IRM 13-1
Chapter 13: Victims in the Twenty-First Century: Alternative Directions
from Crime Victims: An Introduction to Victimology, 10e by Andrew Karmen
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Upon completing this chapter, the student should be able to:
L01. Explain the four rationales that govern the use of force in self-defense.
L03. Identify the characteristics of incidents of “retaliatory justice” and vigilantism.
L05. Compare and contrast restorative justice and retributive justice.
L07. List the pros and cons of resolving cases through the process of restorative justice.
LESSON PLAN
Correlated to PowerPoints
I. Toward Countering Criminal Violence with Forceful Responses: Would Victims Be Better Off If
They Were Armed?
A. The Legitimate Use of Force in Self-Defense [Learning Objective 1]
1. Self-defense statutes are worded differently in each state because they were
shaped by four different rationales.
2. Five qualifications that restrain the right to self-defense are as follows:
a. Threat must be imminent.
3. Many claims of self-defense are not clear cut.
4. NCVS data show victims fought back in 60 percent of all violent offenses.
See Assignment 1
B. Justifiable Homicides Carried Out by Victims and Law Enforcement Officers
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IRM 13-2
1. Since 1988, the UCR has kept track of the following two categories of justifiable
homicide:
a. By victims acting in self-defense
2. UCR data show 330 justifiable homicides in 2016.
3. Figure 13.1 shows trends in justifiable homicides from 1988 to 2016.
a. UCR data in both lines are incomplete and unreliable.
b. Prior to 2000, there was a positive correlation between the level of
violence in society and justifiable homicides.
4. Deciding whether a homicide was justified, brings up the possibility of racial
discrimination.
5. Box 13.1 details guidelines for shooting someone while under attack.
Class Discussion/Activity
Reread Box 13.1 “What Armed Citizens under Attack Must Consider before Pulling the Trigger.” Do these five issues seem
like advice that potential victims must consider before an attack occurs? Explain your reasoning.
C. Acquiring Firearms for Self-Protection
1. Advocates of armed self-defense note that the world is dangerous.
a. Firearms are equalizers.
2. Gun control advocates believe guns escalate dangers.
3. Dickey Amendment of 1996 prohibits Centers for Disease Control and
4. Two sources of official data about fatal gun violence are as follows:
a. CDC database of coroner’s and medical examiner’s offices
b. FBI SHRs voluntary data from police departments
Media Tool
“Should Guns Be Permitted on College Campuses?” (https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/05/31/should-guns-be–permitted-on–
college-campuses)
-An article from the New York Times featuring opinions from four people
-Discussion: Did you find yourself agreeing (or disagreeing) strongly with one person—or does your own opinion
fall somewhere in between these? How have individual life events shaped each person’s views of concealed carry?
What If Scenario
Determine whether your campus permits concealed carry. Using data from campus security records about crime on campus
and in the surrounding area, hold a debate with your classmates advocating for and against firearms on campus.
D. Gun Laws Directly Affecting Victims
2. Most divisive issues have concern over the following:
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IRM 13-3
a. Ban of semiautomatic assault weapons
b. Storage in the home
3. Victims are most affected by the following:
a. “Stand Your Ground” law
i. It advocates for armed self-defense.
4. Public opinion on gun control changes over time—likely due to mass shootings.
5. States with higher rates of gun ownership have high gun suicide rates.
What If Scenario
Assume that you strongly believe gun ownership should not be controlled. Your friend tells you that he thinks gun control
measures are needed because the very guns you think keep people safe also are the ones that some use to commit suicide.
How would you respond?
E. Gun Ownership in the United States
2. Number of firearms in circulation has reached record highs.
3. Proportion of individuals or households possessing guns is declining.
4. People most likely to own guns include whites, men, those with less education,
F. Arguments Advanced by Proponents of Arming for Self-Protection [Learning Objective 2]
1. The police usually cannot arrive in time to save a victim from harm
a. People must take responsibility of their own security.
3. Reaching for a gun away from home can save a victim from serious harm
a. It prevents or cuts attacks short.
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4. Having a gun handy might save a person’s life.
5. Going around armed can enable a bystander to become a Good Samaritan who
6. Defensive gun uses (DGUs) are so numerous (but undercounted) that armed
preparedness on balance is a sound policy that contributes to public safety.
a. Deterrence rationale is becoming more widely accepted.
b. One in seven gun owners has fired or threatened to fire.
G. Counterarguments Advanced by Critics Opposed to Arming for Self-Protection
1. Injuries and deaths from bullet wounds exact a terrible toll in the United States
2. Accidental discharges wound and kill significant numbers of people
a. Five hundred people died from unintentional shootings in the United
States in 2015.
