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Final published version, 322 KB, PDF document
Final published version
Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Disclosure to Unknowing Victims in Criminal Justice Investigations
T2 - Questions of Vulnerability, Ethics and Practice
AU - Ost, Suzanne
AU - Gillespie, Alisdair
PY - 2024/3/1
Y1 - 2024/3/1
N2 - This article explores the situation in which a victim who has been identified during a criminal justice investigation is unaware of the crime committed against them. We argue that unknowing victims possess a unique vulnerability because discovering their victim status is highly likely to have harmful effects. Where law enforcement officers (LEOs) remain unaware of the victim's knowledge of the crime, this should be perceived as a clue to potential vulnerability. Any subsequent disclosure of the crime to an unknowing victim is an external intervention that exposes them to the risk of harm, thereby raising significant ethical questions. Yet the ethical ramifications of disclosure are not considered in the policing literature and there is no specific professional guidance in England and Wales (and beyond) on this situation. Focusing on two of the primary crime contexts in which a victim can be unknowing (sexual offences and fraud), we scrutinise the ethical issues surrounding LEOs disclosing to an unknowing victim, aligning our analysis with the College of Policing's Code of Ethics and vulnerability-related risks guidelines, and a therapeutic jurisprudence approach to policing.
AB - This article explores the situation in which a victim who has been identified during a criminal justice investigation is unaware of the crime committed against them. We argue that unknowing victims possess a unique vulnerability because discovering their victim status is highly likely to have harmful effects. Where law enforcement officers (LEOs) remain unaware of the victim's knowledge of the crime, this should be perceived as a clue to potential vulnerability. Any subsequent disclosure of the crime to an unknowing victim is an external intervention that exposes them to the risk of harm, thereby raising significant ethical questions. Yet the ethical ramifications of disclosure are not considered in the policing literature and there is no specific professional guidance in England and Wales (and beyond) on this situation. Focusing on two of the primary crime contexts in which a victim can be unknowing (sexual offences and fraud), we scrutinise the ethical issues surrounding LEOs disclosing to an unknowing victim, aligning our analysis with the College of Policing's Code of Ethics and vulnerability-related risks guidelines, and a therapeutic jurisprudence approach to policing.
KW - disclosure
KW - ethical decision-making
KW - therapeutic jurisprudence
KW - unknowing victims
KW - vulnerability
U2 - 10.1177/14613557231200989
DO - 10.1177/14613557231200989
M3 - Journal article
VL - 26
SP - 25
EP - 36
JO - International Journal of Police Science and Management
JF - International Journal of Police Science and Management
SN - 1461-3557
IS - 1
ER -