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June 9-13, 2014The University of Tennessee at

Chattanooga

Participant’s Manual

Sponsored by: The Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence

2 International Plaza Dr. Ste. 425Nashville, TN 37217www.tncoalition.org

615-386-9406

This project is funded under an agreement with the State of Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration, Office of Criminal Justice Programs, grant ID #4831.

http://www.tncoalition.org/

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introductions and Overview……………………………………..…………1

Chapter 2 History of the Crime Victims’ Rights Movement in the United States……2

Chapter 3 Victims’ Rights Laws in the United States……………………………….32 - Special Topics Supplement: TN Crime Victims’ Compensation……….81

Chapter 4 Navigating the Justice System………………………………………..…..95

Chapter 5 Communication with Victims and Survivors………………………...…134 - Special Topics Supplement: Child Victimization……………………..159 - Special Topics Supplement: Sexual Assault……………………...…...199

Chapter 6 Impact of Crime on Victims………………………………………….....249

Chapter 7 Direct Services………………………………………………………......265 - Special Topics Supplement: Domestic Violence………………………293 - Special Topics Supplement: Rural Issues……………………………...362 - Special Topics Supplement: Victimization of Individuals with Disabilities ……………………………………….….381

Chapter 8 Collaboration for Victims’ Rights and Services………………………...415

Chapter 9 Ethics in Victim Services………………………………………………..465

Chapter 10 Cultural and Spiritual Competence……………………………………...484

Chapter 11 Developing Resilience…………………………………………………..522

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Senator Tommy Burks Victim Assistance AcademyParticipant Manual

CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTION

The National Victim Assistance Academy (NVAA) was established in 1995 by the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) to offer an academic-based curriculum that emphasized foundation-level education in victimology and victims’ rights and services. The original NVAA was coordinated by the Victims’ Assistance Legal Organization (VALOR) in cooperation with four universities and was offered at as many as five sites simultaneously. Following a 2003 formal evaluation, OVC decided to formulate a new NVAA model, to revise and update the text and structure, and to standardize the curriculum. The NVAA was redesigned to include three instructional tracks, to better meet the training needs of those in the victim services field.

Track 1, Foundation-Level Training, is skill-based training that provides professionals and volunteers who assist victims and survivors of crime with a broad understanding of the victim services field and lays the groundwork for building a career in the victim services field.

As a result of this training, participants will learn about the history of the victim services field. They will also learn how to assist victims in attaining their basic rights as victims, how to navigate the criminal justice systems; how to communicate effectively with victims; how to effectively provide direct services to victims while recognizing cultural and spiritual issues that impact service; how to make ethical decisions; how to increase their resilience; and how to collaborate with other agencies to best provide services to victims.

The other NVAA Tracks are Track 2, Specialized Training, and Track 3, Leadership Institute.

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NVAA Module 2 Learning Objectives

Identify the major social/political movements that contributed to the rise of the victims’ rights movement.

Describe three major federal victims’ rights laws.

List five national victim advocacy organizations.


CHAPTER 2HISTORY OF THE CRIME VICTIMS’ MOVEMENT

IN THE UNITED STATES

Steven Derene, Steve Walker, Ph.D., and John Stein, J.D.*

This chapter reviews the influence of ancient legal and social codes on today’s victims’ movement and provides an overview of movements that were precursors of the crime victims’ movement. The six stages of the movement are then delineated. Finally, the major milestones at both the federal and state level are summarized. Today’s view of violent crime and victimization is quite different than in the 1970s. The nation’s emotional and legal reaction to criminals has changed dramatically. Why have personal and political responses changed during this period? This chapter will first summarize the early legal codes from which today’s victims’ rights evolved; then it will focus on the historical development of the crime victims’ movement and the reasons for the public’s more recently altered perceptions of crime and the treatment of crime victims.

In the last three decades, the crime victims’ movement has emerged as a powerful source of social, legal, and political change. Many early pioneers of the crime victims’ movement were influenced by the cultural environment created by the civil rights and antiwar movements. Meanwhile, the women’s movement, as well as the law and order movement, led more directly to the emergence of a clearly defined crime victims’ movement. The history of the movement can be divided into six stages, each denoting new developments in victim involvement and services, changes in service providers’

* Authors of this chapter are Steven Derene, Executive Director, National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators, Madison, WI; Steve Walker, Ph.D., California State University, Fresno, CA; and John Stein, J.D., International Organization for Victim Assistance, Newberg, OR.

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attitudes, new theoretical concepts, and ongoing legal changes. This description is, by necessity, not inclusive of all historical facts; rather, its purpose is to acquaint the reader with the zeitgeist, or spirit, of each stage of the crime victims’ movement.

EARLY LEGAL CODES

Modern legislative codes primarily have evolved from earlier legal codes as an attempt to define and deal with deviant behavior. The focus has predominantly been on the criminal and his or her motivation, not on the victim and his or her needs. Max Weber stated that the primary purpose of the law was to regulate the flow of human interaction in order to make the behavior of others predictable (as cited in Rheinstein, 1954). Historically, laws also serve other purposes: banishing private retribution, reflecting public opinion, deterring criminal acts, punishing offenders, and providing socioeconomic control (Siegel, 1989). These various purposes almost exclusively focus on altering the criminal’s behavior.

The question is how other systems have made room for the victim in this discussion of the purpose of the law. Roscoe Pound, a great modern legal scholar, believed that the law was malleable and a tool of social engineering (Pound, 1968). Pound believed that the law should change with societal changes and the advent of new ideas. He espoused a series of jural postulates that reflected the shared needs of society. In this context, the needs and rights of crime victims are appropriate aspects of any legal code, especially today, as victim issues have emerged since the 1970s. The following sections will detail how several ancient and modern societies have attempted to protect crime victims’ rights.

Code of Hammurabi

King Hammurabi ruled Babylon around 2000 B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) for about 55 years. He was the sixth king of the First Dynasty of Babylon, which was the commercial center of the known civilized world. Babylon’s strength and the length of Hammurabi’s reign created a time of great stability. To enhance this stability of both social and commercial life, Hammurabi

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created a code that established rules for all aspects of his subjects’ lives (Gordon, 1957).

This code was intended to replace clan blood feuds with a system of laws sanctioned and administered by the state. The code contained five sections (Gordon, 1957):

1. A code of basic laws.2. A manual of instruction for judges, police officers, and witnesses.3. A handbook of rights and duties of husbands, wives, and children.4. A set of regulations establishing wages and prices.5. A code of ethics for merchants, doctors, and officials (Masters and Roberson,

1985).

In essence, the Code of Hammurabi was a set of laws, an administrative manual, a set of Old Testament-type commandments, a collection of commercial regulations, and a statement of professional ethics. Western society has all of these, but they are often found in separate volumes under the jurisdiction of separate administrative entities. This code was indeed a broad undertaking to provide order and stability in its time.

The code established three major changes in society’s view of the law that directly affected the stability of society and the treatment of crime victims. Again, these changes were directed at terminating the clan rule by the blood feud, which often was perpetuated for generations and affected the basic continued existence of an entire society (Wallace, 1998). The three major changes were:

1. An assertion of the power of the crown or state. This was the beginning of state-administered punishment. Blood feuds between private citizens were banned under the code.

2. Protection of the weaker from the stronger. Widows were to be protected from those who might exploit them; elderly parents were protected from sons who would disown them; and lesser officials were protected from harassment by higher officials.

3. Restoration of equity between the offender and the victim. The victim was to be made as whole as possible, and, in turn, he or she was required to forgo vengeance and forgive the offender.

Of significance for the later victims’ movement was that this was one of the first victims’ rights statutes in history. Punishment of the offender and restitution to the victim were equally important in Babylonian society. Two other ancient societies also attempted to deal with victims’ rights. Both of these influenced English and American law.

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Roman Law

The next major attempt to codify the law to avoid personal disputes and blood feuds was Roman law. During the period known as the Pax Romana, Roman law affected most of the civilized world, including England. These laws were derived from the Twelve Tables, which were written in about 450 B.C.E. As with the Code of Hammurabi, these tables delineated a set of basic rules pertaining to family life, religious practices, and economic endeavors. For the first time in Roman life, written laws now applied to all classes of society (Wallace, 1998).

Later, Emperor Justinian I codified these tables into a set of writings. The Justinian Code distinguished two types of laws:

Public laws. These dealt with the organization and administration of the Republic.

Private laws. These addressed issues such as contracts; possession and other property rights; injuries to citizens; and the legal status of various persons, such as slaves, husbands, and wives.

This code contained elements reflected later in both English and American civil and criminal law. From 100 B.C.E. to about 400 C.E. (Common Era), Roman law and customs were forced on the English people and influenced the development of English legal practices into the Middle Ages.

Jewish Law

The oral tradition of the Mosaic Code probably began several centuries B.C.E., and it was written for the first time in the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, Deuteronomy, around 100 B.C.E. This covenant or contract between Yahweh and the 12 tribes of Israel has had a long-lasting effect on all Judeo-Christian societies, especially England and America. The Ten Commandments’ prohibition against murder, perjury, and theft became the basis for the laws in these two societies (Wallace, 1998).

Of equal influence was Deuteronomy’s prescription for the punishment of these and other crimes: “an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot” (Deuteronomy 19:21 TNIV). This early pronouncement of basic justice owed to victims was not meant to be taken literally, according to rabbinic tradition. Rather, it was interpreted to mean that the victim of a crime should receive from the criminal the value of an eye, a tooth, a hand, a foot, and so forth. This was the first formalized proposal of victim restitution since the Code of Hammurabi.

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English Law

From the Middle Ages until the Norman conquest in 1066 C.E., England was a decentralized country with multiple kings and nobles holding power over their individual lands. There was little written law, and crimes during this period were viewed as personal wrongs, not the concern of the state as in the Code of Hammurabi. Restitution for the offense (known as wergeld) was paid directly to the victim or the victim’s family. If the offender failed to make payment, revenge was exacted, and often a blood feud ensued. The victim’s right to equity was preeminent, but the stability of society was very tenuous.However, with the advent of William the Conqueror’s rule in 1066, royal administrators rode the circuit and rendered justice. To make this new system more palatable, these administrators combined Roman law with local custom and rules of conduct to guide their judgments. This system of standing “by the decided law” would have a direct effect on the later development of English common law (Wallace, 1998).

Common law was recognized before William’s rule. This traditional body of unwritten legal precedents created by court decisions (as distinguished from written statutory law) was used by the royal judges as they started their deliberations. They would review past decisions that were similar to their current case and apply them when possible. Then, in the 11th century, King Edward the Confessor (1042–1066) proclaimed that common law was the law of the land, and court decisions were then recorded that could be used by lawyers in pleading their cases. Common law was the melding of existing legal practices known as Dane law and Mercian law with West Saxon legal practice. The concept of common law greatly influenced the development of American law and its early emphasis on restitution and victims’ rights.

The final step in the codification of laws in England was the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215. This was a written statement of the basic liberties granted to English noblemen and the people. The U.S. Constitution and its unique statement of individual rights and liberties, and American legal practices in general, were greatly affected by the way this document evolved as a claim of everyone’s rights against the state.

United States Law

This focus on the development of law builds upon an almost 4,000-year history of some attention to victims’ rights. American law combined common law, written statutes enacted by a legislative body, and the foundation of the Constitution. From the time of the earliest settlers in this country in the 16th century until early in the 19th century, victims served as police officers and prosecutors (or hired them) and prosecuted crimes

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done to them in much the same way that they might seek redress in civil courts. The main form of punishment imposed was an order of restitution, just as in common law. The victim often arranged for a posse to capture the thief, paid an attorney to prosecute the case, and may have even paid the expenses for a circuit judge to come to that jurisdiction.

The most significant development in the treatment of crime victims was the establishment of public prosecutors. “The office was first established by statute in Connecticut in 1704, whose example was soon followed by the other colonies. However, it was not until shortly after the Revolution that this office emerged as the predominant method of prosecution” (McDonald, 1976, p. 660). According to one scholar, the “monopoly of criminal prosecution by the district attorney is more the result of a misunderstanding of history than of explicit legislative direction” (Goldstein, 1982, pp. 518-9), in that most statutes at the time authorized the district attorney to prosecute criminal cases but did not explicitly preclude victims or anyone else from prosecuting on their own. Nevertheless, courts subsequently interpreted—or misinterpreted—English precedents, eventually leading to the standard that only district attorneys could conduct criminal prosecutions (Goldstein, 1982).

Between 1850 and the early 1970s, the victim’s central role faded and then was lost. It is difficult to clearly distinguish why this radical change occurred. As with most social processes, it must have been a slow, gradual process. Before the 1850s in America, two major changes may have influenced this decrease in attention to victims’ rights. Government began turning law enforcement and prosecution over to new public servants, in part because the system of private prosecution favored those with means. The general welfare of the community became the focus, breathing new life into the traditional English theory that crime was primarily a wrong against the public and only secondarily against the individual. The fact that the newly created public prosecutors were elected reinforced their self-image as serving the greater good.

In this changeover, restitution was seen as being owed to society, not to the victim, in the form of fines, a principal form of punishment in the years predating the widespread use of prisons. This led to the second major change. In the same period, the mid-19th century Philadelphia Quakers constructed a special kind of jail where convicts were expected to do penance for their wrongs (hence “penitentiaries”). This was the advent of building more and larger penitentiaries as the primary mode of punishing or correcting offenders. If a debt (time more than money) was owed to society, more places were required to pay this debt. Restitution to the victim became an afterthought that was now seen as the purview of the civil court. With fewer stringent guidelines and even fewer resources, victims’ rights languished within the civil court system for almost 125 years.

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Starting in the 1970s, the societal view of criminals’ and victims’ rights began changing dramatically and not always on parallel tracks, given the differing kinds of reforms that advocates sought for victims. In 1972, an assistant district attorney in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, published an article in the Notre Dame Law Review that described the “pattern of blindness and neglect” with which witnesses were treated (Ash, 1972, p. 399). The article drew attention to the critical role of crime victims in the criminal justice system and encouraged the development of what was then referred to as “witness appearance-control projects” (Ash, 1972, pp. 411-12).

Victim issues gradually moved back into the mainstream of the criminal justice system and led to the creation of entirely new kinds of social services. The following sections delineate the reasons for these changes and describe the movements that helped precipitate this return to the victims’ rights of the late 1700s and early 1800s.

EMERGING SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

It was not until the 1800s that women like Susan B. Anthony began to rebel against male domination and abuse. Most known for her zeal in promoting the right for women to vote, Anthony was also creating the first women’s movement in this country by addressing domestic violence, the victimization of prostitutes, and the battle for equal pay for women. She published a newspaper edited by and for women, cautioning workers about sexual harassment while railing against substance abuse and pointing out that women beaten by their intoxicated husbands were its most common victims (Sherr, 1995).

Friends, when we come before you to advocate the Cause popularly termed “Women’s Rights,” we simply ask that woman not be wronged. We ask for her justice and equality—not favor and superiority—the rights and privileges her humanity charters to her equally with man, not arbitrary power and selfish domination. (Sherr, 1995, p. 50)

In 1866, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was formed, followed by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in 1975, both predating any formal organization to prevent cruelty to women in the United States. In spite of the noble efforts of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and, one generation later, Jane Addams, who founded Hull House in Chicago, not much changed for women in the United States until the first protective shelters for battered women were established 100 years later.

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Beginning in the early 1960s and preceding renewed focus on crime victims, four social/political movements set the stage for the crime victims’ movement as it exists today. The first two—the civil rights movement and the antiwar movement—created a cultural environment that, along with the inspiration of President John F. Kennedy’s “New Frontier” idealism, greatly influenced the philosophical, legal, and tactical background of many pioneers of the crime victims’ movement. Two other movements—the women’s movement and the law and order movement—had more direct bearing on the evolution of the crime victims’ movement.

The Civil Rights Movement

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other leaders of the civil rights movement changed this country’s view of civil disobedience, clarifying that all Americans have rights under the U.S. Constitution, and focusing on nonviolent change. Even though this country has had a long history of civil disobedience dating back to the Boston Tea Party and 19th century literary figures like Thoreau and Whitman, this approach diminished as a result of 20th century patriotism engendered by two world wars. Civil disobedience was, therefore, not new in 1963 but reemerged and was applied to a new group: American minorities. The civil rights movement enabled society’s disenfranchised minorities to exert power over American governmental and private institutions and demand equal rights and equal access to society’s opportunities and institutions. This movement helped establish the principles that constitutional rights should apply to all citizens, and that nonviolent methods of advocacy can be productive in changing American society (Karmen, 2004).

The Antiwar Movement

This movement organized to oppose American participation in the war in Vietnam. It pointed to America’s propensity for violence and the influence of the military-industrial complex, as President Dwight D. Eisenhower called it. A key component of this movement was distrust of authority, which continues today. Through its well-orchestrated marches in cities across America, the antiwar movement showed that grassroots politics could influence and even overpower conventional politics. More importantly, the movement raised questions not only about governmental decisionmaking but also about the moral implications of these decisions.

Even more than proponents of the civil rights movement, antiwar proponents used the media, especially television, to publicize their issues and concerns. The women’s movement later used this tool efficiently in publicizing the plight of rape and domestic

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violence victims. Both of these populist political movements empowered citizens, especially young people, to speak out publicly for what they believed was right. Both served as incubators of grassroots organizations that would awaken groups and organizations concerned with sexual assault, domestic violence, and homicide.

The Women's Movement

A focus on child abuse and neglect led to attention to women as well. This child protection concern initially focused on physicians, social workers, and public-sector personnel. The attention of child advocates and Congress to the work of Dr. C. Henry Kempe, who made his first presentation about the “battered child syndrome” in 1961, led to the creation of the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in 1974.

Attention to women as a group had diminished after they were given the right to vote by the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Not until the early 1970s did the women’s movement reexamine American family values and traditional male/female roles by spotlighting sexism in bureaucracy (including, very importantly, the criminal justice system) and economic discrepancies between men and women. This perspective and insight have been considered the most significant precursor (“the mother”) of the crime victims’ movement. “The idea that women should organize to combat rape (and domestic violence) was an invention of the women’s movement” (Burgess, 2004, p. 4). The victimization of women and the bureaucratic facilitation of this violence in all areas of society were clarified and politicized. The long overdue recognition that women were entitled to equal social, political, and economic opportunity and power became a national focus.

Susan Brownmiller’s book Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape gave credence to the sexual assault movement. It broadened the understanding of “rape” from a crime against “sexual morality” to one of “physical assault” and called attention to society’s and, in particular, the criminal justice system’s maltreatment of sexual assault victims (Brownmiller, 1975).

A direct result of this increase in women’s power and attention to women’s issues was the formation of rape crisis centers and domestic violence shelters in the early 1970s (Burgess, 2004). These community-based grassroots programs were started by rape and domestic violence victims in their own living rooms and basements. The common agenda was to right the wrongs for other victims, but the programs met strong resistance. In one community after another, rape crisis counselors faced countless negative encounters with

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the criminal justice system and other bureaucracies. Meanwhile, they developed descriptions of “crisis counselors,” as they called themselves. “They began with no role models and became role models for themselves and for other crime victims” (Burgess, 2004). This important manifestation of the women’s movement led to some of its earliest, most publicized political events, such as Take Back the Night and numerous candlelight vigils for women’s rights to facilitate consciousness-raising.

The Law and Order Movement

The law and order movement in 1968 slightly predated the beginning of the crime victims’ movement (often marked at 1972, when the first three official crime victim service agencies were formed), and its alliance with the women’s movement did not develop until 1974. The law and order movement focused on increasing the rights of the common citizen to achieve parity with the rights of the criminal. However, many supporters felt that common citizens could manage their own protection and believed that justice should be accomplished without expanding governmental assistance and monetary support (Karmen, 2004). Law and order supporters believed that criminals should be punished more rigorously; potential victims should be more careful; and victims, once victimized, should be self-sufficient and not dependent on the government for assistance.

The mid-1970s brought the development of victim/witness assistance programs located in prosecutors’ offices. The earliest programs were designed to help victims who were witnesses in criminal cases navigate the criminal court system and to encourage them to cooperate and thereby improve conviction rates. The emotional distress of many victims led some members of the victim/witness staff to offer counseling as part of their job. As they tried to make the road through the justice system smoother, some of them began to see themselves as advocating on behalf of victims as well.

By the early 1980s, a shift developed placing more emphasis on victims’ needs. Programs emerged to respond to the crises of all victims of violence—some in grassroots settings and some in law enforcement agencies. The support for increased offender accountability and a back-to-the-basics constitutional approach produced a new emphasis on restitution and individual rights. The law and order movement has been particularly influential in the later stages of the crime victims’ movement. Its call for participation by victims as a way to protect their own interests was hastened along by new victim activists—including some within the system who were allied to this cause, as were an increasing number of

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veterans of the law and order movement who broadened their focus from the offender to the victim.

Sometimes in unison, more often in parallel ways, the women’s movement and the law and order movement greatly accelerated the pace and success of the victims’ movement in the 1980s.

The following section outlines and describes six stages of the crime victims’ movement, detailing critical events in its history. This description denotes changes concerning victim involvement and services, service providers’ attitudes, new theoretical concepts, and ongoing legal changes. The changes associated with these stages did not always occur in neat, discrete epochs but evolved out of earlier developments and continued through subsequent stages.

The identification and role of broad movements should not overlook or diminish the contributions of individuals, not necessarily acting in concert with others, to the development of the crime victims’ movement. For example, Margery Fry originated the concept of government-run crime victim compensation programs and invented domestic violence shelters. Also important, was the power of personal stories, such as those of Candy Lightner, John Walsh, and Roberta Roper, in fostering a broader appreciation and support for crime victims’ rights and services.

HISTORICAL STAGES OF THE CRIME VICTIMS’ MOVEMENT

Stage 1: Response to Crime

In the early 1960s, crime rose steadily in the United States, reaching its highest point in 1981 (Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI], 1981). Its effect on American life was evident. In response, the crime victims’ movement mobilized on multiple fronts (Young, 1988).

In 1965, the first crime victims’ compensation program was established by the California legislature. However, the major strides of this period were accomplished not by legislatures but by the energy of volunteers, many of whom were crime victims themselves. In many cases, they had been victimized again due to less-than-adequate assistance and services within the criminal justice system.

In 1972, volunteers founded the first three official victim assistance programs that still exist today:

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Aid for Victims of Crime, St. Louis, Missouri (now the Crime Victim Advocacy Center of St. Louis).

Bay Area Women Against Rape, San Francisco, California. Rape Crisis Center, Washington, DC.

Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, many state and federal commissions were established to study crime and urban riots and their consequences. Following these efforts, the federal government took two significant steps to address the problem: the creation of the first national victimization survey, National Crime Survey, in 1972 (renamed the National Crime Victimization Survey in 1990) and the formation of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) (Young, 1988).

The National Crime Survey gathered crime data from randomly selected individuals and households all across America, an approach that was very different from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR), which compiles only crime statistics reported to law enforcement agencies. The new information made it devastatingly clear that the rates of rape and other violent crimes were much higher than those reported to law enforcement. The National Crime Survey showed that actual crime rates were three or four times higher than the UCR’s published official rates (Bureau of Justice Statistics [BJS], 1998).

LEAA monies were intended to combat victimization by increasing law enforcement funding and establishing the first victim/witness programs across the United States in 1974. Funds were also used to help educate and increase the sensitivity of police officers in dealing with victims.

In 1974, the first battered women’s shelter was established in Denver, Colorado. It was operated by volunteers who used their own funds and a few donations. Their major focus, as in the women’s movement, was to provide victim support using the approach of self-help groups. Their goals quickly expanded to target insensitive and unfair treatment of victims by the criminal justice system (Young, 1988), an evolution from helping to advocacy and activism that was occurring in other sectors of the movement.

LEAA called together leading victim activists to discuss methods of increasing victim assistance and created some pilot victim/witness programs in 1974.

James Rowland, chief probation officer in Fresno, California, developed the first victim impact statement used by the criminal justice system to clearly ascertain and specify a victim’s losses.

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In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Indianapolis, Indiana, the first law enforcement-based victim assistance programs were established.

In 1975, Frank Carrington’s book The Victims promoted “the proposition that the victim’s current sorry status in the criminal justice system need not be so [italics added] and that something can and must be done to enhance the rights of the victim” (Carrington, 1975). The National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA) was founded in 1975.

In 1976, about 100 leaders met at the Second National Victim Assistance Conference in Fresno, California.

During this first stage, mental health providers had limited involvement at the grassroots level. However, practitioners working with victims of sexual assault recognized characteristics common to many victims. In 1974, Ann Burgess coined the term rape trauma syndrome (Burgess and Holstrom, 1974). Although not universally accepted until years later, its initial use during this time would later facilitate better services for victims in both the mental health and criminal justice systems.

By the late 1970s, mental health providers became more aware of victim trauma. Research began to show the efficacy of peer support groups; some research indicated that these groups were often much more helpful than mental health professionals, partly because the professionals had little training in the grieving process and crisis therapy. The Crime Victim’s Book, written by Morton Bard and Dawn Sangrey and first published in 1979, was an early, influential primer on understanding and recognizing victims’ emotional responses to crime victimization.

As specialized service providers gained new insights into victimization, mental health practitioners began to acknowledge their lack of expertise and began to listen to advocates and victims. For example, the description of the “battered woman syndrome,” formulated by Lenore Walker in 1979, provided a theoretical framework for working with victims of domestic violence.

During this period, a number of the pioneers in understanding and treating the mental health problems of crime victims began comparing notes with colleagues treating Vietnam veterans suffering from what seemed to be related aftereffects of trauma.

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By the end of this stage, the groundwork was laid from two sources for the development of a full-fledged movement. The women’s movement created grassroots rape counseling and domestic violence programs, and within the criminal justice system through LEAA funding, victim assistance programs were emerging.

Stage 2: Conflict and Unstable Funding

At the outset of this second stage, it appeared that many of the gains of the fledgling victims’ movement might be lost. In 1979, LEAA was defunded by Congress, and thus the first stream of federal support abruptly ended. As is often the case when limited funding is paired with too many needs, community-based and government-based programs began to compete for limited resources (Young, 1988).

Professionalism and training emerged as competing themes, partly to define differing approaches to victim services and partly to propose that their own perspective was most worthy of the dwindling dollars. Despite their common purpose of assisting victims, the contrasting perspectives, purposes, structure, and operation of grassroots victim programs versus criminal justice-based programs increasingly became issues. This was exacerbated by the frequent complaint of grassroots victim advocates that the criminal justice system did not adequately support victims of rape and domestic violence. Even today, some of the residual tension from this grassroots-versus-system perspective remains, as do critiques of both perspectives from those without ties to either camp.

In 1978, sexual assault programs and domestic violence programs created their own national organizations to pursue their specific agendas (Young, 1986). These organizations include the following:

National Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NCASA). National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV).

Believing that change in rape and domestic violence law was not happening quickly enough, these organizations decided not to work within the criminal justice system, which, they felt. was not listening. At the same time, however, they fought successfully for the first round of victims’ rights reforms, namely rape shield laws and a ban on the exemption for marital rape.

During this period, program leaders and administrators debated the strengths and weaknesses of the various programs.

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Many movements fail (including some of the precursors of the victims’ movement) because no “second generation” is trained to continue with the original fervor and energy. Fortunately, this was not true for the victims’ movement. In spite of the dissension among the established programs, the system-based programs were proving their worth, and important new grassroots organizations arose. Often led by victims, these new groups directly challenged the indifference of the criminal justice system and the stigmatizing approaches of the mental health system.

Two new grassroots programs grew in response to a void in services to family members of those killed. The cumulative effect was a new infusion of energy into the movement. These two programs were:

Parents of Murdered Children (POMC), founded by Robert and Charlotte Hullinger in 1978.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), founded by Candy Lightner and Cindi Lamb in 1980.

In 1979, Frank Carrington founded the Crime Victims’ Legal Advocacy Institute, which was renamed the Victims’ Assistance Legal Organization (VALOR) in 1981, to advocate for the legal rights of crime victims. While his main contribution was getting the civil courts to make it easier for victims to get monetary redress, Carrington was also among those seeking reform in the criminal justice system.

On the legislative front, crime victim advocates pressed for reforms, and state legislators enacted laws that increasingly supported victims (NCVC, 1994a), such as the following:

In 1977, Oregon passed the first law mandating arrest in domestic violence cases.

In 1978, Minnesota enacted legislation to allow warrantless arrest in domestic violence cases, regardless of whether there was a prior protection order.

In 1980, Wisconsin enacted the first statutory bill of rights for victims and witnesses of crime, including state funding for county victim/witness assistance programs.

In 1981, Ronald Reagan became the first president to proclaim National Victims’ Rights Week. Later that year, the Attorney General’s Task Force on Violent Crime issued its report. The task force, which included Frank Carrington, recommended that a separate task force be created to consider victims’ issues.

Stage 3: Public Awareness

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As the revitalized crime victims’ movement learned better ways to access the news media, public awareness of victims’ issues increased. The 1981 Uniform Crime Reports had clearly shown the increase in victimization, and the movement actively used these new statistics for its cause (FBI, 1981).

In response to the Attorney General’s Task Force recommendation, President Reagan appointed a Task Force on Victims of Crime in 1982. Chaired by Lois Haight Herrington, this task force made 68 recommendations to improve the treatment of crime victims. The recommendations were directed at all segments of the public and private sectors, including the criminal justice system. The report included, for the first time, a recommendation for a constitutional amendment for crime victims’ rights and federal funding for state crime victim compensation and victim/witness assistance programs.

Later that year, Congress passed the Victim and Witness Protection Act. Borrowing from new victims’ rights precepts in state laws, this act provided for witness protection, restitution, and fair treatment for federal victims and witnesses of violent crimes (NCVC, 1994a).

Likewise, changes at the federal level encouraged legislative changes at state levels, including victims’ bills of rights, proposals for training and education, and expansion of existing victim/witness programs. The single greatest legislative event in the victims’ movement to date was the 1984 Victims of Crime Act (VOCA). This act established the Crime Victims Fund to provide funds for local victim assistance programs and state victim compensation as well as services for victims of federal crimes. The fund was made up of money from federal criminal fines, penalties, and bond forfeitures.

The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), created in the Department of Justice in 1983 to implement the 68 recommendations of the President’s Task Force, was designated to administer VOCA, including the distribution of VOCA funds to states for existing victim programs (NCVC, 1994a).

With increased public awareness and high-level political support for victims’ issues, numerous programs were started and laws passed during the 1980s. The greatest increase in victim/witness programs occurred in this third stage. Some highlights of this stage were:

National Conference of the Judiciary on Victims of Crime (1983).

Missing Children’s Assistance Act, which included the establishment of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by Congress (1984).

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Attorney General’s Task Force on Family Violence (1984).

Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (1984).

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and NOVA national colloquium, “Aftermath of Crime: A Mental Health Crisis” (1985).

National Center for Victims of Crime (formerly Sunny von Bulow National Victim Center) (1985).

NOVA Constitutional Amendment Meeting (1986).

President’s Child Safety Partnership (1987).

Changes in rape and domestic violence laws during this period helped to influence attitudes in the criminal justice system and local communities. However, grassroots rape counseling and domestic violence advocates felt that citizens were still inclined to view these crimes in morality terms rather than criminal terms (Burgess, 2004).

As the movement spread to bring services to other victims as well as victims of domestic and sexual violence, second-generation grassroots organizations—including the newer ones—feared that increased governmental involvement and new competition for funding of victim programs would lead to dissension as in previous years. These fears were not realized, however. A floor amendment to VOCA in 1984 had mandated that priority be given to victims of child abuse, but this led to complaints from groups representing victims of spousal abuse, sexual assault, and other crimes. And so a fourth priority, for “previously underserved victims of violent crimes,” was later added. In 1988, VOCA was reauthorized, and the OVC was established permanently. Crime victim compensation was expanded to include victims of both domestic violence and drunk driving.

In addition, during this stage, theoretical concepts were put to more practical use in both the criminal justice and mental health systems. The concept of second victimization as originally enunciated by psychiatrist and former New York City police officer Martin Symonds—that victims were often harmed as much by the system’s response as by the crime itself—became generally recognized and accepted. Even dealings with friendly justice professionals could generate acute stress in victims, leading many in prosecutors’ offices to learn the same crisis intervention techniques as were used by colleagues who saw victims much closer to the original trauma.

The various syndromes identified earlier were being discussed within the context of a new diagnosis—posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). With the identification of PTSD, a general diagnosis was now developed that did not stigmatize the victim but, rather, clarified and legitimized the victim’s normal response to an abnormal situation. In 1980,

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this diagnosis was recognized when the description of PTSD was placed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (third edition) of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the authoritative diagnostic tool of mental health professionals.

In addition, better training in trauma and crisis intervention enabled mental health professionals to learn about victims’ issues. Mental health professionals also began to provide better supportive services. Peer support groups began to be seen as a useful adjunct to successful individual therapy.

A major development occurred in 1986 when NOVA was asked to send a team of experienced crisis counselors to help the community of Edmond, Oklahoma, immediately after a mass murder. Tens of thousands of caregivers have been trained in the NOVA model that emerged under the rubric of Community Crisis Response Teams. A similar set of short-term services, called Critical Incident Stress Debriefings, emerged at about the same time, which focused principally on the stresses of first responders in cases of mass violence. Volunteers from both disciplines became the victims’ movement’s special contribution to disaster services.

During this period, the crime victims’ movement came of age, becoming more focused and sophisticated (Andrews, 1992). The first 10 years had been initiated and perpetuated by strong leaders with forthright personalities; however, in this period, an important paradigm shift was taking place. The movement expanded beyond the dynamics of individual-level politics to group-level national politics, resulting in the change into a more formalized profession.

Stage 4: Expanding Legislative Agenda

In the 1900s, three major legislative issues emerged: Victim service funding. Victims’ rights. Law and order concerns.

The growing sophistication of the victims’ movement enabled advocates to exert power and influence on several fronts. Thanks to state networks and coalitions, political efforts during this time became much more organized and presented clearer and more cohesive agendas, such as:

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Removing the limit on deposits into the Crime Victims Fund for VOCA to provide expanded and more stable funding for state crime victim compensation and victim assistance programs.

Expanding victims’ rights through more extensive and effective state legislation. Adopting crime victims’ rights amendments in state constitutions.

Successful results of this agenda at the federal level included the following:

As of 1995, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and three territories had enacted crime victim compensation programs.

As of 1998, 33 states had passed constitutional amendments. The U.S. Congress passed major legislation that addressed hate crimes, campus

security, child protection, violence against women, sexual assault, kidnapping, and gun control.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of victim impact statements in capital cases.

Currently, all states have passed victims’ rights legislation in the form of a victims’ bill of rights or a series of statutory protections.

This legislative agenda has continued to grow and expand. The recent serious congressional consideration to a federal constitutional victim rights’ amendment exemplifies this. The women’s movement’s rape and domestic law reform agenda has been embraced by both women and men in the lawmaking professions (Burgess, 2004). Activities and issues in this stage continue into the sixth stage.

Stage 5: Emerging Professionalism

One of the most salient issues in recent years has been the emerging professionalism in the field of victim services. As with other grassroots movements, there is some apprehension about professionalizing a community-based service system that originated and developed its strength through the dedication of volunteers who extended themselves personally to victims in need. Most victim service programs, however, have not diluted their passion and are led by dedicated professionals who have years of experience working with victims in specialized settings while still relying heavily on trained, committed volunteers.

The historical distrust of other professionals who have no specialized training or experience in victim treatment issues has persisted in many areas. Experience has made some of these concerns both legitimate and urgent. However, salary issues, increased

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availability of training, and a growing interest in program evaluation and quality services have led to significant professionalism in the field.

Victim service providers work in very diverse settings. Advocates typically perform a variety of tasks that require an understanding of social, psychological, and legal principles. In addition:

The areas of expertise and the training needed are multidisciplinary in nature.

There is a growing recognition that to be accepted by other professionals, certification or some other form of credentialing is necessary.

Increased professionalization of this field will potentially create professional-level salaries for experienced victim advocates and administrative staff.

Credentialing by victim groups, with help from allied government agencies to support training called for in the credentialing program, is seen by many as a way to overcome the fear of traditional degree-centered credentials that might be imposed on the field by one of the licensed professions. The trend toward credentialing by advocates’ groups and their allies in government has been hastened by (unsuccessful) proposals in a few states that only members of a licensed mental health profession should be allowed to perform certain counseling services.

The changes in this area have often been small but significant and growing. By the early 21st century, a dozen or more states have established their own credentialing systems, with the required educational units designed and taught mostly by peers. (States with such systems include Ohio, Florida, California, Connecticut, Kansas, and South Carolina.)

In 1987, the NOVA Board of Directors adopted a Code of Professional Ethics for Victim Service Providers, which covers practitioners’ relationship with clients, colleagues, other professionals, and the public. Using NOVA’s Code as a template, MADD developed a Code of Ethics for its victim advocates in 1988.

Academic programs were offered in increasing numbers during the 1990s. California State University (CSU), Fresno developed the first academic program in victim services/victimology in the United States. By the summer of 1989, CSU, Fresno had started the first Victim Services Summer Institute to make its certificate program available to professionals in other states. By 1990, the number of graduates from this program had more than tripled. Finally, by 1991, CSU, Fresno developed the first victimology major in the nation and then began developing the first doctorate in 1996 (NCVC, 1994a).

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Eight states have established clinics to offer free legal services for victims seeking to enforce their rights. Nurturing this development is the National Crime Victims Law Institute, founded in 2000 at Lewis and Clark Law School in Oregon, which also fosters teaching courses on victims’ rights in law schools around the country.

Academic credit and the development of more degree programs will continue to be important for the next phases of the crime victims’ movement. Some victimology programs have developed legal advocacy components in addition to their training, technical assistance, and educational activities, such as the Center for the Study of Crime Victims’ Rights, Remedies, and Resources of the University of New Haven in Connecticut. This program, part of the School of Public Safety and Professional Studies, provides amicus briefs in selected appellate cases dealing with victims’ rights issues.

Based on the template for performance ethnics and standards developed by the National Victim Assistance Standards Consortium, the next potential step could be the development of curriculum standards for education at the national and state levels. The National Victim Assistance Academy (NVAA) curriculum was created to offer this opportunity. The original NVAA began in 1995 by offering a 45-hour core course of work in victim services that could be taken for academic credit. It formed the basis for the first state-level academy in Michigan in 1998. Then, OVC initiated a multiyear funding strategy for the development of state victim assistance academies in 1999. As of 2006, state victim assistance academies have been offered or are in the process of development in 30 states, most which have received OVC financial support and technical assistance.

A sign of the growing recognition of the need to enhance the professional status of victim service providers was the creation in 2003 of the National Advocate Credentialing Program (NACP) by a consortium of national victim organizations. By 2006, more than 500 victim service providers have received NACP credentials based on their experience and training.

In 1996, the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-SAFE) was established to provide crisis intervention information and assistance to victims of domestic violence. OVC launched a number of international crime victim initiatives in 1996, including working to foster worldwide implementation of a United Nations declaration on victims’ rights and initiatives to better assist Americans victimized abroad.

In 1997, OVC representatives joined the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations Commission on Criminal Justice and Crime Prevention. OVC played a leadership role in

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the development of an International Victim Assistance Training Manual to implement the United Nations Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power.

In 1997, the National Center for Victims of Crime (formerly National Victim Center) used its extensive legislative database to create the Legislative Sourcebook, a comprehensive compendium of victims’ rights laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

In 1998, New Directions from the Field: Victims’ Rights and Services for the 21st Century was released to the field by OVC. The report was developed with support from OVC and input from more than 1,000 individuals across the nation. It assessed the nation’s progress in meeting the recommendations set forth in the Final Report of the 1982 President’s Task Force on Victims of Crime and issued more than 250 new recommendations from the field for the next millennium. OVC disseminated the 1998 report widely to many programs across the nation.

Stage 6: Advancing Advocacy

During this stage, additional significant developments have occurred on the national and state levels with respect to victims’ rights constitutional amendments, legislation, expanded VOCA funding, and creation of national programs affecting crime victims.

U.S. Victims’ Rights Constitutional AmendmentsIn the spring of 1996, bipartisan federal victims’ rights constitutional amendments were introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. The amendment was reintroduced in the Senate in January 1997, but no formal action was taken. Hearings on the amendment were then held in Congress in 1996, 1997, and 1998. In 2004, after being unable to break a potential filibuster on their proposal, Senators Jon Kyl and Dianne Feinstein crafted—and Congress passed—a federal statute modeled on their proposed amendment that allowed the general rights of restitution, notification, allocution, and protection with specific measures to enforce its provisions. Additionally, by 1998, a total of 33 states had adopted crime victims’ rights constitutional amendments. Currently, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

EXHIBIT II-1

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STATES’ PASSAGE OF VICTIMS’ RIGHTS CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

State Year Passed Electoral Support

1994 80%Alaska 1994 87%Arizona 1990 58%California 1982 56%Colorado 1992 86%Connecticut 1996 78%Florida 1988 90%Idaho 1994 79%Illinois 1992 77%Indiana 1996 89%Kansas 1992 84%Louisiana 1998 69%Maryland 1994 92%Michigan 1988 84%Mississippi 1998 93%Missouri 1992 84%Montana 1998 71%Nebraska 1996 78%Nevada 1996 74%New Mexico 1992 68%New Jersey 1991 85%North Carolina 1996 78%Ohio 1994 77%Oklahoma 1996 91%Oregon 1996 (overturned 1998) 59%Rhode Island 1986 passed by Const. South Carolina 1996 89%Tennessee 1998 89%Texas 1989 73%Utah 1994 68%Virginia 1996 84%Washington 1989 78%Wisconsin 1993 84%33 States Average 79%

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Landmark Federal Legislation

1994 In 1994, the landmark Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was passed. This has been the most significant legislation in the victims’ rights field, other than VOCA. This act doubled the maximum federal sentences for sex offenses and domestic violence and required that temporary restraining orders (TROs) be honored by all other jurisdictions. Domestic violence perpetrators with TROs were prohibited from possessing firearms. For the first time, information shared by domestic violence and rape victims with an advocate was considered to be privileged communication. This act also established the Office of Violence Against Women and doubled the available funding for domestic violence and rape counseling programs.

1996In 1996, the Congress passed “Megan’s Law,” the Community Notification Act, as an amendment to the national Child Sexual Abuse Registry legislation. This law provided that local communities be notified of the residential addresses of convicted sex offenders.

In 1996, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act included the Mandatory Victims’ Restitution Act, under which limited kinds of restitution were made mandatory in all federal misdemeanor and felony cases. Compensation and victim assistance services for victims of terrorism both at home and abroad, including victims in the military, were expanded.

The Interstate Anti-Stalking Punishment and Prevention Act of 1996 was enacted by Congress. This legislation created a uniform federal law to protect stalking victims when they travel across a state line or on federal property, including military bases and Indian reservations. This law made it a felony to cross a state line to stalk someone or to violate a restraining order in another state.

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Rights Milestones: A Summary1962 Battered child syndrome (Kempe)1965 First crime victims’ compensation program in California1972 First three victims’ programs1972 National Crime (Victimization) Survey 1974 First battered women’s shelter in Denver, Colorado1974 LEAA Victim Assistance Conference1974 LEAA pilot victim/witness programs1974 Rape trauma syndrome (Burgess)1975 The Victims (Carrington)1976 Victim Impact Statement (Rowland/Fresno)1975 Founding of National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA)1976 First NOVA Conference in Fresno, California1977 National Association of Crime Victim compensation boards1977 Mandated arrest for domestic violence in Oregon1978 National Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NCASA)1978 National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV)1978 Parents of Murdered Children (POMC)1978 Victim Offender Reconciliation Program (VORP)1979 The Crime Victim’s Book (Bard and Sangrey)1980 Wisconsin Bill of Rights for Victims and Witnesses of Crime1980 Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)1981 National Victims’ Rights Week (President Reagan)1982 President’s Task Force on Victims of Crime (68 recommendations)1982 Federal Victim and Witness Protection Act1983 Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) (Herrington)1983 Wisconsin Bill of Rights for Children Victims/Witnesses of Crime1984 Victims of Crime Act (VOCA)1984 Missing Children’s Assistance Act1984 Family Violence Prevention and Services Act1984 Victim Services certificate at CSU, Fresno 1985 National Victim Center (National Center for Victims of Crime)1985 NIMH and NOVA “The Aftermath of Crime: A Mental Health Crisis,” a national colloquium1986 NOVA Constitutional Amendment Meeting1986 First Crisis Response Team deployment1987 Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)1988 VOCA reauthorized1989 Victim Services Summer Institute at CSU, Fresno1991 Victimology major at CSU, Fresno1994 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)1995 National Victim Assistance Academy (NVAA)1996 Megan’s Law1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act1996 Interstate Anti-Stalking Punishment and Prevention Act1996 Support of U.N. Declaration on Victims’ Rights by OVC1997 Victims’ Rights Clarification Act1997 Legislative Sourcebook (National Center for Victims of Crime)1998 Grants to combat violent crimes against women on campus1998 Child Protection and Sexual Predator Punishment Act1998 Crime Victims with Disabilities Act1998 New Directions from the Field1999 State victim assistance academy grants2000 Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act/Jennifer’s Law2001 USA Patriot Act2001 VAWA reauthorized2003 PROTECT Act/Amber Alert2004 Justice for All Act (JFA)2006 VAWA reauthorized


1998The Identity Theft and Deterrence Act of 1998 was signed into law in 1998. This landmark federal legislation outlawed identity theft and directed the U.S. Sentencing Commission to consider various factors in determining penalties, including the number of victims and the value of the loss to any individual victim. This act further authorized the Federal Trade Commission to log and acknowledge reports of identity theft, provide information to victims, and refer complaints to appropriate consumer reporting and law enforcement agencies.

2000The Blood Alcohol Concentration Bill of 2000 required states to adopt a 0.08 blood alcohol content (BAC) as the legal limit for drunk driving by 2004; failure to do this would lead to an annual reduction in federal highway appropriations.

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act was passed in 2000 to combat the trafficking of persons, especially into the sex trade, slavery, and slavery-like conditions, through prevention, prosecution, and enforcement against traffickers and by increasing the protection, assistance, and mandatory restitution for victims. This act established programs by the U.S.

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State Department in foreign countries to assist in the safe reintegration or resettlement of trafficking victims.

The VAWA of 2000 provided for direct compensation from the federal government to victims of international terrorism. This act improved and expanded the legal tools and programs addressing domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. It authorized new grant programs expanding both programs and research for sexual assault and domestic violence. It defined dating violence and placed it under the VAWA programs. It widened the definition of underserved populations and established four new purposes for VAWA funds: coordinated community response, forensic medical examiners training, training to recognize disabled and older victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, and assistance with immigration matters.

2001The USA Patriot Act of 2001 addressed the needs and concerns of victims of terrorists’ acts. The act allowed the OVC director to respond to acts of terrorism both inside and outside the United States. It established an antiterrorism emergency reserve in the Crime Victims Fund and increased federal grants for state crime victim compensation benefits.

In 2001, the VAWA of 1994 was reauthorized with a $3 billion budget through 2005. Congress reauthorized the original programs and expanded them, including grants for legal services, funding for transitional housing, computerized tracking of protection orders, grants for safe visitation, and grants for programs that address dating violence.

2004In 2004, Congress passed legislation defining aggravated identity theft and establishing penalty enhancements for 2 additional years. Title I of the Justice for All Act (JFA), called the ‘‘Scott Campbell, Stephanie Roper, Wendy Preston, Louarna Gillis, and Nila Lynn Crime Victims’ Rights Act” (CVRA), enhanced substantive rights for crime victims in the federal criminal justice system, including the right to be protected from the accused, heard at all proceedings, treated with fairness and respect and to receive timely notice of public proceedings, confer with the government attorney, and receive full and timely restitution. The CVRA’s enforcement provisions are more rigorous than other federal victims’ rights laws and include the appointment of a victims’ rights ombudsman in the U.S. Department of Justice. The act also authorized additional, non-VOCA funding for federal victim/witness coordinators, state and federal automated victim notification systems, and victim assistance legal clinics. Other provisions in the JFA seek to eliminate the substantial backlog of collection of DNA samples in cases of sexual assault and from crime scenes, criminals, and convicted offenders.

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2006VAWA is reauthorized by Congress and signed into law. The reauthorization increased funding to support rape crisis centers and combat violent crimes on campuses and provided funding to place victim assistants in local law enforcement agencies and to create a national educational curriculum to ensure that all courts have access to relevant laws and best practices. Congress has reauthorized VAWA in 2005 and 2013.

Federal Crime Victims Fund

In 1995, deposits in the federal Crime Victims Fund reached a then-high of more than $583 million, available for state crime victim compensation, local victim assistance programs, national training and technical assistance, and federal victim assistance. As a result of this increase in fund collections, state assistance grants received more than three times as much in federal funds in 1997 as they had the previous year.

In 1999, the fund deposits reached an all-time high of $985 million. As a result of significant fluctuations in annual fund deposits, Congress began capping the amount that could be obligated each year with annual revenues above the cap stored in the fund balance, from which the program could draw as a rainy day fund when revenues did not meet the cap. Congress also began using the fund to support federal victim services, including victim/witness coordinators in U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, victim specialists in FBI field offices, and a federal Victim Notification System.

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REFERENCES

Andrews, A. 1992. Victimization and Survivor Services: A Guide to Victim Assistance. New York: Springer Publishing Co.

Ash, Michael. 1972. “On Witnesses: A Radical Critique of Criminal Court Procedures.” Notre Dame Lawyer 48:386–425.

Brownmiller, S. 1975. Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Bureau of Justice Statistics. 1998. Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Burgess, A. 2004. “Research and Practice in Victim Services: Perspective from Education and Research.” In American Society of Victimology Symposium Proceedings, A. Burgess and T. Underwood. Topeka, Kansas: Washburn University, 2.

Burgess, A. and L. Holstrom. 1974. “Rape Trauma Syndrome. American Journal of Nursing. 131: 981–986.

Carrington, F. G. 1975. The Victims. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House Pub.

Deuteronomy, in The Holy Bible (Today’s New International Version). Retrieved July 17, 2007, from www.ibs.org/niv/passagesearch.php?passage_request=Deuteronomy%2019&tniv=yes.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. 1981. Crime in the United States Uniform Crime Reports, 1981. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Goldstein, A. S. 1982. “Defining the Role of the Victim in Criminal Prosecution. Mississippi Law Journal 52:515–561.

Gordon, H. 1957 Hammurabi’s Code: Quaint or Forward Looking. New York: Rinehart.

Karmen, A. 2004. Crime Victims: An Introduction to Victimology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson.

Masters, R., and C. Roberson. 1985. Inside Criminology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

National Center for Victims of Crime. 1994a. Crime Victims’ Rights in America: An Historical Overview. Arlington, VA: Author.

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Pound, R. 1968. Social Control Through the Law. Hamden, CT: Archon.

Rheinstein, C., ed. 1954. Max Weber on Law in Economy and Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Siegel, L. 1989. Criminology, 3rd ed. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing.

Sherr, L. 1995. Failure Is Impossible: Susan B. Anthony in Her Own Words. New York: Times Books.

Wallace, H. 1998. Victimology: Legal, Psychological, and Social Perspectives. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Young, M. 1988. “The Crime Victims’ Movement,” in F. Ochberg (Ed.), Post-Traumatic Therapy and Victims of Violence, New York: Brunner/Mazel, 319–329.

FURTHER READING

Bard, M., and D. Sangrey. 1986. The Crime Victim’s Book, 2nd ed. New York: Brunner/Mazel.

Bureau of Justice Statistics. 1998. National Crime Victimization Survey. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. 1998. Crime in the United States, Uniform Crime Reports, 1997. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Headden, S. July 1, 1996. “Guns, Money and Medicine.” U.S. News and World Report 30, 31, 34, 36.

Kilpatrick, D. G., C. N. Edmunds, and A. K. Seymour. 1992. Rape in America: A Report to the Nation. Arlington, VA: National Center for Victims of Crime.

Kilpatrick, D. G. and H. S. Resnick. 1993. “PTSD Associated with Exposure to Criminal Victimization in Clinical and Community Populations,” In PTSD in Review: Recent Research and Future Directions, eds. J. R. T. Davidson and E. B. Foa, 113–143.

Kilpatrick, D. G., A. Seymour, and J. Boyle. 1991. America Speaks Out: Citizens’ Attitudes about Victims’ Rights and Violence. Arlington, VA: National Center for Victims of Crime.

Lurigio, A., W. Skogan, and R. Davis. 1990. Victims of Crime: Problems, Policies and Programs. Newbury Park: Sage Publications.

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Miller, T., M. Cohen, and B. Wiersema. 1996. Victim Costs and Consequences: A New Look. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.

National Center for Victims of Crime. 1998. Legislative Sourcebook. Arlington, VA: Author.

Office for Victims of Crime. 1998. New Directions from the Field: Victims’ Rights and Services for the 21st Century. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Resnick, H. S., D. G. Kilpatrick, B. S. Dansky, B. E. Saunders, and C. L. Best. 1993. “Prevalence of Civilian Trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in a Representative National Sample of Women.” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 61(6): 984–991.

Roberts, A. 1990. Helping Crime Victims. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

Victims’ Assistance Legal Organization (VALOR). 1995–1999. National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Resource Guide. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime.

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NVAA Module 3Learning Objectives

Describe 10 major categories of victims’ rights laws.

Identify types of records needed to document losses for victim restitution.

Discuss actions that can be taken to ensure that victims’ rights are enforced.


Chapter 3Victims’ Rights Laws in the United States

Christine Edmunds and Anne Seymour*

Thousands of laws have been enacted to provide rights for victims of crime in our nation’s justice systems. However, victims’ rights laws are not consistent nationwide and vary considerably, as do rights for crime victims across different justice systems. Indeed, our nation’s set of victims’ rights laws has been described as a “patchwork quilt” (Office for Victims of Crime [OVC], 1998). This chapter will explore crime victims’ rights, including the evolution of rights, basic rights for victims, and the enforcement of victims’ rights laws.

EVOLUTION OF VICTIMS’ RIGHTS IN THE UNITED STATES

Crime victims’ rights laws in the United States date back to the late 1800s, with the enactment of a limited number of restitution statutes. In the early 20th century, laws were passed to protect children from abuse and neglect, but these statutes primarily addressed the exploitation of children in the workplace. In 1965, California’s legislature passed the nation’s first law to create a crime victim compensation program. However, it was not until the 1970s that laws providing rights for crime victims in our nation’s justice systems first began to emerge. Throughout the 1970s, states began enacting piecemeal laws for crime victims, but the nation had yet to embrace victims’ rights. With the passage of the first Crime Victims’ Bill of Rights in 1980, Wisconsin ushered in a historic change by focusing on a broad range of rights that addressed victims’ needs and concerns.

According to the publication New Directions From the Field: Victims’ Rights and Services for the 21st Century, “few movements in the history of this nation have achieved such success in igniting the kind of legislative response that victims’ rights activists have fostered over the past two decades” (OVC, 1998, p. 4). In the early 1980s, state laws addressing victims’ rights numbered in the hundreds. Today, there are more than 32,000 * Authors of this chapter are Christine Edmunds, Deerfield Beach, FL; and Anne Seymour, Justice Solutions, Washington, DC. Special thanks is expressed to Dr. Mario T. Gaboury, University of New Haven, CT, for his significant input and editing of this chapter.

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crime victim-related state statutes, 32 state victims’ rights constitutional amendments, and comprehensive rights for federal crime victims (National Center for Victims of Crime, n.d.) However, it is not enough to just have laws enacted – the enforcement of victims’ rights has become an important area of focus. These enforcement efforts will be discussed at the end of this Chapter.

The myriad accomplishments relevant to our nation’s passage of victims’ rights laws across the federal, criminal, juvenile, tribal, and civil court systems are documented in “Landmarks in Victims’ Rights and Services,” which was published in the 2006 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Resource Guide and is available online at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/ncvrw/2006/pdf/landmarks.pdf.

.

MAJOR CATEGORIES OF VICTIMS’ RIGHTS LAWS

Victims’ rights laws can be generally divided into the following 10 categories:

1. Right to be treated with dignity and respect.

2. Right to information and referral.

3. Right to notification.

4. Right to be present.

5. Right to be heard.

6. Right to reasonable protection from intimidation and harm.

7. Right to restitution.

8. Right to apply for compensation (for violent crime victims).

9. Right to speedy proceedings.

10. Special rights and protections.

1. Right To Be Treated With Dignity and Respect

The right to be treated with dignity and respect asserts that crime victims will be treated with sensitivity during all phases of justice processes and by all agents of justice systems. This critical right is included in most states’ constitutional amendments that define victims’ rights, most states’ victims’ bill of rights, and the Federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act within the Justice for All Act that became law in 2004.

2. Right to Information and Referral

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State and federal statutes provide crime victims with basic rights to be given information about their rights, crime victim compensation, the justice process, and community- and system-based services that are available to help victims cope in the aftermath of crime.

Because there are more than 32,000 constitutional and statutory rights for victims of crime, which differ from state to state and among various justice systems, the right to information varies greatly. There are also more than 10,000 organizations that provide a wide range of services to help victims cope with the physical, financial, psychological, social, and spiritual impact of crime.

Information about the range of victim assistance programs in the United States is described in Appendix F. Information about the range of victims’ rights and services in the United States is described in Appendix G.

3. Right to Notification

Victim notification is considered to be the threshold right from which all other victims’ rights emanate. Timely notification of criminal justice proceedings—from law enforcement through the courts, corrections, and the appellate process—is paramount. If crime victims are unaware that they even have rights, they will be unable to exercise them.

Victim notification (also called notice) is an official means of providing information, in oral, written, e-mail, or automated formats, to a victim of or witness to a crime. This may include notice of statutory and constitutional rights available to the victim, the status of the case and alleged or convicted offender, and all junctures throughout the criminal justice process where crime victims have the right to participate.

It is very important that whatever type of notification methodology is used, it has to be ‘situation specific’ and must be reasonable, accurate, and timely. This is a critical issue for enforcing victims’ rights. For example, if crime victims are not given timely notice of the sentencing hearing, then victims may be unable to exercise their right to provide a victim impact statement.

Historical Perspective

The 1982 President’s Task Force on Victims of Crime Final Report recommended that victim notification laws be enacted to ensure that victims are provided case status information, prompt notice of scheduling changes for court proceedings, and prompt

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notice of defendants’ arrest and bond status. Today, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the federal justice system have enacted such notification laws.

There are currently more than 65 different points of notification for victims—of their rights, their rights to attend and participate in hearings, and a number of events and activities involving the status of alleged and convicted offenders (see Appendix A).

Six Notification Processes* Many law enforcement agencies, courts, prosecutors’ offices, and probation agencies have developed victim notification procedures that simplify and streamline the process, often through the use of technology, in order to conserve staff time and agency resources. Victim notification is generally provided in one or more of the following ways:

In person by a justice agency official or victim service provider.

By telephone.

By letter.

By e-mail.

Through technology that places automated calls to victims or allows them to call into a computerized system for case status updates.

Through the use of agency Web sites that document information related to the status of the case and the alleged or convicted offender.

Range of Victim Notification Processes

When victim notification is provided in person, it is essential for justice agencies to document that the notification, as required by law, has been delivered. Some agencies also provide the victim with a follow-up letter that documents and confirms the notification.

Many justice agencies notify victims by telephone, particularly in cases where time is essential, or when a prescheduled hearing or other event has been postponed. Written documentation of telephone notifications is also helpful for case record keeping.

Notification by letter and, in some jurisdictions, by e-mail, is by far the most common method of victim notification. Important considerations in letter and e-mail notifications include the following:

Confirming that the agency has the current address, e-mail address, or telephone number for the victim.

* A. Seymour and D. Beatty, in press, Judicial Education Project Curriculum, Washington, DC: Justice Solutions et al., and Office for Victims of Crime, U.S. Department of Justice..

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Confirming with the victim that the alleged or convicted offender will not have access to his or her mail or e-mail account and, in cases where this cannot be guaranteed, providing alternate notification processes.

Developing word processing templates for letters and e-mail notifications that facilitate the most time- and cost-effective notification processes.

Developing victim-sensitive notification letters that are easy to understand and that provide a contact for further information and/or assistance. (See a sample letter in Appendix B.)

Informing the victim that all notification letters will be delivered in an envelope that contains the watermark of the justice agency so that it will be opened in a timely manner.

Nonintegrated automated voice response technology provides victims with a personal identification number (PIN) to call a centralized mainframe database—free of charge—to receive updates on their offender’s status. These technologies are modeled after systems designed for people to contact state lotteries to determine if they hold winning tickets. Voice-box technology, however, is not integrated with existing management information systems; such technological isolation renders this approach less effective than integrated systems.

In some states, an innovative version of electronic monitoring—using satellite technology to track an offender’s every move—can provide immediate information when an offender violates any conditions of supervision regarding his or her location (e.g., staying away from specific victims, staying away from schools). The electronic mapping provided through this technology allows justice officials to detect violations and notify a victim when an offender is near him or her and to detect whether the offender is in violation of the conditions of his or her community supervision.

In some jurisdictions, criminal justice agencies (including some jails and courts) offer all public information on the Internet via agency Web sites. This offers public access (including victim access) to information about offenders who are incarcerated or under community supervision (Seymour, 1999).

Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification

In 2005, Congress established a grant program with the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to provide initial funding and guidelines to help states plan and implement Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification (SAVIN) programs. The intent of Congress is to eventually establish a comprehensive, nationwide automated victim information and notification system.

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4. Right To Be Present

A victim’s right to be present (often referred to as the right to attend), by the simple meaning of its terms, asserts the right of a victim to be present during criminal justice proceedings. State statutes and even state constitutions have defined the right to be present in varying degrees of specificity. Some legislative mandates state the right in near absolute terms (e.g., “Victims shall have the right to attend all criminal justice proceedings that the defendant has the right to attend”). Others establish a rebuttable presumption regarding a victim’s right to attend, allowing judges considerable discretion in its application.

Some jurisdictions have not specifically defined which proceedings the victim has the right to attend, while others have specifically listed such proceedings. (See Colorado Rev. Stat. §24-4.1-302, 302.5 for an enumerated list of applicable proceedings. See Appendix C for the range of proceedings at which victims may have the right to be present.)

The right to be present may also differ dramatically depending on the proceeding to which it applies. Victims may have the broad right to attend sentencing hearings but a very narrow right to attend the guilt phase of the same trial. In some jurisdictions, the right to be present includes the victim’s option to designate a representative to attend proceedings on his or her behalf or to allow family members to assume that right in cases of homicide.

