Study of Sentencing Factors in Intentional Crimes from the Perspective of Victimology

Abstract

In traditional criminal justice system, the victim was often viewed as insignificant and marginal. However, victimology has emerged as a field of study that aims to examine the impact of victims on criminal behavior, reposition the victim's role in penal theory, and consider the victim's “Schutzwürdigkeit” and “Schutzbedürftigkeit”, which means the worthiness and need for protection, as important factors in determining the culpability of the accused. While victimology has gained more recognition in the field of negligence in penal theory, it may not be suitable as a universal principle for legislation, interpretation, and incrimination in intentional crimes. Moreover, the role of victimology in the field of sentencing remains to be explored. This study proposes to use the victim criterion as the theoretical basis, and use the time of victim involvement as the criterion to differentiate the victim’s action into the victim's fault, as well as victim self-involvement in risk. Further abstract the behavior patterns of the victim’s fault and the boundaries between self-perilous participation and consensual other-peril. These factors could be integrated into the current sentencing system to develop a theory model with the function of guiding practice and explore the richer possibilities of penal victimology in China.