3. Very few victims actually draw a weapon and use it successfully in their own
defense when under attack, especially in mass shootings
a. Victims exchanged gunfire in 5 out of 160 active shooter attacks, but
only 1 of these attacks was stopped by the armed citizen.
4. Weapons owned by people armed for self-protection might be stolen by burglars,
robbers, and thieves, thereby undermining public safety
5. Getting a gun for protection actually puts household members in greater danger
a. Loaded guns slay more family members than intruders.
6. Introducing a gun into a conflict can lead to a needless escalation of hostilities
8. Armed victims might wound or kill innocent people by mistake
9. Armed victims might engage in retaliatory violence [Learning Objective 3]
a. Retaliatory justice might actually be modern-day vigilantism.
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IRM 13-5
i. End justifies the means
ii. Gave rise to the term lynching
iii. No statistics are available
b. Vigilantism is held in check by counter ideologies.
i. Experts, not ordinary citizens, should control the criminal justice
10. People who own guns for self-defense might turn their deadly weapons on
11. Arming for self-defense is not an effective policy that helps bring down the crime
1. Box 13.3 details questions to be addressed by victimological investigations.
See Assignment 2
Media Tool
Death Wish
-A film featuring a man who seeks revenge on the men who attacked his family
–Discussion: The film was billed as “vigilante action thriller.” Was Kersey a vigilante? Use examples to explain
your reasoning. Use elements from the movie to argue for and against carrying firearms for self–defense. Why is the movie
titled Death Wish? Why is the franchise so popular?
What If Scenario
With your classmates, hold a debate about arming for self-protection. Include the opinions (or assume the roles) of crime
victims, patrol officers, judges, and probation officers.
Class Discussion/Activity
Assume that the majority of the American population is armed for self-defense. What will happen to crime rates? Will this
force changes to the current definitions of crime?
II. Toward Restorative Justice
A. Introduction [Learning Objective 4]
2. Restorative justice reconceptualizes the crime problem.
a. Brings mutual understanding
3. Some activists want to reform the current bureaucratic process with informal
justice.
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IRM 13-6
See Assignment 3
Class Discussion/Activity
Does a victim own his or her own case? To what degree? Should the victim have more control over the case outcome than
that which is currently allowed? Do current restorative justice programs do enough to provide this?
B. A Brief History of Restorative Justice
2. When society’s upper class discovered that they could use the legal system to
control the populace, retributive justice became the norm.
3. Methods of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) are used globally and are of
increasing interest in the United States.
a. Mediation lies at the center of a continuum bound by conciliation and
4. Dispute Resolution Act of 1980 created a national clearinghouse to disseminate
information about storefront justice.
5. Table 13.1 compares and contrasts retributive and restorative justice.
C. The Peacemaking Process: How Reconciliation Programs Work [Learning Objective 6]
1. Restorative justice projects have four different approaches, which are as follows:
a. Victim–offender mediation happens most often.
2. Making restitution is a prerequisite for reconciliation with the community.
3. Cases handled in neighborhood justice centers are growing in number.
4. Process has the following four distinct stages:
a. Case selection
5. Most programs are run by private nonprofit organizations, not criminal justice
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IRM 13-7
6. Program problems include the following:
a. Inadequate funding
D. Evaluating Efforts at Reconciliation
1. Advantages of victim–offender reconciliation include the following:
a. Emotional catharsis
2. Youthful offenders who pass through mediation commit fewer and less serious
further offenses.
See Assignment 4
Media Tool
“When Restorative Justice Works in Schools” (https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/12/when-restorative-justice-
works/422088/)
-An article from the Atlantic about restorative justice efforts in a New Hampshire education community
–Discussion: The program appealed to the parents due to the town’s small size. Do you think similar programs can
work in larger communities? Why is training in the process so important? What are the benefits and potential drawbacks of
restorative justice programs for middle– and high-school youth?
E. Pros and Cons from the Victim’s Point of View [Learning Objective 7]
1. Pros
a. Ask questions to offenders and tell offenders of their suffering
b. Speedier, cheaper, and more accessible than trials
f. Forgiveness plays a crucial role in the recovery process
2. Civil libertarians argue that the process emphasizes healing, not the presumption
3. Cons
a. Suspects must be apprehended, but not convicted.
i. Excludes most property crimes
F. The Future of Restorative Justice
1. Movement toward informality in the criminal justice system will cause
reconciliation programs to grow.
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IRM 13-8
a. Large caseloads eliminating face-to–face mediation
b. Harms from some offenses cannot be repaired through restitution
c. Losing the victim-centered focus
See Assignment 5
What If Scenario
Hold a classroom debate. One group should assume the role of “victim” and the other group the role of “offender.” From
each perspective, argue the benefits and pitfalls of victim–offender participation programs.