A much debated issue facing the enforcement of a victims’ right to be present is if this right impedes due process rights of the defendant. According to research conducted by the National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI), a nonprofit organization located at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon , there is not a single case that the victims’ rights to be present impedes defendant’s due process rights.

Importance of the Right To Be Present

A crime victim’s right to be present at proceedings or hearings represents a unique opportunity to be part of the criminal justice process. Victims often feel that there is no substitute for witnessing, in person, the administration of justice in their own case. The right to be present is important because:

It helps victims take an active role in securing justice, holding the offender accountable, and promoting safety for themselves and the community.

It reminds the judge, jury, court personnel, and parole boards of the real human consequences of crime in a way that helps foster a more balanced and just system.

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It helps keep victims informed about what is happening in their case.

It provides victims with the information needed to ask the prosecutor timely and informed questions about their case and its progress.

Right To Have a Representative Attend on Behalf of the Crime Victim

As a general matter, anyone is allowed to attend a public hearing. State statutes have been passed to allow the crime victim the right to designate a representative if the victim is unable to attend in person or if the individual is the parent or legal guardian of an underage or incapacitated victim.

Generally, state laws specifically state whom the victim can designate to attend proceedings on his or her behalf and under what circumstances.

Federal and state laws have been passed to provide victims the right to attend public court proceedings. Before the enactment of these laws, crime victims were routinely not allowed to attend the trial of their accused perpetrator. The rationale for denying crime victims this right was that victims should be sequestered if they were to serve as potential witnesses. Laws now exempt victims from this rule, which was often misused by the defense to keep crime victims out of the courtroom. In passing court attendance laws, advocates argued that, just as defendants have the right to be present throughout the court proceedings, so should crime victims, whether or not they testify.

Court attendance laws vary across the nation. For example:

A number of state laws stipulate that victims should not be subjected to court exclusion if they are potential witnesses.

Other states laws recognize an “essentially unqualified” right for victims to be present at court proceedings.

Many states laws provide crime victims the same right to attend every proceeding that defendants have a right to attend or state that victims should be sequestered only on the same criteria as defendants. (Seymour and Beatty, in press)

Even with the passage of “right to be present” statutes, there is still great disparity in the implementation of this right nationwide. Not all states have adopted court attendance laws in the criminal and juvenile justice systems. In many states, the right to attend is extended by law to “all crucial proceedings.”

Two states are noteworthy for their court attendance rights. Louisiana law states that victims must testify first and then be allowed to attend court proceedings, therefore getting around the issue of sequestration. In the early 1980s, Alabama became the first

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state to provide crime victims the right to attend the trial and to allow victims to sit at the prosecutor’s table during the trial.

5. Right To Be Heard

A victim’s right to be heard provides that victims have a voice at critical hearings related to their cases—from bail and bond hearings to sentencing and parole hearings. This right allows victims to express their concerns about the status of their offenders and, in the case of a victim impact statement (VIS), the opportunity to tell the court or paroling authority about the physical, psychological, financial, social, and spiritual impact the crime has had on them and their families.


The right to be heard emanated from the creation of the VIS at sentencing, and it is one of the most fundamental rights extended to crime victims. The right to be heard at sentencing through the use of a VIS dates back to 1976, when James Rowland, a chief probation officer in Fresno County, California, thought it was unfair that his probationers were able to have a pre-sentence investigation (PSI) report completed before the sentence, yet no information was presented at sentencing about the impact of the crime on the victim.

For more than a decade, all 50 states and the federal system have allowed victim impact evidence at sentencing. The majority of states require the sentencing authority to consider the VIS in the sentencing decision (e.g., see Indiana Code §35-35-3-5, Michigan Comp. Laws §28.1287(765), New Jersey Rev. Stat. §52:4B-36). Generally, statutes permit victim impact information in one or more of three forms: oral impact statements, written impact statements, and PSI or pre-adjudication investigation (PAI) reports (in the case of sentencing or adjudication hearings). Most states prescribe what type of information may be included in a VIS. Virtually all states allow victims to include information about the physical, emotional, social, and economic impact the crime has had on them and members of their family (Seymour and Beatty, in press).

Laws Relevant to the Right To Be Heard

In some states, the right to be heard has been extended by statute to include other junctures of the criminal justice system, including the following:

Pretrial release hearings.

Bail hearings.

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Before the disposition of plea agreements.

Before a probation agreement.

Most states also allow victims to be heard before or at hearings related to an offender’s parole or commutation.

In addition, one of the most pressing victims’ rights today is the absolute need for crime victims to be heard before criminal cases are resolved through a negotiated plea, including the acceptance of a plea of guilty or nolo contendre. There are many reasons for this, including the following:

Due to the challenging number of cases that must be adjudicated, a large percentage of felony cases are disposed of by plea agreements.

Sentencing is often negotiated as part of the plea agreement.

It is paramount that prosecutors seek victim input before finalizing plea or sentencing agreements. The publication New Directions From the Field: Victims’ Rights and Services for the 21st Century recommends that in “violent crime cases, prosecutors should request judges to postpone any recommendations for sentence until the victim is notified, consulted, and provided with an opportunity to submit an impact statement” (OVC, 1998, p. 87).

Today, enforcement efforts to ensure a victim has a right to be heard are focusing not just at the sentencing and parole stages of the justice process, but earlier, including during the pretrial, such as bond hearings and in the plea process.

Types of Victim Impact Statements*

In general, there are eight types of VIS that may be used across the criminal justice continuum:

1. Written VIS are included as part of the case file and/or the pre-sentence or pre-adjudication investigation report developed for the court by probation or court officials. They may also be used before or at parole hearings.

2. Oral VIS (also called “allocutions”) allow the victim to attend the sentencing or adjudication hearing and present his or her impact information in person to the court or paroling authority.

3. Audiotape VIS are used when a victim possesses stronger oral than written skills; when the victim wants his or her voice to be heard in court or at parole hearings but is unable or unwilling to provide an oral impact statement; and/or when

* Ibid.

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geographic restrictions prevent the victim from attending a sentencing or parole hearing.

4. Videotape VIS are similar to audiotape VIS but also feature film footage of the victim speaking his or her statement.

5. Closed-circuit television VIS are used most commonly in child abuse cases when the child victim is fearful of facing the convicted or adjudicated offender in court or at a parole hearing.

6. Live streaming video VIS via the Internet can be used when geographic distances preclude the victim from actually attending sentencing or parole hearings.

7. Video teleconferencing is being used in many states by paroling authorities to facilitate the victim’s right to be heard at a site that is separate by sight and sound from the incarcerated offender.

8. Child VIS offer child victims a method to deliver VIS in measures that are commensurate with their age and cognitive development.

Model Format for Victim Impact Statements (VIS)

This model format (Seymour, 2002) was designed to incorporate both open-ended questions to which the victim can respond with general, personal responses and close-ended questions that are more specific. For each of the 11 questions, a brief description of its intent and purpose follows.

It is important to allow victims as much space as needed to complete their VIS. (See notation at the end of this model format.)

1. Please describe this offense and how it has affected you and your family.

This question allows victims to describe—in their own words—the specifics of the crime itself (this is particularly important in cases that result in plea agreements). It also gives victims an opportunity to address, in general terms, the overall impact that the crime has had on their family and them.

2. What was the emotional impact of this crime on you and your family?

This question allows victims to address any significant psychological or emotional effects that may have resulted from the trauma of victimization, including immediate, short-term, and long-term impact.

3. What was the physical impact of this crime on you and your family?

This question allows victims to address the impact of physical injuries resulting from the crime and its aftermath and how it has affected their lifestyle.

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4. What was the financial impact of this crime on you and your family?

This question allows victims to address any financial losses that directly resulted from the crime that can be incorporated into the prosecutor’s request for restitution. A checklist of information for “Documenting Losses for Victim Restitution,” which can be provided to victims before their preparation of the VIS, is included in Appendix D.

5. Was there any spiritual impact on you and your family? If so, please describe.

A recent addition to many VIS forms, this question provides victims with opportunities to address how their faith has been affected by the crime.

6. What concerns (if any) do you have about your safety and security?

Victimology literature suggests that victims may not always disclose their concerns about personal safety. This question allows them to consider and address such concerns and request specific protective measures if needed (see question 7).

7. Do you want to request a “no contact” order to be in effect during the convicted (or adjudicated) offender’s period of incarceration or community supervision?

For many victims, a no-contact or protective order can offer some peace of mind. If victims request any type of court-ordered protective measure, they should also be provided with information about who can help them seek an order, how it is processed, and whether or not the victim will be notified when the offender is served with the order. (See the next section, “Right to Reasonable Protection From Intimidation and Harm.”)

8. What do you want to happen now?

This open-ended question gives victims the opportunity to consider and express their general opinions and feelings about now and the future, without any specific guidelines. If victims are provided with information about the range of sentencing or adjudication options, it can help them answer this question.

9. If community service is recommended as part of the disposition or sentence, would you like to have input into this recommendation?

Some victims feel empowered by their capacity to guide community service recommendations. The probation agency can provide victims with a list of its standard community service placements. In many jurisdictions, offenders perform

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community service that directly or indirectly benefits victims of crime and those who serve them.

10. Is there any other information you would like to share with the court regarding the offense and how it has affected you and your family?

This final, open-ended question provides victims with the opportunity to include any information that has not been addressed by the previous nine questions.

11. Would you like to continue to be notified about the status and location of the convicted offender?

If victims request further notification, they should be provided with specific information about which agency is responsible for notifying them, any enrollment requirements they must fulfill to be notified, and the format in which the notification will come (e.g., telephone, automated computerized telephone calls, letter, e-mail).

6. Right to Reasonable Protection From Intimidation and Harm

The right to reasonable protection provides that justice agencies and agents have a duty to offer victims a range of measures that can enhance their personal safety and prevent an alleged or convicted offender from intimidating, threatening, or harming them.


While no statute, law, or even constitutional amendment can guarantee that victims will be protected from their accused or convicted offenders, numerous states have specifically stated that victims have a right to “reasonable protection” from the offender. More than half the states have passed laws granting victims the right to be reasonably protected from the accused during the criminal justice process.

Statutes and policies related to victim protection provisions take many forms. One category of these statues and policies relates to providing information that may directly affect victim safety or, conversely, to protect information that might compromise such safety. Another category addresses safety issues related to the release of accused or convicted offenders. A third category provides legal recourse for victims through protective orders, and a fourth category establishes policies and practices that enhance victim safety in the courthouse (Seymour and Beatty, in press).

Today, the right to protection from intimidation, harassment, and retaliation by accused and convicted offenders has become even more critical. Justice system officials find it

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more difficult to obtain convictions when crime victims and witnesses are afraid to testify.

Victims’ rights laws address safety concerns in various ways, including the following:

Victims’ bills of rights generally require victims to be notified at the onset of the judicial process about legal action they can take to protect themselves from intimidation and harassment, such as orders of protection or restraining orders.

Many states have enacted laws requiring courts to establish safe and secure waiting areas for crime victims and witnesses to reduce the potential intimidation and harassment from a defendant or his or her family and friends. Courthouses across the country have improved security. When new courthouses were recently designed in the state of Connecticut, for example, separate and secure waiting areas for victims were incorporated into the architectural plans.

Many states have also established specific offenses for the harassment of victims and witnesses and make such harassment grounds for bail revocation and reincarceration.

Many states have enacted protection statutes that mandate that judges issue no- contact orders as a condition of pretrial and posttrial release, with the same type of victim protection afforded by parole boards.

States also have passed laws that require automatic revocation of pretrial or supervised posttrial release if the defendant or convicted offender harasses or intimidates a victim or witness.

Many state laws have given courts the authority to detain defendants who pose a danger to victims or community safety.

Crime Victims and Safety Concerns

Victims of crime may have important concerns about their personal safety and that of their family and loved ones. Often, victims’ concerns about safety arise from many circumstances, including the following:

The trauma of victimization.

Real or implied threats made by the alleged or convicted offender and his or her colleagues.

Not knowing or understanding their rights to protection as defined under law.

Not knowing about the range of services available to identify and address their safety concerns.

When victims have concerns about their safety and identify these concerns to criminal justice and victim assistance officials, a variety of approaches can be developed to

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promote safety for the victim within the criminal justice system, as well as at home and in the community.

While state and federal laws provide crime victims with the right to receive orders of protection from potential intimidation and harassment by the defendant or convicted offender, the practical reality is that such orders are difficult to enforce. Some have referred to orders of protection as “paper promises.” Various methods can be used to enhance the effectiveness of orders of protection. For example:

All protection orders should be maintained in a central, automated database so that law enforcement and other justice officials have immediate access to the information.

Violations of protection orders should be consistently and quickly sanctioned, and all protective orders should be enforced within states and across state lines.

One of the most important provisions of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was to allow interstate enforcement of orders of protection. Before the passage of this important statute, law enforcement did not have the power to arrest anyone for violating a protection order issued in a jurisdiction outside their state.

Specific Suggestions for Ensuring Victim Safety

Crime victim protection rights begin with ensuring that victims are knowledgeable about the complete range of victim protection rights available. Advocates should ensure that crime victims know the following:

The right to reasonable protection from the accused or convicted offender means that victims can request that the court, correctional agency, probation agency, or paroling authority issue a protection or no-contact order. This means that for a designated period of time, the offender will be under a criminal justice system order to refrain from contacting the victim.

Victims can also request contact information for the specific criminal justice agency and official(s) who are responsible for offender supervision or incarceration.

While orders of protection cannot guarantee victims’ personal safety and security, it is important that victims are informed of the specific conditions of the order and that justice agencies confirm that it has been served to the offender (i.e., that he or she is in possession of the order).

A no-contact order is just one possible condition of community supervision that addresses safety issues. Others include confiscation of firearms or other dangerous weapons, intensive probation, electronic monitoring, and protection orders for specific venues. A

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list of conditions of offender supervision that are related to victim protection is included in Appendix E.

It is also helpful for advocates to assist victims in making decisions and considering actions that can enhance their personal safety and security—at home, at work, and in the community.

Many victim assistance programs help victims develop safety plans that give them a sense of control and involvement in their personal protection.

7. Right to Restitution

Restitution is the oldest victim right. The concept of restitution dates back thousands of years. Restitution statutes were among the first victims’ rights laws passed in the 1960s and 1970s.

Restitution is part of a criminal sentence that is applied to offenders in an attempt to restore—to the extent possible—the crime victim to his or her pre-offense state. It also serves to prevent unjust enrichment of the offender.

The Role of Restitution*

The consequences of violent crime are predominantly viewed in the context of offenses committed against the state, and punishment is often referred to as “paying a debt to society.” The most obvious and real impact of crime is visited not on such an abstract entity as the state, but on actual living people who suffer the real harm that crime inflicts—physically, emotionally, spiritually, and financially.

Victim advocates and others have argued that victims, by virtue of the fact that they suffer the real harm of crime, are the parties with the greatest moral, if not legal, authority to demand that their rights and interests be addressed by the criminal justice system—that their wounds be healed, both figuratively and literally. Though physical, emotional, and financial injuries have no simple salve that any system, criminal or otherwise, can offer as a cure-all, such injuries share one common aspect—costs. In the real economic sense of the word, costs include the following circumstances:

Physical injuries often require costly medical care and physical therapy.

Psychological and emotional injuries often require ongoing counseling and therapy.

* Ibid.

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Victims also suffer direct economic losses as a result of property damage, theft, lost wages, and expenses related to their participation in the justice process.

Given the limited resources of many crime victims, the economic consequences often push victims to and over the brink of bankruptcy.

When multiplied by the number of crime victims nationwide, the total cost of crime is staggering. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) estimates that the cost of crime in terms of medical expenses, lost earnings, and public assistance tops $105 billion per year (Miller, Cohen, and Wiersema, 1996). When researchers added pain, suffering, and reduction of quality of life, the estimate reached an astounding $450 billion (Miller et al., 1996). Yet, as this study points out, “most of these costs are shouldered by the victims and public or private victim service providers” and not by those who committed the criminal acts.

Restitution is intended to shift some of that burden back to where it is most appropriate—the convicted criminal offenders (Seymour and Beatty, in press).

Today, all states have passed restitution laws that provide crime victims the right to receive financial recompense from their offender. Restitution can be ordered in federal and state criminal and juvenile courts. However, these laws vary greatly across the nation. In general, restitution can be ordered in the following cases:

Property crime involving the theft of goods or stolen or damaged property.

For victims and survivors of violent crime and for homicide victims for current and future expenses related to the crime.

Theft of services, fraud, forgery, and violation of vehicle and traffic laws.

Restitution is not a punishment or an alternative to fines, sanctions, or interventions with the offender. Rather, restitution is a debt owed to victims. Recently, judges have begun to order community restitution in which the convicted or adjudicated offenders pay back the community through service or fines. However, restitution is often overlooked and minimized by the justice system due to the many myths that surround the concept, such as offenders not having money to pay or that it is too difficult to collect.

Traditionally, restitution has been defined as a monetary payment by the offender to the victim for the harm resulting from the offence. Early restitution laws limited restitution to those crime victims who suffered physical injury or financial loss as a direct result of crime and were eligible to receive restitution for out-of-pocket expenses. However, restitution laws have greatly evolved, and the definitions of who qualifies and the types of losses covered have broadened. For example:

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In addition to the crime victim, some states allow family members, victims’ estates, and victim service agencies and private organizations that provide assistance to victims to be eligible for restitution.

States have expanded their definitions of the types of compensable losses that can be paid for by restitution, including psychological treatment, sexual assault exams, HIV testing, and occupational or rehabilitative therapy, as well as lost profits, moving and meal expenses, case-related travel expenses, and burial expenses.

Restitution can include both monetary payments and in-kind services to the victim.

One of victims’ key concerns is the ordering of restitution by judges. State laws have addressed the issue of mandatory restitution in a variety of ways, including the following:

Approximately half of state victims’ rights laws require that mandatory restitution should be made to crime victims.

Many state laws provide that mandatory restitution should be ordered by judges unless compelling reasons to the contrary are stated on the record.

In the 32 states that have passed victims’ rights constitutional amendments, at least 10 of the amendments require that judges order mandatory restitution for crime victims.

Restitution Enforcement

Today, effective restitution programs involve several justice agencies. For example:

Law enforcement must inform victims of their right to restitution.

Prosecutors must request that judges order restitution and not reach plea agreements without requesting restitution.

Judges should order restitution or explain in writing why they did not.

Institutional corrections should collect and disburse restitution.

Probation and parole agencies must collect and disburse restitution.

Supervision and/or sanctions should be extended until restitution is paid in full.

States should extend probation or parole until all restitution is paid in full.

Sanctions should be placed on offenders who refuse to pay restitution.

Restitution can become a civil lien.

Restitution can be collected to reimburse state compensation programs.

Documenting Losses for Victim Restitution

A critical role for victim advocates is helping victims to document their losses for the purpose of restitution. A checklist that can be easily adapted to any jurisdiction or justice

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system to help victims consider the range of losses that may be covered by restitution is included in Appendix D.

8. Right To Apply for Compensation

Victim compensation programs may reimburse crime victims for crime-related expenses that are not covered by collateral sources—such as medical costs, mental health counseling, funeral and burial costs, and lost wages or support. However, to qualify for compensation, certain requirements must be met.


Every state has a crime victim compensation program that can provide substantial financial assistance to crime victims and their families. While no amount of money can erase the trauma and grief victims suffer, this aid can be crucial in the recovery process. By paying for care that enhances victims’ physical and mental health, and by replacing lost income for victims who cannot work or for families who lose a breadwinner, compensation programs help victims rebuild their lives and their financial stability.

State laws dictate the range of compensation benefit levels available to crime victims. Almost all states have minimum loss requirements. All states have maximum benefit levels, usually ranging from $10,000 to $25,000 (National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards, 2005). Claimants use the compensation funds over the long term.

As a result of the passage of the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) in 1984—and to qualify for VOCA funding—compensation programs must agree to consider for eligibility all U.S. citizens who are victims of crimes within their states, regardless of the residency of the victim. In addition, compensation programs also must cover their own residents who are victims of terrorism in foreign countries and crimes falling under federal jurisdiction within the states, such as crimes occurring on Indian reservations, national park lands, or military bases.

Eligibility Requirements

Once a victim of violent crime has been informed of his or her right to apply for compensation, it is important to understand eligibility requirements. While these vary from state to state, the victim generally must:

Be innocent of criminal activity or significant misconduct that caused or contributed to the victim’s injury or death.

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Report the crime promptly to law enforcement. (Many states have a 72-hour standard, but nearly all states have “good cause” exceptions applied liberally to children and incapacitated victims and in other special circumstances.)

Cooperate with police and prosecutors in the investigation and prosecution of the case. (Some states make exceptions.)

Submit a timely application to the compensation program (generally 1 year from the date of the crime, although a number of states have longer time frames, and most can waive these requirements when appropriate) and provide other information as requested by the program.

Have a cost or loss not covered by insurance or some other readily available collateral resource.

A victim advocate or other helping professional can further explain victims’ roles to them, including the type of documentation that is required for an application, how decisions are made by compensation programs, and the length of time it may take to receive a decision and/or remuneration. Judges should encourage victims to contact a victim advocate or state victim compensation program for additional information or assistance.

Compensation Benefits

Compensation programs can pay for a wide variety of expenses and losses related to criminal injury and homicide. Beyond medical care, mental health treatment, funerals, and lost wages, a number of programs also cover moving or relocation expenses, transportation to medical providers, crime-scene cleanup, rehabilitation (including physical therapy and occupational therapy), modifications to homes or vehicles for paralyzed victims, the cost of housekeeping and childcare services, and fees for attorneys who help victims apply for compensation (usually in limited amounts and sometimes only for appeals).

Personal property stolen, lost, or damaged during the crime is not covered, with a few limited exceptions (Florida, New Jersey, and New York). All states will cover medically necessary equipment, such as eyeglasses or hearing aids. Only three states currently pay for costs associated with pain and suffering (Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Tennessee).

Collateral Resources

All compensation programs are “payers of last resort.” Other collateral sources of payment to the victim—such as medical or auto insurance, employee benefit programs, Social Security, and Medicaid—must be accessed first before the programs will consider payment. In addition, if the victim recovers any money from the offender or any other

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party liable for the victim’s expenses, the compensation program must be paid back for that portion of the expenses the program covered, unless the victim’s total out-of-pocket losses exceed the amount both paid by the program and recovered from another source.

9. Right to Speedy Proceedings

A victim’s right to proceedings without unreasonable delay means that a court is required to consider any adverse impact a delay may have on the well-being of the victim when considering a motion for a delay or continuance.

Many states have passed laws that give crime victims the right to request a speedy trial, just as defendants have a similar right that is clearly defined in the U.S. Constitution. There have been horror stories of intentional delays and continuances initiated by the defense to delay the trial until the victim is no longer able or willing to testify. Elderly victims, victims with life-shortening illnesses, and child victims are examples of victim population groups for whom speedy trial rights are particularly important. Some states have passed speedy trial laws for these specific groups.

One of the greatest hardships victims endure in the criminal justice process is the delay of scheduled proceedings. Repeated continuances cause serious hardships and trauma for victims as they review and relive their victimization in preparation for trial, only to find the case has been postponed. The impact of continuances is particularly difficult for victims whose memories may fade over time or whose health may deteriorate.

The schedules and concerns of victims should be taken into consideration by judges before they grant continuances. A disposition free from unreasonable delay helps to ensure that victims, as well as defendants, receive speedy trials and that the impact of delay on victims is considered by judges in response to requests for continuances.

10. Special Rights and Protections

The following three victims’ rights laws fall under the category of special rights and protections.

Employer Intercession

Most states have enacted laws that prohibit employers from taking adverse action against victims who must miss work to participate in the justice process, although these laws do not provide monetary compensation for victims who participate. These laws are designed to prevent employers from firing or penalizing victims when they take time off from

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work to attend preliminary hearings, trials, sentencing hearings, parole hearings, and so forth. If victims are also witnesses, they will qualify for standard witness fees according to individual state laws and policies.

The rationale in passing employer intercession laws is that crime victims should not be discriminated against on the job because they have to take time off to participate in the justice process. The publication New Directions From the Field: Victims’ Rights and Services for the 21st Century (OVC, 1998) provides the following suggestions on how this right should be implemented:

While protections for jurors are limited, victims should have, at minimum, the same levels of protections as jury members. To the extent possible, employers should be required to work with employees and their unions to ensure that victims maintain their employment after absences due to attendance at criminal and juvenile justice proceedings. Victims should continue to receive salaries or wages, reduced by any witness fees received, for a designated period of time. Afterwards, they should be able to use vacation and sick leave. In addition, judges should be encouraged to take employment concerns of victims and their employers into consideration when scheduling proceedings. (p.26)

Prompt Property Return

Procedures for the swift return of property to victims and witnesses should be developed at the federal, state, and local levels to serve as models for law enforcement agencies nationwide. Emergency funds should be made available to victims to replace essential items. Laws providing victims the right to have their property returned within a reasonable period of time should be enacted in all states and on the federal level.

Law enforcement agencies should place high priority on the speedy return of victims’ property. They should augment their property identification procedures by providing written instructions to victims to help them assist in the description and retrieval of property held as evidence. When it is not possible to release property held as evidence, an emergency fund should be available in every community to cover the cost of replacing essential property, such as a warm winter coat. Victims should never be charged for the storage of their property, and they should be reimbursed for property that is lost, sold, or damaged while held as evidence.

Victims’ Right to Privacy

Generally the question of victims’ right to privacy covers two specific subject matter areas of particular interest to crime victims. The first involves the protection of the victim’s contact information (e.g., home and work address, telephone number, e-mail).

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The second relates to the protection of information about the identity of the victim. These two privacy rights differ significantly not only as to the subject matter but also as to the prospective audience from which the information is intended to be withheld. More significantly, they differ as to the purpose for which they were created (Seymour and Beatty, in press).

Privacy rights related to contact information were created primarily to prevent defendants or their agents from discovering the location of the victim to further victimize, harass, or intimidate the victim or his or her immediate family members. In other words, the primary purpose of privacy rights concerning the victim’s contact information is to protect the safety of the victim.

In the second instance, privacy rights to prevent the disclosure of the victim’s identity to the public are intended to address the embarrassment, loss of dignity, and stigma that could result from the publication of deeply personal facts about the victim or details related to the crime itself.

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Strategies to Strengthen Victims’ Rights*


At the founding of our country, private prosecution was the norm. In this previous system of justice, crime victims were responsible for investigating and prosecuting crimes against them, and the harm from crime was predominately thought of as a private harm. Over the years, the office of the public prosecutor was born and rose in prominence, as did the idea that harm from crime was not just a private harm but also was a social harm.

Private prosecution persisted well into the 19th century, often co-existing with public prosecution. In some locations today, private prosecution continues for misdemeanor crimes, and in other locations, citizens have access to grand juries such that they can present their case to that body. As is often true of pendulums, the pendulum of our criminal justice system swung far away from its early victim-centric criminal justice system that allowed for substantive victim participation, toward an exclusive public prosecution/social harm approach to criminal justice. This nearly exclusive reliance on public prosecution has diminished and also has engendered the modern crime victims’ rights movement.

Key Events in Victims’ Rights Enforcement

The case of Linda R.S v. Richard D. is one of critical moments in the history of victims’ rights enforcement. In 1972, the Supreme Court considered whether an unmarried woman could seek to enjoin the prosecutors’ office from discriminately applying a statute criminalizing the nonpayment of child support by refusing to prosecute fathers of children born to unmarried women, Linda R.S. v. Richard D., 410 U.S. 614 (1972). The Court’s narrow holding was that the victim could not demonstrate a sufficient nexus between the prosecutor’s alleged discriminatory enforcement of the statute and the woman’s failure to secure child support payments from the father, and therefore, the victim did not have standing to seek the relief she requested. In dicta, the Court acknowledged the then-prevailing view that “a private citizen lacks a judicially cognizable interest in the prosecution or non-prosecution of another.” In law, when you have no “judicially cognizable interest” you have no right to ask the court for redress of your grievance. The Court’s statement could be interpreted to mean that victims of crime have no interest or right to participate in the prosecution of their offender, which is a shocking proposition to a victim of crime. Importantly, Linda R.S. went on to provide a * Substantial portions of this content was provided by Meg Garvin, Executive Director of the National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI), a nonprofit organization located at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, a national organization dedicated to ensuring enforcement of victims’ rights in criminal courts nationwide.

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foundation for remedying the above-described situation by stating in a footnote that Congress, and by logical extension state legislatures, could “enact statutes creating legal rights, the invasion of which creates standing, even though no injury would exist without the statute.” Id. at 617 n.3.

Another critical moment in the history of victims’ rights enforcement is Federal Rule of Evidence 615 (the rule of sequestration). In 1975, Federal Rule of Evidence 615 (the rule of sequestration), was adopted. This rule required automatic exclusion of witnesses if requested by either the prosecutor or defendant. Shortly after Rule 615’s adoption, most states adopted a rule of sequestration similar to the federal rule. As a result, crime victims were routinely identified as potential witnesses, whether there was a real intention to call them or now, thus resulting in their systematic exclusion from trial.

In response to the pendulum’s swing, and with more societal concern for the victims of crime, the modern victims’ rights movement was born. This movement sought first, enforceable rights for crime victims; and second, social services for crime victims, such as crime victim advocates and other service providers.

A foundational document in the development of the crime victims’ movement was the 1982 President’s Task Force on Victims of Crime. The task force set out 68 recommendations for how rights and services for crime victims could be substantially improved in this country’s justice systems. Notably, among the recommendations of the Task Force was to amend the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution so that “victims in every criminal prosecution shall have the right to be present and heard at all critical stages of judicial proceedings.” The Task Force recommended the passage of this federal constitutional amendment to create specific, constitutional rights for crime victims. The Sixth Amendment provides specific rights and protections for those accused of crime, yet offers no rights for crime victims.

In the mid 1980s, a constitutional amendment strategy was adopted to seek state constitutional amendments first to establish a strong nationwide base of support before pursuing a federal constitutional amendment. Today, 32 states had adopted constitutional amendments, with the overwhelming support of voters. Notably, these constitutional provisions vary in the number of rights afforded (e.g., only California explicitly provides for restitution) as well as enforceability. All states and the federal government have passed crime victims’ rights legislation. At the federal level, Congress passed the first of several pieces of crime victims’ rights legislation in 1982, the Victim and Witness Protection Act, and subsequently passed a series of laws, successively giving greater legislative recognition to the rights of crime victims. Generally, victims’ rights are aimed at protecting victim privacy, protection, and participation. In 1983, the American

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Bar Association issued its Fair Treatment of Crime Victims and Witnesses. The Fair Treatment Guidelines set forth 13 guidelines establishing “courtesies and considerations” owed to victims and witnesses in the criminal justice process, seeking, in part, to remedy the then-existing “nonstatus” of crime victims.

A national advocacy effort to pass a federal constitutional amendment began in earnest. In 1991, a resolution was first introduced in Congress to create federal constitutional rights for crime victims. Over the course of the next decade, numerous congressional hearings were held, and many victim advocacy groups worked very hard for the passage of the amendment. By 2004, the effort had failed. Instead, the Justice for All Act was passed, which provided specific rights for crime victims and some remedies for the enforcement of victims’ rights.

There are many significant reasons to enact constitutional rights for crime victims. Currently, there are no consistent and comprehensive rights for crime victims in every state or at the federal level. Constitutional rights would also help ensure that the nation’s courts “engage in a careful and conscientious balancing of the rights of victims and defendants” (OVC, 1998, p. 9). In addition, constitutional rights would help guarantee that crime victims have the opportunity to participate in all proceedings related to crimes against them.

Many victim advocates believe that a victims’ rights constitutional amendment is the “only legal measure strong enough to rectify the current inconsistencies in victims’ rights laws that vary significantly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction on the state and federal levels” (OVC, 1998, p. 10). In addition, most agree that it is the “only legal measure strong enough to ensure that the rights of victims are fully enforced across the country” (OVC, 1998, p. 10).

Today, 33 states have passed constitutional amendments that provide specific rights for crime victims. The goal of passing state constitutional amendments has been to strengthen existing victims’ rights statutes and provide a more forceful tool for enforcement of these rights.

Despite the passage of significant victims’ rights legislation in the past decades, there is a failure of enforceability of many victims’ rights laws. This failure was keenly demonstrated by United States v. McVeigh, 106 F.3d 325 (10th Cir. 1997). In McVeigh, a number of the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing sought to exercise their federal statutory right to attend the criminal trial of McVeigh, and to subsequently testify at the sentencing proceeding if McVeigh was convicted. The trial court prohibited the victims’ attendance at trial if they opted to appear and testify at sentencing. The victims sought

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review from the appellate court, and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the trial court, pointing to the statute’s requirement of only “best efforts,” and finding that the statute did not grant the victims standing to seek review of denials of their rights. Id. at 335.

This ruling meant that while victims of the bombing had, on paper, the rights to both attend the proceedings and to be heard at the sentencing, when the trial court denied these rights there was nothing the victims could do. Consequently, in 1995, the leaders of the National Victims Constitutional Amendment Network (a group of pro-victims’ rights advocates) called on Congress to take action on the final recommendation of the President’s Task Force: adoption of a federal constitutional amendment affording rights to victims of crimes.

The history of the move for a federal constitutional amendment is detailed and ongoing. Here are some of the highlights.

On April 22, 1996, during the 104th Congress, a constitutional amendment was introduced. The proposed amendment contained seven rights, and a subsequent version included crime victim standing to enforce the articulated rights.

The 104th Congress did not pass the amendment, but in the years between 1996 and 2004 resolutions calling for a federal constitutional amendment creating rights for crime victims were introduced in nearly every Congress, and congressional hearings on the resolutions were held numerous times.

Other Key Developments in Enforcement of Victims’ Rights

All is not bleak with respect to the enforcement of victims’ rights laws. There are many shining examples of innovative efforts to better ensure that victims’ rights are protected. For example:

Maryland passed a statute that enables victims of violent crimes to apply for “leave to appeal” any final order that denies victims their basic rights. (See Maryland Code Ann., Art. 27, §776 [1993], [ND p 43/90].)

Arizona enacted a law that “grants victims the right to challenge post-conviction release decisions resulting from hearings at which they were denied the opportunity to receive notice, attend, or be heard” (Arizona Rev. Stat. Ann., §13-4437 [West 1991], [ND p 43/91]).

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Arizona law gives victims the right to sue for money damages from any government entity responsible for the “intentional, knowing or grossly negligent violation” of victims’ rights (Arizona Rev. Stat. Ann., §13-4437 [West 1991], [ND p 43/91]).

Court-ordered injunctions and writs of mandamus are available to force criminal justice personnel to respond to willful violations of victims’ rights laws.

Several states have an Office of the Crime Victims Ombudsman, which is charged with investigating statutory violations of victims’ rights laws and mistreatment of victims by criminal justice officials.

Colorado has a statewide coordinating committee that serves as an ombudsman for victims’ rights implementation.

Wisconsin law offers penalties for the willful violation of crime victims’ rights.

Beginning in 2003, the Office for Victims of Crime has funded the National Crime Victim Law Institute to establish and oversee a network of pro bono legal clinics nationwide that help victims assert and seek enforcement of their state and federal victims’ rights. The first of these clinics, Arizona Voice for Crime Victims, continues to be a model for others. Together these clinics have represented more than 1,200 victims in criminal proceedings, made more than 1,300 court appearances, and filed more than 665 court documents on behalf of victims.

In 2004, Congress passed and the president signed into law the “Scott Campbell, Stephanie Roper, Wendy Preston, Lourarna Gillis, and Nila Lynn Crime Victims’ Rights Act Federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act of 2004,” 18 U.S.C. § 3771 (CVRA). The CVRA provides victims of federal offenses with eight rights and explicitly provides trial-level standing for victims to individually assert those rights, as well as the right of victims to seek rapid and mandatory appellate review of any denial of their rights. This law is codified in Title 18--the criminal code--of the United States Code, so that it resides side-by-side with the majority of other provisions governing federal criminal processes. Following passage of the CVRA, one federal court stated, “The criminal justice system has long functioned on the assumption that crime victims should behave like good Victorian children--seen but not heard. The [CVRA] sought to change this by making victims independent participants in the criminal justice process.” Kenna v. United States Dist. Ct. for the Cent. Dist. of Cal., 435 F.3d 1011, 1013 (9th Cir. 2006).

In 2008, the people of Oregon passed two new constitutional amendments making explicit that their existing constitutional victims’ rights could be individually enforced by the crime victim in the criminal case.

In November of 2008, as this chapter was going to press, an important new development occurred. Marsy's Law, California's new Victims’ Rights Amendment, passed. This law is one of the most comprehensive piece of victims’ rights legislation in the nation. California, victims will have meaningful and enforceable rights, including the rights:

To notice of all proceedings

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To be present whenever the defendant has the right to be present To be heard at critical stages … before the defendant is released after arrest,

before a plea bargain is accepted by the court, before any sentence is imposed, before there is a parole, and any time their rights are at issue.

To have their safety considered before any release decisions are made and to know when the offender is being released or has escaped

To protect their confidential records To refuse to submit to interrogations by the defendant or his lawyer before trial To confer with the prosecutor To be free from intimidation, harassment, or abuse, and to be treated with fairness

and respect To a speedy trial and to reasonable finality. Victims would have an independent

right to enforce these rights in any court. It will require that victims be informed of their rights just like the defendants are

given their Miranda rights. It will provide the means to stop the regular nightmare of repeated opportunities

for clearly dangerous offenders to be re-considered over and over again for parole.

It will secure for victims a meaningful opportunity to participate in parole proceedings and will set their safety and the safety of the public as the critical standard before release decisions are made.

Legal Enforcement Efforts

As noted above, although well meaning and oftentimes at least somewhat effective, there are fundamental legal flaws with the legislative steps previously outlined. Despite positive legislative enactments, many victims’ rights continued to suffer a fundamental legal flaw: They were often unenforceable. Thus, while the constitutional amendments & statutes appeared to advance victims’ rights, in practice often they were not “rights” because without remedies rights are empty promises. What is needed is legal advocacy for victims of crime and the funding and support for those who advocate for the enforcement of victims’ rights. Below are some examples of differing mechanisms for engaging legal advocates in the pursuit of enforcement of legal rights for victims through the courts.

Legal Advocates for Victims

Connecticut’s Office of the Victim Advocate [www.ct.gov/ova/site/default.asp], established in 1999 by Connecticut General Statute Section 46a-13b et seq., is an example of victim rights enforcement that may provide direct legal assistance to victims who feel that their rights have been abridged and who seek vindication of those rights. The Connecticut Office of the Victim Advocate:

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Monitors and evaluates the provision of services to crime victims and the enforcement of victims’ rights in Connecticut.

Receives complaints from crime victims regarding the provision of rights and services and may investigate such complaints.

Files an appearance in any court proceeding to advocate for victims’ rights when it is alleged that such rights have been or are being violated.

Advances policies throughout the state that promote the fair and just treatment of victims throughout the criminal justice process.

Provides oversight and advocacy when the criminal justice system fails crime victims.

Ensures that the voices of crime victims play a central role in Connecticut’s response to violence and those victimized by crime.

Very unique to this approach is that the office is a state agency that directly represents victims of crime with their complaints against other government entities that have not provided victims with their constitutional and statutory protections and accommodations.

National Crime Victim Law Institute*

The National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI), a nonprofit organization located at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, is a national organization dedicated to ensuring enforcement of victims’ rights in criminal courts nationwide. NCVLI’s mission is to actively promote balance and fairness in the justice system through crime victim-centered legal advocacy, education, and resource sharing. NCVLI accomplishes its mission through education and training; technical assistance to attorneys; promotion of the National Alliance of Victims’ Rights Attorneys (www.navra.org); research and analysis of developments in crime victim law; and provision of information on crime victim law to crime victims and other members of the public.

While NCVLI does not directly represent crime victims, it ensures enforcement of victims’ rights in criminal cases through two avenues. First, with grants from the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), NCVLI launched a network of eight legal clinics that provide direct, pro bono legal representation and social service support to victims as they assert and seek enforcement of their rights in state, federal and tribal criminal proceedings. As of fall 2008, with technical assistance from NCVLI, this network had represented over 1000 victims in criminal cases, appearing in court as legal counsel more than 1300 times. Second, NCVLI’s legal team strategically analyzes cases and identifies those that could benefit from participation in an amicus curiae (friend of the court). In * Ibid.

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these cases NCVLI files briefs which provide the court a national perspective on victim law, and a legal framework to aid advancement of rights. For information about NCVLI or its programs, or to seek technical assistance please go to www.ncvli.org.

State Crime Victim Legal Clinics

As noted above, NCVLI funds 8 clinics to provide direct pro bono legal and social service support to victims. These clinics are located in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Jersey, New Mexico, Maryland, South Carolina and Utah. In addition, OVC directly funds two additional clinics that provide pro bono legal representation. These clinics are located in Ohio and Oklahoma. In addition to representing crime victims, all 11 clinics serve as an important resource to victims, social services providers, courts, and criminal justice professionals by training lawyers, judges, victim advocates and law students on victims’ rights law.

The clinics, listed alphabetically by order of the state in which they are located, are:

Arizona Voice for Crime Victims: www.voiceforvictims.org/ Colorado Crime Victims Legal Clinic: www.coloradocrimevictims.org// Victims’ Rights Clinic at the University of Idaho: www.law.uidaho.edu/default.aspx?

pid=65564 The D.C. Crime Victims Resource Center: http://dccrimevictims.org/ Maryland Crime Victims’ Resource Center, Inc.: www.mdcrimevictims.org/ New Jersey Crime Victim Law Center: www.njcvlc.org/ New Mexico Victims’ Rights Project: www.nm-victimsrights.org/home.html Justice League of Ohio: www.thejusticeleagueohio.org/ Oklahoma- Native American Victim Rights Law Clinic:

www.law.utulsa.edu/indianlaw/ South Carolina Crime Victim Legal Network: www.scvan.org/legal/index.html Utah Crime Victims Legal Clinic: www.utahvictimsclinic.org/

The Role of Victim Advocates in Ensuring that Victims Receive Their Rights

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A critical role of victim advocates is to ensure that crime victims’ rights are enforced as specified under state and federal laws. Effective victim advocacy requires that victim advocates have a strong working knowledge of victims’ rights laws and how they should be implemented, as well as a strong familiarity with victims’ rights enforcement mechanisms. Victim advocates can do the following:

Maintain copies of all laws pertaining to crime victims’ rights in their respective state or jurisdiction.

Update the laws yearly, adding any new amendments to existing victims’ rights laws or new laws enacted.

Check to see if the state VOCA administrator, Attorney General’s Office, Governor’s Office, state Victims’ Rights Coalition, or other entity has compiled a list of the laws pertaining to victims’ rights. Many states now offer compilations of victims’ rights laws either online or in printed directories.

Become familiar with advances in case law on behalf of victims by visiting the National Crime Victim Law Institute website (www.ncvli.org) and other resources.

Identify whether your state has any of the major enforcement mechanisms or advocates, such as, an Ombudsperson’s Office, a Statewide Coordinating or Review Committee, a Legal Advocacy Office for Victims, or a Legal Clinic, etc.

If your state does not have a viable enforcement mechanism in place, advocate for one!

It is important for victim advocates to read the actual victims’ rights laws rather than rely on others to explain the rights. Once an advocate develops a working knowledge of victims’ rights laws, then a trusted prosecutor, judge, or other legal professional can help the advocate understand the nuances of the law.

Advocates also need to determine whether the law specifies timeframes for implementation of certain rights, such as timely notification, and to have a working knowledge of the justice agency responsible for implementing the right. Some state laws do not specify who should be responsible for implementing the right. In this case, advocates should find out what agency (or agencies) in their state or community is taking on the responsibility of implementing the right.

Cross-training among justice agencies about crime victims’ rights is critical. Victim advocates can organize and support such training for justice professionals in their

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communities to ensure that those responsible for providing victims’ rights are familiar with and well trained on the law, as well as any recent legal changes.

Finally, victim advocates should determine whether a statewide agency or office has been established to serve as an ombudsman for the implementation and enforcement of victims’ rights. It is important for advocates to get to know this agency and how its staff can assist advocates in ensuring that crime victims receive their rights.

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References

Miller, T., M.A. Cohen, and B. Wiersema. January 1996. Victim Costs and Consequences: A New Look. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice.

National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards. May 30, 2001. FAQ: Benefits. Retrieved May 2, 2005. from www.nacvcb.org/faq/3.html.

National Center for Victims of Crime. n.d. Retrieved September 4, 2007, from www.ncvc.org.

Office for Victims of Crime. May 1998. New Directions from the Field: Victims’ Rights and Services for the 21st Century. Washington, DC: Author.

Right to Protection from Unreasonable Harm: (See, for example, Alaska Stat. §12.61.010, Hawaii Rev. Stat. §801D-4, Mississippi Code Ann. §99-36-5, Missouri Rev. Stat. §595.209, Nebraska Rev. Stat. §81-1848, New Hampshire Rev. Stat. Ann. §21-M:8-k, New Jersey Rev. Stat. §52:4B-36, Oklahoma Stat. tit. 19§215.33, South Dakota Codified Laws §23A-28C-1, Tennessee Code Ann. §40-38-102, Washington Rev. Code §7.69.030, Wisconsin Stat. §950.05.) An additional eight states have granted this right via a constitutional amendment. (See Alaska Const. Art. 1, §24; Illinois Const. Art. 1, §8.1; Michigan Const. Art. I, §24; Missouri Const. Art. 1, §32; New Mexico Const. Art. II, §24; Ohio Const. Art. 1, §10a; Texas Const. Art. I, §30; Wisconsin Const. Art. I, §9m).

Seymour, A. 1999. Promising Practices and Strategies for Victim Services in Corrections. Washington, DC: Office for Victims of Crime and National Center for Victims of Crime.

Seymour, A. 2002. Victim Impact Statement Resource Guide. Washington, DC: Justice Solutions.

Seymour, A., and D. Beatty. In press. Judicial Education Project Curriculum. Washington, DC: Justice Solutions et al. and Office for Victims of Crime, U.S. Department of Justice.

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http://www.nacvcb.org/faq/3.html


Appendix A

Victims’ Statutory Rights to Notice:Rights, Hearings, and Events*

*Updated June 1, 2005, by Justice Solutions, Washington, DC.

Notification of Rights

Right to compensation.

Right to restitution.

Right to notice of events and proceedings.

Right to attend proceedings.

Right to be heard at proceedings.

Right to consult with prosecutor.

Right to protection from offender.

Right to information on how to request or exercise the above rights.

Right to information on how to obtain information about case status.

Right to the name and telephone number of a contact person in the system.

Right to referrals to victim assistance.

Right to an explanation of the legal process and/or court proceedings.

Notification of Hearings

Bail hearings.

Bail review/modification hearings.

Grand jury hearings.

Other pretrial hearings.

Hearings on acceptance of diversion.

Hearings on acceptance of a plea bargain.

Trials.

Sentencing.

Postsentencing hearings.

Restitution hearings.

Appellate proceedings.

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Probation revocation hearings.

Probation modification hearings.

Temporary release hearings.

Parole hearings.

Parole revocation hearings.

Parole modification hearings.

Pardon/commutation proceedings.

Hearings on defendant’s competency to stand trial.

Hearings on defendant’s release from mental institution.

Cancelled or rescheduled hearings.

Execution (in capital cases).

Right to Notice of Events

Arrest of the offender.

Bail or other pretrial release of offender, and conditions of release.

Indictment.

Dismissal of charges.

Dropping of case.

Plea negotiations.

Plea bargain.

Outcome of trial.

Sentence of offender.

Appellate request (by offender or by the state) for convicted offender’s DNA testing.

Filing of an appeal.

Outcome of appeal.

Location of incarcerated offender.

Earliest possible release date for incarcerated offender.

Probation of offender.

Probation revocation/reinstatement of suspended sentence.

When offender is in “out to court” status.

Transfer of offender from corrections to another jurisdiction (e.g., mental institution, INS custody, etc.).

Furlough.

Work release.

Transfer from one prison facility to another.

Change of security status.

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Parole.

Parole revocation.

Pardon/commutation of sentence.

Escape.

Recapture.

Death of offender.

Execution of offender (in capital cases).

Offender’s release from mental institution.

Clemency.

Commutation.

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Appendix B

Sample Victim Notification Letter

Criminal justice agencies can develop “merge letters” for every possible point of notification to victims. While the technical process of developing automated letters is quite simple, the development of victim-sensitive language is more challenging. This letter, which was developed for the publication Promising Practices and Strategies for Victim Services in Corrections (Seymour, 1999), has been adapted to reflect court- and probation-related notification.

Dear Mr./Ms. [name]:

Thank you for registering for victim notification services from the [name of agency]. I am very sorry that you were victimized, and I assure you that my agency and staff will do everything we can to assist you.

You will receive notice of [list types of notice that the victim is eligible for here]. OR This letter is to inform you of the [type of hearing] related to your case, which is scheduled for [day, date, time, location, and any other relevant information about victim participation]. OR This letter is to inform you of the status of the defendant/convicted offender, who is [information about status and location].

It is important that you notify our agency of any change in your address, telephone number, e-mail address, or other relevant contact information, so that we can notify you in an efficient manner. I have enclosed a card with our department’s address, as well as our telephone number for our Victim Assistance Program.

If our agency can provide you with additional information, answer any questions, or offer referrals to victim services in our community, please contact [name], [title] in our Victim Services Program at [telephone number].

I appreciate your consideration of this information, and I hope we can continue to meet your needs as much as possible.

Sincerely,

[name][title]

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Enclosure: Informational Card

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Appendix C

Victims’ Right To Be Present and Attend Hearings

Victims may have the right to be present for the following proceedings:

Bail hearings.

Bail review/modification hearings.

Grand jury hearings.

Other pretrial hearings.

Hearings on acceptance of diversion.

Hearings on acceptance of a plea bargain.

Trials.

Sentencing.

Postsentencing hearings.

Appellate proceedings.

Probation revocation hearings.

Probation modification hearings.

Temporary release hearings.

Parole hearings.

Parole revocation hearings.

Parole modification hearings.

Clemency/pardon/commutation proceedings.

Hearings on defendant’s release from mental institution.

Cancelled or rescheduled hearings.

Execution (in capital cases).

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Appendix D

Documenting Losses for Victim Restitution

The information in this appendix is excerpted from the chapter “Victim Restitution” in Promising Practices and Strategies for Victim Services in Corrections (Seymour, 1999, p. 355-372).

To ensure accurate and complete restitution orders, victims are required to document their losses in writing for the court or paroling authority. It is important to provide victims with guidelines about the types of documentation that are needed to depict their out-of-pocket and projected future expenses.

Some considerations for guidelines that should be provided in writing to victims include, but are not limited to the following:

Employer statements (letters or affidavits) that document unpaid time off from work the victim took as a result of injuries from the crime, or involvement in justice processes.

Documentation of any workers’ compensation claims submitted and/or claims payments received by the victim.

Copies of bills for services directly related to victims’ financial recovery from the crime.

Any receipts for items or services.

Documentation that estimates the value of stolen property.

Photos of valuables that were stolen.

Copies of any documentation often provided by local law enforcement agencies (records of serial numbers, photos, etc.) that is intended to aid victims in the recovery of stolen property.

Any law enforcement records that indicate the status of stolen property (property recovered, recovered but damaged, etc.).

Copies of victims’ applications to and/or copies of checks received from the state victim compensation fund.

Copies of insurance claims and related correspondence between the victim and his/her insurance company, as well as copies of checks the victim may have received to cover losses.

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Immediate Losses

During the pre-sentence investigation, victims should be asked to report information about their losses by completing or updating a financial worksheet and providing documentation as described above.

The range of these losses can include the following:

Medical Care

Emergency transportation to the hospital.

Rape kit examinations that are not immediately paid by a third party.

All expenses related to the hospital stay, including the room, laboratory tests, medications, x-rays, HIV testing in cases involving the exchange of bodily fluids, and medical supplies.

Expenses for care provided by physicians—both inpatient and outpatient—medication, and medical supplies.

Fees for physical or occupational therapy.

Replacement of eyeglasses, hearing aids, or other sensory aid items damaged, destroyed, or stolen from the victim.

Rental and related costs for equipment used for victims’ physical restoration, such as wheelchairs, wheelchair ramps, special beds, crutches, etc.

Mental Health Services

Fees for counseling or therapy for the victim and his/her family members.

Any costs incurred as a result of the victim’s participation in support or therapy groups.

Expenses for medications that doctors may prescribe for victims to help ease their trauma following a crime.

Funeral Expenses

Costs associated with burials, caskets, cemetery plots, memorial services, etc.

Expenses for travel to plan and/or attend funerals.

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Time Off From Work

To repair damage following property crimes.

To attend or participate in court or parole proceedings.

To attend doctors’ appointments for injuries or mental health needs directly resulting from the crime.

Other Expenses

Crime scene cleanup.

Costs of replacing locks, changing security devices, etc.

Expenses related to child or elder care when victims have to testify in court.

Relocation expenses.

Fees incurred in changing banking or credit card accounts.

Projected Expenses

Victimization often results in injuries or losses that are long-term in nature. While it is not possible to accurately document such projected expenses, it is possible to document expert opinions as to future financial obligations the victim might incur as a direct result of the crime.

Victims should be advised to seek documentation (a letter or affidavit) from professionals who are providing them with medical or mental health services that offers an estimate of the victims’ future treatment needs, as well as related expenses. Such costs can include:

Long-term medical treatment.

Physical or occupational rehabilitation or therapy.

Mental health counseling or therapy.

Time that must be taken off from work to receive any of the above services.

The justice professional responsible for assessing victims’ restitution needs should provide this documentation to the court or paroling authority.

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Appendix E

Sample Conditions of Offender Community Supervision Relevant to Crime Victims

The information in this appendix is adapted from Sample Conditions of Offender Community Supervision Relevant to Crime Victims (Seymour, 1998).

The agency involved must release information relevant to conditions of supervision and/or violations of such conditions to the victim, upon request from the victim. The agency must also notify the victim of any hearing related to the violation by the offender of the conditions of supervision.

The following conditions that apply to the offender can be adapted for bail release, pre-adjudication, diversion, or incarceration:

Obey all laws.

Obey all conditions of supervision, such as no-contact orders.

Possess no weapons.

Seek or maintain employment (i.e., so that fines, fees, orders of restitution, and child support can be paid).

Upon request from the victim, have no contact with the victim, his or her family, and others designated by the victim (for a specified period of time, or permanently) in person, by telephone, fax or e-mail, or through a third party.

Upon request from the victim, submit to geographical restrictions that preclude living or working within a designated distance from the victim’s home or place of employment.

Agree that offender status and progress information can be shared for the purposes of case management by (supervising officer/treatment provider(s)/ victim advocate/others).

Obey restrictions on movement and location (specifically those that involve contact with potentially vulnerable populations, such as children [at home, schools or day care centers], elderly persons, or persons with disabilities).

Participate in any offense-specific treatment program deemed appropriate by the supervising agency, with victim input (i.e., substance abuse treatment, sex offender treatment, etc.)

Participate in victim/offender programming that reinforces offender accountability, such as victim impact panels or victim awareness classes.

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Make full restitution to the victim(s), with the ability to travel out-of-state or end community supervision dependent upon full payment.

If there is no restitution order, be provided with the opportunity to make voluntary restitution to the victim(s) or a victim assistance program designated by the victim.

Pay fines and fees that support victim assistance programs, including victim compensation.

Submit to warrantless search and seizure.

Use no alcohol and/or other drugs.

Submit to random alcohol and other drug tests.

Pay for the cost of urinalysis.

Submit to polygraphs.

Perform restorative community service as recommended by the victim or victim surrogate (such as a victim assistance agency).

Attend education or awareness programs, such as alcohol/drunk driving education, victim impact panels, or victim awareness classes.

Submit to electronic monitoring.

Submit to intensive supervision.

In cases involving drunk driving, submit to restrictions on ability to drive, and/or agreement to have an alcohol ignition interlock device placed on their vehicles that detects alcohol use, and prevents the offender from driving if he or she has been drinking.

In cases involving sex offenders and/or computer crimes, have no access to computers or the Internet.

Additional Conditions for Inter-familial/Family Violence Cases

Commit no further abuse.

Pay child support and restitution.

Pay attorney fees for victims.

Abide by all court restrictions and directives.

Abide by supervised child visitation and/or public drop-off/pick-up point.

Cooperate with child/adult protective services.

Release information to third parties, as appropriate. (American Probation and Parole Association, 1996, p. 204)

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Appendix F

Victim Assistance Programs

The information in this appendix is excerpted from Judicial Education Project Curriculum (Seymour and Beatty, in press). There are over 10,000 victim assistance programs in the United States today. These include:

Community-based victim assistance programs that serve a variety of crime victims, including victims who report crimes and go through the justice system, as well as those who do not. Examples include:

Rape crisis centers and sexual assault awareness programs.

Programs and shelters for battered women and their children.

Homicide support groups (such as Parents of Murdered Children chapters).

Drunk driving victim assistance programs (such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving [MADD] or Remove Intoxicated Drivers [RID] chapters).

Children’s Advocacy Centers that provide multidisciplinary services to victims of child abuse and neglect.

Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) programs that advocate for abused and neglected children.

Elder protection programs that assist victims of elder abuse and neglect.

Faith-based victim assistance programs, which are increasing in both number and scope of services, and which help victims of different faiths cope with the spiritual impact of crime and provide other support and assistance.

System-based victim assistance programs that operate within the context of the criminal or juvenile justice system; or state agencies that oversee victim assistance programs, help victims understand and exercise their rights, and offer referrals to other victim assistance services. Examples include:

Victim assistance programs in law enforcement, prosecutors’ offices, courts, probation, parole, institutional corrections, and Attorneys General offices.

State victim compensation programs.

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State VOCA assistance administrators, who oversee victim assistance funding authorized by the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (VOCA) through fines, fees, and forfeitures collected from convicted federal offenders by the Crime Victims Fund, which is administered by the Office for Victims of Crime within the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.

State coalitions and associations that advocate for local victim-specific programs and issues. Examples include:

General victim assistance coalitions, which involve all types of crime victims and those who serve them.

Sexual assault coalitions.

Domestic violence coalitions.

State offices of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

State associations of victim/witness professionals.

State offices of Adult Protective Services.

State offices of Child Protective Services.

National associations and coalitions that address a wide range of crime victim assistance issues, many of which sponsor national toll-free information and referral telephone lines, as well as comprehensive Web sites for victim assistance, information, and referrals.

Federal agencies whose primary or collateral role is assisting crime victims (such as the Office for Victims of Crime and Office on Violence Against Women within the U.S. Department of Justice and allied federal agencies at the Departments of Health and Human Services, Transportation, and State, etc.).

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Appendix G

Crime Victim Services

The information in this appendix is excerpted from Judicial Education Project Curriculum (Seymour and Beatty, in press).

Community- and system-based victim assistance programs can offer a range of supportive services for crime victims that address their most basic, immediate needs; their needs related to coping with the short- and long-term effects of crime; and their need for information about their constitutional and statutory rights as victims of crime.

VICTIMS’ BASIC NEEDS

Sometimes, the effects of being victimized can impact victims’ quality of life, their capacity to cope with basic issues related to their daily activities, and their ability or willingness to participate in criminal or juvenile justice processes. In many communities, victim assistance programs help victims identify and address such basic needs, which include:

Housing (both emergency/temporary shelter, long-term housing, and possible relocation if there are any concerns about the victim’s safety and security).

Transportation (personal automobile or access to and payment for public transportation).

Food and clothing for victims and their families (to help ensure their health and basic welfare).

Employment and/or job training (to help promote a basic quality of life).

Assistance with basic issues relevant to children (such as school, child care, medical or dental needs, safety and security issues, etc.).

VICTIM ASSISTANCE SERVICES

There are a number of services that can provide victims with information, options, and support to cope with the effects of being victimized:

Crisis Intervention: Services provided in-person, over the telephone, or via the Internet that help victims cope with the immediate mental health effects of victimization, assess their most essential needs, and provide services such as counseling, mental health

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support, and help to address sustenance issues.

Needs Assessment: Services to identify the victim’s most essential needs and attempt to meet them.

Emergency Financial Assistance: Funds that are available in some communities to provide emergency cash awards to victims who are in dire financial straits or who need help to address basic survival concerns (such as health, housing, clothing, food, and transportation).

Home Safety Checks: A service that is usually offered by law enforcement agencies or bonded volunteers to improve the security of a victim’s home, either by making recommendations or actually providing physical improvements and reinforcements (such as new locks, security systems, lighting, and landscape design).

Safety Planning: An advocacy and support service to help victims identify concerns and issues related to their personal security and the safety of their family; protective measures that can enhance their personal safety; and contingency plans to cope with emergency situations.

Advocacy or Intervention with Employers: A service provided to victims who, because of their need for medical or mental health treatment, personal safety, help in addressing sustenance issues, or participation as a witness in criminal justice proceedings, may require intervention with their employers (over the telephone, in writing, or in person) to take time off from work without being penalized or possibly losing their jobs.

Development or Enhancement of the Victim’s Social Support System: A service to help victims identify people who can provide them with immediate, short-term, and long-term support, which may include family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers, faith community members, victim assistance professionals, or others.

Physical Health and Medical Issues: Services provided to victims that address their immediate-, short-, and long-term physical health needs, and may include transportation to medical facilities; emergency room care; rape kit examinations; HIV testing in cases involving the exchange of bodily fluids; physician care and medical treatment; provision of medication, medical supplies, or assistive devices (such as wheelchairs, crutches, hearing aids, or eyeglasses); and/or physical or occupational rehabilitation or therapy.

Mental Health Counseling: Services that include crisis intervention; a mental health needs assessment; individual counseling; family counseling; counseling for alcohol or other drug addictions; and provision of prescription medication to address the mental

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health needs of victims and their families.

Victim Support Groups: Programs that provide peer support through victims reaching out to other victims, regularly scheduled victim support group meetings, and advocacy throughout criminal or juvenile justice processes.

Legal Advocacy and Services: Programs that are available on a pro-bono or fee basis that help victims understand and access their legal rights under the law.

Referrals for Social Services: Providing victims with information about additional services that are not victim-specific, such as housing, food banks, transportation, employment, and family support; as well as services that are available in adjunct government systems, such as Child Protective Services, Adult Protective Services, disability services, education systems, etc.

Information Regarding What To Do in Case of Emergency: Providing victims with vital information about “911” emergency services, crisis hotlines, and other resources that can provide crisis responses to their immediate needs.

Information about Victims’ Rights: Crime victims have many rights established by statutes and state-level victims’ rights constitutional amendments. These rights are relevant from the time the crime occurs through the court processes and, in many cases, appellate processes.

