Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law

The study was completed in 2006, and the results are to be published in 2007. Some parts of the investigation have already been included in previous publications and can be found below [see "Publications (selection)"].

Objectives:

The objectives of the study were as follows:

• To develop a multidimensional model that allows for the systematic analysis of victim relevant aspects concerning the legal and institutional management of victimization (see Figure 1). This is a transferable approach that can be used in other conflict contexts, allowing for maximum comparability between the findings of various studies.
• To explore and compare attitudes found among Israelis and Palestinians who were victimized over the course of the Second Intifada.
• To identify significant factors influencing attitudes among the respective victim groups. A special emphasis was placed the role of socio-political as well as socio-cultural influences.
• To draw conclusions as to whether the debate on the inclusion of victim interests is likely to be successful solely on a theoretical basis, or if it requires a complementary empirical analysis of the prevailing attitudes among the local victim population.

Methodological Approach:

The 3-level-model that was developed for this project shed light on the perspectives of victims through two distinct empirical parts.

In the first part the victims were asked about the various elements of the criminal process that they considered to be particularly relevant. The study examined the attitudes of victims who, because they suffered victimization during the Second Intifada, were being supervised by local victim assistance programs. A total of 298 victims were involved in the investigation. Incorporated within this number were 119 Israelis and 179 Palestinians (of whom 110 were from the West Bank and 69 from the Gaza Strip). The victim survey was conducted by means of a standardized questionnaire. The term “victim” was defined in accordance with several objective and subjective criteria, in particular the existence of specific forms of victimization, the recognition as a victim by the cooperating organization and self-perception as a victim.
In the second part, nine expert interviews were conducted to supplement the victim interviews. Five Palestinian and four Israeli experts in the field of local victim assistance and support offered their views and experiences with regard to the subject areas surveyed. Their insights permitted a deeper understanding of the findings that were drawn from the victim research in part one, and enabled a number of issues to be addressed which could not be assessed by the personal victim surveys.

The study fell within the ambit of a parallel international comparative study "Victims of War" (see Kiza, E., Rathgeber, C., Rohne, H.-C.: Victims of War - War-Victimization and Victims’ Attitudes Towards Addressing Atrocities (Final Report). Hamburg, edition online, Hamburger Institut für Sozialforschung, 2006).

Financing:

The study was funded by a grant from the Max Planck Society. The victim surveys also fell within the Hamburg Foundation for the Promotion of Culture and Science’s project "Victims of War".

Topic related presentations/ lectures:

• ”Prospects for Restorative Justice in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – Contrasting Restorative Justice with attitudes among intifada victims towards legal responses”, 24 November 2006, paper presented at the conference ”Restorative Justice Research in Europe: Outcomes and Challenges“ (EU Research Program COST Action A 21), 22-24 November 2006, Warsaw (Poland).
• ”Victims of War: An Empirical Study on War-Victimization and Victims Attitudes towards Adressing Atrocities” (together with Ernesto Kiza), 27 August 2006, paper presented at the 6th Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology on ”Understanding Crime – Structural and Developmental Dimensions and their Implications for Policy”, 26-29 August, 2006, Tübingen (Germany).
• ”Opferperspektiven und Kultur – Eine viktimologische Studie im Kontext der Al-Aqsa-Intifada“, 6 May 2006, paper presented at the IV. Vienna Conference on Mediation about ”Culture meets Culture“, 3-6 May 2006, Vienna (Austria).
• ”Sulha and Mediation – Cultural Aspects of Informal Conflict Resolution“, 6 May 2006, paper presented at the IV. Vienna Conference on Mediation about ”Culture meets Culture“, 3-6 May 2006, Vienna (Austria).
• ”The German Legal System”, 9 March 2006, guest lecture at the Birzeit University (Faculty of Law), Ramallah (Westbank).
• ”Victims' Perspectives and Legal Responses. A Comparative Study in the Context of the Second Intifada”, 8 March 2006, guest lecture at the Hebrew University (Swiss Center Program for Conflict Research, Management and Resolution), Jerusalem (Israel).
• ”Intracultural approaches to violent conflicts and their victimological significance - A research in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian-Conflict”, ”Responding to Victimization Surveying Attitudes of Victims of the Al-Aqsa Intifada”, 9 August 2005, paper presented at the XIV. World Congress of Criminology ”Preventing Crime & Promoting Justice: Voices for Change” International Society of Criminology, 7-11 August 2005, Philadelphia (USA).
• ”Legal Prosecution and Responsibility in Darfur – Findings from a Victimological Study”, 7 May 2005, paper presented at the workshop ”Between State, Religion and Tradition – Re-examining the Concepts of Collective and Individual Responsibility in the Islamic World”, 5-8 May 2005, Danish Institute, Damascus (Syria).
• ”Victim’s expectations: The International War-Victim Survey”, 16 June 2005, paper presented at the workshop ”Sentencing Research: Theory, Practice, Methodology and Perspective” (in cooperation with the Nottingham Law School, Centre for Legal Research), 16 June 2005, MPI, Freiburg (Germany) (presented with Ernesto Kiza).
• ”Victims of War – A Victimological Study in the Context of Research on Punitiveness”, 28 April 2005, paper presented at the Nordisk Workshop i Strafferet, 27 April - 1 May 2005, MPI, Freiburg (Germany) (presented with Ernesto Kiza).
• ”Attitudes of Victims in Macro-Conflicts - Findings in the Context of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict”, 18 March 2005, paper presented at the Interlabo dans le cadre du GERN (Groupe européen de recherche sur les normativités ”L'envie de punir - recherches sur l'usage de la sanction // The Desire to Punish - Research on Punishment // Straflust - Forschungen zur Strafe”, 18 March 2005, MPI, Freiburg (Germany) (presented with Hila Auer-Shayan).
• ”Sulha – Eine palästinensische Konfliktbeilegungsmethode”, 24 September 2004, paper presented at the annual congress of the Bundesverband Mediation, 23-26 September 2004 in Frankfurt (Oder) (Germany).
• ”Cultural Aspects of Conflict and its Resolution – A comparative perspective on Sulha and Western Mediation”, 2 September 2004, paper presented at the Alumni Summer School 2004 ”Formal and Informal Means of Conflict Prevention & Resolution in the Middle East”, 1-9 September 2004, Banz/Bamberg (Germany).
• ”Intracultural approaches to violent conflicts and their victimological significance - A research in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian-Conflict”, 6 December 2003, paper presented at the Experts' Seminar on ”Alternative Means to Retributive Justice in Violent Conflicts in the Middle East”, 4-7 December 2003, Istanbul (Turkey).