Group Of Victims Research Articles

ENHANCING ROAD SAFETY FOR VULNERABLE ROAD USERS – THE ROLE OF AUTONOMOUS EMERGENCY BRAKING SYSTEMS

Vulnerable road users are the largest group of road accident victims in the world. At the same time, it should be noted that most road accidents are caused by the motor vehicle driver. An opportunity to increase the level of road safety is emergency braking systems installed in vehicles. Their task is to detect the risk of a collision with another object, issue a warning to the driver and, in the absence of reaction, perform emergency braking. The publication presents the results of research conducted by the Motor Transport Institute as part of the PEDICRASH project. As part of the work, a series of tests of the autonomous emergency braking system were carried out to check unusual but probable cases of events in which it should work. The tests were carried out in a closed area using a few selected models of popular passenger car brands. An additional data acquisition system and dummies imitating vulnerable road users: pedestrians and cyclists were used. The constructions represent the silhouette of an adult person and meet the requirements of the Euro NCAP AEB Protocol. The time of the collision at the time of issuing a warning to the driver was analyzed. Assuming that the vehicle was moving uniformly, the distance from the obstacle was calculated at the time of issuing the warning and after the driver's reaction time (0.7 s and 1 s were assumed) from this signal. The deceleration necessary to brake the vehicle was calculated and it was determined whether the driver would have a chance to brake the vehicle before a pedestrian or a cyclist in a given situation. For cases in which the driver would not be able to brake in time, the speed of the vehicle with which it would hit the vulnerable road users was calculated. Possible injuries and accident costs were then estimated.

Government Religious Discrimination, Support of Religion, and Muslim Minority-Related Societal Violence in Western Democracies

Does government-based religious discrimination against religious minorities and government support of majority religion affect religiously motivated societal violence between minorities and majority religious groups in Western democracies? Analyzing Muslim minorities, this study tries to answer the question by looking specifically at the religious violence perpetrated by and against these minorities in the West. Using a novel cross-national time-series data on 25 Western countries disaggregated by victim and perpetrator groups, this paper finds that while discrimination contributes to a country encountering religiously driven societal violence perpetrated by both Muslim and majority religious groups, government support for majority religion seems to pose no security threat. Furthermore, a case study analysis of the UK employing the synthetic control method corroborates the results of the cross-country analysis. The findings have important policy implications for counter-strategies against both Islamic and right-wing violent extremism in the West.

Trauma in world politics: Memory dynamics between different victim groups

While the international arena is littered with events of war and atrocities, the memory of the Holocaust was institutionalized as the ultimate benchmark of human suffering within the liberal world order. Against the backdrop of such a global memory landscape, this article explores how different memories of trauma interact. Building on literature within international relations, sociology and social psychology, as well as survey data collected from a sample of Syrians, Palestinians and Israelis, its analysis explores how victims of political violence compare their suffering with that of others and why such comparisons slip easily into competition. The analysis found that individuals were competitive with their memories when they showed high levels of patriotic attachment and a real and perceived, yet unrecognized, sense of victimhood. This article thus offers insight into a key issue in peace and conflict studies: the links between traumatic memory, victimhood, international recognition and conflict.

Norms concerning the recognition of victimhood in postconflict societies: An analysis of “whatabouteries” in online sectarian arguments

AbstractAcknowledging the victims on both sides of a conflict is crucial to peacebuilding and reconciliation. However, recognizing the victims of one community can challenge an opposing group's conflict narrative, particularly when their own group is seen as the primary victim. Suggestions of inclusive victimhood and blame can also threaten the sense of distinctiveness of each group's experience, leading to resistance. This article examines the conflict that arose when historical victimhood was discussed in the online comments sections of U.K. newspapers in response to the 2021 Coroner's Inquest into the Ballymurphy massacre. We focus on one common turn in sectarian argument in Northern Ireland: “Whatabouteries,” and the conflict that arises when whatabouteries appear in discussions. We describe the variety of forms whatabouteries—and responses to them—can take and analyze two extended conflict sequences in which they occur. Responses to such posts often invoke an implicit norm in these discussions: That when the victims of one group are publicly recognized in truth‐finding mechanisms, raising the issue of the opposing group's victims is illegitimate and can be treated as an act of provocation. This illustrates the need for sensitivity and an understanding of local, context‐specific norms when discussing victimhood and violence.

