English title: A new position for the victim? On the strengthening of victims’ rights in the penal process in NorwayA few decades ago, victims of domestic violence were relatively invisible in the penal process in Norway. Today, new penalties are implemented to fight domestic violence, and penalties have been increased. At the same time, there has been a growing critique of the use of legal strategies to fight domestic violence. The most profound critique has been that the penal system does not care for the victim. To protect the victim, victims’ rights in the judicial process have thus been strengthened, e.g., the right to a lawyer; to attain information; to be present in the courtroom; to participate in the proceedings. The current article discusses the extent to which these new rights actually strengthen the position of victims of domestic violence.
Offenders with disabilities have a vulnerable status in prison. Due to inadequate facilities and a lack of care available to address their special needs in prison, their health may even deteriorate from imprisonment. The prisons carry out the sentences decided by the courts. It is therefore of interest to examine how the courts mete out punishment when the defendant has a disability. How are offenders with disabilities 'seen' and perceived by the penal law and the penal courts? Does the disability matter when the court metes out the sentence, and if so, in what way? Should disability matter as a mitigating circumstance? How should offenders with disabilities be dealt with in the criminal justice system? These questions are addressed in this article.
This article describes an ongoing process of transformation in sexual abuse counselling centres in Norway that involves a new classification of groups of victims. These centres have traditionally operated at the grassroots level and outside the statutory system of services for victims and with an open-door policy for all victims. Drawing on field visits and interviews with staff, we explore how the centres are now working to secure their place within the expanding organisational field of services engaged in victim support and anti-violence work – and the dilemmas this produces related to some victims. Theoretically, our analysis departs from a Bourdieusian approach to organisational fields as well as Abbott’s concept of professional regression. We find that the centres have adopted ways of thinking and working that stem from the discipline of psychology and the powerful trauma-discourse that has permeated the organisational field they are part of. This ‘psychological turn’ manifests in different ways in the centres, including an increasing problematisation and marginalisation of the centres’ original user group – women who are severely affected by childhood sexual abuse – who no longer are seen as benefitting from the services offered. Hence, it involves a regression from what used to be the centres’ purpose and niche, to care for the most vulnerable and marginalised victims.
Vitenskapelig publikasjon Samarbeid i saker om vold og overgrep 1 Mot en hybridisering av hjelpetjenestene? Interagency Collaboration in Cases of Domestic Violence and Abuse Towards a Hybridization of the Welfare Services?
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