I'm suggesting that it may be healing if you've got the right psycho-spiritual apparatus around it. Of course it may also be being a patsy, they're not exclusive. St Martin may have felt spiritually wonderful after giving the beggar his cloak, but I bet he still got a cold.

(I also think that the victim's wishes should be kept out of the legal system -- but, to me, if that's better for the victim that's just a beneficial side-effect. The main thing is that "justice" can only be conveyed by the polity at large, not by the people directly concerned.)