Charging Aggression as a Crime against Humanity? Revisiting the Proposal after Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

Abstract Much discussion over Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine focuses on the inability to charge aggression. However, another approach might be available: charging this under the ICC crimes against humanity (CAH) residual clause. First proposed in 2010 by Benjamin Ferencz, who lamented the circumscribed reach of aggression under the ‘Kampala Compromise’, the proposal has met with scepticism, primarily given that textbook aggression targets military forces, not civilians. Yet, civilian populations disproportionately bear the brunt of the violence of modern aggression (often being its direct targets). Russia's 2022 invasion is but the most recent and compelling example. Thus, this article resuscitates Ferencz's proposal, arguing that Russian leaders could be charged with using illegal force as a CAH under the residual clause. This approach would have practical advantages: initiating aggression in the Kremlin links liability to Putin much more directly for killing Ukrainian civilians, and charging it as CAH opens human victims to ICC participation and reparations. There are theoretical advantages, too, with utilitarian/retributive objectives better satisfied. Moreover, Ferencz's approach is better than recently proposed alternatives: using aggression merely as a gravity/liability modes/sentencing enhancer or alleging breach of the right to self-determination as the residual clause gravamen (arguably creating problems with victim group identification).

Firearms, policy, and intimate partner homicide: A structural and disaggregated examination of Black, Latina, and White female victimization

AbstractIntimate partner homicide (IPH) continues to be a form of violence disproportionately affecting women in the United States, and access to firearms can greatly increase the likelihood that intimate partner violence becomes lethal. In response to concerns about firearms violence and their prevalence in IPH incidents specifically, states have passed restrictive firearms laws and policies. In this study, we provide an analysis of female IPH victimization disaggregated by race/ethnicity that incorporates state‐level firearms legislation. Our analytical approach is informed by intersectionality and accounts for other key intimate partner violence policies and structural predictors. We find that the relationship between firearms legislation and IPH varies in magnitude and direction across specific race/ethnicity female victimization groups. As such, our findings provide support for an intersectional framework in that restrictive firearms laws are not consistently associated with lower levels of IPH when incidents are disaggregated by gender and race/ethnicity.

Review of Road Traffic Accident Burdens in Transportation Sector of Ethiopia

The transportation sector has a very immense role in the economic development of a given country. Because human beings' day-to-day activities re highly depends on the transport service. But this sector has its own drawbacks, like road traffic crashes and environmental pollution. In Ethiopia, the road transport sector is poor in terms of quality and service delivery systems. Due to this, the frequent occurrence of road traffic crashes has been recorded in the country continuously. To that end, this paper was mainly intended to review road traffic accident burdens in the transportation sector of Ethiopia. In detail, reviewing the costs of road traffic accidents, the causing factors of road traffic accidents, the types of vehicles highly involved in road traffic accidents, and the victim groups of communities affected by road traffic accidents at the national level were the specific objectives of this paper. Meanwhile, all road traffic accident data found in Ethiopia from the federal police commission report papers, journal articles, and dissertation papers were used for analysis purposes. Besides, the collected data is presented in tables and figures. Furthermore, the data was analyzed and interpreted based on a descriptive research design. Finally, the result of this review shows that trends of road traffic accidents in Ethiopia have been increasing over time by killing, injuring people and damaging resources. Drivers’ bad behaviors, low know-how of road users, poor road infrastructure, old vehicle conditions, and environmental factors are aggravating the occurrence of road traffic accidents in the country. Thus, to tackle this problem, educating people, enforcing traffic laws, enhancing engineering measures, and giving emergency responses were the recommendations given in this paper.