Class Discussion/Activity
Is reconciliation always a worthwhile goal? Discuss some crimes where it might be inappropriate to conduct a mediated
dialogue between offender and victim.
LECTURE NOTES
The victims’ movement is waging a successful campaign to gain additional formal legal rights within the
criminal justice system. Activists and advocacy groups want to empower victims so they can be treated
with fundamental fairness and exercise greater influence over how their cases are resolved. On the other
hand, some individuals and groups are moving away from the area of formal legal rights to explore other
alternatives. Within this tendency toward informal case handling, there are two opposite currents. One is
to return to an earlier, more forceful method of settling conflicts: drawing a gun, threatening to use it, and
yourself approach. To government officials, criminologists, and victimologists, it is the modern-day
expression of that old-fashioned impulse called vigilantism. Clear-cut examples usually attract extensive
media coverage and become well known. Most reported incidents fall into one of four categories: victims
unleashing more force than the law permits under the doctrine of self-defense; victims avenging an earlier
incident; retaliatory actions carried out on behalf of victims by their family members or close friends; or
spontaneous mob actions in which a crowd responds to a victim’s plea for help.
Self-defense involves the use of force to prevent a crime from being completed or to rescue an intended
victim from getting harmed. Retaliatory justice employs force that is out of proportion to the initial threat
and unleashes unjustifiable violence to punish an offender after a crime has been completed. Once the
immediate threat has passed, the victim may not use violence to exact revenge.
IRM 13-9
In general, the right to self-defense is defined as the permissible use of appropriate force to protect one’s
life (or that of an innocent third party) from an adversary whom one reasonably believes is threatening
harm. In every state, the law permits innocent law-abiding persons to use deadly force to protect
themselves from serious bodily harm and spells out the circumstances under which victims of particular
law-abiding adults. The disarmament side seeks to further restrict gun availability because firearms are
seen as facilitators that cause minor conflicts to escalate into deadly confrontations.
Victimologists advocate another way to resolve conflicts, which does not happen right on the spot but
after the offender has inflicted harm. A social movement advocating restorative justice believes victims
would be better off if they explored the healing potential of such meetings in order to get past the
energies in developing a venue for informal justice where injured parties can be central figures who play
hands-on roles and take charge of the way their cases are resolved. These reformers urge victims to
arrange to meet their offenders face-to-face in the presence of mediators, demand an explanation, and
insist that the wrongdoers take responsibility and make amends for the damage and hardships they have
inflicted.
IRM 13–10
for the victim’s serious injuries, and the system is predicated on the idea of shared responsibility, so truly
innocent victims will not be seen as such.
KEY TERMS
alternative dispute resolution (ADR): An option available to victims who are willing to settle conflicts
family group conferencing: A method of implementing restorative justice that involves members of the
community in negotiations to resolve a conflict and to repair the harm suffered by the victim.
individualist rationale: A view of self-defense that argues that a person under attack does not have to
retreat from an aggressor.
informal justice: An alternative approach toward resolving cases that does not rely upon arrest,
neighborhood justice centers: A place offering a variety of alternatives to settle minor conflicts that
otherwise would be resolved in civil or criminal court.
peacemaking circles: An approach within restorative justice that attempts to draw a number of interested
parties into the process of settling a conflict.
punitive rationale: An argument justifying the use of force in self-defense that rests on the social and
IRM 13–11
rationale of necessity: A justification for using force as a means of self-protection to prevent serious
injury.
restorative justice: An approach toward resolving criminal cases that rejects inflicting punishment and
pursuing retribution in favor of seeking restitution followed by victim–offender reconciliation.
widening the net: A tendency within criminal justice to intervene in situations that in the past had been
overlooked or left alone.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. Find a recent news article about an armed person who fought back against his or her attacker. Write a
one-page paper detailing (a) whether the victim meets the five qualifications that restrain the right to
self-defense, (b) whether the victim meets the NRA’s five considerations found in Box 13.1, and (c)
2. Survey 10 people to obtain their views on whether carrying a concealed firearm would reduce the
3. With a group of classmates, create a list of the types of crimes and victim–offender relationships that
could be diverted successfully from the criminal justice system to be resolved informally. Share your
4. Explore the options for resolving conflicts available to victims in your local area—perhaps including
5. Using the Internet, find a recent evaluation of a restorative justice program and summarize your
findings. For any negative information, make an educated recommendation for potential change.
