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Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam > Blaise Pascal Instituut > Girard Studiekring > COV&R 2007 > Abstracts Papers
NICO KEIJZER
A Girardian
View of the Criminal Justice System
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ABSTRACT
This paper deals with the question, to what extent the hypotheses of René Girard about the scapegoat mechanism being the origin of human culture can serve as an explanatory tool regarding the criminal justice system.
It will
be argued that this system, at least insofar as it concerns very serious
offences and punishments, is rooted in that mechanism. Although the present-day
criminal justice system requires personal guilt, it may be understood as a new
manifestation of old sacrificial rituals, for which the sacrificial victims were
randomly selected. Traces of this will be shown in relation to an actual case:
The miscarriage of justice in the Dutch Nienke (Schiedammer parkmoord) case can be explained on the basis of
GirardÂ’s ideas.
It would be wrong, however, to conclude that the scapegoat mechanism suffices for explaining the criminal justice system. It will be suggested that an additional root is to be found in family justice.