ABSTRACT
In earlier centuries, crime victims had to assume the responsibility of pursuing the o ender and bringing him or her to justice. With the centralization of power and creation of the concept of the King’s peace, victims lost their active role in justice [Schafer, 1968]. As the state began to consider the case as a public a air rather than merely a private con ict between individuals, there was a movement toward excluding the victim and prosecuting a defendant on behalf of the community. As a consequence, the crime victim was relegated to a secondary role-that of a witness for the prosecution [Zeigenhagen, 1977].
