Criticisms of the Notion of Shared Responsibility
My honest opinion on victim-blaming is that it is unjust and does not conform to lawful standards (Richardson & Rader, 2018). Holding at the fault of victims of crimes that befell them beats logic (Vermande & Aleva, 2016). An offender is answerable to their crimes, in whatever condition. I strongly disagree with the theory of victim-blaming, as my view of an offender is that of an individual who has always had the urge or hidden motive to perform the criminal act (Richardson & Rader, 2018). What he or she is always baying for is the window to act upon that motive efficiently. This has nothing to with the victim affected. An example is seen in the long historical and current prejudice against rape victims. It is only clear that the perpetrator is a sex offender, and the victim is not to blame as they had not given consent (Richardson & Rader, 2018). Personnel accountability goes hand in hand with victim-blaming, and I strongly disagree with both.
However, in the context of providing answers to the investigative process, I agree with victim-blaming, but only if it serves the purpose of providing specific and straightforward answers to troubling questions, such as why the crime happened and why to the victim (Vermande & Aleva, 2016). In retrospect, I strongly support victim defending, as it is the only natural way to tackle cases. For a case to be justified as one that holds water, a victim and a criminal should be present, and in such a situation, the victim is usually the one impacted negatively by the crime (Vermande & Aleva, 2016)). However, there are claims that victim defending is not clear about what it supports, and only sure of what it opposes (Richardson & Rader, 2018). This brings me to the conclusion that it is safer to oppose what you are not sure about than to support it. For effective ruling cases, I would recommend that both approaches be assimilated to ascertain a just and fair hearing (Vermande & Aleva, 2016) since each addresses a different but unique factor to the other.
References
Stubbs-Richardson, M., Rader, N. E., & Cosby, A. G. (2018). Tweeting rape culture: Examining portrayals of victim-blaming in discussions of sexual assault cases on Twitter. Feminism & Psychology, 28(1), 90-108.
Reijntjes, A., Vermande, M., Olthof, T., Goossens, F. A., Aleva, L., & van der Meulen, M. (2016). Defending victimized peers: Opposing the bully, supporting the victim, or both? Aggressive behavior, 42(6), 585-597.