Information about victims’ rights is generally provided by most criminal and juvenile justice and victim assistance programs, and includes:

Information about their rights under the law as victims of crime.

Information about and assistance with filing a victim compensation claim in cases involving violent crime.

Orientation to the criminal or juvenile justice process to help them understand what is happening, their basic rights, and any role they may have in justice proceedings.

Information about their right to protection.

Information about their right to attend and participate in key justice proceedings.

Information about and assistance with completing a pre-sentence investigation interview—referred to as “pre-adjudication interview” within the juvenile justice system—which is usually conducted by a probation officer prior to sentencing or adjudication to enable the judge to learn more about the defendant, and the impact of the crime on the victim.

Information about their right to submit a victim impact statement (VIS), either orally or in writing.

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Information about their right to restitution, and assistance with seeking and documenting losses for restitution orders from the court.

Information about their right to other legal/financial obligations from the convicted offender, such as child support, payment of health insurance, etc.

Notification of the outcome of criminal or juvenile justice proceedings.

For cases involving incarceration or detention: Notification of the location of the offender while he or she is incarcerated, and any movement (including release or escape).

For cases involving community supervision: Information about victims’ right to give input into conditions of community supervision; their right to protection (including assistance with obtaining protective orders); their right to financial/legal obligations owed by the offender (such as child support, restitution, payment of house mortgages or rent, etc.); their right to be notified of any violations, to give input into any violation hearings, and to be notified of the outcome of any violation hearings; and their right to receive contact information for the agency/professional who will be supervising the offender.

For cases involving criminal appeals: Information about victims’ rights and relevant roles throughout the appeals process (usually provided by the prosecutor’s office that tried the case, or the state office of the Attorney General).

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CHAPTER 3 Victims’ Rights Laws in the United States

Special Topics Supplement: Tennessee Crime Victims’ Compensation

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this section, students will understand the following concepts:

The importance of financial assistance to crime victims.

Role of professionals in accessing victim compensation.

Basic eligibility requirements in Tennessee.

Standard Procedures.

Introduction

It is well known that victims of violent crime suffer physical injury and emotional trauma. What may be less recognized is that many victims also face serious financial setbacks as they struggle to pay for the costs of recovery. For some victims the most important victim assistance they can receive is help in paying for medical care, counseling, and lost income in the aftermath of crime.

Tennessee has a crime victim compensation program that can provide substantial financial assistance to crime victims and their families. The Tennessee legislature passed the Criminal Injury Compensation Act in 1976, and the first awards were paid out in 1978. Victim compensation programs serve as the primary means of financial aid for thousands of crime victims each year. And while no amount of money can erase the trauma and grief that victims suffer, this aid can be crucial in the recovery process. By paying for care that restores victims' physical and mental health, and by replacing lost income for victims who cannot work or for families who lose a breadwinner, compensation programs are helping victims regain their lives and their financial stability.

Victims of nearly every type of crime of violence or abuse, including rape, assault, child sexual abuse, domestic violence, and drunk driving, are eligible to apply for financial help. Family members of homicide victims also are eligible for benefits. About a third of all the victims currently helped by compensation programs are children, most of whom are victims of sexual abuse.

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VICTIMS OF CRIME ACT

With the enactment of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (VOCA), state compensation programs became eligible for federal funds to supplement state funding for awards to victims. Through annual VOCA grants, federal funds provide 20 to 25 percent of each state's annual budget.

VOCA stipulates that a state may receive an annual federal grant totaling 60% of the amount the state awards to victims. In other words, if a state spends $1 million of its own money in awards to victims in a particular year, the federal government will give it an additional $600,000 to spend. This results in a 72% to 28% split in state-federal dollars spent each year (i.e., of every $1.4 million awarded to victims by a state, $1 million will be from state funds, and $400,000 will be from federal funds). States bear nearly all of the administrative costs of operating the program, since at least 95% of the federal money must be awarded to victims, and only the remaining 5% can be used by the state for administrative purposes.

To qualify for federal funding, each state must meet the following VOCA requirements (every state currently meets them):

Cover medical expenses, mental health counseling, and lost wages, as well as funeral expenses and lost support for families of homicide victims.

Consider drunk driving and domestic violence as compensable crimes.

Not categorically exclude domestic violence victims on the basis of their being related to or living with the offender. (Programs may deny claims when an award to the victim would "unjustly enrich" the offender.)

Cover all U.S. citizens victimized within its borders, regardless of the victim's state of residency.

Cover victims of crimes within the state that fall under federal jurisdiction. This would include victims of crimes on Indian reservations, military installations, national parks, or other federal lands. (There is no federal or national compensation program that would otherwise cover victims of federal crimes; therefore victims are dependent on the states for this coverage.)

The Role of Police and Victim Services

Professionals who work with victims have a crucial role to play in the process of seeking compensation. Compensation programs depend almost entirely on people working in law enforcement and victim services to let victims know that the programs exist. Compensation programs themselves, with limited staffs devoted mainly to claims processing, simply are not designed to handle initial contacts with individual victims. Compensation programs focus their efforts on providing training and information to victim assistants and police who are in the best position to tell victims about

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compensation opportunities. While programs also distribute brochures, posters, and public service announcements, the best way for a victim to hear about compensation is when she or he is actually facing issues relating to the costs of crime.

For many crime victims, missing the compensation application filing deadline is one of the most painful "second injuries" in the aftermath of victimization. Unfortunately, when this happens, it is almost always due to a failure on the part of a police officer or victim assistant to tell the victim about compensation opportunities. Every person who works in law enforcement and victim services has a professional responsibility to ensure that victims do not miss out on their opportunity to apply. To ensure that this responsibility is met, training about compensation should be an integral part of the program plan of every victim service organization, police department, and prosecutor's office. A wealth of material is available from each state program, including brochures, applications, and information cards, that can help in this effort. Compensation programs welcome the opportunity to meet with individuals and groups, and usually will make staff members available to speak at conferences and meetings.

What specifically can the victim service professional do to make sure that victims get every chance they can to access financial help? Here are some ideas:

Ask the victim about financial losses. Does the victim have medical bills not covered by insurance? Does the victim need help in paying for counseling? Did the victim miss time at work? Remember that financial injury can be just as important to address as the victim's emotional needs.

Tell the victim about compensation. Let him know that there is help. Provide a phone number. Don't assume that someone else has provided this information. Even if the victim has been told before, she may not have retained the information in the initial crisis stage after the victimization. Repeat the information and emphasize the filing deadline to be sure the victim understands.

Help the victim apply for benefits. Give the victim an application and help with its completion. Assist the victim in gathering necessary documentation, such as bills and insurance records. Make sure it is filed in a timely manner.

Follow up with the program. If a question arises in completing the application, call the compensation program to get advice. Once the application is submitted, follow up as necessary to see if you can provide any further help. Sometimes a victim's application is delayed because the program needs more information and can't get the victim to respond. Volunteer to be a go-between.

Follow up with the victim. Are there additional expenses that have come up since the application was submitted? Would it help to call a creditor to let them know that a compensation application is in process? Does the victim need help in responding to a request for more information? Keep in touch with the victim throughout the process to see how you can help.

Be patient. Understand that the compensation program is processing hundreds or thousands of applications and may not be able to concentrate fully and immediately on each individual claim it receives. While many important expenses can be covered, the program may not be able to cover all financial needs. Your

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assistance can go a long way toward shortening the process, and it can also help the victim with the difficult task of waiting for help as the application is reviewed.

Compensation Program Location and Size

Compensation programs are administered by state governments under state law. About a third of the programs are located in departments of public safety or criminal justice planning agencies, and a fifth are in offices of attorneys general. Arizona and Colorado are unique in operating compensation programs through local prosecutors' offices, under state law and coordination. Tennessee’s program originally was court-based, but is now administered by the State Treasury Department, Division of Claims Administration.

Staff sizes tend to be quite small, with thirty-six states operating with fewer than ten people. Only a few states operate with more than twenty employees, California being the largest with over 400 workers. Tennessee’s program is administered by 5 full time equivalent staff members, with appeals heard by 3 commissioners appointed by the Governor. Tennessee’s program receives approximately 2,600 claims annually.

Annual payouts also vary, mostly according to the size of the state. California leads the nation with about $75 million awarded to victims each year, and Texas is next with about $30 million in annual payouts. Nine of the smallest states pay out less than one-half million dollars each year. Tennessee paid approximately $12.7 million in claims last year.

The state compensation programs are represented by the National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards (NACVCB), which promotes an exchange of information and ideas through a network of compensation programs around the country and by various training and technical assistance activities. The NACVCB, which was founded in 1977, provides a strong national voice on all matters affecting state compensation programs before Congress and the Office for Victims of Crime.

Funding of Compensation Programs

State compensation programs receive funding from a variety of sources. However, the large majority of programs get their funds either entirely or primarily from the offenders themselves. Typically, a state will require that any individual convicted of a misdemeanor or felony pay a relatively small fee (usually between $10 and $50) into the crime victim compensation fund. These small assessments build a substantial fund that is then used to make awards to individual victims. Less than a dozen states depend on legislative appropriations to make awards to victims.

Some programs are gaining substantial amounts of additional revenue by recovering money owed to victims through restitution and civil suit judgments. Programs require that when a victim is paid by the program, amounts recovered from the offender through court-ordered criminal restitution or amounts awarded in civil suits be returned to the

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program if those amounts cover expenses already paid for by the program. Some state compensation programs are making special efforts to work with prosecutors, judges, corrections, and probation officials to ensure that restitution is ordered and collected. However, recovery of this nature is a minor source of total program income.

Eligibility Requirements in Tennessee

The victim has been a victim of a crime and suffered a personal injury. A person was injured trying to stop a crime. A person was injured trying to catch a criminal that he/she saw commit a felony.

Felonies are serious crimes. If the person doesn’t know if the crime was a felony, it is advised to ask the District Attorney General or police.

Dependents. A dependent may apply if he/she is a dependent of a victim who died as the result of an eligible crime. A dependent is a “relative” who relies on another person for money or support. Children may be dependents of their parents. Sometimes a husband or wife is a dependent of his or her spouse.

Legal Representative. A person may apply if he/she is a legal representative who helps with a victim’s estate. For example, if a person paid funeral and burial expenses of a victim of crime, he/she may apply.

A “relative” of a deceased victim may apply for grief counseling. Counseling may also be available for a minor (under 18) who witnesses a crime of domestic abuse against their parent or for a sibling or non-offending custodial parent of a minor (child) victim who is sexually abused.

Conditions for Eligibility

In order for a victim to receive Criminal Injury Compensation, he or she must meet the following conditions.

The victim (or the victim's survivors) must report the crime to the proper authorities within 48 hours after the crime was committed, unless the victim was a minor, or unless good cause can be shown for reporting the crime late.

The victim must fully cooperate with law enforcement officials in their investigation and prosecution.

A written claim for benefits must be filed within one year after the date of the criminal act, unless good cause can be established for not doing so.

Telling victims about compensation is the professional obligation of everyone who works in victim assistance and law enforcement. Indeed, providing information to victims about compensation is a mandated responsibility of all victim service programs that receive federal funds through VOCA. And law enforcement officers increasingly are being required by state constitutional amendments to provide information about compensation and other services.

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Training about compensation should be an integral part of the program plan of every victim service organization, police department, and prosecutor's office. A wealth of material is available from each state program, including applications and brochures, and compensation programs welcome the opportunity to talk with and train professionals in victim services and law enforcement (Tennessee Treasurer’s Office, 2005).

WHO IS NOT ELIGIBLE FOR BENEFITS?

A person may not be eligible for benefits under the following circumstances.

The individual did not assist the appropriate authorities in the investigations and prosecution of crimes.

The individual contributed to his or her own victimization in any way, such as participating in the criminal act which led to the injury or death.

An award may not be approved in cases where the compensation would benefit the person who committed the crime for which compensation is sought (Tennessee Treasurer’s Office, 2005).

Compensation Benefits in Tennessee

Benefits may vary depending on the date of the crime. The overall maximum benefit currently available under the Criminal Injury Compensation Program is $30,000.

Benefits are reduced by the amount of any other public or private benefits available, including but not limited to, insurance, workers' compensation benefits, or medical, health or disability benefits which may be available to the victim. Payment by the program is secondary to such other insurance or benefits, regardless of any contract or coverage provision to the contrary, as this is a fund of last resort.

For an extensive review of the statutory law of victim compensation in Tennessee please refer to T.C.A. 9-4-205, 29-13-101 et seq., 40-38-109.

Compensation for Medical or Mental Health Expenses

All reasonable medical expenses arising from a covered injury are reimbursable under the program, up to the maximum award available. Mental health counseling may be available for a victim and, in certain circumstances, for certain relatives of a victim as provided for under program provisions.

Compensation for Temporary Total Disability

Victims whose injuries temporarily prevent them from working are eligible to receive compensation for wages lost due to the injury. Reimbursement for lost

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wages is determined in accordance with the criminal injury law. To be eligible for compensation, victims must be employed immediately prior to the injury. The level of compensation varies according to the victim's salary at the time of the injury and the percentage allowable under the criminal injury law.

Death Benefits

Benefits are available to the dependents of a deceased victim, subject to the maximum amounts available under the program. These awards may include up to $6,000 in reimbursement for funeral and burial expenses and $3,000 in crime scene cleanup expenses, subject to the overall maximum award amount. Mental health counseling expenses may be reimbursable up to $3,500 for relatives of the deceased victim of an eligible crime (as defined in criminal injury law), also subject to the overall award amount.

Compensation for Permanent Partial or Total Disability

The program permits compensation to the victim for permanent total or permanent partial disabilities which result from injuries incurred as the result of a crime. Payment for such disabilities are made in accordance with the criminal injury law and are based on the victim's weekly wage at the time of the injury and other provisions in the law.

Compensation for Pain and Suffering

Persons who are victims of sexually-oriented crimes may be eligible for up to $3,000, if it is determined that the victim experienced pain and suffering as a result of commission of the crime. Tennessee is one of only 2 state programs that provide this benefit.

Compensation for Crime Scene Cleanup

Reimbursement may be considered for expenses incurred to clean a residential homicide, sexual assault or aggravated assault crime scene, provided that the cleaning is necessitated by the crime (or processing of the crime scene) and that the residence is that of the victim or a relative (as defined by criminal injury compensation law). Compensation may be available up to $3,000, subject to the overall maximum award amount.

Compensation for Property Loss or Damage

Reasonable costs may be considered for cleaning, repairing or replacing eyeglasses and hearing aids owned by a victim that were damaged or destroyed by the crime or processing of the crime scene. In addition, reasonable costs may be considered for repairing or replacing personal property owned by the victim or relative of the victim (as defined by statute) that was damaged or destroyed in

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processing the scene of a homicide, sexual assault or aggravated assault if the scene was the residence of the victim or the relative of the victim who owned the property. Otherwise, expenses related to the loss of or damage to any other property are not eligible for reimbursement except in situations where the eligible crime involves loss of or damage to "dental devices," "medically related devices" or "artificial prosthetic devices."

Compensation for Moving Expenses

A victim's reasonable moving expenses, storage fees, and utility transfer fees when a crime occurs in the victim's primary residence may be eligible for reimbursement.

Compensation for Travel to Trial

A claimant's reasonable travel expenses to attend the trial, appellate, post conviction or habeas corpus proceedings of the alleged defendant(s) who committed the crime upon which the claim is based, may be eligible for reimbursement. For these purposes, a claimant may be a victim, guardian of a minor victim, legal representative of an estate (not an attorney who serves as such for a fee), or relative as defined by criminal injury law. No claimant may receive an award if he/she is otherwise eligible for payment of travel expenses by the state or a county as a result of attending the trial as a witness. Travel may not exceed a cumulative total of $1,250 for all claimants and no more than four (4) claimants may receive reimbursement as a result of the "same criminal act."

Compensation for Other Losses

Losses or expenses actually incurred by the victim which are related to the crime but which are not listed above may be approved for reimbursement if deemed appropriate by the Division of Claims Administration.

After a claim for compensation is filed, a copy is forwarded to the appropriate district attorney general who conducts an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the crime. The Division of Claims Administration reviews the claim and may ask the claimant/victim to provide additional information. Upon receipt of a completed claim form and documentation from the claimant/victim, as well as receipt of the District Attorney's investigation and recommendations, the Division of Claims Administration determines if the claim is compensable and issues payment as allowed by statute.

If a minor child is eligible for compensation, the Division may pay the minor's funds to the Juvenile Court to be deposited into an interest-bearing account until the child turns 18 years of age (Tennessee Treasurer’s Office, 2005).

EMERGENCY AWARDS

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The Division may make an emergency payment of up to $500 if a delay would cause an individual undue hardship. (This is handled on a case by case basis and depends on the victim’s circumstances.)

APPLICATION PROCEDURES

Victim or dependants of a homicide victim must file a claim with the Division of Claims Administrator within one year after the crime happened or within one year after the victim died. Claim forms are available from the District Attorney General offices and the Division of Claims Administration. The form and the program information are available in Spanish. The form, instructions, and questions and answers are also available online from the State of Tennessee web site.

The applicant must fill out the application form and have it notarized. The form must be mailed to the Tennessee Department of Treasury, Division of Claims Administration. The address is on the form.

The form asks about the crime and the individual’s injuries. It also asks about the individual’s expenses.

An individual must have written documentation of his/her expenses. Written documentation means copies of bills from doctors, hospitals, drugstores, funeral homes and itemized receipts for other needed services.

No award will be made unless the victim or claimant had a minimum out-of-pocket loss of $100 or lost at least two weeks wages due to the injury. An individual’s employer must provide written documentation of his/her lost wages.

The form asks the individual if any of his/her expenses were paid by medical insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, workers compensation, Social Security, the Veterans Administration or other sources. An individual must agree to subrogate the State of Tennessee if the individual receives payments from this fund and from another source. Subrogate means that if an individual receives a payment from this fund, he/she will pay back to the state any money for expenses that he/she received from other sources.

The applicant must agree to cooperate with state officials if he/she sues the person who hurt them. If an individual receives money from the fund and the individual decides to sue the person who hurt him/her, that person must keep the District Attorney General and the Division of Claims informed of the suit. An individual must send a copy of all court documents to the District Attorney General and the Division of Claims.

An individual can fill out the form by on his/her own or get a lawyer to help him/her. The fund will pay an attorney’s fee based on statutory provisions without subtracting it from any benefit awarded the individual.

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What happens next? The Division of Claims will review an individual’s form and will ask the District Attorney General to submit a report about the crime. The Division will try to make a decision within 90 days. However, the decision may be delayed if a trial concerning the criminal act is in progress or about to start. If this happens, the claim may be transferred to the Claims Commission (Tennessee Treasurer’s Office, 2005).

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SEXUAL ASSAULT FORENSIC EXAM (SAFE) REIMBURSEMENT

Tennessee’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund can also provide payment for a sexual assault forensic medical exam for collection of evidence. Pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 29-13-118, a victim of a sexual assault cannot be billed for charges related to a sexual assault forensic medical examination. This applies for certain sexually-oriented crimes occurring on or after July 1, 2007.

A medical facility, SANE program, child advocacy center, rape crisis center, or similar provider that performs these specific forensic services should bill the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund directly. (This is unlike how claims for victims’ compensation are handled.) This SAFE reimbursement does not positively or negatively impact a victim’s compensation claim in any way.

For an eligible bill, a provider’s reimbursement is limited to $750.00 and the Fund's payment must be considered payment in full. Payment for this kind of expense is available regardless of whether the victim reports the crime or cooperates with law enforcement. A form has been developed exclusively for filing these requests for reimbursement. It contains all the necessary procedural information for a provider to file and must be accompanied by an itemized bill for services rendered.

Promising Practices

COVERAGE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIMS

A number of compensation programs are striving to provide benefits to more victims of domestic violence and sexual assault by liberalizing rules, being more flexible in interpreting requirements, and adding benefits to meet these victims' specific needs.

Requirements that victims report to police and cooperate in investigation and prosecution of crimes can be problematic for many victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. While nearly all programs still require some to report to law enforcement, a few programs, such as New York and Idaho, may accept the victim's seeking of a temporary restraining order as sufficient to meet the reporting requirement. A number of programs also have become more flexible in waiving cooperation requirements if the victim's health or safety may be jeopardized.

Programs also are searching for ways to meet more of the needs that victims of domestic violence and sexual assault may have. Some can pay for moving expenses if the victim needs to relocate. Some states now can cover child witnesses to domestic violence, even when the child was not directly under any threat of violence. A few, like New Jersey, Texas, Vermont, and Wyoming, can even replace income the victim received from the offender if that economic support is no longer forthcoming. Alabama has instituted a special process, independent of its regular application procedures, to pay for a number of miscellaneous expenses that domestic violence victims may incur.

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FUND RECOVERY

Some compensation programs are working closely with prosecutors, judges, corrections departments, and probation and parole officials to hold offenders accountable for repaying to the program the amounts it awards to the victims of those offenders. These programs make sure that prosecutors are informed about awards to victims, so that restitution can be sought and ordered in those cases, and if possible, paid directly back to the compensation program itself. Some programs follow up with various officials responsible for enforcing restitution orders to monitor compliance and urge continuing enforcement. Some compensation programs also monitor civil suits filed by victims against offenders, and communicate with attorneys representing the victims to ensure that any amounts recovered for expenses paid by the compensation program are returned to the program. Alabama, California, and Iowa are examples of programs that are particularly aggressive in recovering funds from offenders.

ADVISORY COMMITTEES

Recognizing the importance of working closely with victims and their representatives to define and resolve issues, a number of compensation programs have established advisory committees composed of various "constituent groups" to help in formulating policies and improving procedures. Pennsylvania, for example, has representatives of domestic violence and sexual assault victims as well as police and prosecutors on its broad-based committee, which has examined the program's statute, rules, and procedures to help make the program more responsive to victims. Advisory groups in Washington State and the District of Columbia are other good examples. An advisory group in Ohio recently helped the program revise its application to make it more user-friendly.

CRISIS RESPONSE

A number of compensation programs are working closely with disaster-preparedness officials and victim service programs to ensure that they can be part of a coordinated response to mass victimizations. School shootings in Arkansas and Oregon found compensation programs directly involved in ensuring that victims and their families had quick access to financial assistance. The Oklahoma compensation program has helped numerous victims and families who have suffered financial losses resulting from the bombing of the Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City.

TRAINING TO IMPROVE AWARENESS OF COMPENSATION BENEFITS

In an effort to increase awareness and knowledge about compensation benefits for victims of crime, and to stimulate greater involvement of victim service professionals in assisting victims to apply for compensation benefits, many state compensation programs have initiated and developed trainings for this purpose. For example, Pennsylvania has developed an extensive series of trainings called "connections" trainings, bringing together victim advocates, police officers, prosecutors, and community leaders. These regional training programs emphasize the need for collaboration among criminal justice

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system personnel and other allied victim service professionals in ensuring that victims' needs for information and assistance in applying for compensation benefits are comprehensively met.

Other states that have initiated such training include New Mexico, which offers both basic and advanced training on compensation on a monthly basis, and Florida, which requires all VOCA sub grantees to send personnel to a multi-day basic training that includes several hours on crime victims' compensation.

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Adapted from the National Victim Assistance Academy Textbook, 2002; Chapter 5, Section 3.

References

Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). 1997. Performance Reports, State Compensation Program. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

National Association Of Crime Victims Compensation Boards (NACVCB). 1999. Program Directory 1999. Alexandria, VA.

Additional References:

Tennessee Treasurer’s Office, 2005. http://www.treasury.state.tn.us/about.htm

CHAPTER 4

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Describe the seven phases of the criminal justice process.

Identify at least two key victim rights in each phase of the criminal justice process.

Describe at least two key distinctions between federal, juvenile, military, and tribal justice systems.


NAVIGATING THE JUSTICE SYSTEMS: CRIMINAL, FEDERAL, JUVENILE, MILITARY AND TRIBAL

Christine N. Edmunds, Anne K. Seymour, and Mario T. Gaboury*

In the United States, there are many “systems of justice” that seek to redress the harm caused to crime victims and hold offenders accountable for their actions. These include the criminal, federal, juvenile, military, and tribal justice systems. State-level criminal justice systems are the primary focus of this chapter, since the vast majority of cases are adjudicated within states through their respective criminal justice systems. Some of the basic elements of and distinctions among these different justice systems will be explored, emphasizing the rights for crime victims in each justice system. One additional justice system that may provide some redress for victims, but which is not discussed here as it is outside the criminal system, is the civil justice system. Information about civil justice for victims may be obtained from the Office for Victims of Crime (1998).

For crime victims, the criminal justice system can be extremely complex. Depending upon the state in which they live, they may have a wide range of rights that define and protect their interests as victims of crime. It is critical that victim advocates and crime victims understand the criminal justice process and victims’ rights at each phase of the process.

This chapter also describes the basic elements of four other key justice systems in the United States: federal, juvenile, military, and tribal. Most of the core components of each justice system directly relate to the basic phases of state criminal justice systems. The legal language and the procedures are often different and may confuse victim advocates and crime victims, but most often the core components remain the same. However, it is important to emphasize that rights for crime victims vary greatly across these justice systems.

For example, the federal criminal justice system operates under a set of rights and protections for victims of crime, dating back to the initial passage of the Federal Victim

* The authors of this chapter are Christine N. Edmunds, Deerfield Beach, FL; Anne K. Seymour, Justice Solutions, Washington, DC; and Mario T. Gaboury, Ph.D., JD, University of New Haven, CT.

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and Witness Protection Act of 1982. These rights were recently underscored by the Justice for All Act of 2002, which includes the Crime Victims’ Rights Act of 2004. In the military justice system, many recent military directives have provided rights and services for victims of crime. All states have juvenile justice systems, where cases are prosecuted against minors. Among the greatest changes in victims’ rights over the past decade have been those that have provided rights for crime victims of juvenile offenders. Many states have enacted laws to ensure that the rights of victims of juvenile offences mirror the rights of adult offenders, thus ensuring that, regardless of the age of the offender, crime victims often receive corresponding rights. Finally, in the many tribal justice systems, victims’ rights also vary greatly, depending upon whether the crime constitutes an offense that is prosecuted by the federal justice system or the tribal justice system.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

The criminal justice system is our society’s method of addressing crime and promoting public safety. It is designed to prevent and respond to crime; identify, apprehend, and prosecute persons charged with crime; and incarcerate and supervise convicted offenders with efforts to rehabilitate them and hold them accountable for their criminal actions. The criminal justice system is a sequential process that includes at least seven key phases:

1. Law enforcement.

2. Prosecution.

3. Judiciary and courts.

4. Probation.

5. Institutional corrections.

6. Parole.

7. Appellate courts.

While the agencies in each phase have specific roles and responsibilities in promoting public and victim safety, often their roles are shared and require ongoing cooperation among agencies to ensure effective operations and collaborative responses to victims’ rights and needs.

The professionals involved in the criminal justice process have relationships with and responsibilities to victims and witnesses, alleged and convicted offenders, and communities that are concerned about individual and public safety. They are responsible

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for protecting individual rights under state and federal constitutions and laws, and for implementing procedures that are fair and equitable to all parties involved.

It is important to note that throughout the seven phases of the criminal justice system, all justice agencies have a role and responsibility to:

Provide information about and referrals to available crime victim services.

In cases involving violent crime, provide information about the Crime Victim Compensation Program and professionals who can help victims of violent crime complete an application to cover out-of-pocket financial losses directly resulting from the crime.

Phase 1: Law Enforcement

Law enforcement agencies operate at many levels, which can include:

Local (village/town, city, or other municipal police agencies).

County (County Police Department or Sheriff’s Office, which often includes the county jail).

State (highway patrol and state police).

Federal, military, and tribal law enforcement.

Higher education (police forces on college and university campuses).

Law enforcement agencies work to prevent and respond to crime and protect individuals and property. They are the first responders when a crime is reported by a victim, witness, or third party with knowledge that a crime occurred.

Within the law enforcement segment of the criminal justice system, the range of rights for crime victims may include:

Notifying victims of their rights as a victim of crime.

Providing the name(s) and contact information for the law enforcement official(s) assigned to the case.

Notifying victims of the status of the case and alleged offender (such as the arrest of a defendant, a bail hearing, and a defendant’s release on bail).

Providing information about protective measures, such as protective or stay-away orders that prevent the defendant from contacting the victim, and how to obtain such an order.

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Helping victims whose property is taken as evidence to secure prompt return of the property.

Phase 2: Prosecution

When law enforcement has investigated a crime and a suspect has been arrested, the case is then referred to a prosecutor. The prosecutor is an attorney who works on behalf of the citizens of a state (or acts in this capacity for federal, military, or tribal justice systems). The prosecutor decides whether police have collected enough evidence against a suspect and what crime(s) to charge. The prosecutor can negotiate the charges and sentences with the defendant and the defendant’s lawyer. Such negotiations may result in a plea agreement. If the case goes to trial, the prosecutor prepares and presents the case. At sentencing, the prosecutor gives the judge information, facilitates the victim impact statement and restitution order, and makes recommendations for the sentence.

Alleged offenders may be charged for either misdemeanor or felony offenses:

Misdemeanor: a crime that is less serious than a felony and for which the punishment can be imprisonment for one year or less, usually in a jail or other local facility, and/or a fine.

Felony: a serious crime potentially punishable by state or federal prison time.

Crime victims’ rights will vary, depending on whether the crime charged is a misdemeanor or felony.

The prosecutor represents the interests of the state at all hearings throughout the trial process. While the prosecutor does not directly represent the victim, per se, he or she should take into consideration the victims’ needs and concerns, inform them of their rights under law, and help them exercise these rights.

Within the prosecution segment of the criminal justice system, the range of rights for crime victims may include:


Notifying victims of the status of the case and any related hearings or activities.

Informing victims of any rights they have to attend and/or participate in such hearings as a victim and/or witness.

Notifying victims of the status and location of the alleged offender (such as detention and release into the community on bail).

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Providing information about victims’ right to protection and assisting them with direct help or referrals to obtain protective or stay-away orders that prevent the defendant (or others) from contacting them.

If victims have the right to a speedy trial, ensuring that their needs are requested and respected.

Intervening with employers, creditors, and/or schools upon request.

If any of a victim’s personal property has been taken as evidence for the trial, providing victims with information about how to get their property returned within a reasonable time frame.

Consulting with crime victims to receive their input before any plea agreement.

If there is a conviction:

Informing victims of their right to complete a victim impact statement before sentencing that will help the court understand the physical, emotional, financial, and spiritual effects the crime has had on them and their loved ones.

Informing victims of their right to restitution and giving them information about how to document their financial losses resulting from the crime so a request for restitution can be made as a condition of the sentence.

Providing victims with information about the conditions of the sentence; informing them of the agency that will be incarcerating or supervising the convicted offender; and providing contact information for victim notification, restitution, and other assistance.

Phase 3: Judiciary and CourtsIn the criminal justice system, judges are responsible for many important activities. Most critical of all, the judge must make fair and unbiased decisions. A judge cannot take sides in a criminal case. He or she cannot have any personal contact with the victim or members of the victim’s family while the case is ongoing. The judge cannot meet with an attorney, victim, witness, defendant, juror, or any other person involved in the case unless the attorneys for both sides are present.

The judge oversees all hearings throughout the trial process. He or she decides whether or not a defendant can be released on bail; who should be appointed as defense counsel; how to handle motions on legal issues; and what evidence to admit in a case, using the law, rules of evidence, and rules of procedure. The judge also controls the timing of the case by setting deadlines and holding the prosecution and defense to those deadlines. Victims and their families often want their case to finish as soon as possible; however, many things can happen to slow the progress of a case.

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After a trial that results in a conviction or after a defendant pleads “guilty” or “no contest” to a felony offense, the judge schedules and presides over a sentencing hearing. Before the sentencing hearing, a pre-sentence investigation (PSI) report is prepared for the judge that includes a wide range of information about the convicted offender. Important information about the victimsuch as the impact of the crime on the victim and his or her family and any financial losses that can be addressed by a restitution orderis also included in the PSI report.

At the sentencing hearing, both the prosecution and the defense can call witnesses to talk about the circumstances of the crime, the effect of the crime on the victim and the community, and the prospects for the offender to be rehabilitated.

Victims have the right to be present at the sentencing hearing and to provide the court with a victim impact statement that describes the physical, emotional, financial, and spiritual effects of the crime.

The judge will make a decision about sentencing based upon the facts of the case, state law, and any sentencing guidelines relevant to the jurisdiction. The victim can ask for a copy of the sentencing order, which includes all conditions of the sentence ordered by the judge.

Judges are responsible for ensuring a range of rights for crime victims, including:

Ensuring that victims are informed of their rights.

Ordering restitution for crime victims as part of the sentence, regardless of whether the defendant was adjudicated through a plea agreement or trial and regardless of whether the offender is incarcerated or placed on probation.

Providing safe and secure waiting areas for crime victims attending court proceedings.

Taking into consideration victim and community safety in any pretrial release hearings.

Upon request from the victim, including a no-contact provision as part of any pretrial release order, including bail, bond, or release on personal recognizance that states that the accused or defendant shall not harass, intimidate, threaten, or harm the victim or the victim’s family.

Requesting that prosecuting attorneys demonstrate that reasonable efforts were made to confer with the victim before determining plea agreements.

Ensuring speedy trials for special populations of crime victims (such as the elderly or children) in states that have passed such laws.

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Allowing crime victims and their families to be present at court proceedings in states that have enacted laws to afford victims this right.

Allowing victims to be heard at sentencing though victim impact statements.

In the post-sentencing period of a criminal case, correctional agencies are responsible for managing convicted offenders in the community or in institutions. Sometimes county jails are also considered part of corrections, although they are used primarily to detain defendants after arrest and during the trial.

There are two different types of correctional agencies:

Community corrections, which include probation and parole supervision of offenders in the community, as well as paroling authorities that make decisions about whether to allow an incarcerated offender to return to the community.

Institutional corrections, which include prisons and, in cases of prison overcrowding or jurisdictional discretion, county jails.

The purposes of corrections are to promote public safety through the effective management of offenders; reduce the risk of repeat criminal behavior through incarceration and community supervision; promote positive changes in offenders’ behavior; and ensure that victims of offenders under any form of correctional supervision are treated with respect and provided with rights in accordance with law and services to help them.

Phase 4: ProbationProbation is the single most common criminal sanction in the United States today. The probation agency is responsible for protecting the community; maintaining public safety through the supervision of offenders and enforcement functions that uphold the law; and providing guidance and supervision to offenders that can help them become, and remain, law-abiding citizens.

The probation department supervises offenders and monitors their conduct to make sure they are complying with all conditions of supervision. The department may provide or facilitate services to offenders such as job training and placement, education, and alcohol or other drug treatment. If convicted offenders fail to comply with their probation conditions, the probation officer can arrest them with or without a warrant. The probation department is also responsible for maintaining contact with the offender’s victim(s) and helping them exercise their rights to notification, protection, victim impact statements, and restitution.

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When a convicted offender is sentenced to probation (which is sometimes called community supervision), a probation officer will conduct an assessment to help determine the most effective supervision plan.

Within the probation segment of the criminal justice system, the range of rights for crime victims may include:

Notifying victims of their rights as victims of crime; the name and contact information of the probation officer who is supervising the offender; and the status of probation supervision and any related hearings or activities (such as termination or expiration of the sentence, technical violations, or revocation).

Notifying victims of the status of the probationer (such as home confinement, community supervision, or detention).

Notifying victims if the offender requests to serve his or her probation sentence in another state and the state that will be supervising the offender’s probation. This right is enforced by the Interstate Compact, through which all 50 states agree to notify victims if their offenders ask to serve probation in a state other than the one in which the crime was committed.

Informing victims of any rights they have to attend, participate in, and/or testify at hearings (such as technical violations or revocation hearings) as a victim or witness and facilitating their attendance and participation.

Providing victims with information about their right to protection and assisting them with referrals to obtain protective or stay-away orders that prevent the probationer from contacting them.

Informing victims about the pre-sentence investigation process and their role in providing critical information that will contribute to the sentencing recommendation.

Informing victims of their right to complete a victim impact statement before sentencing that will help the court understand the physical, emotional, financial, and spiritual effects the crime has had on them and their loved ones and to have their statement included in the pre-sentence investigation (PSI) report to the court.

Informing victims of their right to restitution; providing them with information about how to document their losses resulting from the crime so a request for restitution can be made as a condition of the sentence; and monitoring restitution payments made by the offender to the court, which will be provided to victims when they are received.

Phase 5: Institutional CorrectionsThe state Department of Corrections is responsible for incarcerating offenders who have been convicted of a felony crime. (In cases involving federal, military and tribal courts, respective correctional institutions are used.) Through a variety of classification, risk

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management, education, and treatment programs, institutional corrections can effectively manage inmates in a secure environment and contribute to the overall safety of crime victims and the public.

Some inmates will choose to serve their entire sentence behind bars, which means that when their sentences expire, they will not be subject to any supervision in the community. Victims of crime are entitled to receive information about the status of such offenders while they are still in prison and when they are released. Other inmates will be eligible for parole consideration prior to the expiration of the sentence handed down by the court. In such cases, victims are entitled to be notified about any possible parole release hearings and to provide input before or during such hearings.

Information about the name, location, custody level, and first possible date for considering release of all inmates is available online to crime victims and the public in most states through their Department of Corrections Web site, which includes contact information if victims have any questions or concerns or need additional information about an inmate’s status.

Within the institutional corrections segment of the criminal justice system, the range of rights for crime victims may include:


Notifying victims of the location, status, and custody level of the inmate, including notification if the inmate escapes from secure custody.

Notifying victims of contact information for the institution where the inmate is housed.

Providing information about a victim’s right to protection, assisting them with referrals to obtain “no contact” orders that prevent the inmate from contacting them, and informing them of measures they should take to document and address any unwanted contact from an inmate.

If the sentence included an order of restitution, (in some states) informing victims of their right to receive restitution payments from the inmate through deposits in a trust account and/or wages received from work.

Phase 6: ParoleWhen inmates are released from prison, they are reintegrated into the community through parole. Parole is the supervised release of prisoners to the community, with conditions attached to the release that are designed to protect the safety of the public, as well as the victim(s) of that parolee. Parole is considered part of the prison sentence that is served in the community. If a defendant is sentenced to “life without possibility of parole,” that

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means he or she will never be eligible for parole supervision and will serve the entire sentence in prison.

The paroling authority includes a statutorily designated number of members that are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Governor. In many states, there is a designated position on the paroling authority that must be filled by a victim/survivor of crime. The paroling authority makes decisions about whether to grant parole to inmates; monitors the control of parolees who are released to community supervision; discharges offenders from parole when they have completed the terms and conditions of parole supervision; and, in some states, makes parole revocation decisions if a parolee has violated the terms and conditions of parole.

Victim Input at Parole

Victims of crime are allowed to provide information to the paroling authority about how the crime has affected them since it occurredphysically, emotionally, financially, and spiritually. This is called a victim impact statement (VIS). It can be provided to the parole board before the hearing in a written statement or through a personal interview with a member of the parole board; before or at the hearing in an audiotape, videotape, or DVD format; in person at the actual parole hearing by testifying before the paroling authority or providing a written statement that will be read at the hearing; or (in some states) through the use of teleconferencing technology that enables personal testimony without requiring the victim to be present at the hearing.

The Paroling Authority and Victims’ Rights

Within the paroling authority segment of the criminal justice system, the range of rights for crime victims may include:

Notifying victims of their rights as victims of crime.

Notifying victims of their right to attend or participate in paroling authority hearings.

Providing victims with information to exercise their right to submit a victim impact statement to the paroling authority.

Providing victims with information about their right to protection and assisting them with referrals to obtain protective or no-contact orders from law enforcement that prevent the inmate or parolee from contacting them.

Notifying victims of the decision of the paroling authority (whether the offender is denied parole and returned to prison or released on parole to the community), and the status of the offender (including when he or she will be released from prison).

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If the offender is released on parole supervision, providing victims with contact information for the supervising agency and officer.

In some states, if a parolee violates the conditions of parole supervision, notifying victims of such violations and providing them with the opportunity to attend and/or have input at any parole revocation hearing.

Parole Supervision

When an inmate is released on parole, he or she is supervised and monitored by a parole officer or agent. Parole supervision centers on the officer’s contact with the offender and his or her family, employers, friends, and counselor, as well as with the victim of the crime. The parole officer or agent can obtain a great deal of information from these sources about whether or not the parolee is complying with the conditions of parole established by the paroling authority through a variety of strategies (see the Probation section of this chapter).

Victims of crime should be aware of the conditions of parole supervision and the name and contact information for the supervising parole officer or agent. If a victim is aware of any violations of the conditions of parole, these should be reported immediately to the parole officer and, in cases of emergency, to local law enforcement.

Parole Supervision and Victims’ Rights

Within the parole supervision segment of the criminal justice system, the range of rights for crime victims may include:

Notifying victims of their rights as victims of crime.

Notifying victims of the name and contact information for the parole officer or agent who is supervising the offender.

Notifying victims of the status and conditions of parole supervision and any related hearings or activities (such as early discharge, expiration of parole, or revocation).

Informing victims of any rights they have to attend, participate in, and/or testify at parole revocation hearings as a victim or witness and facilitating their attendance and participation.

Notifying victims of the status of the parolee.

Notifying victims if the offender requests to be supervised on parole in another state and the state that will be supervising the offender’s probation. (This right is enforced by the Interstate Compact, through which all 50 states agree to notify victims if their offenders ask to serve their parole in a state other than the one where the crime was committed.)

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Providing information about a victim’s right to protection and assisting victims with referrals to obtain protective or stay-away orders that prevent the parolee from contacting them.

Phase 7: Appellate CourtsUpon conviction in criminal cases, the convicted offender has constitutional and other legal rights to appeal. An appeal is a request by the losing party to have the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court review the decisions made in the trial court. Many of the issues raised on appeal concern how the judge managed the trial. The issues are technical and usually do not question the defendant’s guilt but rather the procedures used in the court process. For instance, there may be questions about whether the judge should have allowed certain evidence to be presented or whether the judge gave improper instructions to the jury.

An appellate brief is sent to the state Attorney General by the defendant. In reviewing a case, the appellate court considers only the written record of what occurred at the trial. No new evidence or testimony is given. Only in a small number of cases are oral arguments scheduled. An oral argument is a brief opportunity for each party’s attorney to persuade the court and answer any questions. Victims do not have to testify during the appellate process.

Ultimately, the appellate court’s decision will:

Agree with the lower court and uphold the previous decision.

Disagree with the lower court and overrule the previous decision.

Agree in part, disagree in part, and send the case back for the lower court to resolve certain questions.

In 27 states, direct assistance to victims is provided by a designated victim assistance unit in the Attorney General’s office; in eight states, victim assistance is provided by another unit in the office. While each state’s laws vary, in general victims have the right to be notified that a case is being appealed; notified of the time, date, and location of an appeals hearing; and notified about the status and outcome of an appeal.

FEDERAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Federal and nonfederal courts exist in separate justice systems. Victims of federal crime can be people who are victimized on federal land (Indian reservations, national parks, etc.) or victims of federal crime (e.g., bank robbery). Victims of crime in Indian country

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may have access to tribal victim assistance programs. OVC currently funds 30 such programs, which provide a wide range of services on reservations to victims of crime.

Crimes committed in Indian country may be prosecuted in both federal and tribal court, depending on the nature of the crime and whether the victim and/or perpetrator are Native American. Crimes committed in Indian country by non-Indians against non-Indians are usually under the jurisdiction of the state court.

Federal crimes are prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The main person who deals with federal victims is the federal Victim/Witness Coordinator. If you are involved in a case where there is federal jurisdiction, it is vital to coordinate with the federal Victim/Witness Coordinator, located within the U.S. Attorney’s Office in your jurisdiction.

Due to the large number of cases handled by most U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, it can take months or even years for the office to accept or decline a case for prosecution. If the case is also subject to tribal jurisdiction, a victim may need to deal with two different court systems. Victim service providers working with tribal victims need to be familiar with federal court procedures as well as tribal court procedures.

Many federal crimes have multiple victims. Terrorism prosecutions, such as Timothy McVeigh’s trial, can involve hundreds of victims. The Zachariah Moussai case, for example, involved thousands of victims and witnesses. Financial crimes can also involve hundreds of victims.

The main agency involved in providing support for programs that deal with victims of federal crime is the Office for Victims of Crime, Federal Assistance Division (FAD). The FAD is responsible for providing advocacy, leadership, and policy development guidance to federal agencies and Indian tribes to assist them in developing direct services for victims of federal crime. The FAD also coordinates services with other elements of the Federal Government, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Executive Office for United States Attorneys, Department of the Treasury, Department of State, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Department of Defense and the military services, the Postal Inspection Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and other federal agencies with criminal justice responsibilities. The staff assists the OVC Director in monitoring agency compliance with the victims’ issues contained in federal statutes and the accompanying Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance (AG Guidelines). The FAD also:

Identifies service needs of Federal crime victims and recommends strategies and program activities to address or improve the needed services.

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Develops training and technical assistance programs for staff of federal law enforcement agencies, U.S. Attorneys’ offices, and American Indian/Alaska Native organizations to enhance their capacity to respond to crime victims.

Funds demonstration programs with federal agencies with criminal justice responsibilities and Indian tribes/tribal organizations to develop promising practices that can be replicated by other agencies and tribes or tribal organizations.

Administers the discretionary grant program of the Children’s Justice Act Partnerships for Indian Communities, which makes grant awards available to Indian tribes to improve the investigation, prosecution, and handling of child abuse cases.

Administers the Tribal Victim Assistance (TVA) discretionary grant program (an expansion of the former Victim Assistance in Indian Country grant program), which makes grant awards available to Indian tribes and tribal organizations to establish victim assistance programs in remote areas of Indian Country.

Administers the Counseling for Crime Victims in Indian Country by Faith-Based Organizations. The purpose of this initiative is to support the provisions of faith-based counseling services to crime victims and to support the creation of collaborative models for local victim assistance programs to join with faith-based organizations, spiritual leaders, and traditional healers in American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities.

Encourages coordination between victim services provided by federal agencies and victim services offered by the states’ victim compensation programs and victim assistance providers.

Encourages coordination between victim assistance programs in the military services, the FBI, and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to provide resources and improve services to victims of crime on military installations.

Monitors the law enforcement agencies of the Department of Justice, the Department’s Litigating Divisions, and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for compliance with the Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance (AG Guidelines).

Monitors Federal law enforcement agencies outside the Department of Justice to encourage adoption of guidelines consistent with the federal guidelines for fair treatment of crime victims and witnesses.

Analyzes, reviews, and comments on proposed federal legislation regarding crime victims. (OVC, n.d.)

Federal crimes are prosecuted in one of the 94 United States Attorneys’ Offices throughout the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

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Major Federal Laws Affecting Federal Crime Victims

Several significant laws affecting federal victims of crime have been enacted in the past two decades. Six major federal laws that directly affect victims in federal courts are:

The Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982.

The Crime Control Act of 1990.

The Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.

The Mandatory Victims Restitution Act of 1996.

The Victims’ Rights Clarification Act of 1997.

The Crime Victims’ Rights Act of 2004.

The Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982 (VWPA) was enacted Ato enhance and protect the necessary role of crime victims and witnesses in the criminal justice process; to ensure that the federal government does all that is possible within the limits of available resources to assist victims and witnesses of crime without infringing on the constitutional rights of the defendants; and to provide a model for legislation for state and local governments@ (AG Guidelines, 1983). The VWPA was considered landmark legislation in 1982 because, for the first time, basic rights for victims of federal crimes were established.

The Crime Control Act of 1990 contained a wealth of new legislation and amendments to the existing federal criminal code affecting the treatment of crime victims, including children.

Title V, the Victims= Rights and Restitution Act of 1990, in effect created a Federal Crime Victims= Bill of Rights and codified services that should be available to victims.

Title II, the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990, contained extensive amendments to the federal rules of criminal procedure affecting the treatment of child victims and witnesses in the federal system, such as allowing the use of closed-circuit television and videotaped depositions of children.

Title XXXI, Bankruptcy and Restitution, protected victims by preventing drunk driving offenders from discharging debts arising from offenses under Chapter 13 of the bankruptcy code.

The enactment of a Federal Crime Victims’ Bill of Rights was historic and paralleled legislative activity in the states. Section 502 of the Act mandated that federal officials . . . shall make their best efforts to see that victims of crime are accorded the following rights:

1. The right to be treated with fairness and with respect for the victim’s dignity and privacy.

2. The right to be reasonably protected from the accused offender.

3. The right to be notified of court proceedings.

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4. The right to be present at all court proceedings related to the offense, unless the court determines that testimony by the victim would be materially affected if the victim heard other testimony at trial.

5. The right to confer with the attorney for the Government in the case.

6. The right to restitution.

7. The right to information about the conviction, sentencing, imprisonment, and release of the offender (42 U.S.C. Section 10606(b)).

Four years later, Congress enacted comprehensive crime legislation entitled the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Crime Act). In addition to the establishment of new victims’ rights, and the passage of the historic Violence Against Women Act contained within it, the Crime Act encouraged the federal government to form partnerships with state and local communities. The specific rights and services contained in the 1994 Crime Act include:

Notice and payment for testing and counseling for sexually transmitted diseases for sexual assault victims.

The right of a domestic violence victim to be heard at a prerelease hearing of the defendant.

Allocution at sentencing for victims of crimes of violence and sexual abuse.

Mandatory restitution for the following victims:

Domestic violence. Sexual assault. Sexually exploited and other abused children. Telemarketing fraud victims.

The Mandatory Victims Restitution Act of 1996 amends the federal criminal code to require judges to order mandatory restitution for victims of violent crime, certain property offenses, fraud, and consumer product tampering. Restitution may now be granted to victims who are not victims of the specific offense resulting in conviction, provided that the parties agree to that in the plea agreement. In addition, procedures for issuing and enforcing restitution orders were significantly expanded under the Act. Full implementation of these new provisions will bring new importance to restitution in federal criminal proceedings.

This Act expands the rights of victims to attend and observe trial, stating that victims shall not be excluded from the trial of the defendant because the victim may, during the sentencing hearing, make a statement or present any information in relation to the sentence. This right is further expanded in capital cases to deny exclusion in cases where the victim may, during the sentencing hearing, testify as to the effect of the offense on the victim and the victim’s family.

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The Crime Victims’ Rights Act, Section 3771 (a) of the Justice for All Act of 2004 (H.R. 5107, Public Law 108-405), amends the federal criminal code to grant crime victims specified rights, including:

(1) The right to be reasonably protected from the accused.

(2) The right to reasonable, accurate, and timely notice of any public court proceeding or any parole proceeding involving the crime, or of any release or escape of the accused.

(3) The right not to be excluded from any such public court proceeding, unless the court, after receiving clear and convincing evidence, determines that testimony by the victim would be materially altered if the victim heard other testimony at that proceeding.

(4) The right to be reasonably heard at any public proceeding in the district court involving release, plea, sentencing, or any parole proceeding.

(5) The reasonable right to confer with the attorney for the Government in the case.

(6) The right to full and timely restitution as provided in law.

(7) The right to proceedings free from unreasonable delay.

(8) The right to be treated with fairness and with respect for the victim’s dignity and privacy.

The Act adds new victims’ rights and modifies some existing rights. Most notable is the new right of victims to be reasonably heard at any public proceeding involving release, plea, or sentencing. The Act also requires prosecutors to advise victims that they can seek the advice of an attorney with respect to the rights established by the Act. Although the Act does not provide grounds for a new trial, it allows victims to file motions to reopen a plea or a sentence in certain circumstances.

An OVC Fact Sheet about the Justice for All Act and Crime Victims’ Rights Act can be accessed at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/factshts/justforall/welcome.html.

2005 Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance

The 2005 Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance facilitates the critical work of the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of crime victims. It incorporates the many provisions for crime victims’ rights and remedies that have been enacted since the publication of the last edition of the Guidelines in 1995, including the Justice for All Act of 2004. It also includes new guidance on assisting the victims of certain crimes,

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such as human trafficking and identity theft, which may give rise to unique challenges. According to U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales:

We at the Department of Justice have a duty not only to uphold the rights of individuals who are accused or convicted of a crime but to protect the rights of the victims of crime. Dedicated professionals throughout the Department of Justice work to vindicate the rights of crime victims under law, to offer them aid through the Crime Victims’ Fund, and generally to ease their interaction with the criminal justice system. Crime victims deserve no less (2005, p. 2).

Resources for Federal Victims of CrimeThe OVC’s Federal Assistance Division (FAD) is responsible for providing advocacy, leadership, and policy development guidance to federal agencies and Indian tribes to assist them in developing direct services for victims of federal crime. FAD also coordinates services with other federal agencies with criminal justice and victim-related responsibilities (including the federal agencies described below as well as the Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, agencies of the Department of the Treasury, Department of Defense and the military services, the Postal Inspection Service, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, among others). Information about OVC FAD and links to other relevant federal agencies can be accessed at: www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc.

Each U.S. Attorney’s Office has a victim-witness coordinator who can provide information to victims of federal crime or serve as a resource regarding the federal criminal justice system. A direct link to each U.S. Attorney’s Office can be accessed at: www.usdoj.gov/usao/offices/index.html.

In January 2002, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) established an Office of Victim Assistance (OVA) at its headquarters. The mission of OVA is to ensure that victims of crimes investigated by the FBI are afforded the opportunity to receive the services and notification required by federal law and the Attorney General Guidelines on Victim and Witness Assistance. The FBI has 112 full-time Victim Specialist positions to assist victims of federal crime that are investigated by the division or field office where they work. Information about the FBI OVA can be accessed at www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/victimassist/home.htm.

The U.S. Department of Justice has instituted the Office of the Victims’ Rights Ombudsman within the Executive Office of the U.S. Attorneys to receive and investigate complaints filed by crime victims against its employees. The Office was established by

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the Crime Victims’ Rights Act of 2004 (see above). Information about the Office of the Victims’ Rights Ombudsman can be accessed at ww.usdoj.gov/usao/eousa/vr/index.html.

The U.S. Department of Justice Victim Notification System (VNS) is a cooperative effort among the FBI, U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The automated system provides information and notification to federal victims of crime in English and Spanish. VNS provides victims with information about scheduled court hearings, and an offender’s custody status (such as incarceration, placement in community corrections centers, furlough, release, or death). Additional information about VNS can be accessed at: www.usdoj.gov/usao/nd/victimwitness/brochures/vns.html.

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM

There are significant differences between America=s juvenile justice and adult criminal justice systems. These differences stem from the underlying philosophical distinction of the juvenile court, which is to assist young people in need of services and capable of rehabilitation, rather than to prosecute them for crimes. It is helpful to know and understand these differences, as they result in distinct terminology as depicted in Exhibit IV-1.

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EXHIBIT IV-1TERMINOLOGY USED IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEMS

Criminal Justice System Juvenile Justice System

Prosecutors Court advocates

Charge Petition for a hearing

Trial Hearing

Conviction Adjudication

Sentence Disposition

Guilty verdict Finding

Sentence Placement

Parole supervision Aftercare

Criminals/delinquents Wards/kids

Getting locked up Placement

Crimes Incidents

It is extremely important that victim advocates become familiar with the statutory provisions, procedural operation, and terminology of the juvenile justice system within their respective jurisdictions, as there are wide variations here.

Victims’ Rights in Juvenile CasesThe basic victims’ rights afforded to victims of adult criminal offenders are available to victims of juvenile offenders in many jurisdictions, including the rights to be treated with dignity and respect; receive notification and information; be afforded reasonable protection; be heard (victim impact statements); receive restitution; be provided with information and referrals; and be provided with information about how to apply for victim compensation (the latter in violent crime cases). However, enforcement of such rights is not always consistent. It depends on the statutory language that creates the juvenile court and often depends on whether juvenile judges allow victims access to the court when their interests conflict with those of the juvenile offender.

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Juvenile Offender ConfidentialityPerhaps the most frequent conflict between juvenile offenders and their victims is the issue of confidentiality, a hallmark of the traditional juvenile court system. Most states have included provisions in their juvenile justice statutes that mandate confidentiality for the juvenile offender. These laws were enacted to avoid stigmatizing the youthful offender with every expectation that such information would serve only to impede rehabilitative efforts. Consequently, information regarding the name and age of the offender is sometimes unavailable to the victim from law enforcement and juvenile court records.

Juvenile court proceedings are often confidential and generally exclude all persons other than court personnel from the actual hearing. In most states, the records of juvenile court proceedings are sealed after the offender has reached adulthood, and the dispositions of juvenile cases cannot be considered in any future criminal proceedings against the offender as an adult. However, recent public policy trends give certain organizations and individuals (including victims) access to juvenile information and records. Some states allow victims access to specific information about the status of the case and the offender, while excluding the general public from such access. Others make most information about juveniles a matter of public record.

Victim service providers must be familiar with confidentiality laws pertaining to youthful offenders, as they affect crime victims’ rights to receive notification; be protected from intimidation, harassment, or harm; make victim impact statements; and seek restitution.

Other substantive and procedural issues of importance to victims include:

The age for juvenile court jurisdiction is generally under 18 but can vary and may apply to older individuals if there is evidence that they lack maturity or social development. Conversely, some jurisdictions provide that young offenders may be tried as adults under certain circumstances.

Many states incarcerate juvenile offenders for a period of up to no more than the age of 25. Others have enacted statutes that provide for the transfer of serious youthful offenders after a given age to the adult penal system to finish the remainder of their designated period of detention/incarceration.

Most states employ a progressive array of sanctions for juvenile offenders. Some “diversion” or alternative programs include parent and child counseling, police youth activities, community service, drug prevention education, and informal probation. Such programs are generally used with first-time nonviolent offenders. Often these programs will impose restitution as a provision of diversion. Victims should seek input into any decision to divert a case.

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Probation is the sanction used most often in both criminal and juvenile justice cases. This sanction of community supervision is imposed by the juvenile court. Probation is generally characterized by requirements, known as Aterms and conditions of probation,@ which delineate expected behavior that the probationer must adhere to for a given period of time.

Often, juvenile courts will commit offenders to community treatment programs. Such residential counseling centers and drug treatment programs are designed to hold offenders accountable while helping them learn the life skills necessary to reintegrate into society. The programs may be located in the local community or in adjoining jurisdictions or states.

With the exception of serious, habitual, and violent offenders, youth detention facilities are generally considered the disposition of last resort for young offenders in the juvenile justice system. It is important for victims to understand that most youthful offenders are eventually returned to the community.

Many states are enacting statutes or administrative policies that afford victims opportunities to participate in juvenile parole hearings. In determining whether an individual should be released from custody, each juvenile parole board considers many factors, including the offender=s progress toward educational or vocational goals and his or her overall behavior while incarcerated. In addition, the juvenile paroling authority considers the seriousness of the original offense for which the person was incarcerated, the overall impact upon his or her release into the community, and the youthful offender=s financial and legal obligations, including victim restitution. This information is included in victim impact statements, among other resources.

Similar to probation in its design and functioning, parole supervision (also called aftercare) is granted to juveniles who are released after having served a period of institutionalized detention or incarceration. Parole officers can be a valuable asset to victim service providers in ensuring that youthful offenders refrain from contacting or harassing the victim in any way and fulfill their court-ordered restitution obligations.

Victim Services in Juvenile CourtA significant trend since the early 1990s has been the development of victim assistance programs within juvenile courts. Similar to victim/witness programs in the criminal justice system, these programs provide a wide range of information, support services, advocacy, and referrals to victims of youthful offenders. The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges has identified nine critical elements that comprise a comprehensive victim services program within the juvenile justice system:

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1. A complete understanding of the mandates of the statutes applicable in the state.

Victims’ rights statutes.

Juvenile code/statute and confidentiality restrictions.

Related statutes (e.g., child orders of protection).

2. A complete understanding of the operations of juvenile/family court.

Division of responsibilities within the court system.

Roles and responsibilities of court personnel.

Accessing case information within the system.

3. Knowledge of what aspects of the statute are currently being met and by whom. Basic victims’ rights should include:

Explanation of the juvenile justice system.

Notification of hearings/proceedings.

Establishment of a safe victim waiting room.

Submission of a written or oral victim impact statement.

Orders of restitution.

Measures of victim protection.

4. Identification of personnel in the system who support the precepts of victims= rights in conjunction with the protections to be afforded to juvenile offenders.

Building relationships based upon an understanding of victimization.

Identifying specific concerns or reservations staff may have regarding implementation of victims’ rights.

5. Determination of the role of victim service professionals within the system.

Staff member of the juvenile justice system (assigned position).

Contracted individual whose responsibilities and involvement in court cases is well-defined; what protection is necessary for juvenile confidentiality (statutory restrictions).

6. Referral of victims to victim service professionals.

Review of police reports submitted with admission of juvenile offender to detention facility.

Referral of victims by court personnel (utilizing referral form).

Self-referral by victims.

Referral of victims from community resources.

7. Development of services to be provided to victims and subsequent training to be provided to juvenile court staff:

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Explanation of the juvenile court process, terminology, and procedures, and roles of various court staff.

Crisis intervention, supportive counseling relevant to victimization issues.

Availability of Crime Victims= Compensation.

Access to community resources through networking (e.g., counseling) and subsequent referral, as appropriate.

Preparing and accompanying victims to hearings.

Assisting with the completion of victim impact statements.

Providing notification of all court dates (if required).

Advocating for victims with law enforcement agencies in order to obtain report information for the victim and to encourage the law enforcement agency to refer the case to the court.

Accompanying victims to line-ups held in detention facility.

Establishing protocol for assisting families in which the victimization is sibling on sibling.

Providing assistance with restitution information.

Notifying victims of disposition of case.

8. Participation on various committees within the juvenile justice system when victim assistance is pertinent to the assignment of that committee.

Public relations/community education.

Training committees (e.g., police, court personnel).

Any protocol committees involving victim-related issues (e.g., notification of release from secured facility, victim/offender mediation).

9. Program development and program evaluation.

Determine source(s) of funding for the program.

Develop surveys for court personnel feedback.

Develop protocols for involving volunteers/student interns as victim advocates.

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MILITARY JUSTICE SYSTEM

Members of the U.S. military are subject to the same rules of behavior as the civilian population but are also governed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Uniform Code of Military JusticeThe Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), enacted by Congress, contains substantive and procedural laws governing the military justice system. The President prescribes procedural rules and punishments for violations of crimes in the Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM). For example:

Investigations of serious offenses involving military personnel such as rape, indecent assault, drugs, or larceny are usually conducted by a criminal investigative agency, such as the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command (CID).

For less serious offenses and most military-connected crimes, the authority rests with military or security police investigators.

