Author Question: What prompted the passage of the Victim and Witness Protection Act? In what way(s) did the Act help ... (Read 61 times)

Redwolflake15 · **on:** Aug 12, 2018

What prompted the passage of the Victim and Witness Protection Act? In what way(s) did the Act help victims and witnesses?

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Discuss Hagan's power-control theory in terms of the families identified and their relationship to female delinquency.

What will be an ideal response?

peter · **Reply #1 on:** Aug 12, 2018

Answer to Question 1

Public and governmental concern over the plight of victims has prompted numerous pieces of legislation. The Victim and Witness Protection Act, a federal law passed in 1982, required greater protection of victims and witnesses and also mandated guidelines for the fair treatment of victims and witnesses in federal criminal cases. The Victims of Crime Act of 1984 authorized federal funds for state victim programs. Spurred by these concerns, every state has passed comprehensive legislation protecting the interests of victims. In short, a wide variety of programs have been adopted in recent years to improve the treatment crime victims receive from the criminal justice system. The four most common types of initiatives are: (1) victim/witness assistance programs, (2) victim compensation programs, and (3) a victims' bill of rights, and (4) victim impact statements.

Answer to Question 2

Power-control theory suggests that class influences delinquency by controlling the quality of family life.

In paternalistic families, fathers assume the role of breadwinner and mothers have menial jobs or remain at home. Mothers are expected to control the behavior of their daughters while granting greater freedom to sons. The parentdaughter relationship can be viewed as a preparation for the cult of domesticity, which makes daughters' involvement in delinquency unlikely. Hence, males exhibit a higher degree of delinquent behavior than their sisters.

In egalitarian familiesin which the husband and wife share similar positions of power at home and in the workplace (or in households with absent fathers)daughters gain a kind of freedom that reflects reduced parental control. These families produce daughters whose law-violating behaviors mirror those of their brothers.