In the past 13 years, Japan has been experiencing a boom in volunteering activities aimed atcrime prevention; as close to 3,000,000 Japanese citizens have involved themselves in... Show moreIn the past 13 years, Japan has been experiencing a boom in volunteering activities aimed atcrime prevention; as close to 3,000,000 Japanese citizens have involved themselves in volunteeringactivities with this aim. This article firstly examines how such a boom has come about.It secondly addresses the ways in which volunteers represent their own activities and theirreasons for engaging in and continuing with these activities. The article finally addresses theimpact of volunteering activities on the neighborhoods in which they are undertaken, as well asimplications of article findings for discussions on neighborhood watch programs in non-Japanesecontexts. This article is based on participant observation, interviews with and material producedby members of three volunteering groups as well as members of local governments and thepolice.The crime prevention volunteering boom has been largely conceptualized and orchestrated bythe Japanese police in close cooperation with the local government and neighborhood associations.Volunteers' activities are as a result informed and influenced by criminological theories,concepts and research, while also embedded in more general (local) government “town building”efforts aimed at creating a living environment in which people can lead healthy lives whilefeeling safe and secure. Volunteers phrased their motivation in terms of both such town buildingidea(l)s and the threat of crime. They represented crime as existing outside of the neighborhood,and as both effectively impacted by volunteering activities and immutably threatening. While theimpact of volunteering activities on crime rates is difficult to assess, these activities in any caseprovide opportunities for increased social interaction and physical activity, while also resultingin spaces in which the neighborhood's eyes are always watching. Show less
This article examines how a therapeutic perspective on victim participation has been conceptualized and implemented in criminal trials in Japan after procedural reforms in 2000 and 2008. Findings... Show moreThis article examines how a therapeutic perspective on victim participation has been conceptualized and implemented in criminal trials in Japan after procedural reforms in 2000 and 2008. Findings are discussed with reference to therapeutic jurisprudence studies on victim participation and relevant literature on Japanese criminal justice. Analysis of policy documents, survey data, interviews, and minutes of Ministry of Justice “expert meetings” reveals how the therapeutic needs of victims and the therapeutic effects of victim participation in court proceedings have been understood and conceptualized based on generalized common-sense assumptions of legal practitioners. In court, participants’ reference to victims’ wellbeing and recovery puts pressure on judges to impose harsher punishment than usual, while reinforcing the position of prosecutors. The adopted therapeutic perspective, combined with traditionally expected displays of remorse, furthermore has the effect of limiting the defence’s ability to argue facts and circumstances favourable to the defendant. Show less
