personal security. The duty of the state to guarantee this right is stated by international declarations and conventions that were ratified by the United Kingdom, as well as the European Convention on Human Rights that was adopted into domestic English law. In the application of the right to personal security, and the state's duty to secure this right, two independent processes are taking place. First, in the United Kingdom, the English courts are reluctant to recognize an affirmative right to personal security and to impose on state and public agencies a duty to secure this right. Second, as in many other service areas, this duty is rendered to the community. It is vital for the social services to discuss this duty, especially when they are called to vouch for the personal security of individuals and families in the community.     

试论被害人在打击、预防犯罪中作用的发挥

被害人在刑事犯罪过程中有着特殊的地位，对被害人问题的研究，对于正确运用刑法、刑事诉讼法有效地预防犯罪、惩罚犯罪有着重要的意义。     

澳大利亚刑事被害人权利保护制度对我国刑事司法改革的启示

20世纪中叶以来,被害人在各国刑事诉讼中的地位日益受到重视,各国越来越注重强化被害人的诉讼地位和保护被害人的诉讼权利.澳大利亚作为英美法系国家,传统上重视被告人诉讼权利的保护,但后来在保护被害人诉讼权利方面做出了重大变革,成为澳大利亚近时期刑事司法改革的特色.我国刑事被害人权利保护制度存在不足,可以借鉴澳大利亚制度和学习澳大利亚注重被害人权利保护的立法精神及制度安排,在我国刑事司法改革中进一步完善被害人权利保护制度.     

构建我国刑事被害人国家补偿制度必要性之再辨析

在我们国家过去的刑事诉讼中更多的是强调"以被告人为中心",却往往忽视了被害人的权利保障,其中就包括了被害人的国家补偿问题通过分析论证,说明被害人国家补偿制度在我国的构建的确是非常必要的。     

A Telephone Counseling Program for Elder Abuse in Japan

ABSTRACT

In the 21st century, one-fourth of the Japanese population will be 65 years and older. Not only is the duty to report elder abuse not defined by the law but there is no special organization with clinical facilities to respond to incidents of elder abuse. A report in 1994 by the Society for the Study of Elder Abuse (SSEA) showed the need for definitive social measures to prevent elder abuse. Based on that research, SSEA organized the Japan Elder Abuse Prevention Center and initiated a volunteer telephone counseling service “Help Line” that was available for several hours on Mondays. Within an 18 month period, 209 cases were handled of which 150 concerned abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation. Callers were more often the elder or the daughter than other relatives or outsiders. Sons were the more prevalent perpetrators, and financial abuse the most common type of mistreatment reported. Recommendations include new laws and social welfare policies that adapt to the changes in an aging society.     

Notes on Newspaper Accounts of Male Elder Abuse

SUMMARY

Law enforcement press releases and other print-media miscellany detailing accounts of male elder abuse involving insurance fraud, false allegations by perpetrators, and abuse inflicted by care-givers, spawned interest in a more systematic review. That review was accomplished principally by accessing two search engines, with news articles from 1986 to the present. A review of these media accounts transformed the initial “insurance fraud” category into a broader one classified as “economic exploitation.” That same review also resulted in three distinctive categories of caregiver abuse. This article provides abbreviated case accounts within each category, and concludes with brief notes on several themes derived from the reported accounts.     

What Can Yet Be Done with Older Children Who Have Been Long-Term Victims of Parental Alienation?

One of the most difficult tasks facing expert witnesses (psychologists and psychiatrists) is seeking to reverse parental alienation of long standing when a child has reached adolescence or become an adult. Despite the difficulty, the author describes a strategy that is sometimes effective to make a victim aware of the constancy of the alienated parent’s love, and to provide a rational explanation, via a letter, for the now adult explaining the process of parental alienation.     

Boys Abused in a Community Setting: An Analysis of Gender,Relationship, and Delayed Prosecutions in Cases of Child Sexual Abuse

ABSTRACT

Previous research on gender differences and delay of disclosure of child sexual abuse is inconclusive; some research has found that male victims are more likely to delay disclosure than female victims, while other studies have found no gender difference. The present archival study investigated this inconsistency by examining factors that interact with delay. Judicial outcomes of child sexual abuse cases were coded (N = 4237) for variables related to the offense, the complainant-accused relationship, and court proceedings. Males and females differed with respect to delay only when the relationship between the complainant and the accused was established in the community (e.g., sports coach) or was a stranger to the child. When the accused was a parent, other relative, or a non-relative connected to the child through the family, there was no difference in delay between males and females. Further, males were more vulnerable in the community, as evidenced by a higher proportion of accused community members with male than female complainants, even though males represented fewer than 25% of cases in the database. These findings may help explain inconsistencies in gender differences in delayed disclosure. Implications regarding education about child sexual abuse are discussed, with a focus on male victims.     

Restorative Justice

Abstract

One of the most popular criminal justice paradigms is restorative justice. Restorative justice is victim-centered and focuses on repairing the damage individuals and communities suffer as a result of a criminal act. Uncoerced apologies and remorse for the offending behavior and the victim are important features of restorative justice. However, the criminal justice system and the public eschew principal features of restorative justice. For example, the law coerces apology and remorse. Moreover, the courtroom has become, for the most part, a place for victims, and sometimes judges to attack, demean, ridicule, and disparage defendantsall antithetical to restorative justice. The omnipresent expectation for an offender to unilaterally accept total responsibility for the crime, apologize to the victim, and express remorse for the crime undermines the core objectives of restorative justice and obscures significant social and legal problems.     

未成年被害人犯罪人化的原因探析——兼谈被害之预防

我国未成年人犯罪形势严峻,已引起全社会的广泛重视。而未成年犯罪人有很大的比例是由被害人转化而来。国家有义务在预防未成年人被害方面有所作为,采取宏观预防措施。大量的未成年人被害事件都表明除了犯罪人的责任外,对未成年人保护中的疏漏和未成年人缺乏防范意识是造成其易遭受犯罪侵害的主要原因。预防被害还可以通过增强公民的防范意识和改变环境中易于诱发犯罪的因素来实现,其中公民自觉防范犯罪侵害是最为主动和积极的。