In cases involving very minor offenses, the immediate commander of the military member suspected will conduct or cause to be made a preliminary inquiry. Lawyers, known as judge advocates, are actively involved in advising commanders throughout the process.

Unlike civilian communities, military commanders exercise discretion in deciding whether an offense should be charged and how the offenders should be punished. The disposition decision is one of the most important and difficult decisions facing a commander. The commander has a number of options available for the resolution of disciplinary problems. Commanders may choose to:

Take no action when a preliminary inquiry indicates that the accused is innocent of the crime or that the only evidence is inadmissible.

Initiate administrative action against a service member. This action is not punitive; instead, it is meant to be corrective and rehabilitative. Administrative actions include measures ranging from counseling or a reprimand to involuntary separation.

Dispose of the offense with nonjudicial punishment. Article 15, UCMJ, provides a means of handling minor offenses requiring immediate corrective action. Rather than a judge, the commander conducts the hearing. In order to find the service member guilty, the commander must be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the service member committed the offense.

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The commander may dispose of the offense by court-martial. If the commander decides that the offense is serious enough to warrant trial by court-martial, the commander may exercise this option, preferring and forwarding charges.

There are three levels of court-martials: summary, special, or general:

A summary court-martial is designed to dispose of minor offenses. Only enlisted service members may be tried by summary court-martial. A single officer presides over the hearing. The accused has no right to counsel but may hire an attorney to represent him or her.

A special court-martial is an intermediate level composed of either a military judge alone or at least three members and a judge. An enlisted service member may ask that at least one-third of the court members be enlisted. There is both a prosecutor, commonly referred to as the trial counsel, and a defense counsel. In addition, the accused may be represented by civilian counsel, at no expense to the government, or by military counsel requested by the individual.

A general court-martial is the military’s highest level trial court and tries service members for the most serious crimes. The punishment authority of the general court-martial is limited by the maximum authorized punishment for each offense in the Manual for Courts-Martial.

Each court-martial differs in the procedures, rights, and possible punishment that can be adjudicated.

DoD Victim and Witness Assistance Programs

DoD Directive 1030.1, Victim and Witness Assistance and DoD Instruction 1030.2, Victim and Witness Assistance Procedures implement statutory requirements for victim and witness assistance and provide guidance for assisting victims and witnesses of crime from initial contact through investigation, prosecution, and confinement. Together, the Directive and Instruction provide policy guidance and specific procedures to be followed for victim and witness assistance in all sectors of the military. They apply to the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the following military components:

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The Unified Combatant Commands.

The Inspector General of the Department of Defense.

Department of Defense Field Activities and Defense Agencies.

The military services, including the Coast Guard (when operating as a service in the Navy).

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The Directive includes a Bill of Rights that closely resembles the Federal Crime Victims’ Bill of Rights. DoD officials are responsible for ensuring that victims of military crimes are afforded the rights to:

Be treated with fairness and respect.

Be reasonably protected from the offender.

Be notified of court-martial proceedings.

Be present at court-martial proceedings.

Confer with the government attorney.

Available restitution.

Know the outcome of the trial and any release from confinement.

The DoD victim and witness assistance programs cover the entire military justice process from investigation through prosecution and confinement. In providing services and assistance to victims, the DoD programs emphasize an interdisciplinary approach involving law enforcement, chaplains, family advocacy personnel, emergency room staff, family service center staff, equal opportunity staff, judge advocates, unit commanding officers, and corrections personnel.

Family Advocacy ProgramEach branch of the military services has a Family Advocacy Program that operates in accordance with DoD Directive 6400.1. These programs are designed to prevent child and spouse abuse, to promote early identification and intervention in cases of alleged child and spouse abuse, and to provide programs of rehabilitation and treatment for child and spouse abuse problems. Each branch of service maintains a central registry containing data on reports of alleged child and spouse abuse. If more than one child is a victim of sexual abuse in an out-of-home care setting, DoD may convene a multidisciplinary team of specially trained personnel to provide technical assistance.

Sexual Harassment and Counseling HotlineThe Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force provide hotlines for victims of sexual harassment to provide counseling and assist them in discreetly reporting crimes to appropriate officials.

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Navy’s Sexual Assault Victim Intervention Program (SAVIP)The Navy SAVIP was established in 1994 as a comprehensive, standardized, victim-sensitive system response to sexual assault. The program provides sexual assault awareness and prevention education programs and victim advocacy and intervention services; and collects accurate data on sexual assault in the Navy. There are 28 SAVIP coordinators working in 26 Family Service Centers.

Descriptions of these DoD victim assistance initiatives can be accessed at www.defenselink.mil/vwac/. In addition, this Web site includes information about victim and witness assistance, victim/witness forms, training materials relevant to DoD guidance and policy, victim/witness assistance, and links to victim and witness points of contact for the DoD, including:

Department of the Air Force.

Department of the Army.

Coast Guard.

Marine Corps.

Department of the Navy.

Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Special Compensation Programs in the MilitaryTransitional Compensation [10 U.S.C. ‘1059]

Federal law authorizes payment of monthly transitional compensation for abused family members. DoD Instruction 1342.24, Transitional Compensation for Abused Dependents, implements this law and is designed to partially alleviate the financial hardship to the abused dependents for coming forward with the information needed to take action against the alleged abuser. Dependents of members of the Armed Forces are eligible for transitional compensation if the military member was:

Separated from active duty under a court-martial sentence resulting from a dependent-abuse offense.

Administratively separated from active duty if the basis for separation includes a dependent-abuse offense.

Sentenced to forfeiture of all pay and allowances by a court-martial which has convicted the member of a dependent-abuse offense.

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Payments from Retired Pay for Abused Dependents [10 U.S.C. ‘1408(H)]

Federal law also authorizes payments of portions of retired pay to help alleviate the financial hardship to abused dependents for coming forward with information needed to take action against the military sponsor. In order to receive payments from retired pay, the spouse or former spouse must obtain a civilian court order (typically done as part of a legal separation or divorce action) setting forth the spouse’s portion of the military member’s retired pay. The spouse or former spouse must have been married to the abusive member for at least 10 years during which the member performed at least 10 years creditable service toward retirement (the 10-year periods must overlap). The spouse may not receive payments under both this program and the Transitional Compensation Program.

Property Claims Article 139, UCMJ

Under Article 139, UCMJ, commanders may direct that service members pay victims for willful damage or theft of property. The damage or theft must have been intentional and not caused inadvertently or thoughtlessly through simple or gross negligence.

Foreign Claims Act

Under some circumstances, the Foreign Claims Act authorizes payment of claims for property damage, personal injury, or death caused by military personnel to a foreign inhabitant in a foreign country. Under the Act, the United States can pay for intentional acts committed by service members abroad. Victims must file a claim under the Act within 2 years of the damage or injury.

Restitution from the Offender

The Uniform Code of Military Justice does not authorize restitution as a form of a court-martial sentence. DoD policy, however, encourages military prosecutors, in appropriate cases, to include a requirement to pay restitution as a condition of a pretrial agreement. Payment of restitution to a victim may also be included as a condition of parole.

Compensation for Military Victims under State Programs

Victims of crimes committed by military personnel may be eligible for compensation from state compensation programs. Since state compensation programs are “payers of last resort,” they do not cover cost paid for by Acollateral resources” such as military benefits, medical and automobile insurance, or other public assistance programs.

TRIBAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

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Three major federal laws have governing jurisdiction over crimes committed in Indian country:

PL 83-280 IndiansBCriminal Offenses and Civil CausesBState Jurisdiction, 18 U.S.C. ‘1162 (Supp. 1968), which grants six states jurisdiction over crimes committed in all or part of Indian country within the state, except those locations normally included under federal jurisdiction.

The Major Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. ‘1153 (Supp. 1986), which applies to crimes committed in Indian country, except for crimes committed in PL 280 states.

The General Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. ‘1152, which applies to all crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian country and subject to exclusive federal jurisdiction regardless of the seriousness of the offense.

A summary of the federal, state, and tribal criminal jurisdictions in Indian Country is provided in Exhibit IV-2.

EXHIBIT IV-2 SUMMARY TABLE OF CRIMINAL JURISDICTION IN INDIAN COUNTRY

Persons Involved Federal Jurisdiction Tribal Jurisdiction State Jurisdiction

Indian Offender v. Indian Victim

Major Crimes Act. The U.S. can prosecute 16 listed offenses. Among these, burglary, involuntary sodomy, and incest are defined and punished in accordance with the state law; all others are defined by federal statute.

Tribal courts may have concurrent jurisdiction over crimes under the Major Crimes Act. For all other offenses, tribal courts have sole jurisdiction (except where federal statute specifically provides otherwise).

None, except under PL 280 as amended or other federal statute or by tribal vote pursuant to 25 U.S.C.’1321. The tribe may retain concurrent jurisdiction.

IndianOffender v. Non-Indian Victim

Major Crimes ActGeneral Crimes ActAssimilative Crimes Act

Tribal courts may have concurrent jurisdiction over crimes under the Major Crimes Act. They do have concurrent jurisdiction over offenses that can be prosecuted by the U.S. under the General Crimes Act. Except for major crimes, tribes may preempt federal prosecution. For any other offenses (as defined by tribal codes), tribal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.

Same as above.

Indian The U.S. probably can Same as above. Same as above.

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Persons Involved Federal Jurisdiction Tribal Jurisdiction State Jurisdiction

OffenderVictimless Crime

prosecute under the General Crimes Act, as explained above, or under the Assimilative Crimes Act.

Non-Indian Offender v. Indian Victim

General Crimes Act, plus a substantive offense defined by federal statute or a substantive offense defined by state law incorporated by the Assimilative Crimes Act.

Tribal courts have no jurisdiction to prosecute non-Indians, unless Congress delegates such power to them.

Probably no state jurisdiction except under PL 280, as amended, or with tribal consent pursuant to 25 U.S.C.’1321.

Non-Indian Offender v.Non-Indian Victim

No federal jurisdiction except for distinctly federal offenses.

Same as above. State courts have jurisdiction over all offenses defined by state law and involving only non-Indians.

Non-Indian OffenderVictimless Crime

General Crimes Act, plus a substantive offense defined by federal statute or a substantive offense defined by state law incorporated by the Assimilative Crimes Act. The law is still unclear on whether federal jurisdiction is exclusive or concurrent with the state’s jurisdiction.

Same as above. State courts probably have concurrent jurisdiction with the U.S., although the law is unclear.

(Adapted from the National Indian Justice Center Legal Series, Petaluma, CA.)

Structure of Tribal Justice SystemsThe overall history, structure, and jurisdiction of American Indian justice systems have been greatly affected by the experience of Indian Nations with the federal government. As a result, tribal courts and victim response systems vary considerably. Some Indian Nations have justice systems that mirror the structure of American courts, while others have retained their indigenous justice forums. Some tribal courts have developed separate court components, such as traffic, civil, small claims, family, and juvenile court divisions.

Most indigenous justice systems include victim-sensitive components in their structure. Recently, more of the American style tribal justice systems have developed support services such as victim-witness services, probation departments, correctional alternatives, and other programs to address the needs of victims and communities. Many Indian justice

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systems are enhancing victim services with policy and protocol revision and development.

Indian Nations continue to possess four key characteristics of their sovereign status:

1. A distinctive permanent population.

2. A defined territory, with identifiable borders.

3. A government exercising authority over territory and population.

4. The capacity to enter into government-to-government relationships with other nation-states ( Valenia-Weber and Zuni, 1995).

Indian Nations retain the authority to determine the legal structure and forums to use in administering justice and to determine the relationship of the legal structure with other governing bodies. They also exercise personal jurisdiction over both member and nonmember Indians, territorial jurisdiction over their lands, and subject matter jurisdiction over such areas as criminal, juvenile, and civil matters. While limited by the Indian Civil Rights Act in sentencing, Indian Nations have concurrent jurisdiction over the felony crimes enumerated under the Major Crimes Act.

Tribal Justice Forums

The impact of federal Indian policies, Supreme Court decisions, and the historical trauma of conquest, colonization, and modernization explains the variations in tribal justice forums. Current tribal forums have in some way been affected by a combination of all these influences. As a result, Indian Nations have developed tribal courts that are hybrids, borrowing and implementing different approaches to administering justice (Vicenti, 1995). Since European contact, Indian Nations have struggled to retain their sovereign powers, especially in maintaining the type of forums they use to address the internal affairs of their people and communities. In many tribal communities, dual justice systems exist, one based on an American paradigm of justice and the other based on an indigenous paradigm. Varying combinations of the following forums outlined in Exhibit IV-3 may be used by Indian Nations (Melton, 1998).

EXHIBIT IV-3

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TRIBAL JUSTICE FORUMS

Family and Community

ForumsTraditional Courts Courts of Indian

Offenses Tribal Courts

Established by unwritten customary law and traditions.

Established by the tribal council and tribal religious leaders according to unwritten laws.

Established by the Secretary of Interior under Title 25, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

Established by the tribal council, usually under the authority of the tribe=s constitution.

Subject only to the authority of traditional clan systems and/or family elders, based on consensus of participants.

Subject only to the authority of the tribal council and religious leaders.

Subject to the authority of the tribal council and the Interior Department. The council may adopt ordinances or resolutions affecting the CFR Court, but the Interior Department must approve them.

Subject to the authority of tribal council or law and order committees. Tribal constitutions may require Interior Department approval of council ordinances or resolutions affecting the tribal court.

Procedures and offenses defined according to unwritten, customary laws, traditions, and practices.

Procedures and offenses defined according to unwritten, customary laws, traditions, and practices.

Procedures and offenses defined in Title 25, CFR. Judges may develop Rules of Court for conduct of hearings and trials.

Procedures and offenses defined by tribal council in codes, ordinances, or resolutions. Tribal judges may develop Rules of Court for conduct of hearings and trials.

Presided over by family elders, chosen elders, or adults from the community or by traditional tribal officials

Judges are governors or chief executive officers of the pueblo who serve without pay. They are appointed by the pueblo council, which is composed of ex-governors and tribal religious leaders.

Judges are appointed by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, subject to approval by the tribal council, and are paid with federal funds.

Judges may be elected by the tribal membership or appointed by the tribal council if paid by the tribe.

Decisions usually cannot be appealed, but matters may be pursued through formal tribal courts.

Appeals of decisions by the pueblo governor are heard usually by the pueblo council.

Appeals of CFR Court decisions may be heard by an appellate court composed of judges appointed under the CFR.

Appeals of tribal court decisions may be heard by a tribal appellate court, composed of judges, or by the tribal council.

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Enhancing the Response to Crime Victims in Indian Country

There is a resurgence among Indian people to strengthen, reimage, and retraditionalize their tribal justice systems, often within the context of restorative justice. Many supporters of restorative justice recognize that it is an ancient philosophy that only gained its impetus in mainstream society in the 1970s and 1980s, especially to deal with young offenders (Bazemore and Umbreit, 1994).

In many Indian communities, tribal leaders, criminal and juvenile justice practitioners, and policymakers, in collaboration with victim advocates, are assessing the impact of violent crime and the tribal response to victim and witness needs. This self-assessment has caused many Indian people to revisit and rediscover their historical and traditional ways of dealing with crime and violence in their communities. It is important then to understand what promise lies in the indigenous justice paradigm that is different from the traditional criminal justice paradigm in mainstream society.

Indigenous Peacekeeping SystemsIndigenous peacekeeping systems involve a holistic approach that connects all the affected persons on a continuum of shared and balanced power and responsibility. These systems are based on customary laws, practices, and traditions that require the involvement of the individuals in the conflict, their families, and, when necessary, tribal officials. They use nonadversarial processes that facilitate discussion between people in conflict in a safe environment that promotes resolution of underlying problems and keeping relationships intact. The methods used are based on restorative, distributive, and reparative justice concepts and principles of peace, healing, and living in harmony with all beings and with nature. This group approach contradicts what is often considered an adversarial system that is focused on the individual offender and limits participation to strangers who have little or no investment in the offender, the victim, the community, or the relationships involved. The paradigm differences are outlined in Exhibit IV-4.

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EXHIBIT IV-4

DIFFERENCES IN THE PARADIGMS OF JUSTICE

American Justice Paradigm Indigenous Justice Paradigm

Vertical. Holistic.

Communication is rehearsed. Communication is fluid.

English language is used. Native/tribal language is used.

Written statutory law learned from rules and procedure, written record.

Oral customary law learned as a way of life by example.

Separation of powers. Law and justice are part of a whole.

Separation of church and state. The spiritual realm is invoked in ceremonies and prayer.

Adversarial and conflict oriented. Builds trusting relationships to promote resolution and healing.

Argumentative. Talk and discussion are essential.

Isolates behavior, freeze-frame acts. Reviews problem in its entirety; contributing factors are examined.

Fragmented approach to process and solutions. Comprehensive problem solving.

Time-oriented process. No time limits on the process; long silences and patience are valued.

Exclusive—limits participants in the process and solutions.

Inclusive of all affected individuals in the process and problem solving.

Representation by strangers. Representation by extended family members.

Focus on individual rights. Focus on victim and communal rights.

Punitive—removes offender. Corrective—offenders are accountable and responsible for change.

Prescribed penalties by and for the state. Customary sanctions used to restore victim-offender relationship.

Right of accused especially against self-incrimination.

Obligation of accused to verbalize accountability.

Vindication to society. Reparative obligation to victims and community, apology, and forgiveness.

8 This chart represents differences noted by Ada Pecos Melton and Christine Zuni.

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Unique Victimization Issues in Indian CommunitiesVictimization issues in Native American communities need to be understood from historical, political, economical, environmental, and social perspectives. The impact of violence and victimization is not limited to individual victims but extends to families and communities. Violence and victimization issues are not limited to current problems. The impact of historical trauma and cultural oppression by the dominant society has greatly contributed to the social problems existing in Indian communities today, including the new crime phenomena presented by Indian gangs, sex offenders and the escalation of violence against women. Acknowledgment of the historical experiences of Indian Nations is an important factor in understanding how social problems occur and how they can be addressed in tribal communities.

The following issues have been consolidated from various focus groups conducted with Indian and non-Indian criminal and juvenile justice practitioners, policymakers, and citizens by American Indian Development Associates from January 1997 to December 1998. This material provides a perspective of the range of issues that Indian justice systems must address to meet the needs of Indian crime victims effectively.

Limited Resources for Victims. Most Indian communities are rural and geographically isolated, which limit the resources that come into the community or that can be provided by the tribal government. Generally, victims live in the same community as the offender or perpetrator and are limited in their willingness and/or ability to relocate within or outside their tribal community. Many victims lack financial and family resources to move elsewhere; elderly victims are especially reluctant to leave. Victims= rights are compromised when victims, rather than perpetrators, are the ones who are removed from their community or are coerced to leave for safety and protection. This contributes to a lack of confidence in the ability of the tribal response systems to provide public safety and protection to citizens who are victimized. As a result, tribal citizens alienate themselves due to the fear that their needs cannot be met on the reservation.

Inadequate Law Enforcement Services Diminish Victims’ Confidence in the System. Lengthy police response time exacerbates victim trauma and injury. Inadequate financial support for law enforcement services in Indian communities inhibits timely police response to crime and provision of adequate assistance, protection, and safety to victims. Many Indian Nations do not have “911” emergency response numbers available. These conditions weaken the effectiveness of responses. As a result, witnesses and victims are often reluctant to talk because there is time and opportunity for intimidation to occur from the perpetrator.

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Limited Training for Service Providers. Often tribal police, social services, probation, and other court-related service providers are not adequately trained in victim response, and therefore are limited in their ability to identify specific needs and provide adequate assistance to victims. Strained budgets limit the ability to provide ongoing specialized training in such areas as sexual assault, child abuse, gang violence, and intimidation.

Lack of System Reliability. Victims often do not have confidence in the tribal system response system due to the lack of infrastructure, such as protection codes, adequate staff, facilities to hold offenders, or capacity to provide safe havens or shelters for victims. This lack of confidence continually prevents victims from seeking help. As a result, many suffer in silence and remain victims. System reliability is further hindered by the lack of coordinated approaches and responses among the various tribal, state, and federal governments that can become involved in victim-related cases.

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REFERENCES

Attorney General Guidelines. 1983. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.13.

Bazemore, G., and M. Umbreit. 1994. Balanced and Restorative Justice: Program Summary. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Gonzales, Alberto R. 2005. Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Melton, A. P. November-December 1998. “Indigenous Justice Systems and Tribal Society.” Judicature 79(3).

Office for Victims of Crime. August 1998. “New Directions from the Field: Victims’ Rights and Services for the 21st Century: Civil Remedies.” OVC Bulletin 17. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice. www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/new/directions/pdftxt/bulletins/bltn17.pdf.

Office for Victims of Crime. n.d. “Federal Assistance Division (formerly FCVD).” Retrieved June 19, 2006, from www.usdoj.gov/ovc/welcovc/fcvd/welcome.html.

Valencia-Weber, G. and C. Zuni. 1995. Domestic Violence and Tribal Protection of Indigenous Women in the United States, Chicago: St. John=s University Law Review.

Vicenti, C. November-December 1995. “The Reemergence of Tribal Society and Traditional Justice Systems.” Judicature 79(3).

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Acknowledgments

The criminal justice portion of this chapter is excerpted from the “Crime Victims’ Rights Handbook” developed by the Victims’ Rights Education Project, sponsored by the National Victims’ Rights Constitutional Amendment Network (NVCAN) with support from OVC, and written by Justice Solutions Senior Advisor Anne Seymour. In developing this handbook, nine key sources were used for research and reference. The authors are grateful for the excellent guidance that these documents provided.

Alaska Judicial Council. 1998. Criminal Justice Guide. Anchorage, AK.

American Probation and Parole Association. 1995. Crime Victims’ Handbook. Lexington, KY.

New Hampshire Department of Corrections. n.d. Time in Prison. Concord, NH: State of New Hampshire.

Seymour, Anne K., 1999, Victim Services in Corrections, Washington, DC : Office for Victims of Crime, U.S. Department of Justice.

Seymour, Anne K., Mario Gaboury, and Christine Edmunds. 2000. “Dynamics of the Criminal Justice System.” National Victim Assistance Academy Text. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime.

Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services n.d. You Are Not Alone: An Informational Guide for Victims and Survivors of Crime in Vermont. Waterbury, CT.

Virginia Department of Corrections. “Probation and Parole Frequently Asked Questions.” Commonwealth of Virginia. www.vadoc.state.va.us/offenders/community/faqs.shtm , accessed September 3, 2007.

Wisconsin Department of Justice Office of Crime Victim Services. 1992. Guide to Victims’ Rights. Madison, WI.

Wyoming Office of the Attorney General. n.d.. Victim/Witness Handbook. Cheyenne, WY.

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http://www.vadoc.state.va.us/offenders/community/faqs.shtm


Demonstrate use of active listening techniques.

Differentiate between open-ended and close-ended questions.

Demonstrate use of five communication skills (i.e., active listening, paraphrasing, reflective listening, affirmation and open-ended and closed-ended questioning) to establish trust with a victim.


Chapter 5

Communication with Victims and Survivors

Nancy Lewis and Ann Jaramillo*

This chapter introduces a communications framework in which to develop effective skills for understanding and assisting victims of crime. By developing an awareness of the various cultural styles of communication, victim service providers can strengthen their skills in active listening and paraphrasing the victim’s statements to build trust and to demonstrate that he or she has been heard. Also addressed here are the many barriers that must be overcome to be effective in communication, including cultural barriers, program barriers, language barriers, and emotional barriers. Communicating with child victims calls for additional skills. Communication in a victim needs assessment is one specific area where the service provider must be sensitive and alert to the verbal and nonverbal communication from the victim.

COMMUNICATIONS FRAMEWORK

Victim service providers have an opportunity and a responsibility to advocate for victims in the aftermath of a crime and throughout their involvement in the criminal or juvenile justice system. Victim service providers must be able to communicate effectively with crime victims and survivors, who may be in crisis and in a hypersensitive state, in order to assess the situation and respond effectively to their needs. Victim service providers who practice good communication skills are better able to help victims move forward and reclaim the control they have lost as a result of their victimization. Poor communications can further traumatize and revictimize the victim.

* The authors of this chapter are Nancy Lewis, Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance, Denver, CO; and Ann Jaramillo, Introspect Consulting, Evergreen, CO.

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The goals of effective communication with crime victims are to:

Identify victims’ needs and attempt to meet them.

Explain the justice process and the role of the victim service provider and allied professionals.

Help victims to understand and exercise their statutory and constitutional rights in accordance with the law.

Protect the safety of victims.

Provide information.

Obtain information.

Be sensitive to special needs or concerns.

Good communication requires that the message be sent and received as it was intended. Thus, the victim service provider must use clear and concise language and provide timely, accurate information to avoid misunderstanding and confusion. Good listening skills must be employed to make sure the needs of the victim are identified and clearly understood. This chapter offers communication concepts and techniques to help the victim service provider communicate effectively.

SKILLS WITHIN THE COMMUNICATION FRAMEWORK

A victim service provider uses many skills within the victim services communication framework, including:

Building trust.

Using active listening.

Understanding and overcoming communication barriers.

Conducting an effective assessment through observation and asking questions.

Building Trust

The experience of being victimized has the potential to turn every aspect of a crime victim’s life into chaos and disarray. A common feeling reported by victims in the aftermath of a crime is a loss of control. Because victims had no control over their victimization, this sense of helplessness can persist into other areas of their lives and create suspicion and mistrust of other people and of the criminal or juvenile justice system in general. It is important for victims to begin to regain some control of their lives and to develop trusting relationships with people who can help them cope with their victimization, access support and services, and navigate through the criminal or juvenile justice system. Victim advocates should attempt to develop a positive relationship with the victim by establishing mutual trust.

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Many victims seek and obtain services from a variety of service providers who are both system- and community-based. Collaborative casework requires collaborative communications and management among service providers who share responsibility for helping a crime victim. If victims are required to deal with new service providers as they seek supportive services and navigate through the system, it is essential to ease the transition from one victim service provider into a “new” relationship.

Having good information and being able to provide useful, relevant resources to victims goes a long way in developing trust and increasing a victim’s confidence in the victim service provider and the criminal or juvenile justice system. Victim service providers should seek to:

Provide timely and accurate information. If such information is unable at the time of contact, inform the victim that you will try to obtain it in a specified time frame and get back to them.

Know state laws and agency rules about victim privacy and confidentiality, inform the victim of any such protections, and abide by them.

Explain the specific rules of privilege that may apply to communications with victims (i.e., disclosure requirements versus confidential communication between advocates and victims).

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Tips for Building Trust with Crime Victims Find out as much as you can about the individual victim and his or her

case before making contact. If this is not possible, take time to listen closely to what the victim has to say.

Properly identify yourself (show your official identification) and explain your specific role, what your agency or organization does, and how you can help the victim.

Ask the victim how he or she would like to be addressed, i.e., by first name, surname, etc. Then use the victim’s preferred name (and if the communication is written, always check for the correct spelling).

Express empathy for what has happened.

Be aware of your own style of communication (e.g., tone, pitch, speed, method, organization, what you say, and what you don’t say) to determine if it is appropriate for the situation, and adapt it accordingly.

Pay attention to any assumptions and judgments you might be making, and be aware of your nonverbal cues (such as eye contact, hand gestures, etc.).

Take into account your posture, gestures, facial expressions, overall body language, and appearance, which all affect whether victims sense they are being listened to.

Be mindful of personal space and appropriate physical contact. Some victims are not comfortable with hugging, while others welcome personal contact. Service providers should always wait until or if a victim initiates personal contact before returning it in a caring manner.


Explain the purpose behind the questions that you are asking. Provide as much information as possible about how the case will proceed (or if the case is not prosecuted, about resources available to the help the victim).

Explain to victims what their options are with regard to reporting a crime and participating in the process. Help them to understand and evaluate their options and the possible consequences of each decision.

Be sensitive to victims’ mental health and medical needs, and make appropriate referrals.

Explain crime victim compensation and help violent crime victims apply for it when they are eligible.

If victims feel alienated as a result of their age, culture, race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation, partner with a representative from the relevant community to improve the quality of victim assistance.

In the role of advocate, never make promises that cannot be kept.

Building trust requires good communication skills, which can be practiced using these basic techniques:

Active listening.

Paraphrasing.

Reflective listening.

Affirmations.

Observation and nonverbal communication.

Asking open-ended and close-ended questions.

Awareness of cultural styles of communication.

Active ListeningPeople normally speak at a rate of 100 to 175 words per minute, but they can listen intelligently at 600 to 800 words per minute (Fowler, 2006). Since only a part of our mind is paying attention, it is easy for our mind to drift. The cure for this is active listening, which involves listening with a purpose. There is a real difference between hearing and listening. Active listening assumes an understanding or comprehension that hearing does not. This type of listening weighs and considers what is being said.

Some techniques to be a good active listener include:

Be attentive. Don’t fidget, daydream, or let your eyes wander when a victim is speaking to you. Maintain eye contact, if culturally appropriate, to show that you’re interested in what is being said.

Take time to listen to the full story. When there is a pause in the conversation, ask questions or offer gentle probes to clarify what is being said or to elicit more information.

If you have trouble concentrating on what a victim is saying, try repeating his or her words mentally after you hear them. This will reinforce the speaker’s message and help you control mind-drift.

Ask for clarifications or repetitions of statements to understand what the victim is saying.

Be willing to repeat information you are offering to the victim several times. Victims in trauma may have trouble concentrating or understanding and remembering information.

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Use silence to gather information. Silence gives victims time to think, and they may be better able to provide additional information if they are allowed quiet time.

Listen without judgment. Many victims have already been stigmatized and marginalized. Show understanding, concern, and caring.

Take brief notes. This demonstrates professionalism and concern and records important information. Do tell the victim why you are taking notes and whether the notes are confidential.

Don’t talk. You can’t listen while you’re talking.

Don’t interrupt.

Don’t become flustered by victims’ anxieties or repetitions.

Don’t jump to conclusions, assume you know what the speaker is going to say before it’s said, or put words in the other person’s mouth. You may be wrong.

Don’t react to anger or argue with victims.

Paraphrasing

What someone says and what we hear can be amazingly different. Our personal values, filters, assumptions, judgments, and beliefs can distort what we hear. Paraphrasing is a way of making sure you have correctly understood the victim. It is also a way of identifying distinct issues. Paraphrasing demonstrates that you are trying to understand, to the degree possible, what the victim is feeling. Paraphrasing involves stating back in your own words what you understood the victim to say, not parroting the victim’s words. This tests your own comprehension and avoids misunderstandings that could lead to the victim’s loss of confidence in you. Paraphrasing enables the victim to feel heard and to clarify anything you may have misunderstood.

Techniques for effective paraphrasing include the following:

Listen to the speaker carefully. Search for key words, phrases, and concepts.

Make mental notes.

Repeat what the speaker has said, using your own words, and being careful not to change the meaning.

Use paraphrasing before moving on to another subject.

Begin paraphrasing with such words as:

“So what I hear you saying is …”

“In other words …”

“What I understand you are saying is …”

“If I hear you correctly …”

Reflective Listening

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Reflective listening is similar to paraphrasing, except that the point is not to summarize what the speaker is saying, but to know and show that you understand how he or she is feeling through the words that are being used. When a victim is upset, it is very important for the victim service provider to simply understand the emotions that the victim is feeling. This validates that how the victim is feeling is “normal” and helps victims to feel more connected because they are understood. This does not mean that you should tell victims how they should feel.

To reflect the victim’s feelings, victim service providers can:

Listen to the speaker carefully.

Make a mental note of key points.

Be willing to listen to victims share their experiences if they want to talk about the crime and its effects, and validate that experience with empathy and support.

Reassure victims that their feelings are quite natural, even though they may seem unusual at the moment. Let them know that feelings of anger, distress, guilt, frustration, fear, etc. are not uncommon and are perfectly justifiable.

Examples of reflections include the following:

“What you are experiencing is perfectly acceptable, given what you’ve been through.” (NOTE: Many professionals do not like the use of “normalization,” as many victims do not feel normal, and telling them it’s “normal” appears to be patronizing.)

“That must make you feel …”

“It sounds like you are really feeling …”

“If I were in your shoes, I might have concerns about that also.”

“I can see why you’re feeling …”

Affirmations

Affirmations are statements that recognize and validate a victim’s strengths. They include acknowledgment that the victim has been harmed and help to build the victim’s confidence in his or her ability to persist. Affirmations must be congruent and genuine to be effective and to avoid sounding patronizing. Some examples of affirmations include:

“You’ve been through something very terrible; I’m so sorry.”

“I think it is great that you want to do something about this situation.”

“I appreciate how hard it must have been for you to decide to …”

“That must have been difficult for you.”

“You’re certainly a resourceful person, to have been able to …”

“That’s a really good question.”

“That is a good decision.”

“You took a big step.”

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“It must be difficult for you to accept a day-to-day life so full of stress.”

“I must say, if I were in your position, I would find it difficult too.”

“You certainly have to cope with a lot of problems right now.”

Observations And Nonverbal Communication In Assessing Victim Needs

Victim service providers respond to the needs of the victim in a variety of situations including but not limited to the scene of a crime or shortly thereafter; answering the hot line at a victim assistance center; providing support in the courtroom; or providing corrections-based victim services. In all of these situations, the victim service provider must have the skills required to determine a course of action to respond to the specific needs of the victim. Assessment skills include listening, observing, and asking relevant questions.

Observations

When observing any situation involving victims of crime, a provider needs to be aware of the entire situation (e.g., is the situation safe? Is the victim coping enough to function?). Much of the information a service provider receives will be through nonverbal communication.

EXHIBIT V-1

VERBAL AND NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

Nonverbal Communication

The words we use are only a small percentage of communication. As Exhibit V-1 shows, only about 7 percent of all communication is verbal; of the remaining 93 percent, 38 percent is vocal and 55 percent is facial

(Mehrabian and Ferris, 1967; Ekman and Friesen, 1969).

Nonverbal behavior can communicate respect and concern and can increase both your comfort level, as well as the victim’s comfort level.

Nonverbal communication is important because:

It affects how we understand others and how they understand us.

Sometimes there are differences or inconsistencies between verbal communication and nonverbal expression. Victim service providers need to be aware of these inconsistencies in themselves as well in as others.

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Some aspects of nonverbal communication include:

Physical space. This describes the specific amount of space with which an individual finds a comfort zone. A person’s culture often dictates a preference for less or more space, which can also be affected simply by the impact of victimization.

Many victims prefer a bit of physical space between themselves and the person to whom they are talking. The range of victims’ comfort zones can be easily accommodated by having a narrow desk or table that provides clear space but that can be easily be reached across should it be warranted. Many victim advocates and counselors also use chairs on rollers so they can easily move closer to the victim.

Personal touch. A general rule of victim assistance is never to touch a victim unless the victim specifically invites such a gesture, either by physically reaching out to the advocate, putting his or her hand forward, or offering some other clear physical invitation that personal touch is acceptable and even desired.

Culture weighs heavily on a person’s comfort with personal touch. For example, many Asian cultures consider personal touching to be aggressive behavior and an invasion of personal space.

Through body language, an advocate can make a victim aware that personal touch is available but only if the victim so desires. A firm and warm handshake upon greeting, physically leaning forward while speaking, and having one or both hands on the table slightly extended forward are all clear nonverbal signs that if the victim wants to initiate personal touch, it will be accepted and welcomed by the advocate.

Position of the bodies and body orientation. Proximity between a victim and advocate is critical to successful communications, both verbal and nonverbal. The most important rule is to seek mutual positions where eye contact, if warranted, can be easily achieved horizontally without either party having to look up or down. A victim should always be given the choice to sit or stand and, if he or she prefers to sit, the option of choosing the seat.

The advocate’s physical position (or posture) should promote a clear interest in and receptivity to what the victim is doing or saying. This can include sitting up straight but slightly leaning forward and having one’s hands slightly forward in a comfortable position, either on one’s lap or on a table.

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If a victim is uncomfortable with his or her proximity to the advocate, the advocate can look for physical signs of discomfort or distress: movement of the legs; finger tapping; physical rocking of the body; attempts to create greater physical distance, or aversion of the gaze or direct eye contact. If distress is evident, the advocate can step back, lean back, or slightly move his or her chair back.

Eye contact. A victim’s preference or disdain for direct eye contact can be based on personal upbringing and mores, cultural nuances, or simply the emotional impact of victimization, which sometimes precludes direct eye contact in nonverbal communications. While eye contact often helps facilitate effective communications and expresses a strong interest in what the other person is saying, it can also be a strong barrier to personal communications with victims who are uncomfortable with direct eye contact.

One effective approach to determining the parameters of direct eye contact is to look in the direction of the victim’s upper body and/or head without forcing direct eye contact. This sends a nonverbal signal that it is within the victim’s control to initiate direct eye contact if desired. The choice to initiate direct eye contact then becomes the victim’s.

Facial expressions. With human beings, the face is more highly developed and capable of expression than in animals, which can be a benefit or a barrier to effective communications. Some people tend to become creatures of habit with their facial expressions, habitually developing clear, distinct looks for shock, distress, frustration, and disbelief, as well as for empathy and understanding.

Victim advocates can benefit from practicing their facial expressions in the mirror or videotaping themselves in an exercise with another advocate who plays the role of a victim. Either approach promotes self-examination and critique that can eliminate any inappropriate facial expressions and allow practice of expressions that denote respect, empathy, and attention to what is being said.

Gestures. While many hand gestures are culturally driven, some are universally accepted as signs of welcome and respect. For example, holding your hands vertically, facing slightly upwards, shows that you welcome and embrace two-way communications. Holding your hands parallel to your chest, raised upward and slightly forward, emphasizes a point from either the speaker or listener. And the simple act of leaning forward with your hands on your lap or on the table says, “I’m listening to what you’re saying.”

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Appearance. Victim advocates should always strive to look professional, regardless of the work environment. Whether dressed up or completely casual, it’s always important to appear professional. This requires attention to details in clothing and basic matters of hygiene, such as clean teeth and fresh breath, manicured hands, neat hair, and clean clothes that are not wrinkled.

Below is a partial list of gestures associated with an emotion or behavior, which have been provided by James J. Messina and Constance M. Messina (2006). This list can give victim service providers some idea of what a victim may be experiencing by observing their gestures. However, it is important for victim service providers to verify their observations by asking victims what they are experiencing (for example, “Are you feeling like your life is out of control?”).

Openness, confidence:

Open hands, palms up Unbuttoning or removing jacket (men) Eye contact Smile, leaning forward, relaxed Hands away from face, possibly behind back Standing straight, feet slightly apart, shoulders squared

Cooperation, readiness:

Standing with hands on hips, feet apart, head tilted Uncrossed legs A person moves closer to another Unbuttoned coat (men) Head cocked, finger to face, blinking or squinting Welcoming handshake Open arms or hands (palms out) Smile (culturally sensitive) Eye contact (culturally sensitive)

Doubt:

Pacing Eyes closed Brow furrowed Frown Rubbing eyes Hand to face gestures (evaluative) Pacing with head down and hands behind the back or just standing Scratching head

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Suspicion, secretiveness:

Folded arms, moving away from another Crossed legs Lack of eye contact (culturally sensitive) Hand covering mouth Frown Scrunching in with head down Stolen look, sideways glance Sideways positioning “Poker face'' Deception indicated by lack of eye contact Anxiety gestures Looking at floor Frequent swallowing Wetting lips Throat clearing

Need for reassurance:

Clenched hands with thumbs rubbing Stroking arms Cuticle picking Hand pinching Sucking on pen, glasses, etc. Touching chair before sitting

Anxiety:

Nail biting Finger movement Sighing Hand wringing Rapid, twitchy movements Clearing throat Tremors, especially knees Heavy breathing Voice strained Lips quivering Rapid eye movement Rigidity

Frustration, anger:

Making fists

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Hands on hips Stomping Sitting on edge of chair (ready for action) Chin out Kicking the ground Lips pressed together, jaw muscles tight Running fingers through hair Rubbing back of neck Hands in pocket Clenched hands with white knuckles Pointing or jabbing Hot under collar Putting out cigarette, especially if with grinding motion Change in skin color Hostile stare

Defensiveness:

Hands in pocket Hands behind back Clenched hands Men with jackets button up Folded arms (can be reinforced by making fists) Crossed legs Body twisted away, moving away, sitting back Head tilted forward, possibly squinting Stalling for time by cleaning glasses, rearranging, etc. Hand rubbing back of neck.

Self–control, inner conflict:

Hand holding wrist or arm Arm locked behind back Locked ankles Gripping arms of chair as in dentist's chair Suppressed gestures or displacement activities such as fist clenched hidden in pocket Hand to mouth in astonishment or fear (suppressed scream) Hand rubbing back of neck, running fingers through hair (displaced hitting out), “stiff upper

lip'' or reacting as little as possible Blowing nose and coughing (disguised tears)

Asking Open-ended and Closed-ended Questions

Asking questions is often the best way to assess a victim’s needs. Questions let the victim know that you are interested in helping him or her, and they involve the victim in his or

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her own assessment. This tends to build the connection with the victim that is so critical to the victim service provider’s ability to do his or her job and to the healing process for the victim. Because the objective of asking questions is to gather information relevant to assessing the situation and respond to the needs of the victim, care must be taken to ask the type of questions that illicit the most information. In these circumstances, it is highly inappropriate to ask questions simply out of curiosity.

There are two types of questions: close-ended and open-ended. Both are useful if victim service providers understand what each is and how each is used to obtain the information they are seeking.

Close-ended questions typically require a brief “yes” or “no” response and are best used to find out a specific piece of information or to clarify a specific point of discussion, but rarely anything more. They can also be used to minimize the discussion and focus on a specific fact. Examples of close-ended questions include:

“Are you in a safe place?”

“Do you want me to call anyone for you?”

“Would you like something to drink?”

“Would you like to attend the parole hearing?

“Would you like help filling out the application for victim compensation?”

Open-ended questions cannot be answered with a “yes” or “no” response. They allow the victim assistance provider to get more information and to expand the discussion. Open-ended questions also require the victim to offer a more thorough response that requires deeper consideration and thinking. Typically, they begin with how, when, what, where, why, or with tag lines like, “Tell me about . . .”

A word of caution: questions beginning with “why” tend to denote judgment, so it is best to avoid them when working with victims.

Open-ended questions encourage victims to take the lead in the conversation, to talk about what is important to them, and to share important information. Allowing the victim to take the lead tends to help build trust and rapport because it demonstrates an interest in the victim. Examples of open-ended questions include:

“How safe are you feeling now?”

“What would you need to feel safe right now?”

“Is there anything else you can tell me?”

“What special concerns do you have that I can help you address right now?”

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While observing and carefully asking questions, the responsibility of the service provider is to:

Elicit information that assesses the victim’s primary needs and concerns and that can help develop an appropriate and effective case plan.

Provide victims of crime with a measure of safety and security.

Allow victims to ventilate and have their experiences validated.

Assist primary and secondary victims to stabilize their lives after victimization.

Help victims to understand and access supportive services that can help them cope in the aftermath of victimization.

Help victims to understand and participate in the criminal or juvenile justice system.

The victim service provider must be able to quickly assess the situation and the victim’s needs in order to determine the appropriate course of action to meet those needs, which may include safety and security for the victim and family members, medical care, mental health counseling, family assistance, applications for victim compensation, emergency housing, transportation, translators/interpreters, child care, victim/witness protection, information, or other services.

Some factors for the victim service provider to consider are:

Is the victim stable? What is the victim’s:

Emotional state? Current sense of safety and security? Ability or capacity to cope? Current level of functioning?

What does the victim need?

What basic services does the victim need help getting?

Does the victim have a social support system?

If “yes,” the service provider and victim can work together to engage the victim’s support system, if needed and with approval from the victim.

If “no,” the service provider can help the victim develop a social support system through referrals for services, mental health interventions, and victim support groups.

Awareness of Cultural Styles of Communication

The changing demographics in the United States make it incumbent upon victim service providers to know more about the populations that make up the communities they serve. Victim service providers are likely to work with victims from many cultures, which include many different backgrounds and lifestyles. Cultural diversity includes the following demographics:

Gender.

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Age.

Ethnicity.

Race.

Sexual orientation.

Educational background.

Religion.

Physical/mental ability.

Military/veteran status.

Lifestyle.

Immigrant status.

Political affiliation.

Socioeconomic status.

Geography (urban, suburban, rural, remote, and frontier).

By acquiring an awareness of cultural communication styles (i.e., how people express themselves, how they display emotions, and how they deal with crisis and conflict), victim service providers can adapt their own communication style to accommodate that of the victim.

Suggestions for increasing awareness of cultural styles include the following:

Learn about different cultures from your clients.

Take advantage of available resources (i.e., books, articles, films, music, etc.) to learn more about different cultures and their histories. There is much information available on the Internet. A word of caution: be aware that there are many negative stereotypes about cultural groups. Be willing to validate the information you are getting to avoid stereotyping anyone.

Attend cross-cultural communications training.

Learn how different cultures deal with crises and acquire support when in crisis (i.e., through elders, nature, spirit, clergy, etc.) to be able to make helpful and relevant referrals.

Learn how cultures communicate nonverbally. Some cultures do not make eye contact because it is considered disrespectful. In some cultures, a smile communicates that the person is embarrassed or does not understand and is afraid to ask questions. In other cultures, smiles signal superficiality and thoughtlessness.

Learn how different cultures react to conflict. In some cultures, conflict is dealt with directly, while in others open conflict is experienced as embarrassing or demeaning.

Listen actively and carefully when interacting with victims from different cultures. Again, check out any assumptions you draw from your observations.

Build relationships with individuals from different communities that can be used as a resource for learning about cultural norms and nuances and validating any information you are acquiring about their culture. These important contacts can also serve as gatekeepers to diverse communities and promote collaborative efforts that improve victim assistance within all cultures.

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COMMUNICATION BARRIERS

Victim service providers must do everything in their power to become aware of and overcome any communication barriers that might exist in their relationships with crime victims. Barriers to communication include, but are not limited to:

Cultural differences between providers and victims.

Programmatic barriers, such as lack of adequate training.

Physical barriers, such as the geographical distances some victims must travel to access services.

Language barriers.

Barriers due to disabilities.

Barriers created by a victim’s inability to focus because of a high level of emotion or posttraumatic stress.

Cultural barriers that might impede good communication with crime victims include:

Distrust of certain professions (i.e., law enforcement, clergy, and attorneys).

The victim service provider’s assumptions and judgments due to a lack of understanding of different cultures.

The role of the family (i.e., sharing intimate information outside of the family about a crime may be frowned on in certain cultures).

Cultural mores that emphasize loyalty to a group over an individual.

Cultural indications of shame with respect to victims.

Variations among cultures in the grieving process.

Prejudice, either conscious or unconscious, on the part of the helping individual.

The victim’s perception of what is private and must not be shared outside of the culture.

Distrust of the criminal or juvenile justice system because of culture or previous experiences that members of a culture have had with the system.

Fear of immigration and deportation issues.

Differences in the American criminal justice system and the justice system in the victim’s country of origin.

Culture of gender-based passivity.

Different religious beliefs (e.g., burial practices and rites, choices to seek counseling).

Disenfranchisement for various reasons (e.g., extreme poverty, illness, isolation).

Efforts that victim service providers can make to address cultural barriers that impede communication with crime victims include:

Participate in inclusiveness training.

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Be aware of your own values and biases. Learn to recognize your own “hot spots” and develop ways to manage them so they won’t affect your communications.

Pay attention to your nonverbal communication. Many times, people communicate one thing verbally and another thing nonverbally. Often, someone will react not to what you say, but to how you say it and convey it.

Pay attention to your words. Words convey values, judgments, and biases. Try to choose words that are neutral. Learn about words that are unique to specific cultures, as well as words that are culturally-appropriate and culturally-offensive.

Avoid false assumptions that you have qualities or attitudes in common with victims (e.g., a victim service provider who has been victimized in a similar way assuming that the victim is having the same experience).

Always show respect for victims even though you may not agree with their norms, values, and perspectives.

Programmatic barriers that might impede good communication with crime victims include:

Lack of diversity among victim services staff.

Language barriers.

Absence of outreach to different populations about victims’ right and services.

Lack of training and cultural competence to develop skills and preparedness so victim service providers can address the needs of populations served.

Poor understanding of service providers’ roles.

Agency policies that are in conflict with specific cultures or neglectful of specific needs.

Efforts that victim service providers can make to address programmatic barriers that impede communication with crime victims include:

Develop a culturally diverse staff.

Identify populations in the community that are challenging to serve.

Assess and address the general needs of victims from populations in the community that are challenging to serve (for example, make sure that space is available in secure victim/witness waiting rooms for victims from family-oriented cultures who might want to involve a large number of family members in court proceedings).

Evaluate the staff’s cultural competence for assisting underserved victim groups.

Determine ways in which agency policy can change to better serve target groups.

Form a partnership with culturally diverse individuals and agencies to engage their assistance in serving victims from their communities.

Physical barriers that might impede good communication with crime victims include:

Location of service providers.

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Geographic barriers that prevent victims from seeking or accessing services due to the distance they must travel or lack of public transportation.

Victims’ isolation and lack of awareness of services in rural or highly urban areas.

Victims’ lack of transportation.

Victims’ lack of a telephone.

Poor access to service providers’ offices for people with disabilities, such as lack of a TTY or wheelchair ramps.

Elderly and child victims who are dependent on others for access to services.

Efforts that victim service providers can make to address physical barriers that impede communication with crime victims include:

Assess transportation needs for victims in rural communities and explore alternate ways to communicate where possible.

Increase awareness of your agency’s service in communities that are highly rural, remote, frontier, or urban.

Make sure that a TTY is available and that victim service providers are trained to use it.

Consider outreach to victims that brings services directly to them where they live or work, using both professionals and volunteers.

Promote use of videoconferencing for parole hearings that allows victims to participate and give a victim impact statement from a remote location (that is often selected because it is close to their homes).

Language barriers that might impede good communication with crime victims include:

Victim assistance literature and information that is available only in English.

No translator available for non-English-speaking victims.

Victims whose first language is not English.

Victims using a child, other family member, or friend to translate.

Terminology used in the criminal or juvenile justice system that does not translate accurately to the language of the victim.

Victims speaking English with a heavy accent.

Victim service providers not addressing the victim directly, speaking instead to a translator or a third person.

Literature, forms, and other victim assistance resources not available in other languages.

Efforts that victim service providers can make to address language barriers that impede communication with crime victims include:

Make efforts to translate victim assistance literature into any languages other than English that are predominant in the community.

Make sure a skilled professional translator is available.

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Never use child victims or other family members to translate.

Listen carefully and patiently to victims who speak with a heavy accent. Ask for clarification when needed.

Speak directly to the victim, not the translator.

Hire staff with different language skills.

Barriers due to disabilities that might impede good communication with crime victims include:

No ASL interpreter available for hearing-impaired victims.

Victim service providers not facing a victim who relies on lip-reading for information.

Brochures and other information not available in Braille.

Buildings and related facilities (such as transportation and parking) that are not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Transportation not available for victims with physical disabilities.

Victim service providers and others who shout to sight-impaired victims or victims with other disabilities.

Victim service providers not addressing a victim with a disability directly, speaking instead to an interpreter or a third person.

A victim service provider who displays obvious discomfort with the victim’s disability.

Difficulty understanding victims with speech impairments.

Efforts that victim service providers can make to address barriers due to disabilities that impede communication with crime victims include:

Assess your agency’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA Web site, which includes many resources that can help with such an assessment, can be accessed at: www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm.

Make sure an interpreter is available.

Speak directly to the victim, not the interpreter.

Make sure that facilities and transportation services can accommodate people with disabilities.

Be sure your mouth is clearly visible when speaking to victims who lip-read. Do not eat, smoke, chew gum, turn away, or cover your mouth when speaking.

Be aware that lip-reading and listening are tiring for many persons. Avoid long monologues.

Make sure that literature and forms are available in Braille.

For victims who use guide dogs, do not touch, feed, pet, or play with the dog.

Listen carefully to victims with speech impairments. Don’t try to rush them. If you don’t understand, ask for clarification. Repeat key pieces of information to make sure you understand.

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Barriers to communication arising from a victim’s inability to focus due to a high level of emotion or posttraumatic stress include:

Victims expressing anger, distress, frustration, or fear.

Victims experiencing high levels of anxiety.

Victims reexperiencing the trauma in the telling of their victimization or its effect on them.

Victims’ lack of trust in you and/or the criminal or juvenile justice system.

Victim service providers’ emotions triggered by the stress of the victim.

Efforts that victim service providers can make to address barriers created by a victim’s inability to focus due to high level of emotion or posttraumatic stress include:

Recognize that strong emotions are often a direct result of a victim’s level of trauma.

Allow the victim to select the time and place of the interview or meeting.

Attempt foremost to communicate trust, support, and confidence.

Calm and comfort the victim.

Allow victims time to tell what happened and describe how they are feeling in their own words.

Give the victim back the control the offender took away by letting him or her decide when and where to talk.

Reassure the victim that his or her feelings are acceptable (except any feelings that include revenge or suicide ideation).

Let the victim know that any feelings of anger, distress, frustration, and fear are not uncommon and are justifiable.

Be willing to repeat information several times, as well as to listen to a victim who repeats information or questions.

Be willing to listen to victims who share their experiences if they want to talk about the crime and its effects, and validate their experience with empathy and support.

Have an information and referral system—with names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mails, and Web sites and pages—to determine appropriate referrals.

Offer to make referral calls and contacts for further information and victim support to help facilitate connections between the victim and appropriate services.

Don’t avoid the victim or avoid listening to his or her reactions to a crime. Listening and validating those experiences and emotions are critical to victims’ reconstruction after a crime.

Don’t expect to be a psychotherapist or to know all the “right” answers.

Many communications with victims occur by telephone or in writing through mail or e-mail. Techniques for effective telephone communications include the following:

Use a proper greeting to the victim, asking how he or she would like to be addressed.

Maintain a friendly, calm tone of voice.

Listen without interrupting or assuming you know what the victim is going to say.

Do not attempt to multitask. Give the victim your full attention.

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Check to make sure you clearly understand the victim’s key concerns or problems.

Ask questions for clarification.

Provide as much detail as the victim requires.

Avoid technical jargon.

Match the victim’s communication style in tempo and tone.

Give the victim choices of several actions or solutions and help him or her understand possible outcomes or consequences of those choices.

Close the conversation by asking if anything further can be done.

Thank the victim for taking time to speak with you.

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Techniques for effective written communications include the following:

Inform the victim of how written communications will be delivered to them:

Ensure that delivery of written information will not jeopardize the victim’s safety. Arrange for an alternate delivery address if there are any safety or privacy concerns. Describe or show the envelope in which such information will arrive so the victim will not

fear or avoid opening it.

Use the proper spelling of the victim’s name.

Use clear, concise words, and avoid technical jargon.

Provide an appropriate level of detail. Too little information is not useful, while too much information can lead to confusion.

End each written communication by providing your contact information for further assistance and by thanking the victim.

With e-mail communications, it is important to maintain the same level of formality and professionalism that is used for other forms of written communication.

COMMUNICATING WITH CHILDREN

Realize that children tend to regress emotionally during times of stress and act younger than their age. For example, eight-year-old child victims may suck their thumbs.

Use language appropriate to the victim’s age and cognitive development and the language that the child victim has used. For example, use the language a child sexual assault victim has used to describe what happened to him or her. Avoid baby talk.

Because young children often feel they may be blamed for problems, assure preschool and elementary school-age children that they have not done anything wrong and they are not in trouble.

Be consistent with the terms you use, and repeat important information often.

Ask open-ended questions to make sure child victims understand you.

Use care in discussing sexual matters with preadolescent and adolescent children, as their embarrassment and limited vocabulary can make conversation difficult for them. At the same time, do not assume that victims, including elementary school-age children, are as knowledgeable about sexual matters as their language or apparent sophistication might indicate.

Maintain a nonjudgmental attitude and empathize with young victims. Because elementary school-age children are especially affected by praise, compliment them frequently on their behavior and thank them for their help.

Remember the limited attention span of children. Be alert to signs that victims are feeling tired, restless, or cranky. When interviewing preschool-age children, consider conducting a series of short interviews rather than a single, lengthy one. Also, consider postponing the interview until the victim has had a good night’s sleep. However, do not wait too long before interviewing preschool-age children, because victims at this age may have difficulty separating the events of the victimization from later experiences.

Encourage preschool-age children to play, as it is a common mode of communication for them. You may find that as children play, they become more relaxed and thus more talkative.

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Limit the number of times that child victims must be interviewed. Bring together for interviews as many persons from appropriate public agencies as possible, including representatives from the prosecutor’s office, child protective services, and the medical/health care community.

Include victims, whenever possible, in decision making and problem-solving discussions. Identify and patiently answer all their questions. You can reduce victims’ insecurity and anxiety by explaining the purpose of your interview and by preparing them, especially elementary school-age children, for what will happen next.

Show compassion to victims. Children’s natural abilities to cope are aided immensely by caring adults.

In sexual abuse cases, although the immediate victim is the child, do not forget to comfort the nonoffending parent(s). Provide referrals regarding how they can cope and what they can expect, as well as suggestions on how they can talk to their child.

Use professionals such as forensic interviewers and other child advocates from local child advocacy centers. Information about more than 500 Children’s Advocacy Centers is available from the National Children’s Alliance at: www.nca-online.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=4028

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WRITTEN RESOURCES FOR CRIME VICTIMS

It is important for agencies and organizations that serve victims to have written resources readily available that are clear, concise, and easy to understand. Written resources include forms, brochures, fact sheets, and other materials that are available in both paper and electronic formats (on Web sites and through listservs and discussion groups).

When providing victims with written resources, it is important to recognize that they may not read them immediately; even if they do, their level of trauma may prevent them from fully comprehending the written word. It is essential to explain the contents of all written resources verbally and to follow up with victims to see if they have any questions or require additional explanation or information.

Some basic guidelines for developing written resources include the following:

The resources should be written at a sixth-grade level.

Avoid jargon or acronyms that are confusing to victims.

It is helpful to have available:

A list of “Frequently Asked Questions” (and answers) that contains basic information that correlates to victims’ most common concerns.

A description of criminal or juvenile justice processes, as well as the range and types of victim assistance services that are available.

A glossary of terms that explains terminology, jargon and acronyms most commonly used in victim assistance and justice processes.

Written materials that include a list of toll-free telephone numbers for victim assistance and Web sites that victims can access to obtain more information.

Efforts should be made to provide written resources in the languages that are most prevalent in an organization’s community, as well as in Braille.

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The victim service provider works foremost to lessen the impact of the victimization by identifying the needs of victims and their families and helping them meet those needs. To achieve this, an accurate assessment must be made of the victim’s safety, functionality, and coping skills. Observing nonverbal cues and assessing the victim’s physical environment are important ways of gathering information, however much of the information will be obtained through asking effective questions.

Good communication and assessment skills, as they apply to victim services, are learned over time. Every situation, every crime, and every crime victim is different. As long as the victim service provider’s goal is to assist the victim and to ensure that victims’ rights are enforced so that the victim can move toward healing, the victim service provider’s skills will improve over time and with each victim encountered.

The Office for Victims of Crime has produced a 13-minute educational videotape entitled “Listen to My Story: Communicating with Victims of Crime.” It includes a detailed discussion guide about how to identify and overcome barriers to communicating with victims. For information about how to order the videotape and discussion guide, please visit www.ovc.gov/publications/infores/other.htm.

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REFERENCES

Ekman, P., and W. V. Friesen. 1969. “The Repertoire of Nonverbal Behavior: Categories, Origins, Usage, and Coding.” Semiotica 1: 49–98.

Fowler, K. 2006. “Active Listening, Hear What People Are Really Saying.” Retrieved November 2, 2006, from www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/ActiveListening.htm.

Mehrabian, A., and S. Ferris. 1967. “Inference of Attitudes from Nonverbal Communications in Two Channels.” Journal of Consulting Psychology 31: 3, 248-252.

Messina, J., and C. Messina. 2006. Tools for Coping Series. Retrieved November 2, 2006, from www.coping.org.

Murray, M., M. Hook, and A. Seymour. 2005. Listen to My Story: Communicating with Victims of Crime, Video Discussion Guide. Retrieved October 20, 2006, from www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/pdftxt/listen_to_my_story_vdguide.pdf.

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Chapter 5 COMMUNICATION WITH VICTIMS AND SURVIVORS

SPECIAL TOPICS SUPPLEMENT: CHILD VICTIMIZATION

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this chapter, students will understand the following concepts:

The types of child abuse and neglect most commonly reported.

The short- and long-term emotional consequences of children who witness or experience victimization.

A multi-disciplinary approach to administering victim services for child abuse.

Promising practices that improve services to child victims and witnesses and their families.

Introduction

So long as little children are allowed to suffer, there is no true love in the world.

-- Isadora Duncan

Every day children in America are beaten, sexually abused, and murdered--frequently by members of their own family or family friends. Children not targeted for physical acts of victimization may have to endure emotional abuse and neglect or suffer the trauma that the experience of domestic violence inflicts on their lives. Forced to deal with pain, humiliation, anger, and fears that even adults would find hard to face, abused children are not only robbed of their childhood happiness, innocence, but trust in the good intentions of their kindred relations. Devastating long-term effects of child abuse may wreak havoc in their adult lives, particularly in their abilities to maintain healthy relationships with others.

Convincing evidence has accumulated throughout the 1990s that many abused children, without therapeutic intervention, are at risk of growing up to become abusers or candidates for serious re-victimization. Surveys of battered women, sexual assault victims, and incarcerated felons all demonstrate surprisingly high rates of child abuse among the participants along with ineffective or self-destructive coping strategies in dealing with adult challenges.

Critical to the eventual well-being of victimized children is not only the prompt identification of their abuse and appropriate measures taken to ensure their safety but also

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sensitive assessments of their physical and mental health, and emotional and psychological support when and if they must negotiate the criminal justice system.

Victim service professionals must arm themselves with a thorough understanding of the problem of child victimization; be knowledgeable about the "cutting-edge" programs and strategies that have been developed to assist child abuse victims; understand and utilize the resources that have been designed to meet the emerging needs of child victims and their families; and work in collaboration with allied professionals on child abuse prevention and intervention initiatives.

This chapter seeks to bridge the gap of understanding between what is happening on a federal level concerning Child Victimization and a state level concerning Tennessee. It is vital for those working with victims and their families to understand the relationship between federal initiatives and those that are currently established in Tennessee to protect our children.

FEDERAL INITIATIVES

In 1994, The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act created several new federal initiatives for crimes dealing with children. These provisions address the following areas: registration of sexually violent offenders; local, state, and federal coordination; repeat sex offenders; and child sex tourism. In addition, federal law now provides for community notification of the release of predatory sex offenders.

