TY - JOUR

T1 - The power of professional ideals

T2 - Understanding and handling victims’ emotions in criminal cases

AU - Johansen, Louise Victoria

AU - Adrian, Lin

AU - Asmussen, Ida Helene

AU - Holmberg, Lars

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - This article explores how criminal justice actors interpret and process victims’ emotional expressions. On the basis of a qualitative study on the interactions between legal institutions and victims of violence in Denmark, the article demonstrates how police officers, prosecutors, victims’ counsel and judges each separately understand and evaluate victims’ emotional reactions. These actors interpret victims’ feelings according to their own professional roles and motivations so as to gain an overview of a case and the actions required of them in relation to it, resulting in quite different perceptions of victims’ needs and degree of trustworthiness. At the same time, professionals also interact across institutions by writing and exchanging case files, and in so doing police officers’ perceptions of victim reactions are often disclosed to both prosecutors and judges. This article contributes to existing knowledge of how different professional ideals specifically influence the handling of victims and their emotional needs, while the more general consensus on ‘appropriate emotions’ simultaneously generates knowledge across professions and institutional settings.

AB - This article explores how criminal justice actors interpret and process victims’ emotional expressions. On the basis of a qualitative study on the interactions between legal institutions and victims of violence in Denmark, the article demonstrates how police officers, prosecutors, victims’ counsel and judges each separately understand and evaluate victims’ emotional reactions. These actors interpret victims’ feelings according to their own professional roles and motivations so as to gain an overview of a case and the actions required of them in relation to it, resulting in quite different perceptions of victims’ needs and degree of trustworthiness. At the same time, professionals also interact across institutions by writing and exchanging case files, and in so doing police officers’ perceptions of victim reactions are often disclosed to both prosecutors and judges. This article contributes to existing knowledge of how different professional ideals specifically influence the handling of victims and their emotional needs, while the more general consensus on ‘appropriate emotions’ simultaneously generates knowledge across professions and institutional settings.

KW - categorization

KW - courts

KW - police

KW - professional roles

KW - Victim emotions

U2 - 10.1177/02697580221100566

DO - 10.1177/02697580221100566

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85131544294

VL - 29

SP - 236

EP - 258

JO - International Review of Victimology

JF - International Review of Victimology

SN - 0269-7580

IS - 2

ER -