Talking Criminal Justice by Michael J Coyle

Author:Michael J Coyle [Coyle, Michael J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Criminology
ISBN: 9781136184772
Google: AROUAgAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-10-28T05:53:39+00:00

4 An ethnography of “innocent victim” language

As I suggested, however, a question remains and it is one that makes one suspect the characterization of the girl concerned and makes one wonder if after all she is really so innocent a victim. The question is: What was she doing at a Hell's Angels Convention?

John Lee

“Innocent victims and evil-doers”

Introduction

In this chapter I study the phrase “innocent victim” to ask what our use of it demonstrates. For example, what does our use of the term demonstrate about how we reflect on and implement justice? What does our use of it suggest about how we exclude, control and punish others, and how these efforts are accomplished, reproduced and shifted inside of and through language? Does our use of it reflect our justice claims (e.g. that we care about “equal justice for all”), or do the contexts of our use of it show we can have other concerns? What does our use of it demonstrate about how we talk about “victims”? Does our use reveal that we use “victim” for our own purposes or that we have hidden agendas? What are the implications of how we use the word “victim” in our social and “criminal” justice discourse? Does it suggest our discourse is oriented to producing justice, social control or to something other? Does it highlight confusion or lucidity within our discourse about our justice commitments? Does our use of “victim” demonstrate that we embrace some definitions of agency, i.e. victimhood, and reject others? Does our use of “victim” demonstrate the influence of public discourse leaders, i.e. moral entrepreneurs? If our discourse entails multiple meanings of “victim” do our uses demonstrate that we choose carefully among them, or that we choose thoughtlessly, or that we choose under the influence of others, such as moral entrepreneurs who bring their own agendas? Does our use of “victim” demonstrate that we take responsibility for choosing a definition of “victim” and an ideology of victimhood, or does our usage demonstrate that we operate as if an external definition of “victim” and ideology of victimhood are given? What does our use of “victim” demonstrate about how we meaningfully cast social actors, social and “criminal” justice institutions and social policies? Lastly, what justice recipes does our use of “victim” support, and how do different justice recipes use “victim” constructions as an ingredient?

Looking for “innocent victims”

I first noticed the term “innocent victim” in a news story that employed it to refer to people killed by airplanes flying through their Twin Towers’ office windows during the 9/11 events. At the time I considered it odd that news workers thought it relevant or necessary to qualify persons attacked by airplanes as “innocent.” I began to look at the use of “innocent victim” in media documents and quickly discovered that it appeared in coverage of a medley of circumstances and activities. The fact that I could not distinguish any patterns of use, especially as opposed to the use of “victim” without any qualifier, peaked my interest even more.

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