"Compensation Theory in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s"
OTANI Michitaka
last update: 20151225
Compensation Theory in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s
OTANI Michitaka
Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to examine the position of crime victims in
criminal science in Japan in the 1960s
and 1970s. This paper examines their position in 1960s victimology studies and
in 1970s arguments, within
criminal policy circles, for the compensation of crimes. These two positions are
then compared and their
features are clarified.
In victimology studies of the 1960s, a crime victim was not an object of social
relief but was considered an
element of the cause of a crime. A crime victim was considered from the
perspective of the criminal act only, as
an element in the efficient management of the criminal judicial system and as a
person who shares
responsibility for the crime.
In the 1970s, arguments for the compensation of crime victims placed a crime
victim as an object of social
relief. A crime victim was considered from the wider perspective of the state,
as an element in the continued
maintenance of the criminal judicial system and as a person who encountered the
crime; furthermore, the crime
victim became an object that is measured by statistics.
Keywords: crime victim, victimology, crime victim compensation, social relief
REV: 20151225