Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 24, 2025

Integrated Compensatory Responses in a Human Model of Hemorrhage
Published on: November 20, 2016
Sympathy for the applicant: investigating its role in decisions about state compensation for violent crime
M J J Kunst1, S A C Schiltkamp1
1Faculty of Law, Institute for Criminal Law & Criminology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
In the Netherlands, as in many other Western countries, state compensation for violent crime victimization is only to be granted if the applicant provides a plausible victimization story and did not contribute to the crime. However, due to the discretion left to those who decide upon requests for state compensation, decisions about state compensation may be subject to the influence of legally irrelevant factors. This study investigated the potential influence of one such legally irrelevant factor: feelings of sympathy for the applicant. Forty-seven lawyers who work for the Dutch Violent Offences Compensation Fund (VOCF) were presented five vignettes about a fictitious act of violent crime and asked to rate their feelings of sympathy for the victims and to indicate how they would decide about the victims' requests for state compensation. Results indicate that feelings of sympathy may indeed play a role in the decision-making process.
Related Concept Videos
Compensation Mechanisms
Respiratory Compensation
This mechanism addresses metabolic-induced pH imbalances by adjusting breathing rates. Respiratory compensation begins within minutes of detecting a pH...
Bystander Effect
Fundamental Attribution Error
Bonanno's Theory of Grieving
Resilience
Empathy
Stereotype Content Model

