Affords the Victim the Opportunity to Rehash the Crime

The criminal trial achieves this purpose of repairing the victim by affording an opportunity for the victim to verbally rehash the events of the crime before a judge, jury, and the perpetrator. This verbalization process is psychologically liberating, especially when the judge and jury accept the victim’s version of the facts. When judge and jury are on his side, the victim achieves not only the benefit of liberation through verbalization, but also achieves the psychological benefits of what feels like an alliance against the perpetrator. In this way, the victim is able to verify his own righteousness. With the force of the state standing behind him, the victim is elevated to the status of the powerful and rightful seeker of justice and revenge.