Victims, Offenders, and the Law

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that sentiments towards violence are changing in society, which has led to a modification in the attitude and legal approach to crimes. The author points out that violence as a cure for evil is the attitude popularized by the mass media, and criminal statistics show that this has been wholeheartedly accepted by society. The paper relates that present law accedes that some circumstances may extenuate murder, which are described in the Criminal Code as defense of provocation.

From the Paper:

"In social and legal matters, violence today is disdained. The fact that this law excuses violence in response to non-violent as well as violent acts is considered the fundamental shortcoming in the law of provocation. Studies have shown that men usually kill women in response to verbal taunting, infidelity or other sexual behavior while women are usually jailed for killing men as a response to physical violence. (Provocation, Self-Defense and Defense of Property 2003) Whereas one response panders to the male dominant stereotype, the other is obviously a survival instinct. "Loss of control" is being influenced and evaluated by ethnic and cultural values, not a standard moral code. The average prison sentence of men who kill their women partners is 2 to 6 years. Women who kill their partners are sentenced on average to 15 years, despite the fact that most women who kill do so in an abusive relationship and for self-defense."

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