Registration of sexually violent offenders. The Attorney General of the United States is directed under the Act to establish guidelines for state programs that require persons convicted of certain crimes against children--kidnapping and sexual misconduct--to register their addresses with an appropriate state law enforcement agency upon their release from prison. This registration requirement continues for ten years after the offender is released from imprisonment or placed on probation.

In cases where the crime committed was "sexually violent," the registration requirement applies to persons committing an offense against an adult or a child. In such cases, "sexually violent" predators must remain registered until a court determines that they no longer suffer from a mental abnormality that would make a predatory sexually violent offense likely.

Access to sex offender information in Tennessee is provided to the public as the result of the Jacob Wetterling Registration Act, which was passed by the United States Congress and Megan’s Law, which requires states to release relevant information about registered offenders to protect the public. Tennessee Code Annotated 40-39-203 requires sex offenders to register within 48 hours following their release on probation, parole, other alternative to incarceration, or discharge from prison without supervision. Add changes to legislation in 2007? In Tennessee this registration is available for public viewing at http://www.ticic.state.tn.us/SEX_ofndr/search_short.asp. As of March 2003, Tennessee had 5,928 registered sex offenders (www.sexcriminals.com, 2005). Please also note that

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there is a National Sex Offender Public Registry available at http://www.nsopr.gov/search_frameform.cfm.

Local, state, and federal coordination. The Act also requires local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to share information. For example, the Act requires that state law enforcement agencies must transmit a copy of the conviction data and fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In addition, the Act establishes that the failure of a state to implement the registration program subjects the state to a 10 percent reduction in funds allocated under the Department of Justice's Byrne Grant program.

Repeat sexual offenders. The 1994 Act doubled the maximum prison term applicable to repeat sexual offenders. Specifically, if an offender commits a sexual abuse or sexual contact offense under federal law after one or more prior convictions for a federal or state sexual abuse or sexual contact offense, the maximum term of imprisonment is doubled.

Child sex tourism. A new "child sex tourism" offense was created under the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act that makes it illegal for a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to travel in interstate or foreign commerce with the intent to engage in sexual acts with a minor that are prohibited under federal law in the United States. This provision applies even if these acts are legal in the destination country.

In 1996, the Child Pornography Prevention Act included as a form of child pornography any computer-generated, or "morphed" depiction of a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The new statute considers the motives of the producers and the intended audience, as well as the presumed harm to the victim, as justification for prohibiting this form of pornography.

Types of Child Victimization

Child abuse has been classified into five groups. Frequently, although not necessarily always, types of abuse occur in combination:

Physical abuse

Emotional abuse

Sexual abuse

Neglect

Missing and exploited children Witnessing Domestic Violence?

Abuse of children can be characterized neither by race or religion nor by standard of living or level of education. Family members, community leaders, acquaintances, coaches, teachers, and total strangers commit child abuse in every kind of environment, urban, suburban, or rural. It is important to point out that the law defines physical abuse,

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neglect, and emotional maltreatment as acts committed by parents or other caregivers. A stranger or an acquaintance is not subject to charges of physical abuse or neglect of a child. However, sexual abuse can be committed by parents, caregivers, friends, and strangers--anyone who gains access to the child.

(Portions of the following five sections concerning forms of child abuse are excerpted from For Kids Sake: A Child Abuse Prevention and Reporting Kit, Oklahoma State Department of Health, Office of Child Abuse Prevention, Guidance Services.)

PHYSICAL ABUSE

Most often classified as a non-accidental injury to a child under the age of eighteen by a parent or caregiver, physical abuse occurs when a parent or caregiver willfully injures, causes injury, or allows a child to be injured, tortured, or maimed out of cruelty or excessive punishment. Statutes in many states permit the prosecution of a parent who has knowledge of but fails to protect his or her child from physical abuse from others, such as grandparents, boyfriends, girlfriends, and spouses. Non-accidental injuries may include beatings, shaking, burning, immersion in scathing water, broken bones, internal injuries, human bites, cuts, and bruising, or other injuries inflicted on children. Rarely a singular incident, the abuse of a child is generally an action repeated over time that can result in permanent disability, scarring, or death. Some children who only know family interactions through violence or physical abuse may equate it with love from an adult role model. At the same time, an abusing parent will often cast blame for the abuse on the child who, in turn, may feel that he or she deserves it.

EMOTIONAL ABUSE

Mental health professionals recognize emotional abuse and emotional neglect as two forms of child emotional maltreatment. The former consists of a chronic pattern of behavior in which the child typically is belittled, denied love to promote specific behavior, marginalized from the siblings, marginalized from the other parent, or subjected to extreme and inappropriate punishments. The latter is characterized by the failure to provide a child with appropriate support, attention, and affection. Occurring alone and coupled with other forms of abuses, emotional maltreatment can impair the psychological growth and the emotional development of the child. Indicators for emotional abuse unfortunately mimic many medical and psychological conditions and complicate its diagnosis.

SEXUAL ABUSE

Child sexual abuse is the exploitation of a child or adolescent for another person's sexual and control gratification. Family members, trusted friends, acquaintances, child-related community program personnel, day care workers, and other paid caregivers as well as strangers are known perpetrators. Child sexual abuse ranges from acts such as oral and genital stimulation and penetration to voyeurism and the involvement of a child in

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prostitution or the production of pornography. Children tend not to disclose abuse when it first happens and may allow it to continue, sometimes for many years before an incident or confrontation provokes them to reveal crimes of sexual abuse.

Every two minutes a child is sexually abused in the United States. Diana Russell, David Finkelhor, and Vincent DeFrancis all conclude in their separate research that at least one in four females will be sexually abused by the age of eighteen (Urguiz and Keating, 1990). Suzanne Sgroi in her research about child sexual abuse determined that one in six to ten males would be sexually abused by age eighteen (Sgroi, 1978). Research on male victimization reveals that about 70 percent of male victims are abused by men and 83 percent of sexually abused males are under the age of twelve (Urguiza and Keating, 1990). All of these researchers agree that the large majority of child sexual abuse incidents go unreported (Skaggs, 2003).

Fabrication of sexual abuse. Fabricated reports of sexual abuse do occur and the highly publicized cases that have resulted in acquittals have raised doubts about the credibility of child reporting. It is estimated that knowingly false reports occur in less than ten percent of reported cases (Besharov 1988). Most children do not fabricate tales of sexual abuse, and the child protective service professional should not allow the possibility of a false allegation or false memory to prevent a thorough investigation of the report.

Intrafamilial sexual abuse. Sexual abuse is committed most often by individuals known to the child. Whether the abuser is a blood relative who is part of the nuclear family or a surrogate parent such as a live-in companion, stepparent, or older sibling, family members are frequently responsible for child sexual abuse. The family will likely be dysfunctional in other areas. It may have been de-stabilized by alcohol and substance abuse or severe spousal discord with a history of physical violence.

Acquaintance perpetrators. Acquaintance perpetrators such as family friends, neighbors, teachers, coaches, religious leaders, and peers normally will win the confidence of the child through his or her affiliation with the family or community. They tend to prey on children whom they know are experiencing home, school, or personal problems, children with low self-esteem, and children who are unsupervised. Perpetrators who command positions of respect due to positions in community affairs such as church, civic, and business affiliations are more likely to intimidate or threaten the child once sexual abuse has occurred. There has been a marked increase in the number of juvenile perpetrators committing sexual abuse.

Stranger sexual abuse. "Stranger" sexual abuse, frequently referred to as pedophilia (although the term describes any individual who has a sexual preference for children), is by far the most publicized form of child sexual abuse but comprises only 10 percent of all reported cases. There is no evidence that perpetrators choose child victims based on race, but there is a correlation to increased victimization of children of lower socioeconomic groups. Some pedophiles specifically marry women with children so that the risks of sex with children are minimized and protected under the veil of "normalcy;" therefore, cases of incest may include factors of pedophilia (Tower, 1993).

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On-line sexual predators. A new breed of child abuser is developing as a result of children's increased and often unsupervised recreational use of the Internet. Investigations of computer sex offenders demonstrate that on-line sexual predators roam chat rooms and post sexually explicit material on the Internet to make contact with young children and teenagers. Victimization may be indirect and limited to showing a child pornographic sites to initiating sexually overt conversations in a chat room, by e-mail or instant messages.

More aggressive predators will spend time developing relationships with vulnerable children. Eventually, they may introduce them to photographs of children engaging in "normal" sex with adults, send them gifts, and contact them by telephone. Typically they will try to gain their trust, alienate them from their family, and eventually try to set up a meeting. Some on-line sex offenders have gone so far as to send plane tickets to children to fly across the country to meet them.

Powerful concerns over access to potentially dangerous sites on the Internet have surfaced in response to the recent tragedy at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, and prompted TIME/CNN to conduct a telephone poll of 409 American teenagers from ages thirteen to seventeen on April 27-29, 1999, to discuss their Internet experiences (Yankelvitch 1999). Answers to the following questions offer some indication as to the type of negative encounters they may have on-line:

Have you ever encountered people online whom you suspect are pretending to be someone they are not?

o 72% of the girls replied yes. o 57% of the boys replied yes.

Have you ever encountered people online who say offensive things?

o 66% of the girls replied yes. o 54% of the boys replied yes.

Have you ever encountered people online who want personal information like your address or phone number?

o 58 percent of the girls replied yes. o 39 percent of the boys replied yes.

Debate over the control of Internet pornography and on-line solicitations of sex continues in the high courts of the country. In June 1997 in the case of Janet Reno, Attorney General of the United States et al. Appellant v. American Civil Liberties Union et al. on appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Justice Stevens delivered the most recent opinion of the Court:

At issue is the constitutionality of the two statutory provisions enacted to protect minors from "indecent" and "patently offensive" communications on the Internet.

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Notwithstanding the legitimacy and importance of the congressional goal of protecting children from harmful materials, we agree with the three judge District Court that the statutes abridge " the freedom of speech" protected by the First Amendment. [n.1]

(Portions of the material in the preceding section have been excerpted from A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.)

Child trauma reactions to sexual abuse. Children who are hiding their sexual abuse inevitably have feelings of shame or guilt; they fear the loss of affection of family and friends; and they experience low self-esteem and frustration about the loss of control over their lives in not being able to stop the abuse. They also may fear that disclosure will harm other family members, often based upon real threats made by the perpetrator to harm the child's loved ones, or the child himself or herself. Once a disclosure is made, children may retreat from family members and friends. Depending on how they process their anger, they may become deeply depressed and even consider suicide. Abused children may become angry with those whom they blame for failing to protect them. Older children may reenact sexual abuse by abusing other children, by becoming sexually precocious, and/or using vulgar language.

CHILD NEGLECT

Neglect is defined as the chronic failure of a parent or caretaker to provide a child under the age of eighteen with basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, medical care, educational opportunity, protection, and supervision. The incidence of child neglect in the United States is estimated to be as much as five times greater than that of physical abuse. Reasons for neglect, in addition to the most obvious of a determined, willful act on the part of a parent or caregiver, can include poverty, lack of education, cultural beliefs and customs, mental or emotional illness, and/or a lack of socialization skills on the part of the parent.

Prosecutions for Child Abuse and Neglect

Tennessee's criminal statutes define child abuse and neglect as follows:

Any person who knowingly, other than by accidental means, treats a child under eighteen (18) years of age in such a manner as to inflict injury or neglects such a child so as to adversely affect the child's health and welfare commits a Class A misdemeanor; provided, that if the abused or neglected child is six (6) years of age or less, the penalty is a Class D felony.*

A charge of child abuse and neglect requires proof of an actual, deleterious effect or harm to the child's health and welfare; the mere risk of harm is insufficient to support a

* TENN. CODE ANN. § 39-15-401(a).

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conviction.* In cases where there is no actual harm to the child, the person could be charged with attempted child abuse and neglect if the required intent could be shown.†

Child abuse and neglect becomes aggravated child abuse and neglect if:

The act of abuse or neglect results in serious bodily injury to the child; or A deadly weapon is used to accomplish the act of abuse.‡

Aggravated child abuse and neglect is a Class B felony, except that, if the abused or neglected child is six years of age or less, it is a Class A felony.§ There is an exception to aggravated child abuse and neglect for a child who is being provided treatment by spiritual means through prayer alone in accordance with the tenets or practices of a recognized church or religious denomination by a duly accredited practitioner thereof in lieu of medical or surgical treatment.**

There are at least two ways in which victims of domestic violence might be held criminally responsible for child abuse committed by the batterer. If the child abuse constitutes a felony, she could be charged with facilitation if, "knowing that another intends to commit a specific felony, but without the intent required for criminal responsibility, the person knowingly furnishes substantial assistance in the commission of the felony."†† The facilitation of the commission of a felony is an offense of the class next below the felony facilitated by the person so charged.‡‡ So, for example, if the batterer is charged with aggravated child abuse and neglect (which is a Class B felony), the facilitation charge would be a Class C felony.

A parent or custodian of a child can also be found guilty of aggravated assault if he or she intentionally or knowingly fails or refuses to protect the child from aggravated child abuse.§§ Aggravated assault of this type is a Class C felony.*** This charge is easier to prove than facilitation, since it doesn’t require a showing that the defendant assisted in the commission of the crime, but merely that she failed to protect the child from the crime. There are no reported cases where the defendant has raised domestic violence by the perpetrator of the child abuse as a defense to either of these charges.

Duress might be a defense to a charge of child abuse, criminal facilitation, or aggravated assault. Duress is available as a defense:

where the person or a third person is threatened with harm which is present, imminent, impending and of such a nature to induce a well-grounded

* State v. Mateyko, 53 S.W.3d 666, 2001 Tenn. Lexis 625 (Tenn. 2001).† TENN. CODE ANN. § 39-12-101.‡ TENN. CODE ANN. § 39-15-402(a).§ TENN. CODE ANN. § 39-15-402(b).** TENN. CODE ANN. § 39-15-402(c).†† TENN. CODE ANN. § 39-11-403(a).‡‡ TENN. CODE ANN. § 39-11-403(b).§§

***

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apprehension of death or serious bodily injury if the act is not done. The threatened harm must be continuous throughout the time the act is being committed, and must be one from which the person cannot withdraw in safety. Further, the desirability and urgency of avoiding the harm must clearly outweigh, according to ordinary standards of reasonableness, the harm sought to be prevented by the law proscribing the conduct.*

Duress is extremely difficult to prove in most domestic violence cases, and even more so where the underlying charge is abuse of a child (Skaggs, 2003).

MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN

Each year thousands of children run away from home to escape physical or sexual abuse or neglect while others are forced out of the home by their parents. Unfortunately, many end up on the streets. Without legitimate means of support and a safe place to stay, they are often victimized again through pornography, sexual exploitation, and drugs (NCMEC 1992b).

Abduction by a parent is considered a crime against the child when he or she is kidnapped from custodial parents. Although some parents claim they are taking the child to protect him or her from further abuse, many abduct their children out of anger over a custodial arrangement ordered by the court. These children may be placed at great risk both physically and emotionally. Frequently, a lack of finances to support the child and a constant change in living conditions leave the child emotionally scarred. Abduction by strangers is less common, but when it occurs, the child's chance for survival is significantly lowered.

(Portions of the preceding section excerpted from a National Center for Victims of Crime grant project, funded by the Office for Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Programs, 1992-1994.)

In 1998, there were an estimated 749,100 missing juveniles reported to the police and entered into the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC 1999, 1).

The link between missing and sexually exploited children is a strong one. For example, from July 1980 through February 1984, the police/social work team of the Louisville/Jefferson County Exploited and Missing Child Unit (EMCU) in Kentucky investigated approximately 1,400 cases of children suspected of being victims of sexual exploitation. A full 54 percent (756) of the children were found to be victims and an additional 31 percent (434) of the children were considered probable victims (NCMEC 1992a).

Sexual victimization of these homeless children occurs in every state. Outreach workers in New York City estimate that children as young as eight years old are forced to prostitute themselves for money, affection, and drugs. Some children are held in virtual

*

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bondage. They have multiple sex partners on a daily basis and are bought and sold by exploiters (NCMEC 1992b).

Sexual exploitation has been defined in a number of ways, but in this chapter, the term means the use of a minor under the age of eighteen for sexual purposes by an older person in any or all of three ways:

Child pornography.

Child prostitution.

Computer solicitation (EDC 1995).

Child sexual exploitation cases raise unique issues that are not anticipated in existing child sexual abuse protocols. These cases tend to feature the additional complexities of concurrent federal and state jurisdiction, and many (especially cases of child prostitution) involve a particularly challenging group of victims.

The investigation and prosecution of cases involving sexual exploitation of children and youth can raise complex problems for criminal justice agencies:

These cases often require a coordinated, proactive investigation.

They sometimes involve victims who are also offenders.

They often cross jurisdictional boundaries, potentially involving federal, state, and local authorities (Ibid. 1995).

Criminal justice agencies and victim service providers must recognize and attend to the needs of sexually exploited children and youth. These victims are subject to serious short- and long-term consequences that can impair their physical and mental health and inhibit them from cooperating in the investigation. Many exploited youth suffer from having been manipulated rather than explicitly coerced into these activities. As a result, they may feel responsible for, or at least complicit in, the sexual behaviors. Young victims of pornography have lost control over images of themselves in print, on film, or in computer memories. These images may surface to haunt them at any time in their lives (EDC 1995).

Each state and the federal government criminalize some aspect of child prostitution. The federal government's primary law criminalizing child prostitution is the "Mann Act," which proscribes the transportation of individuals under the age of eighteen in interstate or foreign commerce with the intent that the individual engage in prostitution or any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense. State laws are generally broader and focus on persons who advance, promote, or induce prostitution. They rarely penalize patrons of child prostitutes. It may, however, be possible to prosecute patrons of child prostitutes under child sexual abuse or statutory rape laws (EDC 1995).

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It is important to remember that these laws apply equally to situations involving very young children and to cases involving older teenagers. They are, for example, just as relevant to a parent who offers a seven-year-old for sexual activities as they are to a pimp who controls several teenaged girls (EDC 1995).

Tennessee State Statutes

The majority of child exploitation cases occur within a single state and therefore are only prosecutable within that state. The State of Tennessee has the following specific statutes to address crimes against children:

Rape of a Child: T.C.A. 39-13-522

Rape of a child is defined as the unlawful sexual penetration of a victim by the defendant or the defendant by a victim, if such victim is less than thirteen (13) years of age. This crime carries a penalty of 15-60 years, of which 85% must be served before the defendant is eligible for release. However, the court “shall consider as an enhancement factor that the defendant caused the victim to be mentally incapacitated or physically helpless by use of a controlled substance.” This is a statute that presumes that at a child under the age of 13 is not capable of consenting. Prosecution of sexual penetration of older children are prosecuted under the rape and sexual battery statutes, T.C.A. 39-13-502 to 39-13-507, or the statutory rape statute, T.C.A. 39-13-506, if the child consents and the perpetrator is at least four years older than the child.

Community Supervision for Life: T.C.A. 39-13-524

Defendants who are found guilty of aggravated rape, rape, or aggravated sexual battery against a child or an adult are required to be on supervision for life after the defendant has served his/her sentence.

Sexual Battery by an Authority Figure: T.C.A. 39-13-527

An authority figure (broadly defined) who commits sexual battery (unlawful sexual contact) of a child between the ages of thirteen and eighteen is subject to a sentence of three to fifteen years.

Solicitation of a Child T.C.A. 39-13-528

Adults are prohibited, “by means of oral, written or electronic communication, electronic mail or Internet services, directly or through another, to intentionally command, request or hire a person who the person making the solicitation knows or should know is less than eighteen (18) years of age to engage in conduct that if completed would constitute a violation by the soliciting adult” of rape, sexual battery, statutory rape, or especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor. “It is no defense that the solicitation was

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unsuccessful and the conduct solicited was not engaged in. It is no defense that if the solicited conduct were engaged in the minor would not commit any of the listed offenses. It is no defense that the minor solicited was unaware of the criminal nature of the conduct solicited.” The penalty for this crime is one to six years.

Sexual Exploitation T.C.A. 39-17-1003

It is a crime to knowingly possess material that includes a minor engaged in sexual activity or simulated sexual activity that is patently offensive. A jury may consider the title, text, visual representation, Internet history, physical development of the person depicted, expert medical testimony, expert computer forensic testimony, and any other relevant evidence in determining whether a person knowingly possessed the material or in determining whether the material or image otherwise represents or depicts that a participant is a minor. The penalty is three to fifteen years; however, if the number of individual images, materials or combination thereof which are possessed is more than fifty (50) then the offense shall be increase by one class and if the items possessed are more than one hundred (100) the offense shall be two classes higher.

Aggravated Sexual Exploitation T.C.A. 39-17-1004

It is a crime to knowingly promote, sell, distribute, transport, purchase or exchange material, or posses with the intent to promote, sell, distribute, transport, purchase or exchange material, which includes a minor engaged in sexual activity or simulated sexual activity that is patently offensive. The penalty is three to fifteen years. If the material is “obscene” as defined in T.C.A. 39-17-901(10), the penalty is eight to thirty years. The class of the offense can be enhanced if the defendant possessed more than twenty-five (25) items.

Especially Aggravated Sexual Exploitation: T.C.A. 39-17-1005

It is a crime to knowingly promote, employ, use, assist, transport or permit a minor to participate in the performance of in the production of material that includes the minor engaging in sexual activity or simulated sexual activity that is patently offensive. The penalty is eight to thirty years (Daughtrey, 2003).

The Effects of Abuse

Longitudinal research has identified a significant link between childhood abuse and both future delinquency and adult criminal behavior:

In one of the most detailed studies of the issue to date, research sponsored by the National Institute of Justice found that childhood abuse increased the odds of future delinquency and adult criminality overall by 40 percent. Being abused or neglected as a child increased the likelihood of arrest as a juvenile by 53 percent, as an adult by 38 percent, and for a violent crime by 38 percent (Widom, 1992).

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People who were sexually victimized during childhood are at higher risk of arrest for committing crimes as adults, including sex crimes, than are people who did not suffer sexual or physical abuse of neglect during childhood. However, the risk of arrest for childhood sexual abuse victims is no higher than for victims of other types of childhood abuse and neglect (Widom 1995).

The vast majority of childhood sexual abuse victims are not arrested for sex crimes or any other crimes as adults (Ibid.).

Compared to victims of childhood physical abuse and neglect, victims of childhood sexual abuse are at greater risk of being arrested for one type of sex crime: prostitution. (Ibid).

For the specific crimes of rape and sodomy, victims of physical abuse tended to be at greater risk for committing those crimes than were sexual abuse victims and people who had not been victimized. (Ibid).

In April 1997, the National Institute of Justice released a summary of research, "Prevalence and Consequences of Child Victimization," conducted by Dean Kilpatrick and Benjamin Saunders of the Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center at the Medical University of South Carolina. The report's preliminary findings on the mental health impact of child victimization are highlighted below:

A significant number of the youthful population have been victims of sexual and physical abuse and have personally witnessed incidents of violence.

Of the nation's 22.3 million adolescents ages twelve to seventeen, approximately 1.8 million have been victims of a serious sexual assault, 3.9 million have been victims of a serious physical assault, and almost 9 million have witnessed serious violence. Nearly 2 million appear to have suffered (and more than 1 million still suffer) from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) a long-term mental health condition often characterized by depression, anxiety, flashbacks, nightmares, and other behavioral and physiological symptoms. About 3.4 million adolescents have been drug or alcohol abusers as well.

Among adolescents who have been physically assaulted, 23.4% developed PTSD and 14.8% still suffer from it, compared to 10.8% and 4.5% respectively, among non-victims.

More female than male adolescents had been sexually assaulted: 13% of females versus 3.4% of males. Sexual assault was defined in the study as "unwanted but actual sexual contact." The researchers noted that this did not include unsuccessful attempts at contact or non contact victimization such as exhibition.

Respondents indicated that young males had significantly higher rates of being physically assaulted than females: 21.3% v. 13.4%. Behavior that the study considered to be a physical assault included being attacked or threatened with a

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weapon; being badly hurt from a beating; or being attacked without a weapon but with the intent to kill or seriously injure.

The researchers note that the confirmation of the study's hypothesis that there is a correlation between victimization experiences, PTSD, and delinquency awaits completion of data analysis. However, preliminary findings indicate the significance of child victimization as a risk factor for adolescents to develop major mental health problems and to abuse alcohol as a means of coping with PTSD. These problems are often a precursor of delinquent behavior (OVC 1998).

A 1997 survey, recently published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics that specifically investigated child abuse histories among prison and jail inmates, determined that a high percentage of inmates had experienced physical or sexual abuse before their incarceration and that much of the abuse occurred while they were children (BJS 1998, as reported by Walsh in The Washington Post).

Long-term mental health problems as the result of child victimization are difficult to gauge. A study conducted at the University of South Alabama and published in the January 1999 Journal of Interpersonal Violence suggests that adult women with previous histories of child abuse and who have experienced recent sexual assaults, demonstrate poor coping strategies and a greater vulnerability to re-victimization. Out of 119 undergraduate women who identified themselves as having experienced a recent sexual victimization, 42 percent also reported a history of child sexual abuse. Those who suffered child abuse revealed predominately negative coping strategies that included self and societal blame: blaming themselves for being a "victim" type, for being a bad person, for not being able to take care of themselves; and blaming society for being dangerous, for its failure to protect women, and for the emotionally disturbed people who commit sexual assault. Their coping strategy, furthermore, tended to be reinforced by avoidance behavior, overeating, and taking prescription drugs (Arata 1999).

Results of the survey furthermore suggested that the coping strategies used to deal with their adult victimization were likely similar to those they had used to deal with original childhood abuse. The author of the report highlighted the need for additional research on the links between childhood victimization and adult re-victimization, and stressed the importance of identifying rape victims who have suffered child sexual abuse and are at increased risk of ongoing trauma-related symptoms (Ibid.).

Reporting Requirements for Child Abuse and Neglect

Physical abuse, neglect, and emotional maltreatment are all defined by law to be acts committed by parents or caregivers. A stranger or acquaintance is not subject to charges of physical abuse or neglect of a child. Sexual abuse and exploitation, however, can be committed by parents, caregivers, friends, strangers--anyone who gains access to the child.

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Most states and the federal government have enacted laws and specified professionals who are mandated to report child abuse and neglect. These mandated reporters are individuals who, in their professional relationship with the child and family, may encounter child maltreatment. Some states are more specific in delineating those mandated to report abuse, but most states do include physicians, other medical professionals, counselors, social workers, and school personnel. In addition to delineating who must report, most states provide language that addresses the following:

To whom the report should be made: Departments of social services, child welfare, family service or agencies of public welfare are usually designated to receive such reports. Some states indicate a report to a law enforcement agency is necessary as well.

Under what conditions a mandated reporter must report: States normally mandate the reporting of child abuse or neglect when there is a suspicion of, reasonable cause to believe, or reasonable cause to suspect abuse or neglect.

Time period in which the report must be investigated by social services or another designated agency: States vary in their time requirements to investigate suspected cases, but time periods normally range from two hours to thirty days.

Type of action to be taken if mandated reporters fail to report: All states, with the exception of one, penalize the non reporting of suspected cases of child abuse or neglect. Such disciplinary actions may include a fine and/or imprisonment or the reporter can be charged with a misdemeanor. These penalties do not include agency or licensing sanctions, which are determined on a state-by-state basis.

Type of immunity provided mandated reporters who make a report: All states allow for immunity from civil or criminal actions for good faith efforts.

Not all cases of abuse or neglect are detected by those mandated to report them. In fact, the largest numbers of reporting come from private citizens who witness, hear, or suspect abuse or neglect. These interested parties may include other family members, neighbors, parents of childhood friends, and other concerned citizens. However, several factors may curtail the reporting of abuse or neglect by private citizens:

Lack of knowledge of whom to call.

Lack of knowledge of confidentiality laws that protect anonymous reporters.

A desire to not become involved in the "personal matters" of others.

Accepting an anonymous report of abuse entails risks. The report may be false, and implicit in anonymity is the refusal to serve as a witness if the case is proven to be criminal in nature. Consequently, the lack of full disclosure might put the alleged abused child at greater risk. Although most agencies take such reports seriously and investigate them, many agencies and most states do not have specific mandates or policies regarding the investigation of child abuse/neglect reports through an anonymous tip (Tower 1993, 234).

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In working with child victims, either as victims or witnesses, it is important to remember the following:

Children experience emotional reactions just the same as adults do and can experience posttraumatic stress disorder.

Children are often more traumatized than adults when a casual acquaintance is victimized.

Trauma in children can take years to manifest.

Children's traumatic reactions cannot be prevented but can be minimized when assistance is provided as soon as possible.

Delay should not occur because the caregiver, service provider, or support person feels the child is "too young" to understand.

NOTE: Public Chapter 185 of 2005 deletes the language in T.C.A. 37-1-403 that makes provisions for the reporting of suspected child abuse through a designated office of a hospital, clinic, school, or agency/organization. The responsibility for reporting suspected abuse/neglect now lies with the individual who suspects that child abuse or neglect has occurred. Therefore, individual organization policies allowing a staff person to report abuse or neglect to the person in charge of the organization, or that person’s designee, will no longer be in compliance with state law. The bottom line is: if an individual suspects child abuse, he/she has a legal obligation to report it to DCS or others mandated to receive these reports. An individual may no longer fulfill their legal obligation by reporting it to a designated person within a person’s organization. Failing to report is a Class A misdemeanor and is punishable by a fine not to exceed $2,500. In addition to the department of Children’s Services (DCS), individuals may report suspected child abuse/neglect to the Juvenile Court Judge having jurisdiction over the child, or the Sheriff of the County the child resides. Persons reporting to the department should call the Department of Children’s Service’s Statewide Hotline. There are two toll-free number, and they are operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 1-877-54ABUSE AND 1-877-237-0004 (Tennessee Joint Task Force on Children’s Justice, 2005).

Creating a Multidisciplinary Approach to Child Abuse and Neglect

Because many child abuse and neglect cases involve simultaneous responses by child protection, law enforcement, victim assistance, and social service agencies, professionals have come to recognize the benefits to be gained not only by the investigating agencies but also by the child victims when their investigations are better coordinated. Hundreds of communities have developed multidisciplinary teams (based in hospitals, police departments, prosecutors' offices, and child protection and nonprofit agencies) to improve coordination and communication among the personnel involved in these cases. One of the most important reforms brought about by multidisciplinary teams is the ability to conduct joint interviews of child victims, reducing the number of interviews and interviewers to which child victims are exposed in the course of an investigation (OVC 1998).

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While the ultimate goal of each agency is to protect the child, each agency nevertheless operates with different policies, procedures, and goals. The civil child protection system and the criminal justice system are complex parallel systems and, while they collaborate in a multidisciplinary approach, the victim assistance professional must appreciate the distinct roles of the entities: the child protection workers, the court-appointed special advocates (CASAs), law enforcement, prosecution, victim/witness assistance, guardians ad litem, physicians and/or nurses, and mental health services. The potential for the duplication or overlapping of services and procedures is high. To reduce this possibility, many states have incorporated a multidisciplinary team approach to do the following:

Share information, expertise, and experiences.

Determine the need for intervention and to coordinate the best approach for action.

Assess risk factors for the child.

Determine service needs.

Determine the child's ability to participate in justice processes.

Ease the trauma of the child's participation in the process through the reduction of multiple interviews, exams, and the number of protective and criminal justice personnel interactions with the child and/or family members.

Reduce replication of service to the child victim and family.

To determine if allegations of child abuse or neglect are "founded," the following formal procedures should be initiated in a multidisciplinary approach:

Law enforcement and the child protective service agency, either jointly or individually, should conduct an investigation of the alleged offender that includes a record check for previous criminal offenses and previous child protective services reports that might involve charges or allegations of child, familial, or spousal abuse, substance abuse, or other behaviors that would increase the likelihood of child abuse and neglect. They should interview the alleged offender(s), and where appropriate, other family members, neighbors, medical personnel. In the case of juveniles, the parent or caregiver should be present. Concurrently, they should conduct a visit to the home of the victim who has alleged abuse to observe family dynamics, and to check for other conditions that might indicate abuse or neglect (such as poor sanitation and lack of heat or electricity).

The victim who has alleged abuse and other children in the family should be physically inspected by a medical professional for additional evidence of abuse or neglect.

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The victim who has alleged abuse and other children in the family should be assessed by a mental health professional for evidence of emotional abuse or neglect.

Appropriate victim assistance services should be provided, particularly in cases that result in criminal prosecution or juvenile court adjudication.

While the information in this chapter most often deals with child abuse and neglect perpetrated by family members, other individuals can and do commit these same acts against children. These individuals may include teachers, clergy, institutional or paid caregivers, etc. They are not the focus of this chapter, however, but are mentioned to alert the reader that cases such as these exist. Because specific laws have been enacted to address maltreatment of children by professionals such as these, they will often be charged with criminal or civil violations, in which case the primary investigator will be a law enforcement agency and not a child protective service agency.

CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES

The Department of Children's Services responds to over 37,000 reports of child abuse and neglect a year. Every day, more than 100 children are reported abused or neglected in Tennessee.

The Child Protective Services division strives to protect children (under the age of 18 years) whose lives or health are seriously jeopardized because of abusive acts or negligence. This division also supports the preservation of families.

The Department practices risk-oriented case management in order to provide Child Protective Services (CPS). These risk-oriented case management issues include:

investigating referrals of child abuse or neglect identifying the risk factors (problems) that contributed to the abuse or neglect delivering appropriate services to reduce risks evaluating the success of the intervention continuing services, if necessary, closing the case; or reuniting the child/children

and family (http://www.tennessee.gov/youth/cps/index.htm, 2005).

CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTERS

No single individual, agency or discipline has all the knowledge, skills and resources needed to provide the various types of assistance needed by child abuse victims and their families.

Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs) seek to combine the experience and expertise of Child Protective Investigative Teams (CPITs) in Tennessee, the Department of Children's Services Child Protective Services, Law Enforcement, Prosecutors, Medical and Mental Health to address the needs of children. The process of sharing physical space, time and information allows the entire team to maintain focus on the child. Because cooperating

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http://www.tennessee.gov/youth/cps/index.htm


professional reduce the number of interviews, observe the victim together and hold a joint staffing, the process is much less frightening to the child victims. By eliminating duplication of effort and needless delays and by assuring cooperative follow-up, local centers improve effectiveness of all agencies, some of which formerly may have worked in isolation. For children who have been abused, knowing there are sensitive and responsive adults who will help can make all the difference in the world.

The Tennessee Chapter of Children’s Advocacy Centers mission is to promote, assist, and support development, growth, and continuation of child advocacy centers in their service to abused and neglected children and their families. The Tennessee Chapter of CAC's is a statewide not-for-profit membership organization. There are currently 25 Child Advocacy Centers who are members of the Tennessee Chapter of Children’s Advocacy Centers. An additional three CAC Task Forces are in various stages of development. Children’s Advocacy Centers are located in both rural and urban communities across the state, providing services to 73 counties. CAC's work collaboratively with over 149 law enforcement agencies and 23 of the 31 Judicial Districts. In 2003, Tennessee Chapter member programs served more than 6,500 children in Tennessee. In addition, the Tennessee Chapter provides technical assistance, training, and other resources to all communities seeking to plan, establish, expand, or sustain a Children’s Advocacy Center. The Tennessee Chapter is a chapter member of the National Children’s Alliance (www.tncac.org, 2005). Please refer to www.tncac.org for a list of child advocacy centers across Tennessee.

CHILD DEATH REVIEW TEAMS

"When an infant dies of an injury, murder is the most common cause," reports the first large-scale study of injury deaths in the first year of life. According to researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 23 percent of the 10, 370 injury-related infant deaths reported between 1983 and 1991 were murders. Infants were more likely to die of injuries, including murder, if their mothers were young, unmarried and had little education (USA Today 1999).

Until recently, the death of a child as a result of chronic abuse was not recognized under most state laws as an intentional homicide nor prosecuted as first-degree murder. Today more than twenty-three states have adopted child "homicide by abuse" laws that do not require proof of specific intent to kill when a child's death results from abuse, thus allowing stiffer sentences, sanctions, and penalties. (NCPCA 1993) Child death review teams now exist in all fifty states and are charged with examining the circumstances surrounding certain fatalities known or suspected to be the result of child abuse or neglect. (U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1991). The goal is to identify indicators or risk factors to signal earlier intervention in hopes of preventing future deaths (OVC 1998, 390).

In November 1996, the Interagency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect (ICAN) launched the National Center on Child Fatality Review. With support from the Times

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http://www.tncac.org/


http://www.nca-online.org/

http://www.nca-online.org/


Mirror Foundation, the U.S. Department of Justice, OJJDP, and others, the Center works to--

Act as a source of information exchange and develop services to provide accountability for the deaths of innocent children.

Develop services for survivors of victims of fatal child abuse.

The Center's repository of information from case reviews provides a valuable resource to prevent future child fatalities, serious abuse and neglect, and accidental injuries and death (ICAN 1997).

COURT-APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES

For children who are the subject of protection proceedings, typically in a juvenile or family court, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act requires states to provide them with independent representation. Traditionally, children were represented in such cases by an attorney appointed to act as guardian ad litem. Courts in hundreds of communities, however, are also utilizing volunteer court-appointed special advocates (CASAs) who perform independent investigations of the children's circumstances and file their own reports. A national organization, the National Court-Appointed Special Advocate Association, is funded by OJJDP to help courts establish a volunteer program and to standardize training for volunteer advocates who provide support for children who choose to speak at sentencing hearings (OVC 1998, 391).

The Tennessee Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association began in early 1986 when directors of local CASA agencies began to meet informally and to share ideas and concerns. Later in 1986, the Tennessee Legislature appropriated the first state money for CASA programs which helped strengthen the CASA network across the state.

In 1988 the Tennessee Bar Foundation through its IOLTA fund awarded grants to several CASA agencies in Tennessee. The time was right to form a state association and in 1988 the Tennessee Court Appointed Special Advocate Association was chartered as a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit membership corporation.

The first local CASA agency was started in 1984 in Nashville. During the next three years Chattanooga, Memphis and Knoxville started programs. Today 15 CASA agencies serve 26 counties across the state, from Johnson City in the northeast corner to Memphis on the Mississippi River. For the year ending June 2004, 932 volunteers helped three thousand five-hundred and forty-seven of Tennessee’s abused and neglected children.

The mission of the Tennessee CASA Association is the start-up, support and continuation of CASA programs across the state of Tennessee. Local agencies recruit and train volunteers to safeguard the best interests of abused and neglected children brought to the attention of the juvenile court. The state organization supports these agencies through training, a grants program, coordination of program expansion and development, monitoring legislation affecting children and agencies, and providing strategies for

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raising public awareness of child abuse and the need for volunteers (www.tncasa.org, 2005).

LEGAL ADVOCACY

The American Bar Association has developed standards and practices for lawyers representing children in abuse and neglect cases. In addition, numerous victim assistance programs have expanded their roles to include specific support mechanisms or special programs for child victims. The most extensive programs offer education for children about the criminal or juvenile justice system and their role as witnesses; tours of the courtroom and introductions to judges, bailiffs, and attorneys; and role-playing opportunities to practice answering questions in a courtroom setting. Some programs even teach children stress reduction techniques. Victim advocates also work with children to prepare victim impact statements that are commensurate with their age and cognitive development and offer support for children who choose to speak at sentencing hearings (OVC 1998, 391).

METHODS OF WORKING WITH FOUNDED CASES OF NEGLECT AND ABUSE

When a reported case of abuse and neglect does not have concrete evidence, its disposition can be relegated to one of two categories. When reported cases of child abuse and neglect are determined to be unfounded, the files are closed and no other action is taken. If an investigation does not find concrete evidence of abuse, but a suspicion of abuse lingers, the cases is "pended" for an additional follow-up and if, within a specified time, no other reports are filed, the case is closed.

Founded cases of abuse or neglect are handled either by a child protection agency or a representative of the criminal justice system. Not all cases of child abuse or neglect are criminal in nature, nor do all founded cases of abuse or neglect require the removal of the child from the home. While financially strapped parents and caretakers may be capable of loving and nurturing their children, they may be unable to provide adequate food or shelter for them. The same applies for many parents who are mentally, emotionally, or physically unable to meet all of their child's needs. Although these conditions of neglect are more understandable, they are not excuses to allow a child to remain at risk of harm.

Child protective services and family courts work to keep such families together by providing financial assistance for food, housing, and medical care, and the services of a paid child protective services "homemaker" to train parents on how to clean their homes and children's clothes, to cook healthy meals, and to practice good physical hygiene. "Homemakers" may provide transportation for children and/or other family members to and from medical or mental health appointments.

In cases of willful abuse, where the child is not in immediate danger, child protective agencies will work with family members to resolve problems and reduce stress that might have precipitated the abuse or neglect. Agencies frequently incorporate the use of

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http://www.tncasa.org/


"contracts" between the agency and the abuser(s), which specify strict requirements that the parent or caretaker must meet if he, she, or they wish to retain custody of the child. Conditions contained in "contracts" might include the following:

Anger management classes

Substance abuse treatment programs

Mental health counseling

Employment or employment training

Parents may also be required to attend parenting classes to learn the proper care of the child and to identify and learn to manage the stress--causing factors that may have led to the child's physical abuse or neglect.

Follow-up home and office visits are conducted for a specified length of time to ensure that the conditions of the contract are met. The contract will normally outline specific policies and procedures if conditions are not met or if another report of abuse or neglect is filed:

The removal of the child.

The extension of time during which the parent(s) may be monitored by an agency.

Increases in conditions.

Dependent and Neglect or Abuse Proceedings in Juvenile Court

A petition may be filed in Juvenile Court alleging that a child of a domestic violence victim is abused or dependent and neglected. Abuse is defined as:

when a person under the age of eighteen (18) is suffering from, has sustained, or may be in immediate danger of suffering from or sustaining a wound, injury, disability or physical or mental condition caused by brutality, neglect or other actions or inactions of a parent, relative, guardian or caretaker.*

A dependent and neglected child includes a child:

Whose parent, guardian, or person with whom the child lives, by reason of cruelty, mental incapacity, immorality or depravity is unfit to properly care for such child; or

Who is suffering from abuse or neglect.†

Severe child abuse is defined as:

* TENN. CODE ANN. § 37-1-102(b)(2).† TENN. CODE ANN. § 37-1-102(b)(12).

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The knowing exposure of a child to or the knowing failure to protect a child from abuse or neglect that is likely to cause great bodily harm or death and the knowing use of force on a child that is likely to cause great bodily harm or death;

Specific brutality, abuse or neglect towards a child which in the opinion of qualified experts has caused or will reasonably be expected to produce severe psychosis, severe neurotic disorder, severe depression, severe developmental delay or retardation, or severe impairment of the child's ability to function adequately in the child's environment, and the knowing failure to protect a child from such conduct; or

The commission against the child of aggravated rape, rape, aggravated sexual battery, rape of a child, incest, or especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor or the knowing failure to protect the child from the commission of any such act towards the child.*

A child may be taken into custody by a law enforcement officer, social worker of the Department of Children's Services, or duly authorized officer of the court if there are reasonable grounds to believe that

The child is a neglected, dependent, or abused child, and The child's removal is required because the child is subject to an immediate threat

to the child's health or safety to the extent that delay for a hearing would be likely to result in severe or irreparable harm, or

The child may abscond or be removed from the jurisdiction of the court, and There is no less drastic available alternative to removal of the child from the

custody of the child's parent which would reasonably and adequately protect the child's health or safety or prevent the child's removal from the jurisdiction of the court pending a hearing.†

The standard for continued detention or shelter care after removal is probable cause and the same elements as for removal must be present.‡

Termination of Parental Rights

Termination of parental rights must be based upon a finding by the court by clear and convincing evidence that:

The grounds for termination of parental rights have been established; and Termination of the parent's rights is in the best interests of the child.§

There are several grounds for termination of parental rights. The ones most often used against victims of domestic violence are:* TENN. CODE ANN. § 37-1-102(b)(21).† TENN. CODE ANN. §§ 37-1-113(a)(3); 37-1-114(a)(2).‡ TENN. CODE ANN. §; 37-1-114(a)(2).§ TENN. CODE ANN. § 36-1-113(c).

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There has been substantial noncompliance by the parent with the statement of responsibilities in a permanency plan or a plan of care.*

The child has been removed from the home of the parent by order of a court for a period of six months and:

o Abandonment by the parent has occurred.† (Abandonment need only persist for four months and can consist of a failure to visit the child. Most often this situation occurs after the Department of Children's Services takes custody of the children and the parent is unable, often due to the violence, to visit with the child.)

o The conditions which led to the child's removal or other conditions which in all reasonable probability would cause the child to be subjected to further abuse or neglect and which, therefore, prevent the child's safe return to the care of the parent, still persist;

o There is little likelihood that these conditions will be remedied at an early date so that the child can be safely returned to the parent in the near future; and

o The continuation of the parent and child relationship greatly diminishes the child's chances of early integration into a safe, stable and permanent home.‡

The parent has been found to have committed severe child abuse under any prior order of a court or is found by the court to have committed severe child abuse against the child who is the subject of the petition or against any sibling or half-sibling of such child, or any other child residing temporarily or permanently in the home of such parent.§ (The definition of severe child abuse includes a failure to protect the child from abuse.** A finding by the Juvenile Court in a decision to remove the child from the parent's custody and place the child with DCS which is not appealed within ten days is sufficient to meet this standard.††)

The parent has been sentenced to more than two years' imprisonment for conduct against the child who is the subject of the petition, or for conduct against any sibling or half-sibling of the child or any other child residing temporarily or permanently in the home of such parent, which has been found under any prior order of a court or which is found by the court hearing the petition to be severe child abuse.‡‡

* TENN. CODE ANN. § 36-1-113 (g)(2).† TENN. CODE ANN. § 36-1-113 (g)(1).‡ TENN. CODE ANN. § 36-1-113(g)(3).§ TENN. CODE ANN. § 36-1-113(g)(4).** TENN. CODE ANN. § 37-1-102(b)(21).†† In Re S.M.C., 1999 Tenn. App. LEXIS 365 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1999).‡‡ TENN. CODE ANN. § 36-1-113(g)(5).

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In determining whether termination of parental or guardianship rights is in the best interest of the child pursuant to this part, the court shall consider, but is not limited to, the following§§:

Whether the parent has made such an adjustment of circumstance, conduct, or conditions as to make it safe and in the child's best interest to be in the home of the parent;

Whether the parent has failed to effect a lasting adjustment after reasonable efforts by available social services agencies for such duration of time that lasting adjustment does not reasonably appear possible;

Whether the parent has maintained regular visitation or other contact with the child;

Whether a meaningful relationship has otherwise been established between the parent and the child;

The effect a change of caretakers and physical environment is likely to have on the child's emotional, psychological and medical condition;

Whether the parent, or other person residing with the parent, has shown brutality, physical, sexual, emotional or psychological abuse, or neglect toward the child, or another child or adult in the family or household;

Whether the physical environment of the parent's home is healthy and safe, whether there is criminal activity in the home, or whether there is such use of alcohol or controlled substances as may render the parent consistently unable to care for the child in a safe and stable manner;

Whether the parent's or guardian's mental and/or emotional status would be detrimental to the child or prevent the parent from effectively providing safe and stable care and supervision for the child; or

Whether the parent has paid child support consistent with the child support guidelines promulgated by the department (Skaggs, 2003).

FOSTER CARE PLACEMENT

The removal of a child from his or her home may result in a significant emotional toll on the child. Historically, it has been the accepted philosophy of the court system, child protective service agencies, and mental health professionals that a child should remain in the home unless his or her life is threatened, and that services should be focused on reuniting the family. In some jurisdictions, however, this philosophy is changing to err on the side of caution and to remove children who appear to be at-risk for further abuse or neglect. When the temporary or permanent removal of the child from his or her home is required, placement can be either in foster care or in another family member's care. The parent(s) or the caregiver must meet certain conditions prior to the child being returned home.

The intervention of the family or juvenile court is required to remove a child from the home and place him or her in foster care. Only in cases where an emergency removal of the child is warranted can child protective officers act without the direct permission of a

§§

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judge in removing the child. Even then, the court must be notified and must hold what is referred to as a "shelter care" hearing within seventy-two hours to determine the child's placement. Most states recognize a seventy-two-hour deadline but policies can vary from state to state.

Children who are removed from their home may experience a range of emotions and reactions, including:

Acting out in physically threatening ways, hoping they will be removed from the foster setting and returned home.

Withdrawing from the foster caretaker and refusing to participate in planned activities.

Crying excessively.

Feeling betrayed by either the abuser or the reporter of the abuse.

When an abused child's ability to "trust" the system designed to protect him or her has been compromised, they may not report future abuse. Abused children have been known to recant prior statements concerning the abuse so they can return home. Children placed in foster care should receive mental health counseling and should have access to other family members or caring professionals with whom they can share their emotions. They should be kept apprised of future plans for their housing to aid them in accepting their current (and hopefully) temporary situation.

FACTORS THAT MAY INFLUENCE CHILDREN TO NOT REPORT VICTIMIZATION

Age and developmental skills may preclude an ability to do so.

Lack of knowledge of whom to or how to report abuse.

Fear of retaliation from the offender or other family members.

Fear of not being believed.

Unaware that the situation is not "normal."

Shame or blame for abuse.

Fear that the offender will act on threats made against the child and/or other family members.

Perhaps most importantly, feels love for the abuser.

When the findings of the child abuse or neglect investigation uncover acts that are criminal in nature, criminal charges are often filed against the offender. These acts

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normally include severe or life-threatening cases of child physical abuse and cases of child sexual abuse (Tower 1993; Besharov 1988; Finkelhor 1994).

Children as Victims and Children as Witnesses in the Criminal Justice System

Children have participated in the judicial process throughout history--but seldom without controversy. Their age, lack of societal sophistication, and inability to follow abstract concepts led America's judicial fore bearers to believe that children were not competent to come before the court and repeat what they saw or heard or what had happened to them. They have been described by some as the most dangerous of all witnesses. "Concern over children's capabilities as witnesses has intensified in recent years because more and more children--some only three or four years old--are testifying. Children often testify in civil courts such as family or probate courts, but because the criminal court ultimately decides whether persons who are accused of serious offenses must relinquish their liberty, the rules of procedure are more strict than in civil courts and the witness testimony, particularly that of children, is subject to greater scrutiny" (Whitcomb 1993).

Children are most likely to testify in criminal court when they are victims who allege sexual abuse:

Every state in the country defines a wide range of sexual behaviors as criminal when they involve activity between an adult and a child.

Growing awareness and outrage over sexual abuse--whether committed by parents, other relatives, acquaintances, or strangers--demand a greater emphasis on criminal prosecution of alleged offenders.

Allegations of child sexual abuse are often contested, thereby increasing the likelihood that cases will go to court and that children will have to testify.

Physical abuse, although reported to child protection authorities far more frequently than sexual abuse, is less likely than sexual abuse to be prosecuted as a criminal offense:

There is a lack of consensus in society at large about the "fine line" between acceptable discipline and criminal physical abuse.

Physical abuse victims are often preverbal--even infants--who cannot identify their assailants, much less testify at trial.

Unless the child suffers serious physical injuries (or death) as a result of the alleged abuse, it is generally felt that the resources of the child protection system--whose mandate is to protect children, rehabilitate offenders, and preserve families--are likely to be more effective in preventing future incidents of abuse.

During the 1970s, special programs were established in many communities to assist adult rape victims through the ordeal of repeating their stories to numerous investigators and ultimately revealing their victimization in a public forum with the defendant present.

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Before long, however, victim assistance professionals realized that a large portion of their clients were children and that child victims were treated no differently than adults in the criminal justice system. They were required to give statements to the police and testify under oath; and in court, they were subjected to full cross-examination in the presence of the defendant. Victim advocates quickly learned that:

By definition, children are developmentally not on a par with adults.

By definition, the adjudication process is far more cumbersome for children than adults.

The dynamics of child sexual abuse are different than the dynamics of adult sexual assault.

In 1982, the President's Task Force on Victims of Crime addressed the need to treat child victims and witnesses differently than their adult counterparts. Simultaneous to the issuance of the President's Task Force's Final Report recommendations, the first comprehensive piece of crime victims' legislation was enacted on the federal level. For the first time, fair treatment standards for victims and witnesses were mandated, including child victims and witnesses, through the passage of The Federal Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982. Since the enactment of this landmark Act, more than a decade of newly enacted federal and state legislation has followed. Most notably is the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990. With its passage, children in the federal justice process have been afforded rights never granted before. Specific to prosecution, the Act mandates the following:

Consultation with multidisciplinary teams to receive information on medical evaluations; psychological and psychiatric diagnosis and evaluations; and expert medical, psychological, and related professional testimony.

Allowing children to testify via two-way closed circuit television if: the child is unable to testify in open court due to fear; it is likely the child will suffer undue emotional trauma from testifying; the child has physical, mental or other infirmities; and conduct by the defense or the defendant causes the child to be unable to continue with his or her testimony.

Limiting the competency examinations of children except when the court determines, on the record, compelling reasons for doing so.

Ensuring privacy protection for child victims and witnesses and confidentiality of information concerning the child's identity.

Allowing the child to be accompanied during the court process by a supportive adult.

Mandating a speedy trial in order to minimize the length of time the child must endure the stress of involvement with the criminal justice process.

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Today many states have adopted similar laws and enacted programs and services to meet the specific needs of child victims and witnesses. Many communities have established very detailed and extensive protocols, policies, procedures, and interagency agreements for implementing multidisciplinary approaches to child victimization. Some courts have lowered their competency requirements and some courts have begun to allow children to testify via two-way cameras, video cameras, and other electronic means. Training opportunities now exist nationwide for criminal justice and victim assistance personnel who work with children.

Children who report, witness, or endure crimes not only suffer emotional ramifications of the abuse in and of itself, but are often called upon to participate in an adversarial, formal, and adult-oriented system. Without properly trained criminal justice professionals such as law enforcement, victim advocates, prosecutors, probation officers, judges, and parole officials and without specialized programs and services for child victims and witnesses, children participating in the justice process can experience a secondary form of victimization. Services for child victims and witnesses should not be dictated on the strength of a criminal case; rather, the criminal process should be seen as only one element in the handling of child victims and witnesses. There is no doubt that prosecutions are improved with victim/witness support and assistance from criminal justice personnel to child victims and witnesses and their parents and guardians. Child victims and witnesses who possess an understanding of and degree of comfort with participating in the legal system are--

More at ease with the role they are to assume in the prosecution of the defendant.

More cooperative with the justice process.

Better able to cope with the intimidating and often traumatic experience of testifying.

Parents and guardians of child victims and witnesses who are familiar with the justice process, their child's rights in the criminal justice system, and the role their child will have are better able to--

Support their child's participation throughout the justice process.

Identify and meet their child's emotional needs.

Understand their own emotional needs and concerns.

(Portions of the preceding sections were excerpted from,” Child Victims as Witnesses: What the Research Says," Debra Whitcomb, EDC, 1993.)

CHILDREN AND THE COURT

Court preparation programs that include non offending families, guardians, and siblings are important to reduce the child victims' or witnesses' anxiety and their own concerns for

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the child's emotional and physical safety. Sometimes parents or guardians and siblings feel more anxious than the child victim or witness about court participation. It is important to keep their needs in mind as well. If a parent or guardian is supportive of victim services, he or she is more likely to allow the child victim or witness to fully participate in all phases of the justice process.

The testimony of child victims and witnesses plays a substantial role in the successful prosecution of a criminal case. However, the involvement of children in the justice process brings many unique challenges to victim assistance personnel charged with supporting and aiding these children as they go through the process.

Children bring with them many preconceived notions about the court process that can induce intense fears and anxiety. Many children have watched television programs in which court trials have been portrayed in less than flattering ways. Although criminal justice professionals are aware that these portrayals do not accurately represent real court trials, children are not always aware of this. It is important that the child realizes that his or her version of court is not always correct or properly represented on television. This can be done by asking the child what he or she knows about court, and if he or she has watched any television shows depicting a trial, alleviating fears the child victim or witness may have.

Children who are required to testify against family members face additional burdens of guilt, shame, and confusion. Criminal justice professionals should make an extra effort to determine if the child has been subjected to any interfamilial pressure to change his or her testimony, or subjected to taunts and remarks about "destroying the family." Additionally, the criminal justice professional must never make the child feel that his or her testimony will be the deciding factor in establishing guilt. Rather, children must be reassured that their testimony is only a small part of a criminal case (See generally OJJDP 1994; Selkin 1991).

CHILD VICTIMS OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS: AN UNDERSERVED VICTIM POPULATION

In the growing wake of juvenile crime, the juvenile justice system is seeing increased numbers of child victims and child witnesses of these crimes. Few programs exist, however, to prepare these children for participation in juvenile court proceedings.

Historically, child witness preparation programs have been reserved for victims of sexual or extreme physical abuse when, in fact, child victims and witnesses of juvenile offenders can suffer the severest forms of intimidation, harassment, and reprisal from juvenile offenders or their representatives. Victim assistance personnel should provide support and referral services for these victims and witnesses just as they do for child sexual assault victims and families. Child victims, witnesses, and their families should be informed of the growing number of victims' rights and services available within the juvenile justice system. (see Juvenile Justice chapter for additional information on these topics).

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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND ITS EFFECTS ON CHILDREN

More than 3.3 million children annually witness their mother being abused (Jaffe, Wolfe & Wilson, Children of Battered Women). As many as 70% of children living in homes where their mother is being abused are also victims of physical abuse and 30% report being victims of sexual assault as well (Guide for Health Professionals, New Jersey Women’s Division). Being abused or neglected as a child increases the risk of juvenile crime by 58%, adult crime by 38% and for a violent crime by 38% (National Institute of Justice) (Skaggs, 2003).

While accurate data on the number of domestic and sexual violence incidents, including child abuse and child sexual abuse, in Tennessee is not currently available, TCADSV’s network of 65 domestic violence shelters, programs, and rape crisis centers provide services to more than 65,000 victims annually. Women accessing these services are often low income and have few resources. A significant number of these women also have children who are being impacted by the violence (Skaggs, 2003).

Family violence researchers have begun to study the harmful consequences to children witnessing domestic violence. While it seems obvious that observing a mother's abuse would cause trauma to a child, some but not all children are affected. They experience the impact differently, making it difficult to address the complex policy issues facing family violence experts today. According to Carlson, the immediate negative effects to a child who witnesses violence against his or her mother appear to translate into low self-esteem, behavioral problems, reduced social competence, depression, and anxiety (Carlson 1990). One of the difficulties complicating the identification of the negative effects of parental violence on children is that many witnesses are also victims of physical abuse.

The first national survey on family violence forcefully confirmed the connection between violence in childhood and the later use of violence. "The sons of the most violent parents, for example, had a rate of wife beating 1,000 times greater than the sons of non-violent parents." (Stark and Flitcraft 1985). Among females, childhood domestic violence may manifest in an increased vulnerability to victimization, and specifically in the increased likelihood of spousal victimization as adults. Furthermore, both men and women who reported being hit by their parents were more likely to hit their own children (Cappell and Heiner 1990).

A revision of child abuse statutes to make domestic violence a reportable form of child abuse and make afflicted children more visible nevertheless poses serious problems. According to Schechter, Conte, and Frederick, Massachusetts Social Services launched Project Protect in 1989 to make spousal abuse a reportable form of child abuse with the unintended result that fewer abused women sought assistance from public agencies for fear of losing custody of their children.

In practice, new models will require many different interventions. Domestic violence will have to be taken seriously in child abuse case screening, investigation, assessment, service delivery plans, and custody determinations. Child protective services will have to

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go beyond the traditional interventions of respite care and parent education to include court and housing advocacy as well as other supportive services for mothers, sanctions against batterers, added protections and safety planning for child and adult victims, and family preservation efforts aimed at keeping women and their children together and safe.

(Portions of the preceding section have been excerpted from " Violence and Children: What Should the Courts Consider?" Journal of Family Violence, Susan Schechter, Jon Conte, and Lorreta Frederick, p. 10.)

Modifications of Custody Orders

In several recent cases, courts have upheld a change of custody to a non-abusive parent when the custodial parent has subsequently become a victim of domestic violence.* In deciding whether or not to modify custody, Tennessee courts must first find that there has been a material change of circumstances. Once a material change of circumstances has been found, the Court must then evaluate the comparative fitness of the parties and determine who should have custody based on the best interests of the child. Exposure to domestic violence can be "sufficient to trigger an inquiry into the best interest of the children."† However,

the Court cannot risk putting a child 'from the frying pan into the fire' and placing the child into a situation as bad or worse than the situation that gave rise to the petition for a change of custody. Consequently, once it is determined that a material change of circumstances has occurred, even if it involves domestic violence, the Court must compare the fitness of the two parents to determine if a change of custody is in the child's best interest‡ (Skaggs, 2003).

CHILDREN WHO WITNESS OTHER TYPES OF VICTIMIZATION

Kilpatrick's and Saunders' research measured the lifetime experience of children who saw someone shot with a gun, knifed, sexually assaulted, mugged, robbed, or threatened with a weapon. The researchers did not include witnessing violence portrayed in the media--on television, in the movies, or in print. In measuring the lifetime experience of witnessing violence, as described above, they found the following:

43% of male adolescents and 35% of female adolescents had witnessed some form of violence firsthand.

Significantly, according to BJS, the study excluded approximately 30 percent of adolescents who had directly observed someone being beaten up or badly hurt. Had the researchers included these adolescents in their overall calculations, the prevalence of witnessing violence would have risen to 72 percent for the entire sample of respondents (Kilpatrick and Saunders 1997).

*

†

‡

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Promising Practices

Court School for Children. Today, many victim assistance programs across the nation utilize court schools and court orientation sessions to prepare children for their roles in court. Child--friendly activities allow children to learn about court and familiarize themselves with the courtroom and its personnel by using fun and non threatening activities. In states that still require competency exams for children, the court orientation program can serve as a preliminary evaluation of the child's ability to adapt and perform new surroundings during a stressful period (Alexander 1994).

Ident-A-Kid. Based on recommendations from the FBI and current data from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Ident-a-Kid is a proactive resource guide developed to assist parents in the creation of a collection of material that would easily identify their children were they to disappear.