Meaning in life as a moderator of the relationship between bullying victimization profiles and life satisfaction in young adolescents

AbstractLatent profiles of bullying victimization were examined to determine membership information and distinctive buffering roles of meaning in life between bullying victimization groups and life satisfaction. The PISA data set (n = 4695) of 15‐year‐old young adolescents was analyzed. Static predictors of membership consist of gender, immigrant status, parental education, and grade repetition. Latent profile analysis, analysis of variance, multiple logistic regression, and multivariable regression were utilized for a comprehensive understanding of bullying victimization memberships and related outcomes. Three distinctive latent profiles emerged: (a) Stable & Resilient (SR) (75.6%); (b) Mild & Internal (MI) (18.4%); and (c) Severe & External (SE) (6.0%). Immigration, gender, grade repetition, and parental education were found to be predictors of membership in the bullying victimization groups. Males, and immigrants, with higher parental education, and grade repetition experience significantly predicted increases in possibilities of membership in the MI or SE latent groups. Meaning in life has significant buffering roles for bullying victimization on life satisfaction. The moderating effect of meaning in life was strongest for the SE group. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Research on Risk Assessment Model for Brushing Type Telecom Network Fraud Victim Based on Bayesian Network

Assessing the risk level and exploring the risk characteristics of victims of brushing type telecom network fraud is of practical significance for crime risk prevention and control. Starting from the demographic characteristics of victims and case characteristics, this paper establishes a Bayesian network model with a tuple composed of loss amount and contact duration as the evaluation index of victim risk level, aiming to provide ideas for police to implement precise anti-fraud propaganda. The research shows that the tuple victim risk assessment model has a high prediction accuracy and can take into account both the loss amount and contact duration, which is feasible as a victim risk assessment model; there is no significant single influencing factor characteristic that affects the victim risk level; among the key victim groups of women who are commerce service personnel and use social media platforms, police should focus on highly educated groups, and among people with the same educational background, police should focus on young people under 28 years old.

What do we know about the perpetrators of sexual homicide of adult victims? A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis

Introduction: sexual homicide is defined as lethal violence associated with sexual elements or motivations, predominantly perpetrated by men against women. Despite being a less frequent crime, there is a growing clinical and forensic interest in its specificities and the characteristics of the aggressor. Objective: to review the scientific literature on men who commit sexual homicide against adult victims. Methods: systematic review with MeSH ((“Sex Offenses”[Mesh]) AND “Homicide”[Mesh]) in the databases of MEDLINE, LILACS, MENDELEY and SciELO, between 1992 and 2023. The PICO strategy was used with the studied population (male sexual offenders), intervention (homicide of adult victims), context (sexual violence), and outcome (potential relationship between the issues). The stages of article selection and analysis involved two independent researchers. Original studies were included, excluding reviews, editorials, conference proceedings, books and chapters, theses, and dissertations. The selected articles were presented through qualitative meta-synthesis. Results: of the 70 selected articles, 66 articles (94.2%) adopted quantitative methods, 2 (2.9%) qualitative design, and 2 (2.9%) case reports. We found 41 articles (58.6%) conducted in North America and 22 articles (31.4%) in Europe, totaling 63 articles (90.0%). Another five articles (7.1%) were from Asia, one (1.4%) from Africa, and one (1.4%) from Oceania. In 52 articles (74.3%), there was an emphasis on aspects related to psychiatric, behavioral, or psychological disorders of the perpetrator, sexual sadism, or forms of sexual violence or lethal outcomes employed. Conclusion: sexual homicidal men possess characteristics that set them apart from other homicidal offenders or those who commit sexual violence, directing their crimes towards a heterogeneous group of adult victims. Studies have focused on the psychiatric and behavioral disorders of the perpetrator, as well as the relationship with traumatic experiences in childhood.

Increased anger and stress and heightened connectivity between IFG and vmPFC in victims during social interaction

Self-identification as a victim of violence may lead to increased negative emotions and stress and thus, may change both structure and function of the underlying neural network(s). In a trans-diagnostic sample of individuals who identified themselves as victims of violence and a matched control group with no prior exposure to violence, we employed a social exclusion paradigm, the Cyberball task, to stimulate the re-experience of stress. Participants were partially excluded in the ball-tossing game without prior knowledge. We analyzed group differences in brain activity and functional connectivity during exclusion versus inclusion in exclusion-related regions. The victim group showed increased anger and stress levels during all conditions. Activation patterns during the task did not differ between groups but an enhanced functional connectivity between the IFG and the right vmPFC distinguished victims from controls during exclusion. This effect was driven by aberrant connectivity in victims during inclusion rather than exclusion, indicating that victimization affects emotional responses and inclusion-related brain connectivity rather than exclusion-related brain activity or connectivity. Victims may respond differently to the social context itself. Enhanced negative emotions and connectivity deviations during social inclusion may depict altered social processing and may thus affect social interactions.

A measure of attributions for peer victimization: psychometric properties and differences among bullying roles

ABSTRACT Attributional processes about why outcomes occur constitute an important mediating mechanism that can explain different reactions of both the targets of harassment and their peers. The present study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of a measure of attributions for victimization among adolescents, using Confirmatory Factor Analyses, and to examine differences among roles (i.e., not involved, bullies, victims, bully-victims) in self-blame attributions, by means of testing invariance. The sample consisted of 1,207 adolescents (54% females; Mage = 14.89; SD = 1.39). The results showed a multidimensional structure of the scale with three factors (Characterological self-blame, Behavioral self-blame, and External Attribution). Partial invariance was found across different roles, highlighting a difference in the latent means of Characterological Self-Blame, higher in the victim group than in the other roles. The findings suggested how victims showed biases in their interpretations of social situations attributing the negative experience to internal, stable, and uncontrollable causes.

Ангелина Константиновна Гуськова (к 100-летию со дня рождения)

Angelina Konstantinovna Guskova, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Laureate of the Lenin Prize, Honoured Scientist of the RSFSR, Laureate of the Sievert Prize, worked for 50 years at the A.I. Burnazyan FMBC. She was born on 29 March 1924 in the family of doctor Konstantin Vasilievich and pianist Zoya Vasilievna Guskov. In 1941, she entered the Sverdlovsk State Medical Institute, Faculty of Medicine, and successfully graduated in 1946. A.K. Guskova did her residency at the Clinic of Nervous Diseases and Neurosurgery. After her graduation, Angelina Konstantinovna was sent to Chelyabinsk-40 (Ozersk), where she started working in medical institutions serving the operating personnel of Plutonium Combine No. 817. There she gained her first experience in treating patients with acute and chronic radiation sickness. In 1957, A.K. Guskova became a senior researcher at the Institute of Biophysics in Moscow, from 1961 she headed the Radiology Department of the Institute of Occupational Hygiene and Occupational Diseases of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences. In 1974 she returned to the Institute of Biophysics of the Ministry of Health of the USSR as Head of the Clinical Department. Under the leadership of A.K. Guskova in the Clinical Department of the Institute of Biophysics a number of methods of diagnostics and prediction of severity of radiation syndromes, as well as their treatment were developed and introduced into practice. This allowed the staff of the Department to successfully cope with the most difficult task of treating a large group of victims of the Chornobyl accident in 1986. A.K. Guskova is the author of more than 200 publications, 11 monographs (co-authored), and sections in monographs and manuals (independent). The most important of them are: «Human Radiation Disease» (1971), «Medical Assistance given to personnel of the Chernobyl N.P., after 1986 Accident». (1996). (editor and co-author), «Guidelines for Organisation of Medical Care for Persons Exposed to Radiation» (1986), «Guidelines for Radiation Medicine» (2001).

Compensation for Historic Injustice: Does it Matter how the Victims Respond?

AbstractWhen states are required to compensate victim groups for the historic wrongs they have committed, how should the compensation due be calculated? It seems that alongside the counterfactual world in which the wrongdoing never occurred, we should also consider the counterfactual world in which the wrongdoing has occurred, but the victims have responded to it in a prudent way. Under tort law, the damages a victim can claim are reduced if they are judged to have been contributorily negligent, thereby exacerbating the harm they have suffered. The paper considers four reasons why victim groups could not be expected to respond collectively to injustice in a way that outsiders might judge to be prudent. 1. The wrongdoing has destroyed their capacity to act as a group agent. 2. The wrongdoing has inflicted psychological traumas that lead them to make poor decisions. 3. They would need to violate a moral norm that is deeply embedded in their culture. 4. They would need to adopt policies that risk inflicting severe injustice on an internal minority. In many instances of historic injustice, one or more of these reasons apply. So although in principle victims’ behaviour is relevant when compensation is being calculated, we must be very cautious in using that doctrine to assess real cases.

Positive and negative effects of child’s agency on trauma symptoms and psychological difficulties in war-like conditions. The mediating role of hope and life satisfaction

Background Children affected by war and political violence deploy agentic competencies to cope with trauma symptoms and psychological difficulties. However, it does not always act as a protective factor to help them adjust to potentially traumatic events. Aims We expected to explore the association between agency, trauma symptoms and psychological difficulties and the mediating role of hope and life satisfaction in a group of child victims of military violence in Palestine. Methods 965 children aged 8 to 14 were assessed with self-reported measures, War Child Agency Assessment Scale, Children Revised Impact of events scale, Strengths and difficulties scale, Child Hope Scale and Brief Multidimensional Students Life Satisfaction Scale. Structural Equation Modelling was performed having Agency as a predictor, trauma symptoms, psychological difficulties as an outcome variable and life satisfaction and hope as a mediator. Results We found a direct and positive effect of agency on trauma symptoms, psychological difficulties, and life satisfaction and hope on the two dependent variables. Life satisfaction and hope mediated the association between agency and the outcome variables. Conclusion Agency can help defend children from trauma and psychological maladaptation when it acts on life satisfaction and hope. At the same time, it might worsen psychological dysfunctions when working directly on trauma symptoms and difficulties. Clinical interventions must help children to foster agentic resources in activating hope and life satisfaction.

Community Intervention Programme. Domestic violence against women

Violence against women is an obstacle to achieving equality, equity, development, peace and social participation. It is multidimensional so its response must be global, systemic and holistic from prevention, assistance and protection to recovery. A descriptive, prospective, cross-sectional research was designed in the period from January to December 2023, in Villa 1 Popular Zone, in Consolation del Sur Municipality, Pinar del Río Province, where a group of women victims has been identified of domestic violence. The general objective was aimed at analyzing the perception that women who are victims of domestic violence have about the suffered violence. The population was made up of 40 women who demanded specialized care, to which an anonymous psychosocial survey was applied. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS statistical package. Outstanding results were obtained such as: in the studied women, young adults predominated, with partners, a high level of education, with or without a work relationship, from the urban area, the nuclear family predominated, being the aggressor the current partner, jealousy was the cause of abuse and its obvious link to alcohol. The most frequent type of violence was psychological or emotional. It reacts with more violence in the response of the victims, it was related to ingestion of alcoholic beverages and they told her that they should report and seek help. A Community Intervention Program is proposed.

Challenges of Social Workers in the Multidisciplinary Team in the Penitentiary System

Today, social workers are found in many communities and institutional environments, including social service agencies, child care agencies, schools, hospitals, mental health programs, substance abusers, courts, prisons worldwide. Regardless of where they practice, to be effective social work practitioners, they share some unique professional needs. Today, the ability to assist and empower clients struggling with various issues, involved in legal matters, injustices, and on the brink of legal protection, is required. Social workers are required to be able to collaborate with professionals and other parties interested in helping the client navigate through a variety of financial, psychological, emotional, and legal concerns. This study addresses the importance of the practical development field of a forensic social worker, a field that is usually neglected and misunderstood. The study focuses on preliminary work on this field by showing a broader view of forensic social work which includes the knowledge and skills necessary to practice effectively in the socio-legal environment. "Forensic social worker" encompasses not only a narrow group of victims or abusers involved in juvenile justice and criminal justice but also individuals with mental health issues and programs affected by the police and state laws. Interdisciplinary practice and legal knowledge are essential for social workers to ensure that clients are provided with effective service. The inclusion of legal rules is rarely addressed in social work in a meaningful and practical way. This study provides practical knowledge in the collaborative work of forensic social workers.
 
 Received: 13 February 2024 / Accepted: 19 March 2024 / Published: 23 March 2024

“I needed him to tell the world”: People’s evaluation of political apologies for human rights violations in El Salvador, the Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom

Across the world, an increasing number of states or state representatives have offered apologies for human rights violations, particularly since the 1990s. There is debate, however, on how valuable such gestures are and what impact they have. To address this, we examined what the perspectives of victim community members and the general public are in this regard, in different parts of the world. We focused on the apologies for the El Mozote massacre in El Salvador, the Jeju 4.3 events in the Republic of Korea, and Bloody Sunday in the United Kingdom, whereby we conducted 127 in-depth interviews with members of victim communities and the general public in these countries. Using thematic analysis, we found across these three countries that participants from the victim group and the general public saw the apology as a meaningful event because it acknowledges the suffering of the victims and breaks the silence about past atrocities. This suggests that apologies may answer to a broadly shared need for recognition. Nevertheless, the apologies were also regarded as limited in terms of their overall role in reconciliation processes and the further changes that they generate. The article concludes by discussing this ambivalence, present in both the apology literature as among our participants’ responses across the world.

Colonial Redress and the Unintended Consequences of Global Opportunities

Abstract Research shows that the rise of political and discursive opportunities enabled by the diffusion of progressive global norms has empowered many aggrieved local actors. Drawing on colonial victims’ transnational redress movements, I add to this literature in two ways. First, rejecting the common association between global opportunities and local movement facilitation and success, I make a counterintuitive argument that the early availability of opportunities can inadvertently hamper a movement’s efficacy in achieving its goals in the long run. Second, contrary to the implicit assumption that large-scale, high-profile transnational movements should fare better than smaller, little-known ones, I demonstrate that the latter can sometimes achieve their goals more easily than the former. In making these arguments, I show that an increasing focus in the norm literature on backlash in target states against norm promotion risks neglecting the flip side of the same coin: Global normative support inadvertently undermining the efficacy of local causes it otherwise helps publicize. Empirically, I look at three Korean colonial victim groups and their divergent paths to transnational redress.

Self-management of Risk for the Prevention of Traffic Accidents from a Health Perspective: A Qualitative Study.

Introduction: In the world, deaths and injuries caused by traffic collisions have been considered a public health problem. In Colombia, 7.238 fatalities were recorded in 2021, with motorcycle riders representing the largest group of victims at 59.7%. Methods: The aim of this qualitative phenomenological study is to describe the risky experiences and deliberate actions of diverse road users that influence the self-management of the risk of traffic collisions. Results: Data were obtained from 22 participants: motorists, pedestrians and drivers. The content analysis describes various human conditions that affect self-management of the risk of traffic accidents, such as unsafe behaviors, non-compliance with traffic regulations by the different road actors, competitive culture among drivers, eagerness, among others. Additionally, factors related to care were determined: healthy recreational activities, promoting the value of one's own life and that of others, adequate time management and preventive behaviors by some road users. Conclusion: This research provides information on social and cultural aspects, experiences and risky behaviors of different road actors that influence the incidence of traffic accidents in Colombia.