International Journal on Criminology Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 2014 | Page 54

International Journal on Criminology
to other demands from victims and their
representatives. These included the application
of French criminal law to acts committed
abroad by a French person or a person
normally residing within the French territory,
the entitlement to the common right
to damage claims in criminal proceedings
within one year of the criminal court’s decision
on the public or civil action to be taken,
15 and the inclusion of the phrase “died
to serve the nation” or “victim of terrorism”
on the death certificate (giving the person’s
children the status of wards of the nation).
A further example of the impact of
victimological works and practices comes
from applying knowledge acquired on the
postcrime state of stress to victims of serious
offenses, thus broadening their right to
compensation. It is now proven that victims
of serious offenses suffer varying degrees
of trauma (a true psychological injury) as
a result of the psychological damage that
the criminal act inflicts. Trauma is entirely
unpredictable, and depends on the individual’s
perceptions, resistance, aptitudes,
and social-support resources. The suffering
provoked by the event can lead to a state of
stress, which is generally short lived and
may or may not be specific, or even to a
state of confusion over the days following
the criminal act. However, the trauma can
cause deep psychological injuries when the
subject faces the prospect of death (physically
or psychologically in cases of rape), their
own imminent death, or that of a loved one
or any other person. Thus, the terror of this
precise moment (shock, inability to think, a
blank mind) is a key symptom of a trauma
that might characterize traumatic neurosis
(Lebigot 2005; Kédia and Sabouraud-Séguin
2008). These various problems are listed in
clinical tables under “acute stress disorder”
(ASD), and “post-traumatic stress disorder”
(PTSD). 16 While the symptoms of ASD disappear
fairly rapidly, those of trauma are
buried within the psychic apparatus, and
may only resurface much later, following a
latent period, depending on the individual
and the situation. The trauma may therefore
cause symptoms such as repetition, personality
change, traumatic dreams, fatigue,
sadness, daytime memories, character alteration,
low self-esteem, dissociative episodes
(flashbacks), permanent alertness, family/
relationship/professional conflicts, various
inhibitions, phobic avoidance, drug addiction,
depression, and various psychosomatic
illnesses (Herman 1992; Brillon 2004;
Guay and Marchand 2006; Josse 2011; Guay
and Lopez 2013). Fortunately, psychological
care for those concerned has developed on
these bases within the criminal justice system
itself, via highly original and effective
care initiatives. These include the creation
of multidisciplinary medico-psychological
emergency units which intervene on the
sites of attacks or offenses (Cario 2010), and
highly innovative and effective therapeutic
practices (Damiani and Lebigot 2011).
One final example demonstrates
this rich collaboration between victimologists
and criminologists. Although it is so
far perhaps the least advanced, it has nevertheless
brought remarkable changes in professional
legal practice (in the wider sense),
regarding the consideration of the social
repercussions of victimization. Under the
joint impetus of police and victim support
professionals, the mid-1970s saw the introduction
of social workers in police stations,
15
Submissions to the FGTI formerly had to be made within ten years of the attack. The new law allows the
FGTI Administrative Council to reopen cases for legitimate reasons.
16
See “DSM-V” (dsm5.org) or “CIM 10” tables (who.int).
17
See article L 121-1-1 of France’s social action and families code (code de l’action sociale et des familles,
introduced by the law of March 5, 2007), which legitimizes their status.
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