Safe Kids/Safe Streets. Safe Kids is an innovative, five-and-one-half-year demonstration project that improves community response to child and adolescent abuse and neglect. Five sites have been funded through Safe Kids: Huntsville, Alabama; the Sault Sainte Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan; Kansas City, Missouri; Toledo, Ohio; and Chittenden County, Vermont. The sites are working to:

o Restructure and strengthen the criminal and juvenile justice systems to be more comprehensive and proactive in helping children and adolescents and their families who have been or are at risk of being abused and neglected.

o Implement or strengthen coordinated management of abuse and neglect cases by improving policies and practices within the criminal and juvenile justice systems and the child welfare, family services, and related systems.

o Develop other comprehensive community wide, cross-agency strategies to reduce child and adolescent abuse, neglect, and fatalities (OVC 1998, 392).

Megan's Law CD-ROM. The California Department of Justice has developed a CD-ROM program containing photographs, criminal convictions, and detailed descriptive information on the more than 77,000 sex offenders in California. Since July 1997, the CD-ROMS have been distributed to more than 350 local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. Since that time, more than 15,000 Californians have accessed the information contained in these CD-ROMS to better protect individuals at risk. The CD-ROMS will be updated and distributed to law enforcement on a quarterly basis. In addition to the development of the CD-ROM, the California Department of Justice systems now capture information on disclosures made to the public pursuant to Megan's Law. It is information about these disclosures, such as a parent being advised of a serious sex offender who had befriended his or her child, that may be searched for investigative purposes (Seymour 1998, VIII-101).

Telemedicine Program for Providing Diagnostic Support Satellite. The diagnosis of violence-related injuries most often depends on a visualization of the injuries.

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In response to the need for immediate visual consultations in cases of child abuse and neglect, the Los Angeles County and University of Southern California Center for the Vulnerable Child/Violence Intervention Program (CVC/VIP) developed a first-of-its-kind telemedicine program for providing immediate diagnostic support to programs including rural clinics and emerging Child Advocacy Centers and Multidisciplinary Teams.

The telemedicine program is in daily use by satellite programs (High Desert Hospital and Olive View Medical Center in California; Alaska; and various Indian reservations). It is currently being expanded throughout Los Angeles County for use as peer review and continuing medical education. This program is used by centers with sophisticated technology or by programs that simply rely on 35mm or digital photography (Seymour 1998).

The Center for the Vulnerable Child. The Center for the Vulnerable Child at the Los Angeles County, University of Southern California Medical Center was founded in 1984 as one of the first hospital-based family violence advocacy centers in the nation. The "state-of-the-art" medical treatment and forensic documentation provided by the center is complemented by a multidisciplinary approach, including legal, social, and mental health services, to guarantee that all patients are treated with dignity. The center uses new interactive computer technology called telemedicine to consult with health providers in rural areas on conducting examinations of abused children. In addition, the center is using Office for Victims of Crime funding to develop a hospital-based emergency shelter for victims of spousal abuse and their children to serve as a laboratory and training site. The shelter will provide a safe environment and will assist victims of spousal assault by assessing the potential for repeated violence to parents and children in a safe environment (OVC 1998, 206).

The Center for Child Protection. At Children's Hospital in San Diego, California, the Center for Child Protection (CCP) was established in 1976 to address the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of child abuse and family violence. Its services include intensive home visiting, assessment, and case management; support for pregnant and parenting teenagers; assistance to women in identifying and assessing resources to break the cycle of family violence; and individual, group, and family therapy for victims of child abuse and their caretakers. The success of these programs led to numerous requests for training and technical assistance from other health care providers. In response, CCP started a clinical training program that offers accredited continuing education to physicians in conducting the medical evaluation of child sexual abuse and to interview specialists in conducting forensically defensible videotaped interviews of children. CCP's San Diego Conference on Responding to Child Maltreatment and Summer Seminars by the Sea provides "state-of-the-art" multidisciplinary education to 2,000 professionals from around the world each year (OVC 1998, 206).

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Childhelp USA, the sponsor of a national toll-free child abuse hotline (800-4-A-CHILD and TDD hotline 800-2-A-CHILD), provides a variety of important services to child abuse victims and their families, including:

o Residential treatment facilities located in California, Virginia, and Tennessee.

o Children's Advocacy Centers in Knoxville, Tennessee and Manhattan, New York.

o A coalition of law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, social service agencies, medical professionals, victim service providers, and crisis counselors located in Phoenix, Arizona.

o Foster care and group homes in Southern California and Virginia that provide nurturing refuge until foster or adoptive parents are found, or the child can safely return to his or her parent(s).

o Educational, community outreach, and public awareness programs including: Head Start preschools for at-risk children; parenting education; child sexual abuse prevention programs in elementary schools; seminars and training programs relevant to child abuse; dissemination of informational materials; and public service announcements about child abuse prevention and treatment.

Model Courts. A recent initiative of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) is the Model Courts Initiative, recently renamed the Permanency Planning for Children Department (PPCD). PPCD's goal is to educate judges and other practitioners on the need to expeditiously secure safe permanent placements for all maltreated children, either by making it possible for them to safely stay with or return to their own families or by finding them safe adoptive homes. The Child Protection Division of the Cook County Circuit Court established a Model Court in 1996. At that time, more than 58,000 children were under its supervision. The court instituted a comprehensive approach that included coordination of effort among the court, related government agencies, legal community, and community-based child welfare and adoption advocacy group in the handling of abuse and neglect cases. As a result, court operations were streamlined, case backlogs were reduced, and the caseload dropped to 31,534 children as of the end of August, 1998.

The Hamilton County Juvenile Court in Cincinnati Ohio spearheaded a new adoption initiative that involves twenty-three counties in the three states of Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. Court officials and related professionals from these counties have formed a coalition to identify and address local, state, and regional barriers to adoption. The court has developed an Internet site www.hcadopt.org that lists children awaiting adoption (OJJDP 1999).

The Child Witness to Violence Project is a counseling, advocacy, and outreach project at Boston City Hospital that addresses the needs of children who are bystanders to community and domestic violence. Services include assessment, counseling, parent guidance, advocacy, and coordination with legal and social

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service agencies. The project began in 1992 and currently counsels over 200 children and their families each year, in addition to implementing both national and state-focused training programs for health care professionals, law enforcement, educators, and many victim service professionals who confront issues of children witnessing violence. The Child Witness to Violence Project, Boston City Hospital, Talbot 217, 818 Harrison Avenue, Boston MA 02118 (617-414-4244).

Families and Schools Together (FAST) program is a nonprofit family counseling agency in Madison, WI that helps at-risk youth (ages three to fourteen) build relationships through a research- and family therapy-based, multifamily group approach to preventing juvenile delinquency. Originally a program that provided court-ordered therapy with drug and alcohol-involved violent youth, it is currently a collaboration between family services and elementary school teachers to identify school children about whom they have behavioral concerns. It provides structured opportunities in relationship-building interactions with parents and other caretakers, peers, and school and community representatives from which they can develop "social safety nets" for at-risk periods. The program seeks to strengthen parent-child relationships; empower parents to be primary prevention agents for their children; improve the child's performance at school; empower the parents to be partners in the educational process; increase family affiliations with schools; educate the family about substance abuse and its impact on child development; link the families to treatment centers; develop ongoing support groups for parents of at-risk children; and build the self-esteem of the family members (McDonald and Frey November 1999).

Through My Eyes is a nine-minute video tape produced by the Office for Victims of Crime and Video/Action Fund that tells the story of children who are exposed to violence and how such exposure affects their well-being and their emotional/psychological development. The videotape is intended for a wide audience, including those who work with children at risk, law enforcement, criminal justice professionals, child victim service providers, and policymakers. Available free from the Office for Victims of Crime Resource Center (800-627-6872), NCJ 178229.

Special Topics Supplement Child Victimization

Adapted from the National Victim Assistance Academy, 2002; Chapter 11.

References

Alexander, E. 1994. Focus on the Future: A Systems Approach to Prosecution and Victim Assistance. Arlington, VA: National Center for Victims of Crime.

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). January 1999. "New AAP Policy Addresses Violence and Children," press release. Pediatrics. Elf Grove, IL: Author.

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Arata, C. January 1999. "Coping with Rape." Journal of Interpersonal Violence 14 (1): 62-78.

Besharov, D. 1988. Protecting Children from Abuse and Neglect: Policy and Practices. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

California Attorney General's Office. 1994. Child Victim Witness Investigative Pilot Projects, Research and Evaluation: Final Report. Sacramento, CA: Author.

Cappell, C., and R. B. Heiner. 1990. "The Intergenerational Transmission of Family Aggression." Journal of Family Violence 5 (2):135-152.

Carlson, B. 1990. "Adolescent Observers of Marital Violence." Journal of Family Violence 5 (4): 285-299.

Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC). January 1995. Child Sexual Exploitation: Improving Investigations and Protecting Victims. Boston: Author.

Finkelhor, D. Summer/Fall 1994. "The Future of Children: Sexual Abuse of Children." Center for the Future of Children 4 (2).

Interagency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect Associates (ICAN). Summer 1997. "In Touch." Quarterly Newsletter 7.

Kilpatrick, D., and B. Saunders. April 1997. "Prevalence and Consequences of Child Victimization," Research Preview. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.

McDonald, L., and H. Frey. November 1999. "Families and Schools Together, Relationship Building." Juvenile Justice Bulletin. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Miller, L. 1999. "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Child Victims of Crime: Making the Case for Psychological Injury." Victim Advocate 1 (1).

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). December 1992a. Child Molesters: A Behavioral Analysis for Law Enforcement Officers Investigating Cases of Child Sexual Exploitation. Arlington, VA: Author.

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). December 1992b. Female Juvenile Prostitution. Arlington, VA: Author.

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). 1998. A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety. Arlington, VA: Author.

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National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). 1999. Fact Sheet on 1998 Missing Children Statistics. Arlington, VA: Author.

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). March 2000. "Baby Kidnappings From Hospitals Decrease to Zero." The Frontline XXXX. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Programs.

National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse (NCPCA). 1993. Investigation and Prosecution of Child Abuse: Second Edition. Alexandria, VA: American Prosecutors Research Institute, National District Attorneys Association.

National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC). 1992-1994. Grant project. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN). 1998. Child Maltreatment 1996: Reports From the States for the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

National Crisis Information Center (NCIC). January 1999. Missing/Unidentified Person File Report for 1998. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation.

National Resource Center on Child Sexual Abuse. March/April 1996. NRCCSA News. Huntsville, AL: National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect.

Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). 1998. New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and Services for the 21st Century. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). 1994. The Child Victim as a Witness: Research Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Oklahoma State Department of Health. For Kids Sake: A Child Abuse Prevention and Reporting Kit. Oklahoma City, OK: Oklahoma State Department of Health, Office of Child Abuse Prevention, Guidance Services.

Schechter, S., J. Conte, and L. Frederick. "Violence and Children: What should the Courts Consider?" Journal of Family Violence.

Selkin, J. 1991. The Child Sexual Abuse Case in the Courtroom. Denver, Colorado.

Seymour, A. January 1998. Promising Strategies and Practices in Using Technology to Benefit Crime Victims. Arlington, VA: National Center for Victims of Crime.

Shalala, D. 10 April 2000. HHS Reports New Child Abuse and Neglect Statistics. Washington DC: Administration for Children and Families, The Department of Health and Human Resources.

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Stark, E., and A. Flitcraft. 1985 "Woman-Battering, Child Abuse and Social Heredity: What Is the Relationship?" In Johnson, ed., Marital Violence, London: Routledge and Kegan, Paul.

Strauss, M. A., M. R. Gelles, and S. K. Steinmetz. 1980. Behind Closed Doors: Violence in the American Family. Garden City, NY: Anchor Press.

Tower, C. G. 1993. Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect. 1991. Creating Caring Communities: A Blueprint for an Effective Federal Policy on Child Abuse and Neglect. Washington, DC: Author.

USA Today. 4 May 99. "Murder Tops the Causes of Death Among Infants," Section D, 10.

Walsh, E. 12 April 1999. "Study Finds Link Between Incarceration, Prior Abuse." The Washington Post.

Whitcomb, D. 1993. Child Victims as Witnesses: What the Research Says. Boston: Education Development Center.

Widom, C. S.. September 1992. "The Cycle of Violence." Research in Brief. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.

Widom, C. S. 1995. Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse-Later Criminal Consequences. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.

Yankelvitch and Partners Inc. 10 May 1999. TIME/CNN telephone poll. TIME Magazine, 40.

Additional References

Daughtrey, S. Protecting Children in the Tennessee Judicial System, 2003.

Skaggs, K. Legal Advocacy for Child Victims of Domestic and Sexual Violence, 2003.

Tennessee Joint Task Force on Children’s Justice, 2005.

www.sexcriminals.com, 2005.

www.tennessee.gov/youth/cps/index.htm, 2005.

www.tncac.org, 2005.

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www.tncasa.org, 2005.

Chapter 5 COMMUNICATION WITH VICTIMS AND SURVIVORS

SPECIAL TOPICS SUPPLEMENT: SEXUAL ASSAULT

Learning Objectives


The definitions of rape and sexual assault nationally and statewide.

Scope and key characteristics of rape cases.

The mental and physical health consequences of rape and how these consequences affect need for reporting.

Comprehensive approach to responding to rape victims.

Roles and responsibilities of the criminal or juvenile justice system and other professionals in protecting the rights of rape victims and dealing with rape cases.

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The management of sex offenders in the community.

Recent statutory changes and areas of protection that still need to be strengthened.

Statistical Overview

As noted elsewhere (Crowell and Burgess 1996, chap. 1; Kilpatrick 1983; Kilpatrick et al. 1998), obtaining an accurate measurement of rape and other types of sexual assault poses many challenges. The number of rapes and other types of sexual assault depends on how these crimes are defined and how they are measured. These definitional and measurement issues will be discussed subsequently, but the important thing to consider in reviewing the following statistics is that they are derived from different sources and often measure different things using different methodologies.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reports, an annual statistical compilation of crimes reported to law enforcement agencies across the nation, 93,103 forcible rapes were reported in 1998 (FBI 17 October 1999, 24).

An estimated 67 of every 100,000 females in the country were reported rape victims in 1998, a decrease of 4% from the 1997 rate, and 13% from the 1994 rate (Ibid.).

The 1997 National Crime Victimization Survey, which includes both reported and unreported crimes, found that despite a decline of 7% in the nation's crime rate in 1997, rates of rape and sexual assault did not decline (BJS 1998).

The National Women's Study (NWS), a longitudinal survey of a national probability sample of adult women funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, found that approximately 13% of adult women had been victims of completed rape during their lifetime (Kilpatrick, Edmunds, and Seymour 1992; Resnick et al. 1993). In the one year period between the second and third interviews, 0.6% of adult women, or an estimated 683,000 women were victims of rape (Kilpatrick, Edmunds, and Seymour 1992). In the two years between the first and third interviews, 1.2% of the adult participants in the NWS were raped, producing an estimate that 1.1 million women were raped in the United States during this two year period (Kilpatrick et al. 1997).

Using a definition of rape that includes forced vaginal, oral, and anal sex, the National Violence Against Women Survey found that one out of six U.S. women and one out of thirty-three U.S. men have experienced an attempted or completed rape as a child and/or adult. According to estimates, approximately 1.5 million women and 834,700 men are raped and/or physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States (Tjaden and Thoennes 1998, 2, 5).

The National Crime Victimization Survey found that in 1996 more than two-thirds of rape/sexual assaults committed in the nation remained unreported (Ringel 1997, 3).

The National Survey of Adolescents (NSA), a National Institute of Justice-funded study of a national household probability sample of 4,023 twelve to seventeen-year-old adolescents, found that 8.1% of U.S. adolescents had been victims of at least one sexual assault (Kilpatrick and Saunders 1997; Kilpatrick et al. 2000).

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This indicates that an estimated 1.8 million twelve to seventeen-year-olds have been sexually assaulted.

More than 52% of all rape/sexual assault victims were females younger than twenty-five (Perkins 1997, 1).

Injury sustained by females during rapes and/or sexual assaults affected whether law enforcement was notified. Females who suffered physical injury in addition to the injury suffered from the rape or sexual assault reported 37% of those victimizations; while only 22% of rapes and sexual assault without an additional physical injury were reported (Craven 1994, 5).

Statistical Overview in Tennessee

The data below includes the number of reported sex crimes in 2012 for the state of Tennessee (TBI Crime in Tennessee Report, 2012):

o Forcible rape= 1,943o Forcible sodomy= 473o Sexual assault with an object= 250o Forcible fondling= 2,359o Incest= 54o Statutory rape= 601

Approximately 87% of sex crime victims in 2006 were female (Ibid.).

Domestic Violence made up 51% of all crimes against persons (Ibid).

The race of the 5,680 sex crime victims in Tennessee is as follows (Ibid.):

o African American= 31%o Asian= .4%o Native American= .1%o Unknown= 1.1%o White= 67%

The age of the 5,680 sex crime victims in Tennessee is as follows (ibid.):

o Under 18= 62%o 18-24= 15.6%o 25-34= 11%o 35-44= 5.8%o 45-54= 3.2%o 55-64= 1.1%o Over 64= 0.6%o Unknown= 0.5%

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Introduction

Although rape has occurred throughout history, the anti-rape movement in the United States did not begin until the early 1970s. In 1972, the first rape crisis centers were established in San Francisco, CA (Bay Area Women Against Rape) and Washington, DC (DC Rape Crisis Center), both of which are still in existence today. These grassroots centers were an outgrowth of the women's movement, which recognized that rape was an all too common part of women's lives and that it had a devastating impact on women's health and freedom. The explicit goals of rape crisis centers were to educate society about the problem of rape, to change society in ways that could help prevent rape, and to improve the treatment of rape victims.

In the nearly three decades since its birth, the anti-rape movement has made great progress towards many of its goals. Major accomplishments include widespread reform of rape statutes and other related legislation, improvements in the criminal and juvenile justice system's treatment of rape victims, greater understanding of the scope and impact of rape, improved medical and mental health services for rape victims, and better funding for rape crisis centers and others who provide services and advocacy for rape victims. Despite this progress, much remains to be done. Most rapes still go unreported (Kilpatrick, Edmunds, and Seymour 1992; Crowell and Burgess 1996; Ringel 1997), resulting in cases that can never be detected, investigated, or prosecuted. Although vast improvements in forensic, law enforcement, and prosecution protocols have been made, further improvements are needed. Too few victims who sustain rape-related mental or physical health problems obtain effective treatment. The fact that well over a million people of all ages are raped each year in the U.S. suggests that efforts to prevent rape have not been successful.

This chapter will address the following questions: (1) How are rape and other forms of sexual assault defined? (2) What are the scope and mental health impacts of rape? (3) What are victims' key concerns? and (4) How can we best address these concerns to improve victims' cooperation? One major focus of the chapter is to identify how the answers to these questions can be used to improve the treatment of rape victims by the criminal and juvenile justice systems as well as by victim assistance and allied professionals. A second focus is to identify ways that this information could be used to improve the investigation and prosecution of rape cases.

Definitions of Sexual Assault and Rape

EVOLUTION OF THE DEFINITION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AND RAPE

Several authors (Estrich 1987; Koss 1993) have observed that many people still believe that rape occurs only when a total stranger attacks an adult woman using overwhelming force. Using this definition, boys or men cannot be raped; girls and adolescents cannot be raped; no one can be raped by someone they know well; and forced oral or anal sex does not constitute rape. Thus attempts to discuss the topic are often frustrating because many people define rape differently.

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Before the 1960s, the legal definition of rape was generally a common law definition used throughout the United States that defined rape as "carnal knowledge of a woman not one's wife by force or against her will." In 1962, the United States Model Penal Code (MPC) was established, thus updating the definition of rape. The MPC defined rape as: "A man who has sexual intercourse with a female not his wife is guilty of rape if . . . he compels her to submit by force or threat of force or threat of imminent death, serious bodily injury, extreme pain, or kidnapping" (Epstein and Langenbahn 1994, 7). In addition to limiting the definition of rape to a crime against a woman, this code was also very narrow for the following reasons:

It retained a marital-rape exemption (not acknowledging rape within marriage or co-habiting couples).

It focused on the victim's consent, rather than the perpetrator's forcible conduct.

Moreover, the MPC established a "grading system" for the crime of rape and rape offenses. For example, it stated that "rape by a voluntary social companion" was a less serious offense than "rape by a stranger." In addition, it treated the rape of men as a lower felony offense than the rape of women.

In the 1970s and 1980s, extensive rape reform laws were enacted throughout the states, and the legal definition of rape changed dramatically. Michigan's Criminal Sexual Conduct Statute, enacted in 1975, became the national model for an expanded definition of rape. Today, Illinois' Criminal Sexual Assault Statute is considered the national model (Epstein and Langenbahn 1994, 8). Both statutes have the following characteristics that broadly define rape:

Rape is defined as "gender neutral," which broadens the earlier definitions of rape to include men as well as women.

They include acts of sexual penetration other than vaginal penetration by a penis.

They distinguish types of sexual abuse on the basis of the degree of force or threat of force used similar to the "aggravated" versus "simple" assault distinction with physical assaults.

Threats as well as overt force are recognized as means to overpower the victim.

In addition, a new category of rape victim, "taking advantage of an incapacitated victim," is included. This category can include mental illness, victims under the influence of drugs, and alcohol intoxication. (Some states require that the perpetrator gave the victim the intoxicant in order to obtain sexual access.)

THE FEDERAL DEFINITION OF RAPE

In spite of these legislative changes, much of the current debate about what constitutes

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sexual assault and rape stems from how rape should be defined (Crowell and Burgess 1996).

For purposes of this chapter, rape and other forms of sexual assault are defined using the Federal Criminal Code (Title 18, Chapter 109A, Sections 2241-2243) as a guide. Although criminal statutes differ somewhat across states in their definitions, the Federal Code is national in scope. For example, in addition to incorporating the reform provisions discussed above-gender neutrality and incorporation of a broad definition of acts of sexual abuse--the Federal Criminal Code definition includes the following points:

Distinguishes between types of sexual abuse on the basis of the degree of force or threat of force used, similar to the aggravated versus simple assault distinction of physical assaults.

Does not use the term "rape," and does not require the victim to label the act as rape in order to meet the elements of a crime.

The 1986 federal statute defines two types of sexual assault:

Aggravated sexual abuse.

Sexual abuse.

Aggravated sexual abuse. Aggravated sexual abuse by force or threat of force. When a person "knowingly causes another person to engage in a sexual act" . . . "or attempts to do so by using force against that person, or by threatening or placing that person in fear that the person will be subjected to death, serious bodily injury, or kidnapping."

Aggravated sexual abuse by other means. When a person "knowingly renders another person unconscious and thereby engages in a sexual act with that other person; or administers to another person by force or threat of force, or without the knowledge or permission of that person, a drug, intoxicant, or other similar substance and thereby:

Substantially impairs the ability of that person to appraise or control conduct; and

Engages in a sexual act with that person."

Aggravated sexual abuse with a child: When a person "knowingly engages in a sexual act with another person who has not attained the age of twelve years, or attempts to do so."

Clearly the definition for aggravated sexual abuse by force or threat of force is analogous to what is usually called forcible rape. Aggravated sexual abuse of children is a serious form of what is generally called statutory rape. However, aggravated sexual abuse by other means is a type of non forcible rape whose perpetrator "shall be fined… imprisoned for any term of years or life, or both."

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Sexual abuse. The Federal Criminal Code definition of sexual abuse includes two types of acts:

Causing another person to engage in a sexual activity by threatening or placing that person in fear.

Engaging in a sexual act if that person is incapable of declining participation in or communicating unwillingness to engage in that sexual act.

Abusive sexual contact is defined as when no sexual penetration actually occurred but when "the intentional touching . . . of the genitalia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or buttocks of any person with an intent to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, or arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person" occurs.

Sexual abuse of a minor or ward is defined as knowingly engaging in a sexual act with a person between the ages of twelve and fifteen years. (For additional information on sexual crimes against children, see Special Topics Supplement Child Victimization.)

STATE OF TENNESSEE DEFINITION OF RAPE

The state of Tennessee outlines several statutes addressing Criminal Sexual Conduct. Please refer to www.legislature.state.tn.us in order to obtain further information about each statute/classification using the Tennessee Code Annotated title, chapter and section numbers.

Aggravated Rape (T.C.A. 39-13-502): Class A Felony.

Rape (T.C.A. 39-13-503): Class B Felony.

Aggravated sexual battery (T.C.A. 39-13-504): Class B Felony.

Sexual battery (T.C.A. 39-13-505): Class E Felony.

Statutory rape (T.C.A. 39-13-506): Class E Felony.

Public indecency- Indecent exposure (T.C.A. 39-13-511): Class A or B misdemeanor or a Class E felony depending on specifics.

Rape of a child (T.C.A. 39-13-522): Class A Felony.

Sexual battery by an authority figure (T.C.A. 39-13-527): Class C Felony.

Solicitation of a minor (T.C.A. 39-13-528): Class E Felony.

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IMPLICATIONS OF DEFINITIONS

While great reforms have been made, these criminal code-based definitions of violent crimes addressing sexual assault, abuse, and rape imply the need to know the following information:

The victim's state of mind at the time of the crime (e.g., fear of death or serious bodily harm) and the victim's crime-related physical and psychological injuries so as to assist in better classification of crimes.

The proper measurement of rape and sexual abuse, which cannot be assessed without information about the types of unwanted sexual acts that are involved, the types of force or the coercion used by the perpetrator, and the ages of the victim and the perpetrator.

Measuring Rape and Other Types of Sexual Assault

As a part of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, the U.S. Congress directed the National Research Council to develop a research agenda on violence against women. The National Academy of Sciences convened a panel of experts to implement this directive; an important aspect of the panel's charge was to evaluate the nature and scope of violence against women, including sexual violence. Chapter 2 of the panel's report (Crowell and Burgess 1996) provides an overview of statistics regarding rape and sexual assault taken from official governmental and other data sources. This overview also describes numerous reasons why estimates of how many women are raped frequently differ.

Without getting too technical, estimates of the number of rapes and/or the number of women who have been raped differ because the sources that produce these estimates use different samples, different definitions of rape, different time frames of measurement, different ways of measuring whether a rape has happened, and different units of analysis in reporting statistics. Prior to briefly reviewing some of the major data sources, it is useful to consider a few key distinctions.

First, there is a difference between rape cases and rape victims because women can be raped more than once. Second, there is a difference between the incidence of rape and the prevalence of rape. Incidence generally refers to the number of cases that occur in a given period of time (usually a year), and incidence statistics are often reported as rates (i.e., the number of rape cases occurring per 100,000 women in the population). In contrast, prevalence generally refers to the percentage of women who have been raped in a specified period of time (i.e., within the past year or throughout their lifetime). Third, there is clearly a difference between estimates based on reported versus non reported rape cases. Fourth, estimates of rape are derived from two basic types of sources: official governmental sources and studies conducted by private researchers, which are often supported by grants from federal agencies.

With respect to official governmental sources, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) provides data on an annual basis about the number of

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rapes and attempted rapes that were reported to law enforcement agencies in the United States. Clearly, the UCR records only those rapes that were reported to law enforcement agencies and that the agencies in turn reported to the FBI. As noted by Crowell and Burgess (1996), another limitation of the UCR is that it still uses the narrow common law definition of rape (i.e., "carnal knowledge [penile-vaginal penetration only] of a female forcibly and against her will), meaning that other types of rapes as defined by federal law are not reported.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics conducts the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) each year to measure unreported as well as reported crimes, including the crimes of rape and other sexual assaults. The NCVS interviews all residents twelve years or older in approximately 50,000 randomly selected households each six months about crimes that occurred since the last interview. In addition to data about the number of rape cases that occur each year and rape rates (i.e., number of cases per 10,000 women), the NCVS provides information about the percentage of rape cases that are reported to police as well as about case characteristics. Because the NCVS is primarily designed to measure the number of rapes per year among those ages twelve and older, it cannot measure rapes that occurred prior to the six-month reference period or to children younger than age twelve. The NCVS as well as most other studies cannot measure rapes experienced by women who are homeless.

There are three major nongovernmental studies that provide additional data about the scope, nature, and impact of rape.

The National Women's Study (NWS), a National Institute of Drug Abuse-funded longitudinal survey of a national probability household sample of 4,008 adult women who were assessed at baseline and for incidence at one- and two-year follow-ups, generated the influential Rape in America: A Report to the Nation (Kilpatrick, Edmunds, and Seymour 1992) as well as a number of other peer reviewed scientific publications. The NWS measured rapes and other sexual assaults occurring throughout the victim's lifetime and new cases occurring to adult women during the follow-up period.

The National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAW), funded by the National Institute of Justice and the CDC, used similar methodology that was pioneered by the NWS and interviewed 8,000 adult women and 8,005 adult men (Tjaden and Thoennes 1998). Rape and sexual assault were measured using screening questions virtually identical to those used in the NWS. Like the NWS, the NVAW measured the lifetime prevalence of rape as well as rapes that occurred during the year prior to the interview.

The National Survey of Adolescents (NSA), conducted by the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center and funded by the National Institute of Justice, conducted interviews with a national household probability sample of twelve- to seventeen-year-old adolescents. These adolescents were interviewed about sexual assaults and other crimes that occurred throughout their lifetimes; information was also gathered about important characteristics of these sexual

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assault cases (Kilpatrick and Saunders 1997) and about the mental health impact of such experiences.

Scope and Key Characteristics of Rape Cases

Providing effective services to rape victims, assisting in effective investigation, and facilitating effective prosecution of rape cases cannot occur without accurate information about who rape victims are, and what rape cases are really like. The best way to obtain such information is from the national victimization surveys that have just been described (i.e., the National Crime Victimization Survey, the National Violence Against Women Survey, and the National Survey of Adolescents). These surveys are ideal for this purpose because they include information about unreported, as well as reported, rape cases. Since only a small percentage of rape cases are ever reported to law enforcement, it is critically important that more is learned about the unreported cases and the victims who do not report them.

Prior to describing the scope and case characteristics data, it is important to consider the following general points:

Any attempts to address the problem of sexual assault must deal with the reality that most sexual assaults are never reported to law enforcement, and that unreported sexual assault cases can never be solved by law enforcement or successfully prosecuted. Encouraging victims to report these unreported cases to law enforcement is critically important because most rapists are recidivists who will continue to rape women and children until they are apprehended, prosecuted, and incarcerated.

It is extremely important to understand the scope and nature of America's sexual assault problem. Without knowledge of how pervasive sexual assault is, the importance of addressing it may be lost.

Different types of sexual assault cases require different investigatory and prosecutorial strategies to enhance the prospects of successful prosecution.

There is considerable variability in the size, funding, and staffing of law enforcement agencies in the United States. Therefore, there is no such thing as a "one size fits all" sexual assault protocol that is equally applicable across all jurisdictions.

National research indicates that the vast majority of sexual assault cases are never reported to police. The best data on the extent to which crimes are not reported come from victimization surveys. Such surveys conduct interviews with representative samples of adults and/or adolescents, asking them if they have been victims of crime and if they reported those crimes to police. Some victimization surveys also ask why victims did not report these crimes to police.

At the national level, two major victimization surveys suggest that most sexual assaults go unreported. The National Crime Victimization Survey, conducted each year by the U.S. Department of Justice, found that only 32% of sexual assault cases were reported to police in 1994. The Rape in America survey conducted as a part of the National Women's Study found that only 16% of rape cases were

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reported to police or other authorities (Kilpatrick, Edmunds and Seymour 1992). Data from the National Survey of Adolescents indicated that only 14.3% of sexual assault cases had been reported. Thus, these national studies indicate that only between 14% and 32% of all sexual assaults or rapes are ever reported to police.

Analysis of national studies suggests that victims are reluctant to label their experience rape when the perpetrator is a spouse, boyfriend, or acquaintance (Acierno, Resnick, and Kilpatrick 1997). If the victim does not see the act as a crime, she will not report it to the police.

Victims with disabilities are even less likely to report sexual assaults (Cole 1991). They are frequently more socially isolated than their non disabled peers and may not be viewed as credible should a report be made. The assailant is often a family member or caretaker, so the victim may fear abandonment should he/she report.

When a victim reports a rape, the stakes are high. Victims often fear retaliation from the offender, his family, and/or peers. They may also fear the response of the criminal justice system given the circumstances of the rape. Victims are most likely to receive sensitive treatment when they are "good victims," meaning that they were raped by a stranger who used a weapon and were sober at the time of the assault (Campbell 1998). Analysis of the data obtained by the National Crime Victimization Surveys suggest that female victims are hesitant to report rapes that do not fit the classic scenario--stranger rape with injuries. Male victims are likely to report only if they sustained severe bodily injury (Pino and Meier 1999).

The Scope of the Rape and Sexual Assault Problem

As was previously described in the Statistical Overview section, the National Violence Against Women (NVAW) survey produced an estimate that 14.8% of adult women in the U.S. had been raped sometime during their lives and that another 2.8% had been victims of an attempted rape (Tjaden and Thoennes 1998). For adult men, comparable lifetime prevalence estimates for rape and attempted rape were 2.1% and 0.9% respectively. The National Women's Study (NWS) found that 12.7% of adult women had been victims of completed rape and 14.3% had been victims of other types of sexual assault. The National Survey of Adolescents (NSA) estimated that 13.0% of female adolescents and 3.4% of male adolescents had been victims of a sexual assault at some point during their short lives (Kilpatrick and Saunders 1997). All of these studies confirm that the lifetime prevalence of rape is such that millions of adolescents and adults in the U.S. have been raped. Women are at greater risk than men for such assaults.

Data from the NWS and NSA also indicate that revictimization is an important problem for many women and adolescents. Thirty-nine percent of rape victims in the NWS were raped more than once, and 41.7 percent of the adolescent sexual assault victims in the NSA said that they were sexually assaulted more than once.

National Research on Rape

Due to the many myths, misconceptions, and social attitudes about rape and sexual assault, the National Center for Victims of Crime, in partnership with the National Crime

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Victims Research and Treatment Center at the Medical University of South Carolina, published Rape in America: A Report to the Nation in 1992 (Kirkpatrick, Edmunds, and Seymour). The report was based on The National Women's Study-funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse--a three-year longitudinal study of a national probability sample of 4,008 adult women, (age eighteen or older), 2,008 of whom represented a cross-section of all adult women and 2,000 of whom were a sample of younger women between the ages of eighteen and thirty-four.

Providing the first national empirical data about forcible rape of women in America, the study found:

An estimated 683,000 adult American women were raped during a twelve-month period.

13% of women had been victims of at least one completed rape in their lifetimes.

Based on U.S. Census estimates of the number of adult women in American, one out of every eight adult women, or at least, 12.1 million American women, had been the victim of forcible rape sometime in her lifetime.

While 56%, or an estimated 6.8 million women experienced only one rape, 39%, or an estimated 4.7 million women were raped more than once, and 5% were unsure as to the number of times they were raped (Kilpatrick, Edmunds, and Seymour 1992).

Prior to this study, national information about rape was limited to data on reported rapes from the FBI Uniform Crime Reports or data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Survey (NCS) on reported and non reported rapes occurring in the past year. The number of rapes per year in Rape in America were approximately five times higher than either the Uniform Crime Reports or the NCS. Recently, the NCS has been redesigned due to concerns that it failed to detect a substantial proportion of rape cases.

AGE OF RAPE VICTIMS

The National Women's Study (NWS) found that "rape in America is a tragedy of youth," with the majority of rape cases occurring during childhood and adolescence:

29% of all forcible rapes occurred when the victim was less than eleven years old.

32% occurred when the victim was between the ages of eleven and seventeen.

22% occurred between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four.

7% occurred between the ages of twenty-five and twenty-nine.

6% occurred when the victim was older than twenty-nine years old.

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The National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAW) found that "rape is primarily a crime against youth" (Tjaden and Thoennes 1998, 6):

21.6% of first or only rape cases experienced by women occurred before age twelve.

32.4% occurred between the ages of twelve and seventeen.

29.4% occurred between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four.

16.6% occurred at age twenty-five or greater.

Note: The NWS data represent a breakdown of victims' ages at the time of all rape cases whereas the NVAW data are a breakdown of age at the time of the first rape only.

The National Study of Adolescents (NSA) also provided information about 462 cases at the time the sexual assault was experienced by twelve- to seventeen-year-old adolescents (Kilpatrick November 1996):

29.9% had been assaulted before age eleven.

16.3% between the ages of eleven and twelve.

20.8% between the ages of thirteen and fourteen.

20.8% between the ages of fifteen and sixteen.

1.7% at age seventeen.

Note: In the remaining 8.7% of cases, victims were not sure or refused to provide age data.

Important note to service providers: Due to the high percentage of rapes that occur under the age of 17, victim service providers should familiarize themselves with Tennessee State Law regarding child abuse reporting. A recent change in child abuse reporting laws in Tennessee effective in 2005 requires that all reports are made directly by the individual that suspected the abuse or neglect, not a program designee. This will affect all hospital, clinic, school, and children’s organizations whose policies may have reflected a specific agency designee to report child abuse or neglect. Individuals that fail to make a direct report may be subject to Class A misdemeanor charges as stated in the statute (T.C.A. 37-1-403).

RELATIONSHIP OF THE VICTIM TO THE OFFENDER

The National Women's Study (NWS) dispelled the common myth that most women are raped by strangers:

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Only 22% of rape victims were assaulted by someone they had never seen before or did not know well.

9% of victims were raped by husbands or ex-husbands.

11% were raped by their fathers or stepfathers.

10% were raped by boyfriends or ex-boyfriends.

16% were raped by other relatives.

29% were raped by non relatives, such as friends and neighbors.

In addition to the data just presented, the NWS also gathered information about new cases of rape that happened to adult women during the two year follow-up period. Thus, these data on the forty-one such cases provide excellent information about the breakdown for new rapes that are experienced by adult women (Kilpatrick et al. 1998).

24.4% of offenders were strangers.

21.9% were husbands.

19.5% were boyfriends.

9.8% were other relatives.

9.8% were friends.

14.6% were other non relatives.

The National Violence Against Women (NVAW) survey used different categories for victim-perpetrator relationships but reported similar findings with respect to the types of perpetrators that are most prevalent in rape cases occurring after the age of eighteen.

76% of perpetrators in rape cases were intimate partners (i.e, current and former spouses, cohabiting partners, dates, and boyfriends/girlfriends).

16.8% were acquaintances.

14.1% were strangers.

8.6% were relatives other than spouses.

In summary, only a small percentage of cases involved perpetrators who were strangers; most were intimate partners.

The National Survey of Adolescents (NSA) provides a different perspective because it provides data on cases during childhood and adolescence (Kilpatrick 1996).

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32.5% of perpetrators were identified as friends.

23.2% were strangers.

22.1% were relatives (fathers, stepfathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents, etc.).

18.1% were other non relatives known well by the victim.

DEGREE OF PHYSICAL INJURY

Another common misconception about rape is that most victims sustain serious physical injuries. The statistics show the following:

70% of rape victims reported no physical injuries.

4% sustained serious physical injuries.

24% received minor physical injuries.

Of considerable importance is the fact that many victims who did not sustain physical injuries nonetheless feared being seriously injured or killed during the rape. Almost half of all rape victims (49%) described being fearful of serious injury or death during the rape.

Not surprisingly, the percentage of new rape cases resulting in physical injuries (N=41) experienced by adult women in the NWS was somewhat higher than cases that included childhood and adolescent rapes (Kilpatrick et al. 1998).

9.8% of victims reported serious physical injuries.

46.3% sustained minor injuries.

43.9% sustained no physical injuries.

58.5% said that they were fearful of serious injury of death.

The NVAW survey data provide a detailed breakdown of physical injuries sustained and medical treatment received in the recent cases of rapes women experienced since the age of 18.

31.5% of women sustained some physical injuries.

Only 35.6% of victims with injuries received medical treatment.

In the NSA, 85.5% of child and adolescent cases resulted in no physical injuries. Only 1.3% of victims reported serious injuries, and 11% reported minor injuries (Kilpatrick 1996).

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Implications Regarding the Scope and Characteristics of Rape for the Investigation and Prosecution of Rape Cases

There are three major implications of the aforementioned findings. First, information from all of these sources provides compelling evidence that most rapes are not committed by strangers, but by individuals well-known to their victims. This finding has profound implications for how rape cases should be investigated and prosecuted. If most victims know the identity of their perpetrators, then the key investigative issue is not finding out "who did it" by collecting evidence that permits the investigator to identify the perpetrator. Instead, most cases are likely to require evidence that permits refutation of claims by the alleged perpetrator that the sexual activity was consensual and did not constitute sexual battery. Known perpetrators are unlikely to use "misidentification" defenses because forensic examinations can conclusively link the perpetrator to the assault.

Second, Susan Estrich (1987) notes that successful prosecution of rape cases often requires victims to produce evidence of physical injuries to prove that they did not consent.

The fact that the vast majority of rape victims do not sustain major physical injuries also has clear implications for investigation and prosecution of rape cases. The first implication is that most victims will not exhibit overt physical injuries that most people think are characteristic of violent sexual attacks. Therefore, many people are likely to conclude that the victim consented unless physical injuries are present. The second implication is that forensic examinations must focus on detecting evidence of physical injuries that are not consistent with consensual sexual activity. A third implication is that law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, jurors and paroling authorities need to be informed about these physical injury data.

Third, all of these data indicate that most rapes other than sexual assaults involve relatively young victims--not adult women as most people believe. This suggests that separate investigative protocols should be established for adult and child victims.

Implications for Sexual Assault Forensic Medical Examinations

In sexual assault cases, the victim's body is the primary "crime scene," and the forensic medical examination is an extremely important part of evidence collection. Based on the victim's report of what types of sexual acts were involved, the forensic exam collects evidence from the victim's body that can be used to establish that sexual activity occurred, identify who committed the sexual act, and establish whether the sexual act produced physical injuries consistent with forced sex.

As was previously noted, the typical rape involves a perpetrator who is known by the victim and whose attack does not produce major physical injuries. In these cases, the key issue in the forensic exam is not establishing the alleged perpetrator's identity because

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that is already known. The exam needs to collect evidence documenting that a sex act occurred to counter the possible defense that a suspect never had sex with the victim. The exam also needs to collect DNA or other evidence that can be used to prove that the sexual act occurred and that the defendant was responsible for it. The only remaining defense a suspect can use if the "nothing happened" and "misidentity" defenses are refuted by forensic evidence is a "consent" defense. Thus, the forensic examination must collect evidence that speaks to the issue of whether the sexual activity was consensual or not. Evidence that physical injuries occurred to the victim's vulva, vagina, or anus that are inconsistent with consensual activity would be a powerful tool to refute a consent defense. Therefore, it is extremely important that the forensic medical exam be conducted in such a way that such physical injuries can be detected because such forensic evidence is one of the few ways that a consent defense can be refuted.

Most sexual assault protocols for adult victims do not include state-of-the-art procedures for detecting physical injuries to the victim's vulva, vagina, or anus. Fortunately, new technology exists that has the potential to dramatically increase detection of physical injuries. The colposcope is a standard tool used by gynecologists for the evaluation of microscopic cervical, vaginal, or vulvar disease. Using a colposcope, the vulva, vagina, cervix, and/or anus can be examined at magnifications over thirty times the actual size. This permits detection of small or microscopic tears, bruises, or abrasions that are not visible to the naked eye. Colposcopic examination provides a much more objective and sensitive way of seeing and documenting genital, anal, and other injuries in sexual assault victims.

The ideal acute sexual assault examination protocol has two components. The first part is similar to the existing sexual assault exam protocol, which is conducted within seventy-two hours after the assault. However, the protocol is changed to include a colposcopic exam. The second part of the forensic exam protocol also includes a colposcopic exam and is conducted four to six weeks after the assault. The purpose of this second part of the forensic exam is to collect evidence of the victim's recovery from the physical injuries detected during the first exam. This evidence of recovery can only be documented if the two exams are conducted, and provides a strong basis for an expert examiner to testify about recovery from injuries that are not consistent with consensual sex.

A final advantage of the colposcope is that technology exists to take photographs or make videotapes of what is visualized. Thus, it is possible to have documentation in the form of color photographs and/or videotapes of the physical injuries detected. This visual documentation of injuries sustained by sexual assault victims has been described as having a powerful impact on jurors and on defendants, many of whom have entered guilty pleas when confronted with this evidence that "consensual sex" produced physical injuries consistent with the victim's statement.

Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) programs have developed in recent years in many jurisdictions throughout the country in response to the need for victim-sensitive treatment in gathering crucial medical/evidentiary information in forensic medical examinations of rape victims.

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NEED FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY MEDICAL CARE PROGRAMS ADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF RECENT RAPE VICTIMS

Initial medical examination immediately post-rape is recommended for sexually transmitted diseases and for provision of prophylactic treatment available to treat specific sexually transmitted diseases. Such examinations also include counseling and provision of emergency contraception in relevant cases (CDC 1998). It is also recommended that rape victims be seen for follow-up medical examination to assess new infections that may be related to assault and counsel victims about STDs and hepatitis B as well as to treat existing diseases. CDC guidelines recommend offering follow-up care at two weeks post-assault for repeat STD testing and additional blood testing for syphilis and HIV that can be repeated at six, twelve and twenty-four weeks post-assault. While these guidelines for initial and medical care follow-up have been recommended (Young et al. 1992), the reality is that in most states provision of initial post-rape medical care is financially supported by the state or by third party payment from sources like Crime Victims Compensation in cases in which a formal report of rape has been made to police within a set number of hours post-assault (Crime Victims Compensation Quarterly, 1995).

Since the vast majority of rape victims do not report the assault to police (Kilpatrick, Edmunds, and Seymour 1992), this means that they would be ineligible for subsidized medical treatment of acute injuries. For those rape victims who report a rape to police, the emphasis has been on provision of immediate medical follow-up. For most states there are no specific provisions for medical follow-up of women in the weeks following the assault.

SANE Programs in Tennessee

The state of Tennessee has various statewide Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) programs available to victims of sexual assault for evidence collection. SANE’s are offered through local programs in Knoxville, Memphis, Chattanooga, and Athens. Due to VAWA 2013 funding, new SANE centers may exist in your area. For more information on SANE programs in Tennessee, contact your local rape crisis center. Rape crisis center information can be obtained on the Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence website, www.tncoalition.org, and clicking on Tennessee Programs.

Reasons for Non Reporting and How to Increase Reporting

The fact that most rape cases are never reported to police means that most rapists are never detected, arrested, or successfully prosecuted. Rape in America (Kilpatrick, Edmunds, and Seymour 1992) included information on rape victims' concerns that are relevant to why most victims are reluctant to report. Major concerns identified by victims were being blamed by others, their families finding out about the rape, other people finding out, and their names being made public by the news media. A rape victim with these concerns would likely have substantial reservations about reporting the rape to police. However, it is reasonable to assume that addressing these concerns might encourage victims to report.

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The report also described the results of a national survey of 522 organizations that provided crisis counseling services to victims of rape, at least some of whom did not report to police. Representatives from these agencies provided a list of actions and activities that would be effective in increasing women's willingness to report rapes to police:

Educate the public about acquaintance rape (99%).

Pass laws protecting confidentiality and disclosure of victims' names (97%).

Expand counseling and advocacy services (97%).

Provide mandatory HIV testing for indicted defendants (80%).

Provide free pregnancy counseling and abortions (77%).

Provide confidential, free testing for HIV and STDs (57%).

Sexual assaults of men are "silent crimes" that are even less likely to be reported than rapes of women. Heterosexual men often fear that if they report being raped by a man, it may be thought that they are gay, and they may feel emasculated by the assault (TCLEOSE 2000). Men are likely to report a sexual assault only if they sustain severe bodily harm suggesting that they attempted to thwart the attack (Pino and Meier 1990).

Efforts to increase the reporting of rape cases must be as big a priority as the effective processing of cases that are reported. This effort will require a great deal of public education about rape in general and about acquaintance rape in particular. It will also require making sure that rape victims know that they can get the supportive services they need and that their privacy will be protected to every extent that is legally possible. It also requires a public education campaign that stresses the importance of reporting all rape cases.

The Mental Health Impact of Rape

The National Women's Study produced dramatic confirmation of the mental health impact of rape by determining comparative rates of several mental health problems among rape victims and women who had never been victims of rape. The study ascertained whether rape victims were more likely to experience these devastating mental health problems than women who had never been crime victims (Kilpatrick, Edmunds, and Seymour 1992).

POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

The first mental health problem examined was posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an extremely debilitating mental health disorder occurring after a highly disturbing traumatic event, such as military combat or violent crime.

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Almost one-third (31%) of all rape victims developed PTSD sometime during their lifetimes and more than one in ten rape victims (11%) still had PTSD at the time of assessment.

Rape victims were 6.2 times more likely to develop PTSD than women who had never been victims of crime (31% vs. 56%).

Rape victims were also 5.5 times more likely to have current PTSD than their counterparts who had never been victims of crime (11% vs. 2%).

OTHER MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS

Major depression is a mental health problem affecting many women, not just rape victims. The National Women's Study (NWS) found that 30 percent of rape victims had experienced at least one major depressive episode in their lifetimes and 11 percent of all rape victims were experiencing a major depressive episode at the time of assessment. In contrast, only 10 percent of women never victimized by violent crime had ever had a major depressive episode and only 6 percent had a major depressive episode when assessed (Ibid.).

Thus, rape victims were three times more likely than non victims of crime to have ever had a major depressive episode (30% vs. 10%) and were 3.5 times more likely to be currently experiencing a major depressive episode (21% vs. 6%).

Some mental health problems are life-threatening in nature. When asked if they ever thought seriously about committing suicide, rape victims' answers reflected the following findings: 33 percent of the rape victims and 8 percent of the non victims of crime stated that they had seriously considered suicide.

Thus, rape victims were 4.1 times more likely than non crime victims to have contemplated suicide. Rape victims were also 13 times more likely than non crime victims to have actually made a suicide attempt (13% vs. 1%). The fact that 13 percent of all rape victims had actually attempted suicide confirms the devastating and potentially life-threatening mental health impact of rape.

Finally, there was substantial evidence that rape victims had higher rates of drug and alcohol consumption and a greater likelihood of having drug and alcohol-related problems than non victims. Compared to women who had never been crime victims, rape victims with rape-related PTSD (RR-PTSD) showed the following results:

13.4 times more likely to have two or more major alcohol problems (20.1% vs.1.5%).

26 times more likely to have two or more major serious drug abuse problems (7.8% vs. 0.3%).

The NWS findings on increased suicide risk provide compelling evidence about the extent to which rape poses a danger to American women's mental health--and even their

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continued survival (Ibid.). Rape is a problem for America's mental health and public health systems as well as for the criminal and juvenile justice systems.

Rape victims should not be further traumatized by being given an unnecessary mental health label. However, it is imperative that victim advocates be aware of the symptoms of depression and be able to differentiate these symptoms from "normal" PTSD. It is the role of the victim advocate to make referrals for treatment when needed. Advocates should become concerned when victims report depressed moods most of the day, no interest in activities that used to give them pleasure, significant weight loss or gain that was not intended, insomnia or oversleeping nearly every day, fatigue, excessive feelings of worthlessness or guilt, lack of concentration, or recurrent thoughts of death, as they are symptoms of severe depression (DSM-IV). When victims express clear suicidal ideation, advocates should take steps to ensure victim safety such as recommending a mental health consultation to determine referral options, including the possible need for hospitalization. Advocates should be aware of which community mental health professionals are competent to deal with victimization issues and make referrals for longer-term interventions appropriately.

Concerns of Rape Victims

In order to effectively respond to rape victims, service providers and criminal and juvenile justice officials need to understand the major concerns of rape victims. Without accurate information about victims' concerns after rape, it is difficult to create and implement policies and programs to meet their most critical needs.

The National Women's Study (NWS) identified several critical concerns of rape victims (Ibid.). In order to determine if rape victims' concerns have changed over time, the study divided these concerns into those of all rape victims, and those of victims that had been raped within the past five years (1987-91). The following results highlight which concerns do and do not change:

Her family knowing she was sexually assaulted. This concern has not changed dramatically. Seventy-one percent of all victims and 66 percent of victims within the past five years are concerned about their families finding out about the rape.

People thinking it was her fault or that she was responsible. Rape victims are still very concerned about being blamed for the rape, with 69 percent of all victims and 66 percent of recent rape victims saying they are concerned about this.

People outside her family knowing she was sexually assaulted. Again, there is no significant difference. Sixty-eight percent of all victims and 61 percent of rape victims within the past five years are concerned about this.

Her name publicized by the news media. Women who have been raped within the last five years are more likely to be concerned about the possibility of their names being made public than all rape victims (60% vs. 50%).

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Becoming pregnant. Sixty-one percent of recent rape victims, as opposed to 34 percent of all rape victims, are concerned about getting pregnant.

Contracting a sexually transmitted disease (not including HIV/AIDS). More than twice as many recent rape victims were concerned about the development of sexually transmitted diseases than all rape victims (43% vs. 19%).

Getting HIV/AIDS. Recent rape victims were four times more likely to be concerned about getting HIV/AIDS as a result of the rape than all rape victims, regardless of the recency of the rape (40% vs. 10%).

The stigma still associated with rape is reflected in the high percentage of rape victims being concerned about people, such as family members and friends, finding out. Thus, from a victim service provider perspective, maintaining confidentiality and respecting the privacy needs of rape victims are important goals of service and assistance.

The Need for a Comprehensive Response Protocol for Rape and Sexual Assault Victims

Rape victims have many needs, and improving the investigation and prosecution of rape cases cannot be accomplished by any single agency. In 1992, the Office for Victims of Crime provided support for a national-scope project to evaluate the system of multidisciplinary services that have been developed at the community level. Looking Back, Moving Forward: A Guidebook for Communities Responding to Sexual Assault (NCVC 1993) developed a "victim-centered" model for responding to rape victims. The report identified a number of agencies that should play a key role after a sexual assault occurs:

Victim services

Medical

Mental health

Law enforcement

Prosecution

Courts

Institutional and community corrections

The combined functions that each of these agencies provides to rape victims would create a model response to rape victims that accomplishes the following:

Recognizes and supports the need of sexual assault victims to assume control over their own lives.

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Addresses the immediate short- and long-term mental health impact of the trauma.

Provides accompaniment/transportation to emergency medical treatment and pays for all forensic rape examinations.

Investigates vigorously all cases.

Apprehends offenders and aggressively prosecutes cases in a timely fashion.

Informs victims at each stage of the proceedings.

Vertically prosecutes cases within prosecutors' offices.

Gives victims the opportunity to express a preference for what they would like to see happen to the offender.

Victims who report rapes to law enforcement will likely have contact with medical, victim service, and law enforcement professionals. If an arrest is made, prosecutors become involved. If there is a conviction, then institutional or community corrections becomes involved. The NCVC report strongly advocates establishment of community sexual assault interagency councils with representation of all these professionals and agencies. The report also argues that these interagency councils should negotiate a multi-agency/multidisciplinary protocol specifying how sexual assault cases should be handled.

Clearly, no agency can do the job alone. Although establishment of a community sexual assault interagency council is difficult and may be impractical in some communities, the importance of cooperation and teamwork cannot be overemphasized. Law enforcement is critically important, but law enforcement cannot succeed without the assistance and support of other agencies.

The United States has numerous police and prosecutorial jurisdictions. No one protocol can be developed that fits the needs of all these jurisdictions. It might be feasible to develop special sex crimes investigation units in large law enforcement agencies or in large metropolitan areas, but in small jurisdictions, this may not be feasible. Likewise, large metropolitan areas have many law enforcement agencies as well as major medical centers, rape crisis centers, and other victim service agencies. Small law enforcement agencies are often located in towns or rural jurisdictions that lack ready access to medical centers and to victim services. Large agencies often have victim advocates, but small agencies rarely do.

Thus, the major issues in developing a protocol in large metropolitan areas or in large law enforcement agencies are likely to be quite different than those in rural areas and in small agencies. Although victims' needs are the same and the elements of effective investigation and prosecution are the same irrespective of the jurisdiction, the protocol itself should reflect the circumstances within different jurisdictions.

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Specific Rights and Services for Victims from the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Continuum and Allied Agencies

The system for services and support for victims of rape and sexual assault should include emergency or crisis services, support throughout the criminal or juvenile justice system, and medical, mental health, financial, legal, or other types of support as needed.

In many communities across America, a system of responses takes place for rape victims who choose to report the crime to law enforcement. Rather than looking at the response to rape victims in the traditional way (i.e., what each agency and/or individual should do for a rape victim), the "victim-centered" approach looks at the needs of the victim at each stage and recommends various agencies that could provide the needed service or support.

ROLE OF THE FIRST RESPONDER TO RAPE VICTIMS

The first responder can be a hotline operator, a rape crisis center advocate, a police officer--all of whom must be trained in victim sensitivity and crisis response techniques, with a special focus on telephone communication skills. The basic victim assistance needs at this initial stage include the following:

Determining if the victim needs any emergency medical care.

Responding to the safety and security needs of rape victims--determining if the alleged assailant is still nearby and if the victim needs protection.

Assisting with or providing transportation for the victim to the hospital.

Advising the victim of the need to preserve evidence (by not bathing, showering, washing garments, etc.).

Providing crisis intervention counseling, in person or over a hotline.

If the victim requests a supportive person, obtaining a personal friend or professional to immediately join the victim.

If the victim requests, staying on the phone or at the physical location with her.

The First Response to Victims of Crime handbook developed by the Office for Victims of Crime (January 2000) suggests that first responders be prepared for any type of emotional response by victims. First responders are cautioned to avoid interpreting a victim's calmness or composure as evidence that a sexual assault did not occur. The desire to forget details of a horrific crime is normal and should not be interpreted as resistance to giving a statement. First responders are instructed to be supportive without appearing overprotective or patronizing.

Medical care following rape. Emergency medical care, especially the collection of evidence through a forensic examination, is critical for both the victim and the protection

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of evidence for prosecution. Medical care providers must fulfill two sometimes conflicting roles: they must meet the rape victim's medical and emotional needs, and they must collect evidence to be used in a legal proceeding. Comprehensive medical protocol in the aftermath of rape includes the following components:

Collecting forensic evidence (rape exam) in a sensitive manner. As of July 1995, all states now pay for the cost of the exam. This exam includes an internal examination, pubic hair combings, nail scrapings, saliva samples, swabs for foreign materials on the victims' body, and an overall examination for bruises and lacerations and other physical trauma. It is one of the greatest sources for "secondary injury" in the aftermath of rape. It is very important to provide rape victims with a supportive person, a trained social worker at the hospital or a rape crisis intervener from a local rape crisis program to accompany the victim during this exam. It is also important to let the victim know that it is her choice whether or not to have the advocate present.

Obtaining the victim's complete medical history, including the date of her last period, contraceptive use, sexually-transmitted disease (STD) information. etc.

Treating the immediate physical injuries of the victim.

Diagnosing and treating sexually transmitted diseases.

Conducting pregnancy tests, providing counseling, and providing drugs for terminating a potential pregnancy, if the patient wishes.

Obtaining blood and urine samples for drug screening if medically appropriate (Speck 1999).

Providing information about HIV/AIDS. A baseline HIV test immediately after the assault should be conducted, followed by repeated tests every three months for up to two years.

Providing information about victim compensation.

Many hospitals across the country have established protocols on treating sexual assault and rape victims. However, The National Women's Study asked victims if they had a medical examination following the assault. The study found the following:

Only 17% of all rape victims were examined medically.

60% (of these 17%) rape victims were examined within twenty-four hours of the assault, and 40% were examined more than twenty-four hours after the assault.

Two-thirds of rape victims told their doctors that they had been sexually assaulted; the remaining one-third did not.

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In addition, many recommended practices and protocols did not occur in all rape examinations:

60% of rape victims were not advised about pregnancy testing or how to prevent pregnancy.

73% were not given information about testing for exposure to HIV/AIDS.

39% were not given information about testing for exposure to sexually transmitted diseases.

Despite some improvements in the dissemination of information about testing for pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and sexually transmitted diseases to rape victims, the following conditions remain:

The rate of non provision of information about pregnancy prevention to recent rape victims was similar to that reported overall (55% vs. 60%).

33% of recent rape victims were not given information about testing for exposure to sexually transmitted diseases as opposed to 40% of all rape victims.

50% of recent rape victims were not given information about testing for HIV/AIDS, despite the fact that rape clearly constitutes an unprotected exposure to bodily fluids of assailants with unknown HIV/AIDS status.

Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) programs offer an innovative approach to handling the medical/evidentiary aspects of sexual assault and child abuse cases through the use of technology, nurse examiners, and specialized settings. Instead of having doctors handle these cases in busy emergency rooms, SANE programs create a special environment for victims and use trained nurse examiners to conduct the evidentiary medical examination and present the forensic evidence at trial. According to the Tulsa Police Department, the nationally recognized Tulsa SANE program has substantially improved the quality of forensic evidence in sexual assault cases.

The Sexual Assault Resource Service (SARS) of Minneapolis developed a guidebook entitled SANE Development and Operations Guide to be used by jurisdictions interested in developing SANE programs (Ledray 1999). This guidebook (available online for downloading at www.sane-sart.com) stresses the need for a community approach when developing the program. Some programs such as the Memphis Sexual Assault Resource Center have a free-standing location where only sexual assault victims are seen. This center has nurses and advocates on call 24 hours a day and a counseling program on site. Whether co-located in a single facility or, more commonly, located throughout the community, the collaboration of law enforcement, medical professionals, justice system and rape crisis programs is essential to meet the needs of rape victims.

ALCOHOL, DRUGS, AND SEXUAL ASSAULT

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http://www.sane-sart.com/


Alcohol related sexual assault. Alcohol consumption is a recurrent factor in sexual assault. Often times, the perpetrator has been drinking on average of 34-74 percent and the victim has been drinking on an average of 50 percent of the time. It is important to note that while alcohol consumption places the victim at an increased risk of being sexually assaulted, it in no way blames or places responsibility of the assault on the victim. Sexual assault is always the perpetrators fault. Yet, the presence of alcohol in both individuals makes it hard to decipher the effects of alcohol consumption on the perpetrator’s behavior verses the victim’s behavior.

Although most rapes are committed by an acquaintance of the victim, most reported rapes are those committed by a stranger. Alcohol-involved sexual assaults and non-alcohol-involved sexual assaults share common characteristics, such as the perpetrator is an acquaintance of the victim, either a friend or date, and he uses physical force or a verbal threat to sexually assault the victim who expresses her non-consent and tries to resist. However, the two differ in that the relationship between the victim and perpetrator is in the beginning stages, meaning that they do not know each other well and the assault is more likely to happen in the place of meeting, such as a party or bar.

In investigating alcohol’s role in sexual assault, there are two main avenues that have to be explored: (1) surveys of victims and perpetrators and (2) laboratory studies of alcohol effects on human behavior. With sexual assault being such an intimate and personal crime, the first serves as the primary source of information. One must understand both approaches are needed for accuracy, because both approaches are limited. “Surveys of victims and perpetrators cannot unequivocally demonstrate a cause effect relationship between alcohol and sexual assault, where as laboratory studies cannot measure actual responses to sexual assault.”

In studying alcohol’s contribution to sexual assault, it is important to examine both distal factors that include variables such as personality traits, attitudes and general life experiences of the individuals involved as well as situational factors, such as the prevalence of alcohol consumption, the location and environment of the assault as well as the quality of the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator. Important findings regarding distal factors include:

Perpetrators of sexual assault were more likely to illustrate a more hostile and less empathetic personality towards women than other men.

Perpetrators of sexual assault were more likely to embrace traditional patriarchal stereotypes about gender roles than other men.

Perpetrators of sexual assault were more likely to experience abuse or violence and partake in sexual activity at an earlier age and more frequently than other men

(The above analysis was written by Janelle Jones for the Tennessee Social Norms Project for the Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. This is a summary of “Alcohol and Sexual Assault” by Antonia Abbey, Ph.D.and colleagues.)

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Rohypnol and other drugs used in rape. Rohypnol (roofies), Gamma Hydroxybutrate (GHB) and Ketamin have been termed "acquaintance rape drugs." These drugs have been used to incapacitate potential sexual assault victims (Hindermarch and Brinkman 1999). Rohypnol, the best known of these drugs, is not approved for medical use in the United States. It is a benzodiazepine that was developed for use as a treatment for insomnia and as a pre-medication for anesthesia. Rohypnol has physiological effects similar to Valium although Rohypnol is approximately ten times more potent (DEA 1999).

Rohypnol has a hypnotic effect and sedation begins twenty to thirty minutes after ingestion. The effects peak at one to two hours and may persist for six to eight hours. The drug causes anterograde amnesia which means that the user remembers little about the time during which he or she is sedated. Another widely reported effect of Rohypnol is disinhibition (Smith, Wesson, and Calhoun n.d.). The combination of Rohypnol with alcohol increases its sedative and amnesic effects, making it the "drug of choice" for some rapists who use this drug on unsuspecting victims.

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Innovations in law enforcement-based victim assistance. The past two decades have been marked by two significant advances in law enforcement's response to rape cases:

1. The creation of specialized sex crime units to enhance the agency's efficiency and send a message to the community that the department is deeply committed to solving sex crimes.

2. The development of in-house victim/witness assistance units that review all reports, sort out the felonies, and contact each victim of a felony crime, usually by phone. Law enforcement-based victim assistance professionals make referrals to rape crisis centers, contact victims who have delayed reporting, and provide community education in rape awareness and prevention.

Reporting rapes to law enforcement. New methods for reporting rape and for guarding victims' privacy have been developed over the last two decades in an attempt to increase victims' willingness to report crimes and to cooperate throughout the investigation.

In deciding whether to report the assault, a victim has the following options:

Immediately file a report of the rape with law enforcement.

Report the rape to hospital emergency room personnel (who may or may not be required by law to report the incident to law enforcement).

Defer filing a report while further considering the issue.

Tell a friend, relative, therapist, or rape crisis center counselor, requesting that the person not report the assault.

Not report the crime to anyone (Epstein and Langenbahn 1994, 17-25).

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Interviewing rape victims. Victims are now interviewed at different stages and with new techniques. In The Criminal Justice and Community Response to Rape, a checklist for law enforcement officers who are conducting initial interviews with rape victims, developed by the King County (Washington) Prosecuting Attorney's Office, is offered (Ibid.):

Approach the victim in a gentle, supportive manner, bearing in mind the physical and psychological damage s/he has endured. Be patient and nonjudgmental.

Assure the victim that s/he is safe now, and that you are there to help him/her.

Avoid any forceful or aggressive behavior [that] might be threatening to the victim.

Minimize unwarranted attention and publicity. Protect the victim's anonymity.

Protect the victim from unnecessary questioning by other police officers and afford him/her whatever privacy is available.

Request that the victim . . . not wash or douche and explain the rationale for this instruction (it may destroy physical evidence).

Avoid in-depth questioning of the victim unless you will be assigned to conduct the entire investigation. However, do obtain a physical description [of the suspect], clothing . . . vehicle, if any, direction of flight, and type of weapon if the suspect is armed.

Transmit a radio alarm for the suspect based on this description.

Include in the supplement to the initial report a specific description of the victim's physical and emotional condition, any injuries, damage to clothing, and any information [that] will be of value in establishing proof of . . . [force].

Accompany the victim to [a] hospital or personal doctor of her or his choice. Explain procedures in order to demystify the medical procedures and put her or him more at ease.

If necessary, inform hospital emergency personnel or doctors of the importance of an internal and external examination and of what police evidentiary needs are: semen slide from site of penetration as proof of penetration, and documentation of any bruises or injuries and overall physical and emotional condition as proof of forcible copulation.

Ensure that the victim is treated for possible pregnancy and venereal disease.

If the victim has visible scars, marks, or bruises, take photos. If marks or bruises are in [the] genital area, have them taken by [a] nurse or female police officer (if the victim is female).

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Obtain a rape kit from [the] doctor and deliver to [the] lab for analysis.

Take the victim's garments and other stained or torn objects for [a] semen and blood analysis, and as proof of force and penetration. Make sure all the garments worn during and after the assault are accounted for. If the assault occurred on a bed, take the bedclothes. Place garments and other items in clean paper sacks to avoid contamination during transport and storage.

If [an] arrest is made soon after the crime, examine the defendant's clothing and underwear for rips [and] blood or semen stains and note his general condition. Take pictures of him, if possible.

Carefully note any statements or admissions by [the] defendant.

Advise the victim of available counseling groups and other victim services. Make sure a victim/witness advocate has been contacted.

Remember that the actions of the first officer on the scene may have a vital impact on the future psychological well-being of the victim. Every effort should be made to relieve feelings of shame or guilt, and to treat the victim with a sense of dignity and professionalism [that] will aid her or him on the road to recovery and . . . help her or him to regain self-esteem.

In addition, extensive experience of victim advocacy from the law enforcement perspective points out the need to:

Begin the interview and investigation with a general statement which clarifies that while some of the questions may appear to be judgmental or blaming, they are not intended to be so; they are simply necessary to conduct the most thorough investigation.

Advise victims of the state compensation program, and provide forms for completion (as well as referrals to advocates who can assist with securing compensation).

Implement a strong policy that protects the identities of rape victims from the media, coordinating such privacy protection efforts with the police public information department, rape advocacy organizations, and the news media.

Coordinate rape victim support efforts with rape crisis centers, ensuring that the victim is advised of the availability of immediate support and advocacy and, upon request, contact a rape counselor or advocate to go the crime scene or hospital.

Coordinate the prompt return of property that is used as evidence with the prosecutor's office. For example, a rape victim who was sexually assaulted in her bedroom wanted to know when she could get her bedspread back from the police. Both the law enforcement agency and victim advocate in the case wrongfully made the

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assumption that she would not be interested in ever seeing the quilt again. However, since the bedspread matched the decor of her room that she had taken great pride in decorating, the victim was eager to have this evidence returned.

Provide information about victim compensation and referrals to agencies or professionals who can help process the application.

The information obtained by law enforcement in its initial and ongoing investigation is critical to the district attorney's decision whether or not to prosecute. As such, the collection and monitoring of law enforcement information should be closely coordinated with prosecutors' offices.

Orders of Protection for Victims in Tennessee. In 2004 and 2005, the state of Tennessee made legislative changes to affect order of protections and ex-parte orders. Specifically, the changes reflect the following:

T.C.A. 36-3-601 has been amended to include definitions for victims of abuse, stalking, and sexual assault. Prior to this change, stalking victims and sexual assault victims were not protected under this legislation. (T.C.A. 36-3-601)

T.C.A. 36-3-602 (b) has been amended to reflect that petitions can be filed by persons under the age of 18 as long as a parent, guardian, or court appointed representative signs and files the petition on the behalf of the child, (T.C.A. 36-3-602).

T.C.A. 36-3-605 was amended to state that ex-parte orders “shall be personally served to the respondent. However, if the respondent is not a resident of Tennessee, the ex parte order shall be served pursuant 20-2-215 and 20-2-216,” (36-3-605).

PROSECUTION

Many district attorneys utilize a vertical prosecution approach to rape cases, with prosecutors who are specially trained in sexual assault case management. The same prosecutor handles a case from the investigation through the decision to prosecute to the verdict and sentencing, when applicable. In many jurisdictions, specialized units--which include investigators, prosecutors, and victim advocates--serve to further streamline the prosecutorial process, and ease the trauma of the victim in rape cases.

Roles and responsibilities of prosecutors relevant to rape victims. Upon initial contact with a rape victim, prosecutors should explain their specific roles and responsibilities in the criminal or juvenile justice continuum. These include the following:

Prosecutors should ensure that victims have received information about victim compensation and assistance in completing and processing the forms.

Prosecutors should coordinate with law enforcement and medical professionals to limit the number of times a rape victim must be interviewed for a case.

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Victims should be notified of all relevant criminal or juvenile justice proceedings and, when allowable under law, be allowed to attend such proceedings.

The availability of "no-contact" orders should be explained to victims, and prosecutors should help victims who want such protection by requesting protective orders on their behalf from the court.

Prior to any plea agreements, prosecutors should receive input from the victim.

In cases of plea agreements, victim impact statements are particularly important. If a defendant pleads to a lesser assault charge, it is very important for the court to know the extent of the physical, psychological, and financial damages the victim endured, regardless of the plea bargain.

Prosecutors should always take appropriate measures to protect the victim's identity from the media and the public.

Prosecutors should request that the court allow a supportive person--such as a relative, friend, or victim advocate--to accompany the victim to all court proceedings upon request or as needed.

Rape shield laws available in all fifty states and at the federal level--which prevent the defense from delving into the past personal and/or sexual history of the victim--should be enforced at all costs. Any motion to admit such evidence must be vigorously opposed by prosecutors.

Prosecutors can seek expert testimony of medical professionals to explain physical trauma and mental health professionals to explain rape trauma syndrome, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and rape-related PTSD to the court.

In cases of trials (or adjudication hearings in juvenile court), rape victims should have the opportunity to submit victim impact statements to the court prior to sentencing, either by addressing the court in person (allocution) or in writing, by audio tape, or by video tape. Victim service providers, prosecutors, and often probation officers are the key professionals in coordinating the use of the victim impact statement.

Any special conditions of sentencing requested by the victim--such as protective orders, restitution, testing for HIV (with the results provided to victims in states that allow this by statute), and sex offender treatment--should be presented to the court at sentencing.

In cases that result in prison or youth detention sentences, or "findings," prosecutors should provide victims with information about how to register to be notified of an offender's status, potential release, or release from state institutional corrections or parole agencies.

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In cases in which the prosecution does not have enough evidence to indict the offender, it is important to carefully explain this decision to the victim. Victims may interpret the lack of prosecution as a justice system failure. If the prosecutor believes that the victim was assaulted, but cannot proceed because of evidentiary or other legal reasons, this should be explained to the victim in an effort to minimize the "secondary victimization" at the hand of the legal system. Support persons of the victim's choosing, such as a family member, friend or victim advocate, should be able to attend these and any other conferences with the prosecutor.

VICTIM SERVICES

One of the goals of providing assistance to rape victims is helping them to gain a sense of empowerment. It is important that advocates and mental health professionals encourage victims to regain a sense of control in their lives post-rape. Since victims frequently blame themselves for the assault, it is important for victim advocates to remind victims that, even if there were choices within their control that could have contributed to greater personal safety, they are in no way responsible for the fact that they were sexually assaulted.

On the other hand, victims may have limited control of the aftermath of a reported rape. Advocates can assist victims by explaining the justice system processes. Frequently an arrest is not made or is made more slowly than a victim would prefer. Sometimes cases are not prosecuted due to insufficient evidence. Advocates can help victims overcome these hurdles by giving them accurate information and coordinating meetings with law enforcement, prosecutors, and correction officials. Knowing they have been heard by the "system" is essential for victims, as it often allows them the comfort of knowing that they did everything possible to promote their desired outcome.

Sexual assault advocates may be paid professionals or trained volunteers who are committed to working with victims. They share the common goal of assisting victims as they navigate through the horrific aftermath of an assault. Sexual assault advocates:

Maintain a victim-centered approach to the delivery of assistance.

Provide the victim with information needed to make informed choices.

Make appropriate referral for counseling and other community services, such as HIV/STD testing.

Provide information and support from the time of report, through adjudication, and post sentencing.

Provide counseling for the victim, family members and/or significant others or make referrals to appropriate resources.

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Work with allied professionals to protect the privacy of the victim in the news media.

The specific duties of victim advocates differ depending on the setting. Advocates at a rape crisis center may:

Answer hotline calls from victims.

Give victims information about how to report an assault to police.

Assist the victim in determining whether or not she or he wishes to report.

Make referrals for crisis or long-term counseling.

Meet victims at an emergency room or hospital and offer to be present during the medical/forensic exam.

Provide information regarding victim compensation.

Serve as a liaison for the victim with law enforcement and the criminal or juvenile justice system.

Advocates who work within a law enforcement agency may:

Accompany the victim for a rape exam.

Attempt to contact victims who have not followed through with a report.

Ensure that victims are interviewed in a private setting.

Work to ensure the victim's anonymity.

Coordinate services with a rape crisis center if there is one in the area.

Make referrals to meet victims' social service needs.

Make referrals to counselors trained to work with victims.

Advocates who work for the prosecutor may:

Notify victims of upcoming court dates and let them know when and if they can attend.

Let the victim know that he/she can be accompanied to court by a support person or by the advocate if desired.

Assist the victim in developing a victim impact statement.

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Ensure that victims have a private waiting area prior to testimony.

Ensure that the victim's wishes regarding interaction with the news media are respected.

Advocates who assist victims, post-conviction/adjudication, may:

Interface with probation/parole officers if asked to do so by the victim.

Articulate the victim's wishes regarding implementation of core rights, including notification, restitution, and protection.

Ensure that the victim receives notification of the status change of the offender, if desired.

Assist victims with developing a letter or statement regarding victim impact to be sent to the parole board.

Offer to accompany victims to parole hearings to offer support.

The needs and desires of the victim should always be the advocate's primary concern. Advocates must be aware of confidentiality issues regarding victim interviews and statements and should make sure that the victims they serve are also aware of these limits.

When interviewing victims of sexual assault, it is critical to clearly define terms when discussing rape or sexual assault. The victim's culture will influence what acts he/she considers to be beyond the cultural norm, thus to be labeled as an assault. Key words become even more important when interviewing non-English speaking victims. Words that translate the same into English may have different connotations depending on the victim's experience or country of origin. For instance, rapto and violacion sexual are words that mean rape in Spanish. Their idiomatic meanings differ dramatically and can alter the meaning of an interview question depending on the victim's understanding of the phrase (Lira, Koss, and Russo August 1999).

Advocates who are not mental health professionals should develop relationships with mental health practitioners in the community to facilitate referrals. An advocate's ability to network within the law enforcement and social service communities can provide victims with timely, appropriate services to meet needs that might not otherwise be addressed.

JUDICIARY

In the past decade, substantial progress has been made to provide judges with training and resources that can help them handle rape cases in the most sensitive manner possible. Through efforts sponsored by the Office for Victims of Crime, Violence Against Women Office, National Coalition Against Sexual Assault, The National Judicial College, and

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others, many curricula have been developed and taught to the judiciary to heighten their awareness of the special needs of rape victims.

Roles and responsibilities of judges relevant to rape victims.

Upon request, judges should issue "no-contact" orders or other measures of protection requested by the victim.

In voir dire, judges must take extreme caution and allow prosecutors to assess any attitudes among potential jurors that might tend to "blame the victim," or contribute to misunderstandings about the nature and extent of sexual assault crimes.

Judges should close all court proceedings involving rape cases to the media and the general public.

Persons supportive of the victim should be allowed to be present with him or her in the courtroom.

Expert witnesses called by the prosecution can be utilized to better explain psychological and physical traumas experienced by rape victims.

Victim impact information should always be solicited in cases involving diversion, plea agreements, or jury/judge verdicts. The use of victim impact statements can be enhanced by close coordination among prosecutors, probation, and the judiciary. Any victim impact information should be included in the offender's file (in a confidential section that prevents access by the offender and/or his or her counsel) that is forwarded to probation, corrections, and/or parole.

Any special conditions of sentencing requested by the victim--such as HIV testing, restitution, protective orders, or specific offender treatment--should be given serious consideration by judges.

The imposition of restitution and fines should be mandatory in all rape cases, with judges considering the long-term financial impact of the crime on victims who may have future expenses related to medical needs, counseling, relocation, time lost from work, etc.

PROBATION

Cases involving plea bargains or court sentences to probation or diversion are handled by probation departments. Victim sensitivity on the part of probation officials and consideration of victims' rights and needs are essential components of probation-based victim services.

Roles and responsibilities of probation relevant to rape victims.

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Victim impact information should be incorporated as a component of presentence investigative reports (PSIs) in all sentences that result in probation.

Any special conditions requested by the victim should be considered and implemented in accordance with law. These might include protective orders; sex offender treatment; alcohol or other drug abuse treatment; and HIV testing or testing for sexually transmittable diseases (with the results provided to victims in jurisdictions where this is a statutory right).

Restitution to rape victims should be given priority over other fines levied against probationers. Probation officials should assess the long-term financial losses that victims might incur, make appropriate recommendations, and coordinate operational systems with the court that collect and disburse restitution payments to rape victims.

If victims request to be notified of probation violations, they should be contacted when/if such infractions occur. In jurisdictions that allow victim input at violation hearings, victims should be notified of this right, and be allowed to testify if they wish.

If victims express a desire to participate in victim/offender programming (such as mediation or victim impact panels), their wishes should be fulfilled.

CORRECTIONS

Over the period from 1985 to 1993, there has been only slight variation in the average sentence received for rape and sexual assault by those entering state prisons. Entering prisoners convicted of rape have received sentences averaging between twelve and thirteen years, while those convicted of sexual assault have been admitted to prison with sentences averaging between eight and nine years. There is no evidence from national data on those admitted to state prisons that the average sentence for either category of crime has been lengthened.

National data on sex offenders discharged from state prisons between 1985 and 1993 reveal two distinct trends: an increase in the average length of stay; and an increase in the percentage of the sentence served in confinement prior to release (Greenfeld 1996, 19).

Nearly all of America's state correctional agencies and the Federal Bureau of Prisons have victim service programs that provide information, notification, and referrals to victims and witnesses. Victim service providers should be aware of the specific rights and services that are mandated by law and/or by correctional agency policy to be able to best inform and serve victims of rape.

Roles and responsibilities of corrections relevant to rape victims.

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In classifying offenders (to determine their location, level of security, and program assignments), corrections should review all victim impact information contained in the offender's file.

All victim information in offender's files should be confidential, with "flags" for privacy on paper files, and security screens in automated databases.

In cases where HIV testing of convicted offenders is a component of the court order, corrections agencies should coordinate the testing and release of test results (where allowable by law) to victims.

Although sex offender treatment programs are available on a very limited basis, they should be mandatory to the extent possible for convicted rapists.

Restitution orders from the court should be enforced with payments provided to rape victims in accordance with state law and/or agency policy.

Correctional agencies that collect restitution from inmates should coordinate the prompt disbursement of monies to rape victims.

Upon request, victims should be notified about changes in the offender's status, such as movement to a lower-level security institution, pending release, release, escape, or death.

In instances where correctional employees are sexually assaulted by inmates, Departments of Corrections should have protocols, policies, and programs in place that provide for immediate and long-term support and services for the victim.

PAROLE

Sensitivity to rape victims' needs--from both paroling authorities, parole boards, and parole agents--is essential to avoid compounding victim trauma. The potential release of a rapist is a terrifying prospect to most victims. Paroling authorities and personnel should be knowledgeable about the long-term effects of rape, especially responses that might be "triggered" by parole or parole release hearings (such as rape-related PTSD). It is interesting to note that in several states, a rape victim serves as a member of the parole board.

Roles and responsibilities of parole relevant to rape victims.

When allowed by statute, victims should be notified of parole hearings and of any rights they have relevant to such hearings (such as participation, attendance, and providing victim impact information). Support persons including family members, friends, and victim advocates should be allowed to accompany victims to hearings.

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Victim impact information from sentencing should be included in offenders' files that are reviewed by paroling authorities.

Victim impact statements at parole should be allowed in five forms: allocution, written, audiotape, videotape, or teleconferencing. Victim impact statements provided at the time of any parole or release hearings should be compared to the initial victim impact statement provided at the time of sentencing. When permitted by law and upon request from the victim, the delivery of impact information should be confidential.

Parole boards should consider any reasonable requests from rape victims relevant to the offender's release or supervision, including but not limited to: protective orders; commitment to a geographical area that is not in the victim's community; when allowed by statute, HIV testing (with the results provided to victims upon request); sex offender treatment; abstinence from alcohol and/or other drugs; special monitoring (such as electronic monitoring); and restitution.

Upon request, rape victims should be notified if the offender in any way violates the conditions of parole and should be allowed to submit victim impact information at parole revocation hearings.

Contact information for the convicted rapist's parole agent should be provided to the victim, including how someone in the paroling authority can be reached twenty-four hours a day.

Clearly, the criminal or juvenile justice continuum for rape victims requires concerted, ongoing, multidisciplinary efforts that focus on reducing the amount of trauma a victim will have to endure throughout the system. Education for all system professionals about the psychological, physical, and financial effects of rape--as well as how these effects can be compounded by participation in the criminal justice process--should be incorporated into orientation and continuing education programs for all professionals. Involvement with and reliance on the many valuable services offered by victim service providers are essential to guaranteeing a continuum that is sensitive.

The Management of Sex Offenders in the Community

On any given day, there are approximately 234,000 offenders convicted of rape or sexual assault under the care, custody, or control of corrections agencies; nearly 60 percent of these sex offenders are under conditional supervision in the community (Greenfeld 1996). A relatively recent public policy phenomenon in the United States has focused national and community attention on managing sex offenders in the community, with an emphasis on public protection and reduction in recidivism. Two significant initiatives have emerged as a result: the implementation of sex offender community notification laws, and sex offender monitoring by community corrections agencies that recognizes the rights and needs of communities and the victims. Both initiatives merit the attention and involvement of victim advocates.

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SEX OFFENDER COMMUNITY NOTIFICATION LAWS

In 1996, federal legislation mandated that all states establish a community notification program or lose ten percent of their federal law enforcement funding under the Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Funding program. As of October 1997, forty-seven states had passed "community notification" laws that require law enforcement agencies to inform local communities that convicted sex offenders are residing in their neighborhoods or allow public access to this information.

Community notification laws allow or mandate that law enforcement, criminal justice, or corrections agencies give citizens access to relevant information about certain convicted sex offenders living in their communities. These laws are distinct from sex offender registration laws, which require convicted sex offenders who are living in the community to notify police officials of where they are living. They are also distinct from victim notification laws, which mandate that crime victims who wish to receive information about the criminal justice processing or release status of the person(s) who victimized them are provided with it.

Provisions of community notification laws vary state to state. States differ in their methods of informing the public of a sex offender's presence in their community and the extent of the information they provide. Some states proactively inform the community, while others make information available to citizens upon request. Those states using community notification laws have essentially established four notification categories:

Broad community notification (18 states) releases information about sex offenders to any person or organization who requests it.

Organizational notification (14 states) informs organizations that are especially vulnerable to particular offenders such as day care centers and schools.

Individual notification (13 states) informs victims and classes of victims of the presence of specific offenders in the community.

Police notification (14 states) allows persons or organizations to obtain sex offender registry information from local law enforcement.

Typically, individuals and organizations get offenders' names, photos, crime descriptions, and age(s) of their victim(s). Information is often provided on how offenders target their victims as well as their modus operandi. Some notifying agencies may also provide community members with information about the nature of sexual offending, the characteristics of sex offenders, methods of self or community protection, and information about what can be done when one learns that a sex offender is living in his/her neighborhood.

(The preceding material in this section is derived from "An Overview of Sex Offender Community Notification Practices: Policy Implications and Promising

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Approaches" published by the Center for Sex Offender Management (CSOM) in November 1997.)

The role of victim service providers in community notification efforts includes the following:

Obtaining information about statutory mandates for community notification and the processes that are utilized in the state to fulfill such mandates for incorporation into their community outreach and victim assistance resource materials.

Providing information to victims of rape and sexual assault about community notification laws, processes, and any specific rights relevant to victims.

Collaborating with justice agencies (such as law enforcement and probation) that are responsible for community notification and offering assistance in developing public education, community protection, and information/referral resources.

Participating in any community forums related to either community notification of a specific offender(s), or the issue of community notification in general.

Utilizing community notification processes as an opportunity to publicize the availability of supportive services and assistance for reporting and non-reporting victims of sexual assault.

State of Tennessee Notification Laws

The following was taken from the Sexual Offender Notification Release, 2004:

The "Tennessee Sexual Offender and Violent Sexual Offender Registration, Verification, and Tracking Act of 2004" was effective as of August 1, 2004. Those persons convicted of a sexual offense or on probation, parole, or released on or after January 1, 1995, and classified as a "sexual offender" or "violent sexual offender" as defined by this act are required to register with the designated law enforcement agency. Those persons who are classified as "sexual offenders" will also be required to report once annually to register. Persons classified as "violent sexual offenders" will be required to report quarterly each year.

In addition to the registration requirements of "Tennessee Sexual Offender and Violent Sexual Offender Registration, Verification, and Tracing Act of 2004," it is unlawful for any sexual offender to knowingly reside or work within 1000 feet of a public or private school, day care center, or child care facility. It is also unlawful for any sexual offender to knowingly reside within 1000 feet of the property where the offender's former victims or their immediate family live or knowingly come within 100 feet of the offender's former victims. There are also provisions in law concerning offenders living in the same household as a minor unless certain conditions are met.

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Violations of the "Tennessee Sexual Offender and Violent Sexual Offender Registration, Verification, and Tracking Act of 2004" are now Class E felonies, and punishment of repeat offenders is enhanced.

For additional information concerning sexual offender registration you can contact the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Sexual Offender Registration at 1-888-837-4170, (Sexual Offender Registration Release, 2004).

Another resource in the state of Tennessee is VOICE (Victim Offender Information Call Emissary) which provides registered victims with the following:

Offender's current location within the system Date the offender's sentence went into effect Sentence expiration date Date of parole eligibility Earliest date that an offender can be released under executive order for

overcrowding (most violent offenders are excluded from this provision)

For information on how to register, individuals can call the Victim’s Coordinator at (615) 741-1000, ext. 8145 or by visiting their website at www.state.tn.us/correction/voice.html, (Tennessee Department of Correction, Tennessee.gov).

MONITORING/MANAGING SEX OFFENDERS IN THE COMMUNITY

With the majority of convicted sex offenders residing in communities, significant efforts in many jurisdictions have resulted in a "containment approach" that includes community protection and victim advocacy as well as the supervision, evaluation, and treatment of sex offenders under community supervision. Leadership from the Maryland-based Center for Sex Offender Management, with support from the U.S. Department of Justice, has provided extensive training and technical assistance that incorporates both input and involvement of victim service professionals.

Collaborative efforts among probation and parole agencies, law enforcement agencies, sex offender treatment professionals, and victim service providers are crucial to the containment approach to managing sex offenders in the community. The specific roles of victim advocates are best illustrated by a model program in Connecticut entitled S.A.F.E.-T. (supervision, advocacy, follow-up, and treatment). A sexual assault victim advocate participates in the S.A.F.E.-T. Intensive Sex Offender Unit, and provides for victim and community safety by facilitating increased input, involvement, and cooperation from victims, their families, and the community at large.

The victim representative on the team does the following:

Educates victims and the community about the intensive probation unit.

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Establishes a communication link with the victim, when possible, to provide information/ feedback from the victim to the unit, including valuable information about the offender's behavior.

Keeps the victim informed of the offender's status.

Provides direct services to victims and family members who are experiencing trauma when the offender is released into the community.

Speaks to community groups to promote broad community involvement as part of the offender supervision network.

Provides information about risk reduction and available community resources to community groups.

Assists with the community notification process.

Provides information and support to community members with concerns about the community notification process.

Works with the intensive probation unit on home visits and field visits.

Shares with the team information about any behavioral violation gathered by the community or the victim.

Participates in offender treatment programs, including counseling groups and victim empathy segments.

Provides information and training about victim issues.

Effectively managing sex offenders in the community with an emphasis on victim and community protection requires the commitment and collaboration of victim service providers. By making victims' rights and interests a top priority and providing information and assistance to victims and the community, victim service providers have a valuable and vital role in community-based sex offender management processes.

Significant State Statutory Provisions

Many statutory changes have been enacted across the states to address all forms of sexual assault and rape. The following are two significant reform measures that pertain to victim service providers:

MARITAL RAPE

Prior to the passage of these laws, "rape" within a marriage or co-habituating relationship was not considered rape. In the 1980s, a California legislator shocked many citizens when he asked, "If you can't rape your wife, who can you rape?" Today, most states have

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reformed this exemption, making marital rape a specific offense, but exemptions still exist in some states.

In the state of Tennessee, legislation passed to include spousal rape in 2004 with lobbying efforts from the Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence. SB0556 and HB1116 deleted the “limited spousal rape exclusion” and insures that victims of spousal rape receive the same protection as unmarried victims (TCADSV, 2005).

PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION FOR VICTIM COUNSELING

For many rape crisis advocates and interveners, the issue of confidential communications with rape victims has been one of their most frustrating and ongoing challenges. Without the protection of client/professional confidentiality granted to licensed mental health professionals such as psychologists or social workers, some rape crisis workers have faced subpoenas and have even been jailed on contempt charges for refusing to divulge the substance of their conversations with rape victims.

As early as 1982, the President's Task Force on Victims of Crime selected privileged communication between rape and domestic violence advocates and victims as a top priority for legislative change.

It is important to note that rape crisis advocates working in criminal or juvenile justice-based agencies (law enforcement/prosecution) are not covered by this confidentiality protection due to discovery rules (their communications may contain information that is helpful to the defense). It is also important to note that OVC's New Directions reiterated the need for this legislation (OVC 1998).

The state of Tennessee has legislation addressing privileged communication between certified master social workers, certified or registered social workers, and licensed psychologists (T.C.A. 63-23-107). Tennessee law also addresses rape crisis advocates in its new confidentiality of records of centers legislation (T.C.A. 36-3-623). This legislation protects all rape crisis center and domestic violence center records as “confidential information” and authorizes their release only if the victim provides authorization or a court subpoena’s records subject to restrictions such as an in camera review, (T.C.A. 63-23-107).

Significant Federal Laws

Within the last decade, significant federal laws have been enacted that address rights for sexual assault victims, new classifications of sexual crimes, and funding and support for the criminal justice response to sexual assault.

THE STUDENT RIGHT-TO-KNOW AND CAMPUS SECURITY ACT OF 1990

Due to a long tradition of handling crime on campus internally and not reporting crimes

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to local law enforcement, the extent of campus crime across the country was underreported for many years. Rape is among several on-campus crimes that now must report to local law enforcement under this law. Equally important, the law requires colleges and universities to provide information on safety-related procedures for the student.

THE HATE CRIME STATISTICS ACT OF 1990

This law requires the reporting of crimes that are motivated by prejudice, race, religion, sexual orientation, and ethnicity. Women are not considered a "protected class" under the law; however, information is collected about crimes against women within protected categories. For the first time on a nationwide basis, sexual assault and rape statistics covering many types of overlooked crimes are being collected. This information will help target services and funding for previously undocumented and often unrecognized crimes against women.

THE CAMPUS CRIME SEXUAL ASSAULT BILL OF RIGHTS OF 1992

Because of a nationwide problem of sexual assault on college campuses--This was traditionally handled by campus security, rather than through outside law enforcement (and as a criminal justice matter)--and often there was pressure on the student-victim not to report to outside authorities; a Bill of Rights became necessary for college rape and sexual assault victims. In addition to requiring that campus authorities treat rape victims with respect, give them information about their criminal and civil justice options, and establish procedures for assisting victims, rape prevention education is required.

THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT OF 1994 and 2005 and 2013

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) offers an important source of funding for programs that address the needs of sexual assault victims. While this law has been described in other chapters, it is important to point out that for victims of sexual assault, certain provisions of the act are pertinent:

Under this Act, to qualify for the available funding, states have to meet certain federal certifications, including ensuring rape victims do not pay for forensic rape exams and domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking victims are not charged filing fees for orders of protection.

Federal funding is providing for coordination, investigation, and prosecution of crimes against women.

Appropriated and authorized funds to implement provisions of the Violence Against Women Act for domestic violence and rape prevention and intervention programs represent a significant increase in federal support. However, a key provision of the Violence Against Women Act that could allow female victims to bring a civil action for

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damages against their attackers in federal court has been struck down both in U.S. v. Morrison and most recently in the case of Christy Brzonkala on May 15, 2000 in the U.S. Supreme court. The 5-4 ruling dismissed the case of Brzonkala, a rape victim and former student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. The Court majority ruled that Congress, in enacting the civil remedies provision, had overstepped its authority to regulate interstate commerce and enforce the equal protection guarantee of the U.S. Constitution. In so doing, the justices rejected the argument that states are not doing enough to protect rape victims and that gender-based violence restricts women's choices in jobs and travel. Writing for the minority, Justice David Souter cited "the mountain of data assembled by Congress, here showing the effects of violence against women on interstate commerce. . . . Violence against women may be found to affect interstate commerce and to affect it substantially." (www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html)

DRUG-INDUCED RAPE PREVENTION AND PUNISHMENT ACT OF 1996

This federal statute provides for penalties up to twenty years in prison for the intent to commit a crime of violence (including sexual assault) against an individual by distribution of a controlled substance to that individual without his or her knowledge.

THE HIGHER EDUCATION AMENDMENTS OF 1998

The Higher Education Amendments of 1998 to the Higher Education Act expands rights of victims of crime on campuses and increases the reporting responsibilities of institutions to include crimes committed on campus, off campus, on public property, and in residential facilities for students. There are specific provisions that pertain to perpetrators and victims of sexual violence as well as grant funding to combat violence against women on campus and $1 million to conduct a study on how colleges respond to complaints of sexual assault.

THE HILLORY J. FARIAS AND SAMANTHA REID DATE-RAPE PROHIBITION ACT OF 1999

The Hillory J. Farias and Samantha Reid Date-Rape Prohibition Act of 1999 was signed into law on February 18, 2000 to modify the schedule of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to criminalize the manufacture, distribution, or possession of gamma butyrolactone (GBL), a "designer drug" associated with date rape and other forms of sexual assault among young adults. Public Law No. 106-172 directs the Attorney General to develop model protocols for taking victim statements in connection with investigations into and prosecutions of violations of the CSA, and other federal and state laws that result in rape or other crimes of violence. It directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit annual reports to Congress that estimate the number of incidents of abuse of date-rape drugs, and requires them to develop a national campaign to educate young adults, law enforcement personnel, nurses, hospital emergency room personnel, and rape crisis counselors on the dangers of date-rape drugs, recognizing the symptoms in a victim and developing appropriate responses. (Public Law No: 106-172, The Hillory J. Farias and Samantha Reid Date-Rape Prohibition Act of 1999, February 18, 2000.)

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Adapted from the National Victim Assistance Academy Textbook, 2002; Chapter 10.

References

Abel, G., J. Becker, M. Mittleman, J. Cunningham, Rathner, J. Rouleau, and W. Murphy. 1987. "Self-Reported Sex Crimes of Non incarcerated Paraphiliacs." Journal of Interpersonal Violence 2 (1): 3-25.

Acierno, R., H. Resnick, and D. G. Kilpatrick. Summer 1997. "Prevalence Rates, Case Identification and Risk Factors for Sexual Assault, Physical Assault and Domestic Violence in Men and Women, Part 1." Behavioral Medicine 23 (2): 53-67.

Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). December 1998. National Crime Victimization Survey. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Campbell, R. June 1998. "The Community Response to Rape: Victims' Experience with the Legal, Medical and Mental Health Systems." American Journal of Community Psychology 26 (3): 355-381.

Center for Disease Control (CDC). 1998. "Guidelines for Treatment of Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Sexual Assault and STDs." MMWR 47 (RR-1).

Center for Sex Offender Management (CSOM). 1997. An Overview of Sex Offender Community Notification Practices: Policy Implications and Promising Approaches. Silver Spring, MD: Author.

Cole, S. 1991. Sexuality of Disability 9 (3).

Craven, D. 1994. "Sex Differences in Violent Victimization." Special Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 5.

Crime Victims Compensation Quarterly. 1995 (1).

Crowell, N. A., and A. W. Burgess. 1996. Understanding Violence Against Women. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). 1999. Flunitrazepam-Rohypnol. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice. http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/rohypnol/rohypnol.htm.

Epstein, J., and S. Langenbahn. 1994. The Criminal Justice and Community Response to Rape. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.

Estrich, S. 1987. Real Rape. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). 17 October 1999. Crime in the United States, Uniform Crime Reports, 1998. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

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Greenfeld, L. 1996. Sex Offenses and Offenders: An Analysis of Data on Rape and Sexual Assault. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Hindermarch, I., and R. Brinkmann. 1999. "Trends in the Use of Alcohol and Other Drugs in Cases of Sexual Assault." Human Psychopharmacology 14: 225-231.

Holmes, M. M., H. W. Resnick, and D. Frampton. 1998. "Follow-up of Sexual Assault Victims." American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 179: 336-342.

Kilpatrick, D. G. Summer 1983. "Rape Victims: Detection, Assessment, and Treatment." The Clinical Psychologist, 36 (4): 92-95.

Kilpatrick, D. G. November 1996. "From the Mouth of Victims: What Victimization Surveys Tell Us about Sexual Assault and Sex Offenders." Presented at the 15th Annual Research and Treatment Conference of the Association for Treatment of Sexual Abusers, Chicago, IL.

Kilpatrick, D. G., R. Acierno, H. S. Resnick, B. E. Saunders, and C. L. Best. 1997. "A Two Year Longitudinal Analysis of the Relationship Between Violent Assault and Alcohol and Drug Use in Women." Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 65 (5): 834-847. Abstracted in Clinician's Research Digest.

Kilpatrick, D. G., C. Edmunds, and A. Seymour. 1992. Rape in America: A Report to the Nation. Arlington, VA: National Center for Victims of Crime; Charleston, SC: Medical University of South Carolina, Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center.

Kilpatrick, D. G., H. S. Resnick, B. E. Saunders, and C. L. Best. 1998. "Rape, Other Violence Against Women, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Critical Issues in Assessing the Adversity-Stress-Psychopathology Relationship." In B.P. Dohrenwend, ed., Adversity, Stress, & Psychopathology, New York: Oxford University Press, 161-176.

Kilpatrick, D. G., and B. E. Saunders. November 1997. "Prevalence and Consequences of Child Victimization: Results from the National Survey of Adolescents." Final Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice.

Kilpatrick, D. G., B. E. Saunders, H. S. Resnick, C. L. Best, and P. P. Schnurr. 2000. "Risk Factors for Adolescent Substance Abuse and Dependence: Data from a National Sample." Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 68 (1): 19-30.

Koss, M. P. 1993. "Detecting the Scope of Rape: A Review of Prevalence Research Methods." Journal of Interpersonal Violence 8: 198-222.

Ledray, L. 1999. SANE Development and Operations Guide. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime and Minneapolis, MN: Sexual Assault Resource Service.

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Lira, L. R., M. P. Koss, and N. F. Russo. August 1999. "Mexican American Women's Definitions of Rape and Sexual Abuse." Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 21 (3): 236-265.

National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC). 1993. Looking Back, Moving Forward: A Guidebook for Communities Responding to Sexual Assault. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime.


Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). January 2000. First Response to Victims of Crime, handbook. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Perkins, C. September 1997. Age Patterns of Victims of Serious Crimes. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Pino, N., and R. Meier. June 1999. "Gender Differences in Rape Reporting." Sex Roles: A Journal of Research 40: 979-990.

Resnick, H. S., R. E. Acierno, M. Holmes, D. G. Kilpatrick, and N. Jager. 1999. "Prevention of Post-rape Psychopathology: Preliminary Findings of a Controlled Acute Rape Treatment Study." Journal of Anxiety Disorders 13 (4): 359-370.

Resnick, H. S., B. S. Dansky, B. E. Saunders, and C. L. Best. 1993. "Prevalence of Civilian Trauma and PTSD in a Representative National Sample of Women." Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 61: 984-991.

Ringel, C. November 1997. Criminal Victimization in 1996, Changes 1995-1996 with Trends 1993-1996. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Smith, D. E., D. Wesson, and S. R. Calhoun. n.d. Rohypnol (Flunitrazepam) Fact Sheet. Haight Ashbury Free Clinics, Inc. http://www.health.org/nongovpubs/rohypnol/.

Speck, P. 1999. "Sexual Assault." Chapter 31 of Manual of Emergency Care, S. B. Sheehy, and G. P. Lenehan, eds. St. Louis, MO: Mosby.

Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE). 2000. http://www.tcleose.state.tx.us/

Tjaden, P. and N. Thoennes. November 1998. "Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women: Findings From the National Violence Against Women Survey." Research in Brief. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.

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Young, W. W., A. C. Bracken, M. A. Goddard, and S. Matheson. 1992. "Sexual Assault: Review of a National Model Protocol for Forensic and Medical Evaluation." Obstetrics and Gynecology 80: 878-883.

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES

Abbey, Antonia. “Alcohol and Sexual Assault”.

Sexual Offender Registration Release, 2004. www.tnacso.net/cont/news/07302004.php

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation; Crime in Tennessee Report, 2004.

Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence, 2005. www.tcadsv.org

Tennessee Department of Correction. www.tennessee.gov

T.C.A.’s 36-3-601, 36-3-602, 36-3-605. Order of Protection. www.legislature.state.tn.us

T.C.A. 37-1-403. Child Abuse Reporting. www.legislature.state.tn.us

T.C.A. 63-23-107. Privileged Communication. www.legislature.state.tn.us

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http://www.tennessee.gov/

http://www.tcadsv.org/


Identify primary and secondary victims of crime.

Recognize factors that influence a victim’s ability to cope.

Identify symptoms of trauma that victims may have in the immediate, short-term, and long-term periods following victimization.

Discuss possible physical, psychological/emotional, financial, and spiritual effects of crime on victims.


CHAPTER 6IMPACT OF CRIME ON VICTIMS

Eidell Wasserman and Carroll Ann Ellis*

The trauma of victimization can have a profound and devastating impact on crime victims and their loved ones. It can alter the victim’s view of the world as a just place and leave victims with new and difficult feelings and reactions that they may not understand. It is important for victim assistance professionals to understand the different ways that crime can affect victims—psychologically, financially, physically and spiritually. Any discussion of the impact of crime on victims is necessarily general in scope. The following information is offered to help victim assistance professionals to be aware of the common types of reactions that

* Authors of this chapter are Eidell Wasserman, Ph.D., Sebastopol, CA; and Carroll Ann Ellis, J.D., Fairfax County Police Department, Fairfax, VA

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victims experience, and should be used as general guidelines to provide direction and references for additional resources.

Crime has significant, yet varying consequences, on individual crime victims, their families and friends, and communities. The impact of crime on victims results in emotional and psychological, physical, financial, social and spiritual consequences. While there are no consistent findings about victims’ challenges in coping with the aftermath of criminal victimization with respect to demographic characteristics, a victim’s ability to cope with the impact of crime depends on a variety of factors (National Institute of Mental Health, 2006):

A history of victimization increases trauma following a new crime.

A history of mental health problems increases trauma following a new crime, particularly a history of post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression.

A higher degree of threat to life and physical injury increases the risk of difficulty in coping.

Generally, violent crime victims have a more difficult time coping than property crime victims.

Research also indicates two key post-victimization factors that can increase the likelihood of victims to develop mental health problems:

A lack of or poor social support systems.

The degree of exposure to the justice system.

The incidence of violent crime in the United States decreased from 1994 to 2004 (U.S. Department of Justice, 2006); however, according to the FBI Uniform Crime Reports (2006), violent crime increased in 2005. Rape was the only violent crime that showed a decrease. Americans are still concerned about becoming crime victims. Americans’ fear of becoming a victim of a crime affects more people than crime itself (Warr, 2000).

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2004:

About 14 percent of households in the United States (16 million households) experienced one or more property crimes or had a member age 12 or older who experienced one or more violent crimes.

About one in 250 households included a member victimized by an intimate partner, such as a spouse, ex-spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend.

About 5 percent of households had at least one incident of vandalism. Over 5.6 million households were vandalized during this period (Klaus, 2006).

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Recent research has shown that Native Americans and Alaska Natives are victims of violent crime more often than members of any other group. American Indians experienced a per capita rate of violence twice that of the U.S. resident population. On average, American Indians experienced an estimated one violent crime for every 10 residents age 12 or older (Perry, 2004).

As the field of victim services has evolved, so has understanding of the multidimensional impact of crime on victims, their families, and their communities. Victims of either violent or nonviolent crimes can face a multitude of challenges as the result of their victimization. Crime affects victims and their families on a variety of levels: physical, physiological, behavioral, emotional, cognitive, financial, social, and spiritual. Victim assistance programs may offer resources to deal with many or all of these issues.

Victim service providers need to:

Understand the dynamics of trauma and the vital role victim service providers have in trauma response and victims’ rights advocacy.

Remember that every victim is unique.

Never make assumptions concerning how a victim will react.

Recognize that a person’s reaction to victimization will be influenced by a variety of factors.

Try to identify the specific needs of individual victims and develop a plan to meet them.

Know and use the wide range of community, cultural, and justice system resources to meet the myriad needs of victims.

Become familiar with the culture and traditions of the populations being served.

The impact of crime is frequently described through the results of research studies. Participants in these studies often are people who have sought services from agencies (for example, victim assistance agencies, social services, and hospitals) or who are involved in the criminal justice system. Research allows us to present information in easily understood numerical terms. The impact of crime is not easily understood or quantifiable, however. Many cultures and groups have a more experiential approach to human events and do not find empirical approaches helpful. This chapter focuses on the more mainstream empirically based approach. Students are encouraged to think beyond the numbers and research results and develop an awareness of the multilayered impact of crime, as well as the individual, highly personal meaning that victims, their families, and their communities attach to crime victimization.

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WHO IS AFFECTED BY CRIME?

Everyone is affected by crime, either as a direct victim or a friend or family member of a victim. Even individuals who are not direct victims of crime can be negatively affected in a variety of ways, such as developing an increased fear of crime or experiencing the financial impact of crime (e.g., higher insurance rates, lost work days). While primary victims of crime might be identified easily, secondary victims such as family and clan members may not be so readily identifiable and may not receive needed services. Identifying services offered for neighborhoods and communities can be even more difficult.

Another group affected by crime is first responders—the people who typically are first on the scene or first to respond to crime, including police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians. A vivid example of the impact of crime on first responders involves those who responded to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Descriptions of stepping through or on body parts while trying to find survivors illustrate the experiences that can cause long-term trauma to first responders. However, crimes need not have devastating, large-scale impact to affect those who respond. An officer interviewing a child sexual abuse victim may be reminded of her or his own child of the same gender and age.

The term “trauma” often is used to describe the experience of crime victims. Trauma refers to both a medical and a psychiatric condition. “Medically, ‘trauma’ refers to a serious or critical bodily injury, wound, or shock. Psychiatrically, ‘trauma’ has assumed a different meaning and refers to an experience that is emotionally painful, distressful, or shocking, which often results in lasting mental and physical effects” (National Institute of Mental Health, 2006, p. 2).

POTENTIAL VICTIM REACTIONS IN THE AFTERMATH OF CRIME

Immediate and Short-term Trauma Reactions

1Short-term trauma occurs during or immediately after the crime and lasts for about 3 months (Kilpatrick, 2000). This time frame for short-term versus long-term trauma is based on several studies showing that most crime victims achieve considerable recovery sometime between 1 and 3 months after the crime. Some common responses to trauma include the following:

Few crime victims are anticipating a violent assault as the crime occurs, so most are shocked, surprised, and terrified when it happens.

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Crime victims often have feelings of unreality when an assault occurs and think, “This can’t be happening to me.”

People who have been victimized in the past are at greater risk of developing emotional problems than newly victimized individuals. Victims do not “get used to it.”

Many victims of violent crime describe experiencing extremely high levels of physiological anxiety, including rapid heart rate, hyperventilation, and stomach distress.

Crime victims often experience cognitive symptoms of anxiety, including feeling terrified, helpless, guilty, or out of control.

Such physiological and emotional reactions are normal “flight or fight” responses that occur in dangerous situations. In the days, weeks, and first 2 or 3 months after the crime, most victims of violent crime continue to have high levels of fear, anxiety, and generalized distress. The following are examples of distress that may disrupt crime victims’ ability to perform simple mental activities requiring concentration:

They are preoccupied with the crime; they think about it a great deal, talk about it, or have flashbacks and bad dreams about it.

They are often concerned about their safety from attack and about the safety of their family members.

They are concerned that other people will not believe them or will think that they were to blame for what happened.

Many victims also experience negative changes in their belief systems and no longer think that the world is a safe place where they can trust other people.

For victims of some crimes, such as child abuse or domestic violence, the trauma occurs many times over a period of weeks, months, or even years. Victims in such cases often experience the compounded traumatic effects of having to always worry about when the next attack will occur.

Long-term Trauma Reactions

Most victims of crime are able to cope with the trauma of victimization. This is especially true of those who receive counseling, other supportive services, and/or information about justice processes and their relevant rights. However, if victim trauma is neither identified nor addressed with mental health assistance, the initial and short-term trauma reactions can exacerbate and turn into long-term trauma reactions, including:

Major depression.

Thoughts of suicide and suicide attempts.

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Use and abuse of alcohol and other drugs.

Ongoing problems with relationships.

Anxiety disorders.

A changing view of the world as a safe place.

Increased risk of further victimization.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

The American Psychiatric Association (2000) describes a characteristic set of symptoms that develop after exposure to an extreme stressor. Types of stressors that are capable of producing PTSD include sexual assault, physical attack, robbery, mugging, kidnapping, or child sexual assault, as well as observing the serious injury or death of another person due to violent assault and learning about the violent personal assault or death of a family member or close friend. People who respond to these stressors with intense fear, helplessness, or horror, and whose symptoms persist over a specified length of time and influence their functioning in major areas of life, may be experiencing symptoms of PTSD. In such cases, appropriate medical attention is required. However, PTSD is a psychiatric illness that can only be diagnosed by a trained professional. The following are characteristic symptoms after a traumatic event:

Persistent reexperiencing of the event (i.e., distressing dreams, distressing recollections, flashbacks, or emotional or physiological reactions when exposed to something that resembles the traumatic event).

Persistent avoidance of things associated with the traumatic event or reduced ability to be close to other people and experience or sustain loving feelings.

Persistent symptoms of increased arousal (i.e., sleep difficulties, outbursts of anger, difficulty concentrating, constantly being on guard, extreme startle response).

Research studies with adults (Resnick, 1993) indicate that PTSD is a frequent reaction to violent crime:

Rates of PTSD are much higher among those who have been victims of violent crime than those who have been victims of other types of traumatic events. For example, one study found that the lifetime prevalence of PTSD was 25.8 percent

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among crime victims compared to 9.4 percent among victims of other traumatic events.

Victims of crimes that resulted in physical injuries, and who believed they might have been killed or seriously injured during the crime, were much more likely to suffer from PTSD than victims whose crimes did not involve life threat or physical injury (45.2 percent compared to 19 percent).

Rates of PTSD appear to be higher among victims who report crimes to the justice system than among non-reporting victims, probably because these crimes are more serious or more likely to result in injury.

Evidence shows that many crime victims with PTSD do not spontaneously recover without treatment, and some crime victims experience PTSD years after they were victimized.

Physical, Spiritual, Emotional, and Financial Impact of Crime

Victims may face a wide range of immediate, short-term, and long-term reactions in the aftermath of crime. Every crime victim is unique. Individual trauma is affected by previctimization and postvictimization factors related to individual experiences, degree of personal and social support, resiliency, and exposure to supportive services.

Brief summaries of the physical, spiritual, emotional/psychological, and financial impacts of crime are shown in Exhibits VI-1 and VI-2, which provide an overview of the range of possible reactions that victims may experience.

EXHIBIT VI-1

PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL IMPACT OF CRIME ON VICTIMS

Physical Impact Spiritual Impact Physiological anxiety (including rapid

heart rate, hyperventilation, and stomach distress)

Physical injuries (such as gunshot wounds, lacerations, broken bones, sprains, and burns)

Physical injuries that lead to other health conditions (such as heart attack, stroke, fractures from falling, and loss of dexterity)

Increased risk of cardiac distress, irritable bowel syndrome, and chronic pain

In an attempt to understand events that make no sense, people who do and do not engage in religious practice often turn to the spiritual beliefs with which they were raised. These spiritual insights are sometimes helpful; more often than not, however, victims express disappointment in the reactions of their faith communities.

All religions accept suffering as a component of the human experience but understand its role differently. Hindus and Buddhists understand the role of

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Permanent disability Disfigurement Immune disorders that increase the

potential for infectious diseases Substantial lifestyle changes, including

restriction of activities once enjoyed Lethargy and body fatigue Sleep disorders Loss of appetite, excessive appetite, or

eating disorders Decreased libido and sexual dysfunction Inability to work Increased risk of future victimization For sexual assault victims: possible

exposure to sexually transmitted diseases, exposure to HIV, and unwanted pregnancy

karma in tragic events and seek to accept what has happened rather than seek justice. Jews believe that God expects human beings to act in kindness to one another; when they do not, justice is sought and forgiveness must be earned. The wide gamut of Christianity practiced in the United States includes all perspectives, from acceptance of suffering as “God’s will” and forgiveness of offenders to strong drives for justice in the secular arena. Muslims believe they have a special mission from God/Allah to create a just society. They typically condemn violence and willingly participate in the justice system.

EXHIBIT VI-2 EMOTIONAL/PSYCHOLOGICAL AND FINANCIAL IMPACT OF CRIME ON VICTIMS

Emotional/Psychological Impact Financial Impact Shock Terror Feelings of unreality Feelings of numbness Confusion Helplessness Fear Anger or rage Grief or intense sorrow Enhancement of particular senses (e.g.,

hearing, smell, sight) Anxiety (including terror, helplessness, and

feeling out of control) Difficulty trusting self or others Depression Panic symptoms Anxiety disorders (e.g., panic disorder,

agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder) Inability to concentrate Guilt and self-blame Shame Preoccupation with the crime

Medical bills (e.g., emergency transportation, hospital stays, inpatient and outpatient physical care, medical supplies)

Medication and prescription drugs Replacement of eyeglasses, hearing aids,

or other sensory aid items damaged, destroyed, or stolen

Rental and related costs for physical mobility restoration equipment (e.g., wheelchairs, ramps, crutches)

Physical therapy Occupational therapy Job retraining Mental health counseling and therapy Loss of wages due to incapacitation,

rehabilitation, or taking time off from work to repair damage from property crimes, participate in criminal or juvenile justice proceedings, or seek medical or mental health treatment

Crime scene cleanup Loss of or damage to personal property

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Concerns about personal safety Problems with important relationships Social withdrawal Concerns about being believed Concerns about being blamed Negative changes in belief system Increased feelings of vulnerability Increased risk of alcohol or other drug abuse Isolation Persistent avoidance of things associated with

the traumatic event Suicide ideation PTSD

Costs of replacing locks and changing security devices

Child and elder care Fees incurred in changing banking or

credit card accounts Higher insurance premiums Relocation expenses For families of homicide victims, funeral

and burial expenses and loss of income

THE FINANCIAL COSTS OF CRIME

Some of the financial costs of crime—such as property damage, replacement of stolen or damaged items, medical bills, lost days at work, and therapy expenses—are easy to identify. However, emotional pain and suffering, fear, damage to interpersonal relationships, community-wide fear and loss, and other intangible costs can be difficult to measure. In 1996, the U.S. Department of Justice published a study of the costs and consequences of crime victimization that attempted to quantify both the monetary costs of crime victimization as well as the psychological/emotional costs (Miller, Cohen, and Wiersema, 1996). Among the findings were:

Personal crime is estimated to cost $105 billion annually in medical costs, lost earnings, and public program costs related to victim assistance.

Including pain, suffering, and the reduced quality of life increases the cost of crime to victims to an estimated $450 billion annually.

Violent crime (including drunk driving and arson) accounts for $426 billion of this total, with property crime at $24 billion.

One method for assigning value to fear, pain, suffering, reduced quality of life, and other intangible costs is to use the amount of money given in jury awards for these losses. This method is imperfect, however, as it does not take into account the impact on a person’s extended family or clan nor the impact on the wider community. Some crimes, such as hate crimes, may negatively affect every member of a particular group in a city or state or even the entire country. In fact, one of the purposes of a hate crime is to affect all members of the targeted group (Craig, 2002).

Who Pays for Crime?

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Victims and their families pay the actual financial costs for some crimes, while insurance companies, government, taxpayers, and employers also pay. Insurers pay $45 billion annually due to crime, or $265 per American adult (Miller, Cohen, and Wiersema, 1996).

Community Impact

Crime has an impact not only on primary and secondary victims but also on the entire community. High-profile major crimes, such as school shootings or multiple-victim molestations, understandably will have an impact on all community members. Other crimes, such as kidnappings, sexual assaults, or drunk driving crashes, can also have a wide effect. Some communities have begun to use community victim impact statements to assess the effect of crime. Similar to individual victim impact statements, these statements can be introduced after conviction to assist the judge in sentencing. The use of such statements, even on a limited basis, shows that the court system is beginning to acknowledge the wider impact of crime beyond the primary victim and family members.

THE IMPACT OF TRAUMA ON BRAIN DEVELOPMENT

A variety of research studies have examined the impact of trauma on brain development (DeBellis, 1999; Perry, 1997; van der Kolk, 1994). The research strongly suggests that physiological changes take place in a child’s developing brain due to the experience of trauma. Changes in the developing brain can even take place in utero, based on the mother’s experience of trauma or stress (Dowling, Martz, Leonard, and Zoeller, 2000). A child’s brain continues to develop after birth, weighing 75 percent of its adult weight by age 2 and being almost completely developed by age 5 (Wasserman, 2004).

Traumatic experiences before age 5 may alter the development of neural pathways, sensitizing pathways that are related to fear and arousal. This sensitization predisposes the child to react to external stimuli in a certain way. A child who has been exposed to traumatic events may be predisposed to react to all situations as potentially dangerous. Physiological changes, such as the release of stress hormones, can cause the child to become hypervigilant, fearful, and anxious.

Successful emotional and social development are dependent on successful brain development. As the child grows and the brain matures, the brain is dependent upon external stimuli for normal growth. There appear to be critical time periods for the development of certain skills. A child who does not learn verbal language skills by a certain age may never be able to develop these skills. The parts of our brains that control higher order functions such as social skills, emotional control, and logical thinking are among the last areas to develop. If a child experiences trauma in the early years, normal

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brain development may be affected, making it more difficult to develop these higher order skills.

The brain develops, in part, in response to the infant’s experiences. If the relationship with the primary caregiver is neglectful or abusive, this will have a negative impact on the child’s development of appropriate coping skills. Trauma in early life can lead to problems in maintaining interpersonal relationships, coping with stressful situations, and controlling emotion (Wasserman, 2004, p.14).

THE IMPACT OF TRAUMA ON THE DEVELOPED (ADULT) BRAIN

Response to trauma leading to psychological and physiological disorders should be viewed as a spectrum of conditions rather than a single disorder. On one end is acute stress reaction that resolves on its own without treatment. “Complex” posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is at the other end of the spectrum, and “classic” or “simple” PTSD lies somewhere in between (Herman, 1997). While there is also a spectrum of adaptation to traumatic events, the various conditions have some basic features in common. One of these features is the effect of trauma on the adult brain.

Trauma’s effect on the brain has become of increasing interest to researchers, clinicians, victims, and victim advocates. With advancements over the last decade in the field of neuroimaging, scientists are better able to document and understand the structural, biochemical, and functional condition of individuals who have experienced trauma that results in posttraumatic stress disorder. The causal relationship between trauma and brain adaptation, however, is not without controversy. Some scientists question whether a preexisting brain anomaly might serve as a risk factor for development of PTSD following a person’s exposure to trauma (Stein, Hanna, Koverola, Torchia, and McClarty, 1997). Others suggest that brain abnormality occurs only in persons with chronic or complicated PTSD (Bonne, Brandes, Bilboa, et al., 2001). While study findings to date are tentative, scientists do know that certain areas of the brain are consistently implicated in PTSD.

These regions of the brain play an important role in learning and memory (hippocampus), emotional regulation (medial prefrontal cortex), and encoding of emotional memories, sensitization, and fear conditioning (amygdala). They are all

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part of what is called the limbic system of the brain. Emotion and memory are very closely related. In ordinary circumstances, we tend to remember things that carry some emotional content. For example, we are more apt to recall someone we just met if that person made us laugh or feel embarrassed. Exposure to severe stress affects the memory and emotional regulation portions of the brain. The medial prefrontal cortex is then less able to inhibit the amydala, thereby further intensifying and increasing occurrences of traumatic memories. This confluence of brain deficits creates one of the hallmark symptoms of PTSD: exaggerated emotional reaction coinciding with difficulty recalling the emotional event (Elzinga and Bremmer, 2001). Other symptoms include emotional numbing, avoidance, and reexperiencing the trauma.

Neuroimaging studies, which reveal changes in the brain’s structure and function in persons with PTSD, underscore deficits found in hippocampal function using neuropsychological measures. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has shown reduction in the volume of the hippocampus in individuals exposed to trauma. Positron emotion tomography (PET) studies have shown dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex in individuals responding to stimuli associated with their PTSD (Bremmer, 1999). In addition, it is reported that chronic hyperarousal symptoms (mediated by the amygdala) contribute to atrophy of the hippocampal region of the brain (Villarreal and King, 2001).

Being able to measure—to document—changes in the brain carries enormous implications for individuals with PTSD. For example, a diagnosis of PTSD may have bearing on an individual’s job security and workplace accommodation (based on regulations set forth by the Americans With Disabilities Act). The Social Security Administration’s disability claim evaluation process does not focus on specific diagnoses, but on functional limitations imposed by an illness or impairment. But if and when impairment is documented through assessment, it can be a determining factor in obtaining eligibility for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). In most states, eligibility for these programs also confers eligibility for Medicaid. Medicaid benefits enable recipients to obtain better access to health care and enable providers to obtain compensation for these health services. Less defined, but equally critical, is the impact a diagnosis of PTSD may have on personal relationships. Family members, friends, coworkers, as well as the patients themselves, are more likely to accept emotional abnormalities when they are viewed and understood as a medical issue, not simply a “mood problem.”