MULTIPLE CHOICE ANSWER KEY
Chapter 13 You Decide: Post-Level Decisions on Restorative Justice, to Do or Not to Do
IRM 13–12
Restorative justice rejects retributive justice’s emphasis on conviction and punishment and instead
substitutes mediation, restitution, and reconciliation. Its goal is to enable the two parties to work out a
lasting settlement that restores harmonious relations within a community. Restorative justice’s main
implication for the study of crime victims is that it refocuses the role of the crime victim to one of a
central feature of the opening act rather than as a peripheral figure.
If passed, the bill would allow local county and municipal governments to establish pre-trial victim-
offender mediation programs for offenders who are charged with a misdemeanor offense. The bill
would permit these programs only for persons charged with a misdemeanor who do not have a
prior felony or misdemeanor conviction, unless the prior misdemeanor conviction was for a traffic–
related crime. The bill would require that court costs be collected from the offender-participant not
to exceed $550. The bill does not require that a county or a municipality establish program. It only
authorizes the removal of the case from the traditional criminal process when an offender meets the
criteria.
Let’s review two concepts before you make a decision about this scenario.
Question 1
Victim-offender mediation programs are a component of restorative justice. Which of the following is
NOT part of the underlying logic of the restorative justice concept?
a. It allows crime victims to use their leverage to make the offender suffer for the harm caused.
b. It reconceptualizes the crime problem.
c. It assists victims in the recovery process and sensitizes offenders to the harm their actions caused.
d. It minimizes hostility between the victim and offender, and develops a sense of closure.
IRM 13–13
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c. Incorrect. Restorative justice does, in theory, assist victims and sensitizes offenders to the harm that is
caused by crime. The rationale is that victims are empowered by the process because they are involved
and get to tell their story directly to the offender without being filtered by the criminal justice process. See
“Toward Restorative Justice,” LO5, Bloom’s: Understand
d. Incorrect. Restorative justice does, in theory, minimize hostility and lead to closure. The victim is
permitted to speak openly, and the offender is afforded an opportunity to apologize and make amends.
The victim is able to ask questions, such as why the victim was selected by the offender. See “Toward
Restorative Justice,” LO5, Bloom’s: Understand
Question 2
Restorative justice is often touted as “informal justice.” Which of these is NOT a quality of Restorative
Justice that makes it “informal”?
a. The offender is not permitted to have a representative (such as an attorney) during mediation.
b. The injured party, the victim, has a central role in the process.
c. A mediator works with the offender and the victim, not a court-based judge.
d. The objective is for the offender to make amends for damage and hardship caused, not obtain a
punishment.
What Would You Do?
The senior aid to the governor has sent this bill to you and asked for a formal recommendation to
the governor on whether the sign the bill into law or to veto the bill. The instructions you are given
ask that you conduct a comprehensive review of the effectiveness and public support of restorative
justice mediation programs. You are also told to be sensitive in your recommendation to the
governor’s desire to be progressive on crime and her main objective to ensure that state and local
resources are spent well on programs to reduce crime in the cities and communities in your state.
IRM 13–14
program. Information on public support is limited. The public appears supportive of the approach
for first time, non-violent offenders.
What would you do?
a. Recommend that the governor sign the bill into law. While the evidence is mixed on whether this will
reduce crime, the bill’s provisions are not outlandish at all, and do not force counties and municipalities to
establish the programs.
b. Recommend that the governor veto the bill. There are other more important priorities. The concept of
restorative justice sounds good in theory, but there is a risk that this programming will “catch on” and
become touted as an important solution to the crime problem. This would not be ideal, given the limited
role of the state in the process.
Let’s review two more concepts before you make another decision about this scene.
Question 3
Which approach to restorative justice involves structured dialogue facilitated by a trained volunteer?
a. victim-offender mediation
b. community board
c. peacemaking circles
d. family group conferencing
Question 4
IRM 13–15
Which of the following is a component of retribution and NOT restorative justice?
a. The state’s criminal justice agencies retain jurisdiction of the case.
b. Crime is viewed as an act that harms specific individuals.
c. The goal is to get the offender to accept responsibility, not blame.
d. It has a rehabilitation orientation, not punishment.
What Would You Do?
The governor’s office administers a state criminal justice grant program. Agencies may apply for
funds when a request for proposal is announced. The grant program offers an opportunity for the
What would you do?
a. Recommend to the governor, through the senior aide, that funds be made available for a request for
proposals to develop victim-offender mediation programming.
b. Do not make a recommendation, through the senior aide, that funds be made available for Restorative
Summary A:
You decide to recommend that funds be made available through the state criminal justice grant
program. This would be an important way that the governor can put her stamp of approval on
alternative approaches to crime, while at the same time establishing the parameters in which these
programs are available to certain offenders who committed certain offenses. While it is good to
To learn more about the pros and cons of restorative justice, see “Toward Restorative Justice.”
Summary B: