International Journal on Criminology Volume 1, Number 1, Fall 2013 | Page 25

International Journal on Criminology
punitive additions likely to expand, excessively, the scope of penal sanctions set by the
contemporary bodies of social control. 32 Nonetheless, optimism of action must not yield
to the pessimism of the intellect. The Offender–Victim Encounter series set up in the
Poissy central penitentiary in 2010 augurs remarkable prospects if the legislature chooses
to give it the force of law. 33 In the same vein, a few restorative-leaning penalties, by fully
involving the victim, could well contribute to the fulfillment of justice. 34 Through the
complementarity between the criminal justice system (which deals with the consequences
of the offense) and restorative justice (which deals with its repercussions), the issue of the
victim's existence itself is no longer taboo, because the measures it advocates are
concerned with everyone, the offender as much as relatives and members of their
communities. This is a key point, because scientific and clinical victimology now
highlights the extreme vulnerability of the protagonists, their close relationship, and the
interchangeability of their roles throughout their personal history and their social
background. The prevention of and fight against criminal activity, on both sides of crime,
is a socially complex issue. To understand and tackle it necessarily requires a
transdisciplinary approach, which will be ensured, finally, by the integration of
criminology into University programs. 35
Let us not forget too easily, however, that victims could become a thing of the past if
prevention (particularly early prevention) were reinstated as the sole purpose of public
policies for harmonious, inclusive social integration, a source of personal fulfillment and
the best defense from the aggressive (auto- and hetero-) resolution of the intersubjective
strife that floods our society. This is simply a rational utopianism, in the Bourdieusian
sense, which plays on the knowledge of what is probable in order to achieve the possible.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
32 On these ideas, see. S. Cohen, The punitive city: note on the dispersal of the social control, in
Contemporary crisis, 1979-3, 339-363; Cario, La justice restaurative, 142 et seq.
33 Cario, Mbanzoulou, Les rencontres détenus victimes à la Maison centrale de Poissy: un retour
d’expérience, in Les chroniques du CIRAP, 2011-11 (Pub. Ecole Nationale d’Administration
Pénitentiaire); R. Cario (ed.), Les RDV, L’Harmattan, Coll. Controverses, forthcoming, 2012.
34 Cario, La justice restaurative, 163etseq.; T. Clay, P. Joxe, C. Lazerges, J.P. Mignnard (eds.),
Manifeste pour la Justice, Le cherche midi, Coll. Documents, 2012, 15.
35 R. Cario, M. Herzog-Evans, L.M. Villerbu, La criminologie à l’Université. Mythes… et réalités,
L’Harmattan, Coll. Controverses, 2012.
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