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Examining the physiological impact of trauma on the brain through neuroimaging has another benefit. There is recent evidence that damage to the limbic brain regions can be reversed. The effects of trauma can be countered in a number of ways. Both cognitive processing therapy (CPT)) and prolonged exposure therapy have been found to mediate negative outcomes of trauma (Resick, Nishith, Weaver, Astin, and Feurer, 2002). Also, studies using serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a class of antidepressants, and phenytoin, a medication commonly used for epilepsy, reported that these treatments increased the volume of the hippocampus (by 5 percent and 6 percent, respectively) in patients with PTSD. At the same time, the SSRI increased memory function by 35 percent (Bremmer, 2006).

Posttraumatic stress disorder is a highly disabling condition associated with an extremely high rate of medical and mental health service use. It is diagnosed in combat veterans, victims of child abuse, and mothers of chronically ill children. It occurs in victims of crime as well as witnesses to crime, victims of physical abuse and victims of emotional abuse, persons who receive a threat as well as persons who only perceive a threat. As the vulnerable hippocampus and other portions of the limbic system are exposed to trauma, the brain is altered. Some people are more vulnerable to trauma than others. Coping mechanisms, age, social supports, and drug use are all mitigating factors. Anyone can get PTSD. It is a “normal response to an abnormal occurrence.”

Scientists know that other regions of the human body are also affected by trauma. People with PTSD tend to have abnormal levels of key hormones involved in response to stress. Cortisol levels are lower than normal and epinephrine and norepinephrine are higher than normal Also, when people are in danger, they produce high levels of natural opiates, which can temporarily mask pain. People with PTSD tend to produce higher levels of these opiates after the danger has passed, which can lead to blunted emotions (National Institute of Mental Health, 2002).

Additional studies to examine how the brain functions will help researchers better understand the physiological impact of trauma on brain development and brain damage. This area of research may help service providers understand the long-term impact of trauma and the importance of prevention.

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REFERENCES

American Psychiatric Association. 2000. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV-TR. Washington, DC: Author.

Bonne, O., D. Brandes, A. Gilboa, et al. 2001. “Longitudinal MRI Study of Hippocampal Volume in Trauma Survivors with PTSD.” The American Journal of Psychiatry. 158: 1248–1251.

Bremmer, J.D. 2006. “The Relationship Between Cognitive and Brain Changes in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1071: 80–86.

Bremmer, J.D. 1999. “Alterations in Brain Structure and Function Associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.” Seminars in Clinical Neuropsychiatry 4(4): 249–55.

Craig, K.M. 2002. “Examining Hate-motivated Aggression: A Review of the Social Psychological Literature on Hate Crimes as a Distinct Form of Aggression.” Aggression and Violent Behavior 7: 85–101.

DeBellis, M.D.1999. “Developmental Traumatology: Neurobiological Development in Maltreated Children with PTSD.” Retrieved January 9, 2004, from www.psychiatrictimes.com/p990968.html.

Dowling, A.L.S., G. U. Martz, J. L. Leonard, and R. T. Zoeller. 2000. “Acute Changes in Maternal Thyroid Hormone Induce Rapid and Transient Changes in Gene Expression in Fetal Rat Brain.” Journal of Neuroscience 20: 2255-2265.

Elzinga, B.M., and J.D. Bremmer. 2001. “Are the Neural Substrates of Memory the Final Common Pathway in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?” Journal of Affective Disorders 70: 1–17.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. 2006a. “Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report, 2005.” Retrieved June 14, 2006, from www.fbi.gov/ucr/2005preliminary/index.htm.

Herman, J. 1997. Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror. New York: Basic Books.

Kilpatrick, D.G. 2000. “The Mental Health Impact of Rape.” Retrieved May 26, 2006, from www.musc.edu/vawprevention/research/mentalimpact.shtml.

Kilpatrick, D. G., C. N. Edmunds, and A. K. Seymour. 1992. Rape in America: A Report to the Nation. Arlington, VA: National Center for Victims of Crime; Charleston, SC: Medical University of South Carolina.

Kilpatrick, D.G., C. L. Best, B. E. Saunders, and L. J. Veronen. 1988. “Rape in Marriage and in Dating Relationships: How Bad Is It for Mental Health?” In Human Sexual

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Aggression: Current Perspectives, eds. R.A. Prentky and V.L. Quinsey. New York: New York Academy of Sciences, 335–344.

Kilpatrick, D.G., B. E. Saunders, and D. W. Smith. 2003. Youth Victimization Prevalence and Implications. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice.

Klaus, P. 2006. Crime and the Nation’s Households. 2004. Washington, D.C: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Miller, T.R., M. A. Cohen, and B. Wiersema, 1996, Victim Costs and Consequences: A New Look, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

The National Center on Elder Abuse in Collaboration with Westat, Inc.1998. The National Elder Abuse Incidence Report. Washington, DC: Administration for Children and Families and the Administration on Aging.

National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health. 2002. Facts About Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Retrieved December 21, 2006, from www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/ptsdfacts.cfm.

National Institute of Mental Health. 2001. Helping Children and Adolescents Cope With Violence and Disaster. Retrieved June 10, 2006, from www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/violenceresfact.cfm.

Perry, B.D. 1997. “Incubated in Terror: Neurodevelopmental Factors in the ‘Cycle of Violence.’” In Children, Youth and Violence the Search for Solutions, ed. J. Osofsky. New York: Guilford Press.

Perry, S. 2004. American Indians and Crime. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Resnick, P.A., P. Nishith, T.L. Weaver, M.C. Astin, and C.A. Feurer. 2002. “A Comparison of Cognitive-Processing Therapy with Prolonged Exposure and a Waiting Condition for the Treatment of Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Female Rape Victims.” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 70(4): 867–79.

Resnick, H.S., D.G. Kilpatrick, B.S. Dansky, B.E. Saunders, and C.L. Best. 1993. “Prevalence of Civilian Trauma and PTSD in a Representative National Sample of Women.” Journal of Clinical and Consulting Psychology 61(6).

Stein, M.B., D. Hanna, C. Koverola, M. Torchia, and B. McClarty. 1997. ”Structural Brain Changes in PTSD: Does Trauma Alter Neuroanatomy?” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1(1): 76–82.

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van der Kolk, B.A. 1994. “The Body Keeps the Score: Memory and the Evolving Psychobiology of Posttraumatic Stress.” Harvard Review of Psychiatry 1: 253–265.

Villareal, G., and C.Y. King. 2001. “Brain Imaging in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.” Seminars in Clinical Neuropsychiatry 6(2): 131–45.

Warr, M. 2000. “Fear of Crime in the United States: Avenues for Research and Policy.” , Retrieved May 27, 2006, from www.ncjrs.gov/criminal_justice2000/vol_4/04i.pdf.

Wasserman, E. 2004. Understanding the Effects of Childhood Trauma on Brain Development of Native Children. West Hollywood, CA: Tribal Law and Policy Institute.

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Demonstrate the use of key steps in providing effective crisis intervention services.

Identify three services that victim service providers provide during the main phases of the justice systems process.

Discuss strategies to identify resources and services to meet victim needs.

List three basic requirements to be eligible for crime victim compensation.


CHAPTER 7DIRECT SERVICES

Eidell Wasserman and Jeannette Adkins*

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of others.Charles Dickens

This chapter gives a brief outline of the evolution of direct services, describes the range of services, and suggests a variety of techniques of crisis intervention. The chapter offers basic information for assisting victims with their compensation claims. Restorative justice programs are also discussed as another means of having the voices of victims heard.

OVERVIEW OF DIRECT SERVICES

In the mid-1980s, the U.S. Justice Department, responsible for administering the Justice Assistance Act (JAA), commissioned program models for each of the criminal justice innovations named by Congress as eligible to receive JAA funding. These models were to serve as guides to applicants, grantees, and grant administrators. Of the nearly 20 such program models prepared this way, by far the most elaborate was the one on victim assistance. The Model Victim Assistance Program has played an interesting role in the history of the victims’ movement, serving as an evolving tool to help define and describe a major service innovation and, indeed, a new profession.

The overall goal of the Model Victim Assistance Program was to improve the treatment of all victims of crime by providing victims with the assistance and services necessary to

* Authors of this chapter are Eidell Wasserman, Ph.D., Sebastopol, CA; and Jeannette Adkins, National Organization for Victim Assistance (formerly), Alexandria, VA.

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speed their recovery from a criminal act, and to support and aid them as they move through the criminal justice process (Young, 1993).

This historical document set the stage for direct services as we know them today and continues to evolve as the scales of justice become more balanced with the passage of significant victims’ rights laws at the state and federal levels.

Direct services are provided to victims immediately after a crime occurs and over a period of time. A continuum of services is available to the victim from the offender’s arrest all the way through the criminal justice process, including postconviction services provided by correctional agencies and state Attorneys General. These direct services include the following:

Responding to the immediate emotional and physical needs of crime victims.

Providing crisis intervention, in person or via crisis telephone lines.

Accompanying victims to hospitals and medical professionals for medical examinations and treatment.

Providing (or providing referrals to) emergency shelter, food, clothing, and transportation.

Conducting a comprehensive needs assessment to identify and try to meet victims’ most important needs.

Providing transportation to medical and/or court appointments.

Providing direct advocacy with agencies and individuals (e.g., landlords, employers).

Providing liaison services.

Referring the victim to or providing mental health counseling or group support.

Referring the victim to legal services or social services.

Preparing victims and accompanying them as they navigate through the criminal justice system.

Advocating on behalf of victims to ensure recognition of victims’ rights.

Assisting with victim compensation.

Providing postconviction support, information, and notification and escorting victims to witness executions, as requested.

Following up to provide any additional support or referral as needed.

A national needs assessment was conducted in 2004 to identify the core skills that victim service professionals need to provide services. The assessment included input from an advisory committee composed of national experts in the field of victim services, focus

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groups with victim service providers and managers, and a national needs assessment survey. Based on the information from the needs assessment, the core skills of a victim service professional include:

Communication skills.

Engaging clients and establishing rapport.

Assessing needs and identifying resources.

Providing referrals.

Conflict management and negotiation.

Documentation.

Problem-solving.

Crisis intervention.

Advocacy.

This chapter addresses skills required to provide the following direct services:

Provide crisis intervention services

Assess victim needs.

Identify resources and provide referrals.

Assist with compensation and restitution programs.

Additional information on the other core skills of victim service providers can be found in the Victim Assistance Training Online (VAT Online) training. VATOnline is a Web-based training program funded by the Office for Victims of Crime. The training is a basic, fundamental program that combines core information and basic skills needed by victim service providers to assist victims of crime effectively and sensitively. This training can be accessed by going to www.ovcttac.gov/vatonline.

Provide Crisis Intervention ServicesSome victim advocates may accompany or be called in by first responders to provide immediate assistance to victims of violent crimes. One of the most common services provided by victim advocates in these circumstances is crisis intervention. Anyone who comes into contact with a crime victim soon after the crime has occurred could be called on to provide crisis intervention. It is important to be familiar with the basics of crisis intervention to both assist the victim and to limit additional trauma that can be prevented by effective, immediate interventions.

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A crisis is an unexpected event that calls for the mobilization of additional resources beyond those necessary for everyday life. When people encounter unexpected challenges and traumas, they may have difficulty mobilizing their resources to meet these challenges. The victim service provider’s role is to help crime victims recognize and use their strengths to meet the challenges of victimization. This assistance often begins with crisis intervention.

Crisis intervention skills are based on our knowledge of how people tend to respond to crisis situations and trauma. While the following discussion of crisis intervention focuses on how to assist victims in the immediate aftermath of a trauma, it is important to remember that many factors can trigger reactions to victimization—hours, days, or weeks after the traumatic event. Additionally, the victim’s family members and friends may need crisis intervention services. As discussed in Chapter 6, “Impact of Crime on Victims,” victimization affects people on many levels: physically, psychologically, cognitively, emotionally, and spiritually. Crisis intervention services should attempt to address the victim’s needs in as many of these dimensions as possible. When it is not possible or appropriate for the victim service provider to address a victim’s needs, referrals should be available for relevant services. Whenever possible, these referrals should be made to professionals who specialize in dealing with victims of crime (for example, nurses who are specially trained in examining victims of sexual assault).

Victims in crisis do not think clearly. They may experience shock resulting from going through an event that is far beyond their ordinary experience—an event that may involve physical pain, loss, emotional abuse, and interactions with criminal justice personnel. Difficulty in concentration is one of the normal reactions to victimization. Successful crisis intervention includes helping victims deal with their immediate needs and begin to plan for the future.

It is important to provide accurate information to victims. If victim service providers do not know the answer to a victim’s question, they should inform the victim that they don’t know the answer but will try to obtain the correct information and then follow up.

It is also important to recognize that every victim is unique and every case is unique. While victim service providers cannot know exactly what will happen in each case, their experience with similar situations allows them to prepare victims for the types of events that are likely to occur. In addition, victim service providers can help victims prepare for the range of possible psychological and emotional reactions they may experience, both in the immediate future and weeks, months, or even years later.

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Phases of Crisis Intervention

When first meeting a person in crisis, it is important to establish a relationship of trust and respect. Some basic, commonsense activities can be very important, such as introducing yourself to the victim and explaining your role. Since the person may not be processing information clearly, it is helpful to provide him or her with a business card to refer to later. You may not have much time to develop rapport, but it is important to attempt to connect with the victim. The National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC) suggests these statements to develop rapport with victims (NCVC, 2004):

I am so sorry that this happened to you.

This must be a very difficult time for you right now.

I can tell you are having a hard time with this.

You don’t have to handle this on your own.

Many victims have reported that no one ever said to them, “I’m sorry this happened to you.” This simple expression of concern can have a large impact, and advocates should make sure that the victim hears those words.

In some agencies, the victim service provider may provide crisis intervention over the phone rather than in person. In these cases, the advocate cannot see whether the victim is suffering from physical injury. Victims themselves may be unaware of internal injuries or may be in shock and not feel pain from an injury. It is important for advocates who are interacting with victims solely over the phone to encourage them to seek safety, including accessing medical treatment.

There are a number of different descriptions of the phases of crisis intervention and several different approaches to the intervention itself. No single approach has been shown to be better than another. It is important for victim service providers to find an approach that feels comfortable to them. The National Center for Victims of Crime (2004) has identified three phases of crisis intervention: immediate crisis intervention, needs assessment, and recovery intervention. Immediate crisis intervention focuses on ensuring that the victim’s immediate medical, mental health, and personal needs are met. The needs assessment includes identifying the victim’s needs for emotional support, identifying how the crisis has affected the victim, and developing a plan for the future. The third phase, recovery intervention, represents the victim’s movement toward regaining psychological equilibrium and moving forward with his or her life. The victim service provider’s role may include helping victims to avoid secondary trauma through their interaction with the criminal justice system or other agencies and professionals.

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Dixon (1987) has described a nine-step crisis intervention model that can be used with families in any type of crisis:

1. Rapidly establish a constructive relationship.

2. Elicit and encourage expression of painful feelings and emotions.

3. Discuss the precipitating event.

4. Assess strengths and needs.

5. Formulate a dynamic explanation.

6. Restore cognitive functioning.

7. Plan and implement treatment.

8. Terminate.

9. Follow up.

Victim service providers often provide services beyond the initial crisis intervention stage, so Step 8 may not be relevant for them. However, Step 4 is an important aspect of crisis intervention. Both victims and their family members (including extended family and clan members) have strengths, but it can be difficult for them to focus on these strengths when they are in the middle of a crisis.

Another approach to crisis intervention focuses on three phases: safety/security, vent/validate, and prepare/predict (Young, 1993). This method has gained wide acceptance in the victim services field and will be discussed in greater detail.

Phase 1: Safety/Security. The first phase focuses on ensuring that victims feel they are safe from additional harm. The victim service provider can aid victims by having them identify their need for safety and security and providing options and resources that may fill these needs. For example, a domestic violence victim in a small tribal community may not feel safe staying at the tribal shelter because her abuser knows the shelter’s location. The victim service provider may be able to provide information about other domestic violence programs and arrange for transportation to the alternate shelter.

The need for safety is one of the most basic human needs. It is very difficult to focus on any other issue until a person feels safe. In many situations, the victim service provider’s first role is to help a crime victim feel safe and secure. Some victims may need little to feel safe, while others may not be able to feel secure no matter how many resources are provided. The victim service provider should explore with the victim as many options as possible to help the victim feel safe, both physically and psychologically.

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Physical safety may include locating a safe place for a victim to stay or arranging for a medical examination to ensure there are no bodily injuries. Psychological security can be provided by supplying favorite items, such as a child’s favorite stuffed animal, or contacting a support person to come and stay with the victim. It is critical to remember, however, that the victim must define what safety and security means. Never make assumptions about what a victim wants, and always ask and clarify to ensure that you understand the victim’s needs. Some people, for example, might want a family member to stay with them following a traumatic event. Other people may not be close to members of their family, or might prefer to be alone. Sexual assault victims, for example, often fear that family members will find out about their assault (Kilpatrick, 2000), so contacting a family member may further traumatize the victim.

Victims may also make choices that the victim service provider feels will not provide adequate safety or security. In most cases, the victim service provider has no right or ability to force the victim to seek safety. An elder physical abuse victim who desires to stay in her own home alone, even though the perpetrator has not been apprehended, might be making a choice that seems unsafe. However, the trauma of leaving the familiarity of her home may cause more psychological distress than remaining in the home. A victim service provider may be able to help get additional police patrols or arrange to provide the victim with a cellular phone to make it easier for the victim to call for help in an emergency.

Phase 2: Ventilation and Validation. Ventilation refers to victims being able to tell their story, in their own time and in their own way. It is important for victims to talk through their experiences, no matter how long it takes and how disconnected or unimportant the information seems. Child victims may want to tell stories or draw pictures. Victim service providers who work with child victims may want to have a kit on hand that includes Play-Doh, crayons, paper, markers, and other art items. If the victim service provider will be traveling to meet the child victim onsite, he or she should have a mobile kit to take on calls. Remember that adults, as well as children, may benefit from having art supplies available. Having something to do with their hands, such as kneading play dough or squeezing a stress ball, may help victims alleviate stress.

Victim service providers should also be aware of how members of different cultural and ethnic groups express themselves. Native Americans, for example, may begin a story and go off on what sounds like many tangents to the non-Native person. The story many sound circuitous, often going off target. However, this is a common way of describing events, through interlacing related activities over a period of time. The victim service provider needs to be patient and allow victims to complete their stories without trying to get them back on topic. Since victims are telling the story in their own terms, they may

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use words or concepts with which the victim service provider is unfamiliar. It is appropriate to ask for clarification of such terms or concepts to avoid misunderstandings. By becoming familiar with a victim’s style of communicating, the victim service provider may be able to explain unfamiliar terms and concepts to investigators and prosecuting attorneys.

Even when the victim and the victim service provider share a common language, it is important to clarify the language the victim uses. In sexual assault cases, for example, victims may use various words to describe what they have experienced (e.g., using “attacked” as a way of describing being raped). Various communities have words that they commonly use and that are easily understood within their peer group but have a different meaning outside that group. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, for example, may refer to “the community.” Often they are referring to the LGBT community, rather than the area that they live in. People with disabilities, ethnic minorities, members of religious minorities, or other groups all tend to have their own language and unique terminology.

Both children and adults may need to work through their trauma through re-telling the experience. Often, victims will remember additional details as they go through their experience (Young, 1993). Victims gain control or mastery over their experience by reliving the details through the process of talking about what happened. This process can also improve their capacity as witnesses in criminal cases.

Validation is the process of helping victims understand that their reactions are part of a normal process, if this is true. Victims who experience reactions that are life-threatening or are well beyond the “normal” range should be referred for psychological assessment. While each victim’s reactions are individual, victim service providers should be cautious when a victim appears to be experiencing physical, psychological, and/or spiritual problems outside the usual reactions. In these cases, the victim service provider should make the appropriate referrals. Victims may develop mental health issues as a result of their victimization (e.g., clinical depression, anxiety, or posttraumatic stress disorder). These reactions develop over time. A diagnosis of PTSD requires that symptoms have persisted more than 4 weeks. However, for people with pre-existing mental health conditions, their victimization may exacerbate symptoms that may require professional treatment. Any victims’ statements or actions suggesting suicide ideation must be taken seriously and appropriate interventions undertaken.

The goal of validation is to help people realize that the physical, psychological, cognitive, behavioral, and spiritual reactions they are having are often typical of the reactions experienced by crime victims, even when those reactions are very intense and

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uncomfortable. Many crime victims may experience intense anger. This may be a frightening experience for the person who has never had such an intense feeling. Victims can benefit from understanding that crime victims can experience feelings that they have never had before or experience these feelings more intensely than ever before.

It is important to remember that every victim’s experience is unique and that each person will want to have his or her experience regarded in that manner. Rather than telling victims that their reactions are normal, Young (1993) suggests telling them that their responses are not uncommon. Nothing about the victimization experience is normal.

Phase 3: Predict and Prepare. Following a criminal victimization, a victim often enters a whole new world—a world filled with unfamiliar people who are talking an unfamiliar language and often want something that the victim may not be able to provide. Victims of violent crime may be subjected to uncomfortable physical examinations by unfamiliar medical personnel. Law enforcement officers are focused on identifying and apprehending the suspect(s), and the legal jargon they often use may be confusing or intimidating to victims. Investigators may appear to demand that victims provide more and more detailed information about their victimization, forcing them to relive the worst event of their lives over and over. Victims may feel that they have entered an alien environment, and the victim service provider is their guide through this environment.

The victim service provider can provide a road map, explaining to the victim what is going on and what is likely to happen in the future. For example, victim service providers can prepare a victim for a sexual assault examination by explaining the procedures to be performed and the purpose for each procedure. They can also explain what will happen to the evidence collected, how long it will take to get test results, and what will happen if there is or is not any evidence that can be used to identify the perpetrator.

A child who has been removed from home due to physical abuse will be confused about why he or she is being taken away from the family and will have many questions, such as the following: Am I going to jail? Where will I live? What will happen to my pets? Where will I go to school? What will happen to my parents? Have I done something wrong? Why are the police here? The victim service provider can help to answer these questions by talking to the child in language that is commensurate with his or her age and cognitive development, explaining who the people at the scene are and their jobs, as well as what will happen in the short term and the long term.

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Possible Reactions to Crisis

After a crisis, short-term reactions may include physical, emotional, financial, or spiritual reactions. These reactions are discussed in Chapter 6, “Impact of Crime on Victims.”

Many victims experience reactions to specific events that may serve as triggers for intense responses. Typical triggers include the anniversary of the crime, seeing someone who looks like the perpetrator, smelling a scent that is a reminder of the crime or crime scene, the birthday of a homicide victim, media coverage of the event, and visual cues that bring back memories of the crime. Victims of child sexual abuse may have psychological reactions to the abuse years later, such as when they enter puberty, when they first become sexually active, when they get married or pregnant, or when their own child turns the age they were at the time of the abuse. Victim service providers can help people prepare for the possibility of these reactions, while informing the victim that these later responses may or may not occur in his or her case.

Techniques and Guidance in Crisis Intervention

While there are different theories of the phases of crisis intervention, the basic skills needed to provide effective crisis intervention are consistent. One of the goals of crisis intervention is to instill hope in the victim (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1994). Individuals and families need to believe that that they can get through the current crisis. Helping victims to recall past situations in which they were able to overcome difficulties is one way to help inspire hope. Another tactic is to help victims develop a variety of responses, including trying new and different solutions to problems.

Effective Listening Skills. To provide effective crisis intervention, a victim service provider needs to develop effective listening skills. It is important to remember that every person is an individual, with unique reactions to all situations, a unique belief system, and a highly personal worldview. It may be difficult for victim service providers to work with victims who have a different worldview. Chapter 10, “Cultural and Spiritual Competence,” may help victim service providers work effectively with victims from different cultural backgrounds. In order to provide effective services, victim service providers must put aside their personal beliefs and values and focus on their client’s needs.

Effective listening skills form the basis of crisis intervention and are described in detail in Chapter 5, “Communication with Victims and Survivors.” Some examples of active listening skills are shown in Exhibit VII-1.

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EXHIBIT VII-1LISTENING TECHNIQUES

Types of Listening Techniques Purpose Examples

USE THESE TECHNIQUES

Probing

To seek additional information. To help the person explore all sides of their problem. To explore a certain point in greater depth.

1. “Could you tell me a little bit more about…”

2. “What was that like?”3. “Can you recall anything

else?”

Restatement

To check your understanding. To show you are listening and understanding.

1. “You would like to know…”2. “You say that you are

feeling…”3. “Then your plan is …”

Neutral

To convey that you are interested and listening. To encourage the person to keep talking.

1. “I see.”2. “Uh-huh”3. Nodding your head

Reflective

To show that you understand how the person feels about something. To help the person deal with his or her own feelings. To move the conversation to a different topic.

1. “It still hurts a lot, doesn’t it?”2. “In other words, you feel

that…”3. “It’s frightening, isn’t it?”

SupportiveTo reassure the person. To reduce the person’s intensity of feeling. To deal with the immediate problem.

1. “Have you thought about…”2. “You might consider…”3. “It’s not uncommon.”

Summarizing

To bring the discussion into focus by summarizing. To move to a new aspect of the problem.

1. “If I understand, you feel…”2. “So the alternatives seem to

be…”3. “Then what you feel you need

to do is…”DO NOT USE THESE TECHNIQUES

Evaluative

Judgmental. To imply what the person should or should not do.

1. “I don’t think you should…”2. “Haven’t you heard anything

I’ve said?”3. Gestures and expressions

Interpretive

To go beyond what the person is telling you. To add meaning to a statement.

1. “You are denying…”2. “Aren’t you really feeling…?3. “I believe you’re feeling guilty

and…”

Shallow

Responding only to a small portion of what the person said. Denying the feelings expressed.

1. “You don’t really mean that you hate him.”

2. “Certainly you don’t really feel…”

3. “Why can’t you just put up with it?”

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Reactions of Family Members. In many situations when a crime occurs or is disclosed, family members are notified. When the victim is a child, the parents or guardians will usually be notified. In a mass victimization situation, such as a school shooting or a shooting at a workplace, family members may gather to check on the safety of their loved one. Or a victim may choose to disclose his or her victimization to family members. Family members are often referred to as “secondary victims,” in acknowledgment of the impact that crime has, not only on the person who was victimized, but also on those close to the victim. The Tribal Law and Policy Institute (unpublished, 2005) has outlined some of the common reactions and feelings of family/friends of victims of crime, included in Exhibit VII-2.

EXHIBIT VII-2

COMMON REACTIONS AND FEELINGS OF FAMILY/FRIENDS OF VICTIMS OF CRIME

Anger At assailant for committing the crime. At victim for “putting herself in vulnerable situation,” e.g. for being

with a violent partner. At system for not keeping our communities safe, for not responding

expeditiously, for letting the perpetrator go and not holding him accountable.

At self for not protecting family/friend from the perpetrator.

Concern For the victim’s well-being and safety. For the victim’s rights. About how the victimization will affect their own life. About how the relationship will change.

Guilt For not having prevented the assault. For not having been there to protect the victim. For not believing the victim.

Embarrassment Worry about gossip in the community. Embarrassed for the victim.

Vulnerability Realization that it can happen to them too. May become overprotective of the victim.

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Psychological First Aid. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) and National Center for PTSD have developed a guide to offering psychological first aid to victims of disasters (Ruzek, Brymer, Jacobs, Layne, Vernberg, and Watson, 2006). While psychological first aid is aimed at mental health providers, there are many useful concepts that can be applied by all first responders, including victim assistance providers, particularly those responding to terrorism or mass victimization situations. The following paragraphs include excerpts from this guide. Participants are encouraged to read the entire guide for additional information. The guide can be found at www.nctsnet.org.

The NCTSN and National Center for PTSD (2005) describe psychological first aid as follows:

Psychological First Aid is designed to reduce the initial distress caused by traumatic events, and to foster short- and long-term adaptive functioning. Principles and techniques of Psychological First Aid meet four basic standards. They are: (1) consistent with research evidence on risk and resilience following trauma; (2) applicable and practical in field settings; (3) appropriate to developmental level across the lifespan; and (4) culturally informed and adaptable.

The basic objectives of psychological first aid are similar to the objectives for any type of crisis intervention or first response. The NCTSN and National Center for PTSD describe these objectives as follows:

Establish a human connection in a nonintrusive, compassionate manner.

Enhance immediate and ongoing safety, and provide physical and emotional comfort.

Calm and orient emotionally overwhelmed or distraught survivors.

Help survivors to articulate immediate needs and concerns, and gather additional information as appropriate.

Offer practical assistance and information to help survivors address their immediate needs and concerns.

Connect survivors as soon as possible to social support networks, including family members, friends, neighbors, and community helping resources.

Support positive coping, acknowledge coping efforts and strengths, and empower survivors; encourage adults, children, and families to take an active role in their recovery.

Provide information that may help survivors to cope effectively with the psychological impact.

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Facilitate continuity in response efforts by clarifying how long the psychological first aid provider will be available, and (when appropriate) linking the survivor to another member of a disaster response team or to indigenous recovery systems, mental health services, public-sector services, and organizations.

The NCTSN and National Center for PTSD guidelines also offer useful suggestions for behaviors to avoid, including the following:

Do not make assumptions about what the person is experiencing or what he or she has been through.

Do not assume that everyone exposed to a disaster will be traumatized.

Do not pathologize. Most acute reactions are understandable given what people exposed to the disaster have personally experienced.

Do not label reactions as “symptoms” or speak in terms of “diagnoses,” “conditions,” “pathologies,” or “disorders.”

Do not talk down to or patronize the survivor, or focus on his or her helplessness, weaknesses, mistakes, or disability. Focus instead on what the person has done that is effective or may have contributed to help others in need, both during the disaster and in the present setting.

Do not assume that all survivors want to talk or need to talk to you. Often, being physically present in a supportive and calm way helps affected people to feel safer and more able to cope.

Do not debrief by asking for details of what happened.

Do not speculate or offer erroneous or unsubstantiated information. If you don’t know something that you are asked, do your best to learn the correct facts.

Do not suggest fad interventions or present uninformed opinion as fact. (NCTSN and National Center for PTSD, 2005, p. 7)

It is important to be aware of the needs of at-risk populations. Individuals who are at special risk after a terrorism attack or mass victimization include the following:

Children (especially children whose parents have died or are missing).

Those who have had multiple relocations and displacements.

Medically frail adults.

The elderly.

Those with serious mental illness.

Those with physical disabilities or illnesses.

Adolescents who may be risk-takers.

Adolescents and adults with substance abuse problems.

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Pregnant women.

Mothers with babies and small children.

Professionals or volunteers who participated in response and recovery efforts.

Those who have experienced significant loss.

Those exposed firsthand to grotesque scenes or extreme life threat. (NCTSN and National Center for PTSD, 2005, p. 8)

In some instances crime victims may need mental health interventions. People who are victims of crime may have pre-existing mental health issues or may develop psychological or psychiatric problems as a result of their victimization. It is appropriate to refer victims to professional therapists if their level of psychological distress is beyond what the victim service provider is capable of handling. It is also appropriate to develop a network of mental health professionals who have special training or skills in the trauma of victimization. As a victim service provider, it is vital to recognize one’s own limitations. Victims who are seriously depressed and/or suicidal need professional assistance that is beyond the capability of the victim service provider to provide.

Common Pitfalls To Avoid. It is important to avoid common pitfalls when providing crisis intervention. Many victim service providers enter the field because they are natural helpers; they take great satisfaction in helping other people. However, there is a danger that in trying to help others, victim service providers will make the situation worse instead of better. Here are some things to avoid (Young, 1993).

Avoid:

Giving advice (“If I were you, I would…”).

Being judgmental (“That is the worst thing I’ve ever heard…”).

Trying to change someone’s values or beliefs (“If you would only accept that…”).

Telling the person that you know how he or she feels.

Telling the person that he or she will “get over it.”

Making promises you can’t keep (“He will never hurt you again.”).

Getting in over your head.

Avoid Saying:

“I understand.”

“I’m glad you can share those feelings.”

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“You’re lucky that. . .”

“It’ll take some time but you’ll get over it.”

“I can imagine how you feel.”

“Don’t worry; it’s going to be all right.”

“Try to be strong for your children.”

“I know how you feel.”

“Calm down and try to relax.”

Critical Incident Debriefing

Crisis intervention is not the same as critical incident debriefing (also called psychological debriefing, critical incident stress debriefing, and single session debriefing). Crisis intervention services may be offered in person or over the phone. While crisis intervention is initiated as close as possible to the traumatic event, intervention services are often offered over a period of time, during follow-up services. Several years ago, a great deal of interest developed in critical incident debriefing as a means of immediate intervention after a traumatic event aimed at preventing the development of long-term problems such as PTSD.

Typically these approaches use a group format and have participants go through several stages in a 1- to 3-hour session held within 1 month of the traumatic event. The three most commonly used techniques are critical incident stress debriefing (CISD), also known as the Mitchell model; the Raphael model; and process debriefing (van Emmerik, Kamphius, Hulsbosch, and Emmelkamp, 2002).

Hammond and Brooks (2001, p. 315) describe CISD as designed to promote emotional health through verbal expression, cathartic ventilation, normalization of reactions, health education, and preparation for possible future reactions. The debriefing technique consists of reviewing the traumatic experience, encouraging emotional expression, and promoting cognitive processing

Recent studies, however, have cast doubt on the efficacy of these single debriefing sessions as a means of preventing future problems, such as PTSD. Rose, Bisson, Churchill, and Wessely (2002), for example, performed a meta-analysis of the impact of one session psychological debriefing on the later development of PTSD. They found that single-session individual debriefing had no protective impact compared to control groups. One of the studies in their analysis even reported an increase risk of developing PTSD among those that had received debriefing. No decrease in the severity of PTSD was found at 1-4

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months, 6-13 months or three years. The explanation for these results is unclear. It could be that people who received a single debriefing session believed that they did not need further help and did not seek any additional treatment. Whatever the reason, this research suggests that a single session debriefing is not sufficient to prevent later psychological problems.

Similarly, a meta-analysis of studies assessing the efficacy of single-session debriefing in preventing PTSD and other psychopathologies was undertaken in 2002 by van Emmerik, Kamphius, Hulsbosch, and Emmelkamp. They assessed only studies in which a single-session debriefing was conducted within 1 month of the traumatic event; psychological distress or symptomology had been assessed with a widely accepted psychological measure; and before and after data were collected. In their analysis of 29 such studies, they found “that CISD has no efficacy in reducing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and other trauma-related symptoms”; in fact, the data suggested “that it has a detrimental effect” (van Emmerik, Kamphius, Hulsbosch, and Emmelkamp, 2002, p. 769).

Hammond and Brooks (2001) and others have argued that the studies showing that CISD does not work are flawed and point to studies that do support the efficacy of this approach. Because several models of single session debriefing are used in a wide variety of ways, it may be very difficult to effectively assess the effectiveness of this approach. It is likely that some type of immediate intervention along the CISD model is helpful for a certain subset of individuals. Further research in this area may help to identify who is most likely to benefit from this type of immediate intervention, as well as identifying the critical aspects of the intervention strategy that is most effective. It appears that currently, if CISD is offered to victims, this offer should be made within the context of encouraging victims to seek additional mental health services as needed.

Assess Needs

Victim service providers must know how to assess the victim’s needs, link the victim to the appropriate services to meet those needs, and ensure that the victim’s rights are known and upheld. The following is a list of issues to consider in conducting a basic victim needs assessment (Seymour, n.d.).

Really Basic Issues:

Medical and mental health services.

Housing (both emergency/temporary and long-term, and possible relocation).

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Transportation (personal automobile or access to and payment for public transportation).

Food for self and family.

Clothing.

Employment and/or job training.

Education (such as school attendance).

Assistance with basic issues relevant to the victim’s children, such as school, child care, and medical services.

Assistance and Services

Crisis intervention.

Crisis counseling.

Emergency financial assistance.

Services to enhance protection.

Home safety check with physical reinforcements (such as locks).

Safety planning.

Advocacy or intervention with employers.

Development or enhancement of the victim’s social support system.

Physical health and medical issues.

Mental health counseling (for self and family).

Support group participation.

Legal advocacy.

Referrals for social services.

Assistance as needed with immigration status.

Alcohol or other drug counseling as needed.

Information regarding what to do in cases of emergencies.

Translation or interpreter services.

Follow-up contact, as needed or on request.

Implementation of Rights

Provision of information about victims’ rights.

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In 2001, states made more than 5,400 awards using Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funds to programs providing assistance to victims of crime.

These programs provided services to 3.5 million victims.

Approximately 75 percent of these funds were used by victims of child abuse, sexual assault, or domestic violence (Newmark, 2004).


Information about and assistance with filing a victim compensation claim.

Information about protection rights.

Notification of the status and location of the offender.

Information about participation in key justice proceedings.

Accompaniment to court-related and other hearings involved in the case.

Information about and assistance with completing a presentence investigation (PSI) interview and/or victim impact statement.

Information about and assistance with documenting restitution.

Notification of the outcome of criminal or juvenile justice proceedings.

For cases involving incarceration or detention: Notification of the location of the offender and any movement (including release or escape)

For cases involving community supervision: Input into conditions of community supervision; the right to protection (including assistance with obtaining protective orders); the right to financial/legal obligations owed by the offender (such as child support, restitution, payment of house payments or rent, etc.); the right to be notified of any violations, be given input into any violation hearings; to be notified of the outcome of any violation hearings; and to be provided with contact information for the agency/ professional who will be supervising the offender.

Identify Resources and Provide Referrals

The majority of victim assistance programs are administered locally. Victims can access services through a variety of agencies, including private nonprofit organizations, faith-based organizations or churches, tribal governments, local criminal justice agencies, and public agencies (such as hospitals and mental health agencies). A significant portion of funding for these programs comes from VOCA funds administered by OVC.

Other offices within the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice provide funding for a number of programs related to crime victims.

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The Violence Against Women Office provides funding for federal, state, tribal, and local programs that assist victims of family violence and sexual assault.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) provides funding to improve the collection of data on crime and victimization, as well as statistics on crime

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is the “research arm” of the U.S. Department of Justice. NIJ has funded evaluation projects to assess the efficacy of victim assistance programs.

In addition to the provision of funding for services related to crime victimization, many federal agencies have developed resources for victims of crime during the past decade. Victims of crime that occur on federal lands or where there is federal jurisdiction (such as Indian country, federal parks, federal offices, and military installations) may be able to access services from federal law enforcement and criminal justice agencies. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has victim assistance coordinators. United States citizens who are victimized overseas can use services available through the U.S. State Department. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) also has services for victims of crime. The idea of providing services to victims of crime is relatively new for some of these agencies, with programs slowly being developed as a result of increased awareness of the need for services.

Each U.S. Attorney’s Office has a victim/witness coordinator, who works with victims and witnesses. Victim service providers who work with victims of federal crime will find these federal victim/witness coordinators to be an invaluable asset. Similarly, victim service providers or victim coordinators based in the State Attorney’s or District Attorney’s Office can provide important services for crime victims.

Assist With Compensation and Restitution Programs

One of the most common types of assistance offered to victims of violent crime is help with applying for compensation, which is available to victims of crime in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, tribal communities, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The purpose of these programs is to reimburse victims of crime for expenses that they incur because they have been the victim of a crime.

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State Compensation Programs

Each state establishes its own guidelines for crime victim compensation. The programs have many common elements, however. To be eligible for compensation crime victims MUST:

Report the crime to law enforcement in a timely manner.

Cooperate with the law enforcement investigation of the crime.

File a timely application.

Not be involved in illegal activity at the time of the crime.

Have an expense that is not covered by another source, such as insurance, Indian Health Service, or the Veterans Administration.

The key aspects of victim compensation are described in Chapter 3, “Basic Victims’ Rights.” However, there are a few important considerations for victim service providers to understand relevant to helping victims apply for compensation:

Violent crime victims should be advised that they “have the right to apply for victim compensation.” Victim service providers should not offer any assurances or guarantees about “the right to compensation” or that victims “will” receive an award.

Any agency that receives VOCA funding is required by statute to help violent crime victims apply for victim compensation.

It is important for victim service providers to be familiar with the crime victim compensation application procedures and forms in their respective states. Most states now have online applications, and many offer compensation information and forms in Spanish and other dominant languages in the jurisdiction.

Not all applications for crime victim compensation will be approved. Each jurisdiction has an appeals process. Victim service providers can be helpful in finding out why an application was denied and helping victims file an appeal.

All state compensation programs offer free training and technical assistance to victim service providers and allied professionals to improve their capacity to help victims complete the application process.

Generally, crime victim compensation cannot pay for property damage. The exceptions to this prohibition on payment for property are medical devices (e.g. eye glasses and hearing aides) and property that is necessary for security (e.g. locks and windows).

Many states also reimburse for culturally appropriate services, such as use of a traditional healer. As new needs are identified, states have begun to include services such as crime scene clean up as allowable reimbursable expenses.

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States will reduce the amount of the payment to a victim if the victim was found to be involved in “contributory conduct” that resulted in his or her victimization. The state compensation program may determine that a victim was 50 percent responsible for his or her victimization and reduce the reward by that percentage.

For obvious reasons, if the victim was involved in illegal conduct at the time of the crime, he or she is not eligible for compensation. Even if the illegal activity is not directly related to the crime, the victim is still not eligible for compensation.

Restorative Justice

Restorative justice is a general term to describe approaches to justice that focus on making the victim whole following a crime, as opposed to merely punishing the perpetrator. Indigenous cultures throughout the world have traditionally used restorative justice in dealing with crime. These communities recognized that the best response to a crime was not always punishment. If a woman’s husband was murdered, for example, she might have no one to plant the family’s field or harvest the crops. A restorative solution to this problem might be to have the offender plant the field, harvest the crops, chop firewood, and perform other tasks that were performed by the murdered husband. This solution is in sharp contrast to the more “traditional” American approach of life imprisonment or death.

Restorative justice is so named because these approaches attempt to restore the victim to previctimization status and to restore balance and unity within the community. Some American Indian communities currently use peace-making courts or other traditional approaches to deal with criminal offenders. Usually, these approaches are limited in use, with certain types of crimes being ineligible for restorative justice courts. Victims should never be forced or coerced into participating in restorative justice. Restorative justice approaches must be victim-centered. If the victim is not ready or does not wish to participate in a restorative approach, then the victims’ wishes must be respected.

In the 1980s and 1990s, there was increased interest in restorative justice approaches, especially in dealing with juvenile victims. This new incarnation of restorative justice is based on the following values and assumptions (Bazemore and Umbreit, 1994):

All parties, offenders, victims, and the community should be included in the response to crime.

Government and local communities should play complementary roles in that response.

Accountability is based on offenders understanding the harm caused by their offenses, accepting responsibility for that harm and repairing it.

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Crime is fundamentally a violation of people and interpersonal relationships.

Violations create obligations and liabilities.

Restorative justice seeks to heal and put right the wrongs.

One of the most commonly used types of restorative justice is restitution. Although restitution is often used in connection with punishment (in the form of probation or incarceration), the basis for offenders paying restitution is found in the values of restorative justice.

Wallace (1998) defines restitution as “a court-ordered sanction that involves payment of compensation by the defendant to the victim for injuries suffered as the result of the defendant’s criminal act” (p. 309). Restitution may be monetary or may involve community service. If the restitution is monetary, it may be paid directly to the victim or to the state compensation fund. In many cases, the court may order a convicted perpetrator to pay the victim restitution, or restitution may be arranged as part of a pretrial agreement (Center for Child and Family Studies, 2000). Restitution may also be ordered as a part of probation. Some states allow crime victims to change restitution orders into civil judgments. In some states the restitution orders are automatically converted into civil judgments (Office for Victims of Crime, 2002).

There are four purposes of restitution (Wallace, 1998):

1. To establish a relationship between the victim and perpetrator in order to make the offender aware of the financial consequences of their crime on the victim.

2. To advance the concept of personal responsibility and accountability to the victim.

3. To assist the victim financially and emotionally, as well as educating the offender regarding the impact of their crime.

4. To punish the offender.

Restitution serves as a means to make the offender directly responsible to the victim by attempting to remediate the harm done to the victim.

Victims may benefit psychologically from receiving financial compensation from the perpetrator. Restitution may be ordered for expenses (including insurance deductibles), property loss or damage, lost wages, and child care but not for pain and suffering. Victims who receive both compensation and restitution must pay back the amount they received in restitution to the crime victim’s fund.

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REFERENCES

Bazemore, Gordon, and Mark Umbreit. 1994. Balanced and Restorative Justice: Program Summary. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Center for Child and Family Studies. 2000. Victim Assistance Institute Basic Training Curriculum. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina.

Dixon, S.L. 1987. Working With People in Crisis, 2nd ed. Columbus, OH: Merrill.

Hammond J., and J. Brooks. 2001. “Helping the Helpers: The Role of Critical Incident Stress Management.” Critical Care 5: 315–317.

Kilpatrick, D.G. 2000. “The Mental Health Impact of Rape.” Retrieved May 26, 2006, from www.musc.edu/vawprevention/research/mentalimpact.shtml.

National Center for Victims of Crime. 2004. Crisis Intervention. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Retrieved May 29, 2006, from www.ncvc.org/ncvc/main.aspx?dbName=DocumentViewer&DocumentID=32346.

Newmark, Lisa. 2004. “Crime Victims’ Needs and VOCA-Funded Services: Findings and Recommendations from Two National Studies, Report to the National Institute of Justice.” Retrieved August 3, 2007, from www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/214263.pdf.

Office for Victims of Crime. 2002. National Victim Assistance Academy Textbook. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Tribal Law and Policy Institute. 2005. unpublished text.

Wallace, H. 1998. Victimology: Legal, Psychological, and Social Perspectives. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 1994. Crisis Intervention in Child Abuse and Neglect. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

van Emmerik, A., J. Kamphius, A. Hulsbosch, and P. Emmelkamp. 2002. “Single Incident Debriefing After Psychological Trauma: A Meta-Analysis,” Lancet 360(9335): 766–771.

Young, M. 1993. Victim Assistance: Frontiers and Fundamentals. Washington, DC: National Organization for Victim Assistance. Dubuque. IA: Kendall /Hunt.

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RESOURCES

OVC sponsors an award-winning Online Directory of Crime Victim Services, which includes contact information for thousands of state and local programs. Victims and victim service providers can identify victim services by location, type of victimization, type of services that is needed, and/or agency type. The directory can be accessed at http://ovc.ncjrs.gov/findvictimservices.

The National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators (NAVAA) maintains a “links” page on its Web site that is regularly updated. It provides direct links to the URLs of the following programs in each state:

VOCA administrators.

Crime victim compensation programs.

Attorneys General victim services.

General statewide victim coalitions.



State MADD chapters.

Parents of Murdered Children chapters.

State adult correctional agencies.

Adult corrections victim assistance programs.

State juvenile justice agencies.

Juvenile justice victim services.

The page can be accessed at www.navaa.org/links.html.

An Abuse, Rape and Domestic Violence Aid and Resource Collection (AARDVARC) is for victims of violence, their families and friends, and the agencies and programs which serve them. Issues addressed here include domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, child abuse and adult survivors of child sexual assault. The site provides general educational and reference material, a nationwide directory of services, and program resources to help cut costs, increase effectiveness, train staff and volunteers, seek funding, build or improve a website, and network with peers for maximum problem-solving impact. This site is located at www.aardvarc.org.

The National Prison Rape Elimination Commission (NPRECCommission is a bipartisan panel created by Congress as part of the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003. The

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Commission is charged with studying federal, state and local government policies and practices related to the prevention, detection, response and monitoring of sexual abuse in correction and detention facilities in the United States. Go to www.nprec.us.

The Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project, coordinated by the Council of State Governments Justice Center, is an unprecedented, national effort to help local, state, and federal policymakers and criminal justice and mental health professionals improve the response to people with mental illnesses who come into contact with the criminal justice system. The site houses the Criminal Justice/Mental Health Information Network (Info Net), a new online database that provides a comprehensive inventory of collaborative criminal justice/mental health activity across the country and serves as a platform for peer-to-peer networking. More about the project can be found at http://consensusproject.org.

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APPENDIX AVICTIM SAFETY PLANNING:

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF SAFETY PLANS By Trudy Gregorie, Director, Justice Solutions, Washington, DC, 2005

PERSONAL SECURITY

Personal security measures limit the offender‘s access to the victim or help victims shield themselves—and information about their whereabouts, activities, and intentions—from the offender. All of these measures involve some kind of personal loss, dislocation, or disruption of personal or family routines; most of them cost money—and some create significant financial burdens. Victims will understandably and legitimately resent having to bear these costs in order to achieve a measure of safety and privacy. Don’t try to undercut these feelings; help victims do what needs to be done despite the fact that “it’s not fair.”

The following advice can be provided for victims.

MOVING

Making new living arrangements is easier to do if you are a tenant, although there may be need for legal assistance in getting out of a lease; it is harder to do when it involves selling a home. Moving may require leaving the area altogether, and if the offender shares custody of any children involved, the civil courts will have something to say about it.

Try to use a “no name” mover, so you cannot be easily traced, or move things to storage, then use a different company to move them to where you’re going.

In extreme cases, relocation is part of a complete change of identity. Unless you are involved in a formal victim/witness program, this generally requires a number of illegal acts and a strong commitment to following through, including a willingness to cut most, if not all, existing personal ties.

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Protect the confidentiality of your new address:

Notify the local postal service that it is not to release change of address information.

Change your mailing address to a private box. Use a private mailing service, or rent a post office box in a different location from

where you live. Use your P.O. box address on personal checks, letterheads, and business cards. Get dropped from commercial mailing lists that are rented or sold (especially with

companies that send you catalogs or publications). Advise the telephone company, utilities, banks, and creditors of the change and

asking them to put a notation on your file to restrict inquiries. (Many credit check agencies have a service that will let you know if someone runs a credit check on you.)

Use your post office box address for your driver’s license and vehicle registration. Place property or other assets in trust so that your address cannot be obtained

through a title records search. As far as is legally possible (in the state where you live or from the state that

you’ve moved), protect the new address in transfers of school records and in any legally required release of educational information.

Teach children to keep their address and phone numbers confidential. Change your telephone number, getting an unlisted number and radically

restricting the people you give it to; use an answering service or voice-mail number. If you need to share a phone with a roommate or relative, get a password-protected voice mail feature added to your service.

If you can afford it, consider using one number to call-forward your calls to yet another phone somewhere else.

Make sure your address isn’t listed in the phone book or reverse directories. If you are routinely harassed over the telephone and you can find the money, you

might want to get a new unlisted line while continuing to use an answering machine to monitor calls to the old number. The tapes may be useful as evidence of harassment, threats, or stalking behaviors.

Use caller ID and call tracing services defensively: know who’s calling you before you answer, but learn how to keep your calls from being identified, or call from public telephones.

Courts have the ability to keep a petitioner’s address and telephone number confidential. This will take a formal request from you and, in some cases, from the prosecuting attorney.

If the offender is on probation/parole, get the name and number of your offender’s probation/parole officer and stay in touch.

Where available, enroll in victim notification systems that will alert you to the offender’s release from jail or prison.

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CHAPTER 7 DIRECT SERVICES

SPECIAL TOPICS SUPPLEMENT: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Learning Objectives


The dynamics of domestic violence.

Advocacy for victims of domestic violence.

The effects of domestic violence on children.

Relevant federal and state domestic violence laws.

Promising practices that address domestic violence issues.


In 1998, one-third of all murdered females were killed by an intimate partner (Rennison and Welchans, May 2000).

During 1998, women were the victims of intimate partner violence about five times more often than males. There were 767 female victims of intimate partner violence per 100,000 women that year, compared to 146 male victims (Ibid.)

Between 1993 and 1998, about half of the intimate partner violence against women was reported to police. Black women were more likely than other women to report such violence (Ibid.)

About 45% of the female intimate violence victims in 1998 lived in households with children younger than twelve years old (Ibid.)

According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, spousal abuse (including common-law spouses) accounted for 43% of all family violence incidents reported to police in 1998 (FBI 17 October 1999).

Victims of family violence are overwhelmingly female—71% for family violence versus 58% for all other types of violence (Ibid., 281). In 1996, females were the victims of about 75% of murders of intimates and about 85% of non-lethal intimate violence (BJS, 18 February 1999, 1).

A slightly larger percentage of family violence victims are white compared to victims of overall violence, 74% and 72%, respectively (Ibid.)

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In 15.1% of family murders, the offender used his feet, hands, or fists to kill his intended victim (Ibid., 282).

In 1996, women experienced an estimated 840,000 rapes, sexual assaults, robberies, aggravated assaults, and simple victimizations at the hands of an intimate, down from 1.1 million in 1993 (BJS, 18 February 1999).

About 10% of all handgun purchase applications were rejected in 1998 because the applicant had been convicted of a domestic violence offense, and 3% were rejected because the applicant was the subject of a domestic violence protection order (BJS, June 1999, 1).

Among women victimized by a violent intimate in 1996, about two-thirds of black females reported the abuse to law enforcement professionals, but only about one-half of white female victims did (BJS March 1998, 19).

Nearly six in ten female domestic violence victims in 1996 reported that police responded within ten minutes of receiving the report of abuse (Ibid., 20).

Data from the National Violence Against Women Survey indicate that violence against women is predominantly intimate partner violence. Of the women who reported being raped and/or physically assaulted since the age of eighteen, three-quarters were victimized by a current or former husband, cohabiting partner, date, or boyfriend (NIJ and CDC 1998, 12).

When raped or physically assaulted by a current or former intimate partner, women were significantly more likely than men to sustain injuries and to report the assault, whether the time frame considered was the person's lifetime or the preceding twelve months preceding the survey (Ibid.).

Tennessee Statistical Overview

80,575 Tennesseans were victims of domestic violence related crimes in 2006. Almost half of all reported crimes against persons in 2006 were domestic

violence incidents.

Gender of Victim:o 73% of the victims were female and 27% of the victims were male.

(Just slightly over half the Tennessee population is female.)

Race of Victim:o 59% of victims were White (compared to about 80% of the total

population).o 38% of victims were African American (compared to about 17% of the

total population).

Age of Victim:

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o Almost 85% of domestic violence victims in 2006 were under 45, while only just over 60% of the total population is under 45.

Victim’s Relationship to the Offender:o The most common relationship between the victim and the offender

was boyfriend/girlfriend (36%) and spouse (18%).

There were 76 domestic homicides in 2006.

Simple assault was the most frequent charge (almost 70%), followed by intimidation (14%) and aggravated assault (13%).

(The above statistics were taken from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation; Crime in Tennessee 2006.)

Prevalence Estimates: Intimate Partner and Domestic Violence

(The following section was developed by the National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center, April 1999.)

Recently, violence among intimates has received increased attention in this and other countries, and the medical need to identify victims of domestic violence is particularly well established. Domestic violence is found across ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic classes (Hotaling and Sugarman 1990). Approximately 20 to 30 percent of marriages in this country have been characterized at one point by overt interpersonal aggression (Straus and Gelles 1990; Straus, Gelles, and Steinmetz 1980), and about 1,800,000 to 4,000,000 women in the United States are physically abused by their partners annually (Straus and Gelles 1986). In a wide scale study of couples, Straus and Gelles (1990) found that almost 13 percent of men had physically aggressed against their partners in the past year. Over 33 percent of these aggressive acts were classified as severe (i.e., punching, beating up, threatening with a knife or gun). Women are up to six times as likely to suffer violence at the hands of a partner or ex-partner than from a stranger (Bachman and Saltzman 1995), and are more likely to suffer injury when their assailant is an intimate (Bachman and Saltzman 1995).

Physicians are frequently in direct contact with recent victims of domestic violence. Twenty-two to 35 percent of emergency room visits by women are in response to partner violence (Abbot et al. 1995; McLeer and Anwar 1989; Randall 1990), and approximately 53 percent of domestic violence victims present to physicians repeatedly (i.e., six or more times) with trauma-related injuries (Stark, Flitcraft, and Frazier 1979). Female victims of domestic violence are up to thirteen times more likely to suffer injury to their breasts, chests, or abdomens than accident victims (AMA 1992a). Thus, clinicians observing these injuries should be aware of the increased potential for past and future victimization. Sexual assault is also widely prevalent in domestic settings. Thirty-three to 50 percent of women who are physically assaulted by their partners also suffer sexual assault at their hands (Frieze and Browne 1989). Indeed, in their large-sample survey, Kilpatrick,

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Edmunds, and Seymour (1992) found that only 22 percent of rapes were perpetrated by strangers, whereas husbands and boyfriends were responsible for 19 percent, and other relatives accounted for 38 percent (the remaining rapes were perpetrated by non-relatives and acquaintances).

Violence also seems to be widespread within the context of dating relationships. Approximately one-third of college students report experiencing relationship aggression (Arias, Samios, and O'Leary 1987; Bernard and Bernard 1983; Breslin et al. 1990; Rouse, Breen, and Howell 1988; White and Koss 1991). Some studies have revealed even higher prevalence rates of physical aggression among unmarried relative to married couples (Stets and Straus 1989; Yilo and Straus 1981). As might be expected, a higher level of marital discord has also been associated with increased risk of physical assault (Hotaling and Sugarman 1990; Pan, Neidig, and O'Leary 1994).

As noted, women are at greatest risk of injury, sexual assault, and homicide by their partners. Disappointingly, Warshaw (1989) noted that 92 percent of domestic violence cases presenting to an emergency department received no referral or follow-up information, and Kurz (1987) reported that no physician response to abuse was observed in 40 percent of positively identified domestic violence victims. This is unfortunate when considering that partner violence is typically ongoing, and failure to identify and intervene, either directly or indirectly in the form of information and referral, maximizes the potential that one's patient will eventually experience severe physical and emotional injury or even death.

Defining Domestic Violence

Various definitions of domestic violence are utilized nationwide, reflecting both legal definitions and descriptions relevant to specific disciplines of caregivers, including victim advocates, medical professionals, and criminal justice practitioners. While it is necessary for victim service providers to determine the legal definition of domestic violence in both civil and criminal law in their respective states, it is useful to start with a generic definition of domestic violence:

Domestic violence is a pattern of coercive behavior designed to exert power and control over a person in an intimate relationship through the use of intimidating, threatening, harmful, or harassing behavior.

The following isolates elements of domestic violence: what it is, who commits it, and when, where, and why it typically occurs.

WHAT IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?

Domestic violence is coercion through the use of intimidating, threatening, harmful, or harassing behavior. This definition validates that domestic violence includes multiple forms of abuse—physical, sexual, and emotional, or psychological. Here are specific examples of these types of behavior:

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Physical abuse. Physical abuse is usually recurrent and usually escalates both in frequency and severity. It may include the following:

Pushing, shoving, slapping, hitting, punching, kicking the victim.

Holding, tying down, or restraining the victim.

Inflicting bruises, welts, lacerations, punctures, fractures, burns, scratches.

Strangling the victim.

Pulling the victim's hair or dragging the victim by the victim's hair or body parts.

Assaulting the victim with a weapon.

Inflicting injury upon pets or animals.

Sexual abuse. Sexual abuse in violent relationships is often the most difficult aspect of abuse for women to discuss. It may include any form of forced sex or sexual degradation:

Trying to make or making the victim perform sexual acts against her will.

Pursuing sexual activity when the victim is not fully conscious, or is not asked, or is afraid to say no.

Physically hurting the victim during sex or assaulting her genitals, including the use of objects or weapons intra-vaginally, orally, or anally.

Coercing the victim to have sex without protection against pregnancy or sexually transmittable diseases.

Criticizing the victim and calling her sexually degrading names (AMA 1992b, 40-41).

Engaging in unwanted sexual contact that may result in torn, stained, or bloody underclothing; difficulty walking or sitting; pain, itching, bruising, or bleeding in genital areas; unexplained venereal disease or genital infections.

Emotional or psychological abuse. Emotional or psychological abuse may precede or accompany physical violence as a means of controlling through fear and degradation. It may include the following:

Threats of harm.

Physical and social isolation.

Extreme jealousy and possessiveness.

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Deprivation of resources to meet basic needs.

Intimidation, degradation, and humiliation.

Name calling and constant criticizing, insulting, and belittling the victim.

False accusations, blaming the victim for everything.

Ignoring, dismissing, or ridiculing the victim's needs.

Lying, breaking promises, and destroying the victim's trust.

Driving fast and recklessly to frighten and intimidate the victim.

Leaving the victim in a dangerous place.

Refusing to help when the victim is sick or injured.

Threats or acts of violence/injury upon pets or animals.

WHO COMMITS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?

Domestic violence is primarily perpetrated by men against women. Numerous studies repeatedly illustrate this finding, as shown in the statistics cited earlier. Yet, in recent years, some studies suggest women use violence in intimate relationships as frequently as men do. These studies are refuted by credible members of the domestic violence discipline, particularly batterers' treatment providers, who are concerned about flaws in such studies:

1. Motivation for the use of violence. Most of the recent studies suggesting women and men equally engage in domestic violence fail to ask the survey respondent what motivated the use of violence in the intimate relationship. In studies that ask this question, the answer is consistent: Men use violence to establish or maintain power and control, and women use violence either in self-defense, in anticipation of violence, or in retaliation for violence perpetrated against them. In other words, if a woman is able to free herself from the abuser, she is very unlikely to continue to use violence. By contrast, most men engage in serial domestic violence: If he leaves or is left by one victim, he quickly becomes involved with another woman against whom he engages in domestic violence. If this question is factored into these studies, it becomes clear that women's use of violence is largely in response to the violence perpetrated against her.

2. Impact of violence on the intimate other—the fear factor. Recent studies suggesting women and men equally engage in domestic violence generally fail to ask what the impact of the domestic violence is on the victim. When this question is asked, women report greater numbers of injuries, greater severity of injuries, and greater risk of harm. Men report few or no injuries, unless the woman uses a weapon, in particular a gun. The issue most of these studies fail to examine is "who is afraid of whom?" Women report tremendous fear of violence—and injury

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—by the intimate other. Men largely report they are unafraid of the woman's use of violence, often finding it annoying or even amusing, unless the woman uses a weapon. Women generally only use a weapon in an effort to make him stop being violent.

3. Credibility of response. Recent studies that suggest women and men equally engage in domestic violence fail to factor in the credibility of the survey respondent. There are several issues to consider:

o First, those who work with batterers know that men who batter deny, minimize, and blame their use of violence on others. Thus, if these men are asked if they use violence in a relationship, there is a high probability they will say they do not. By comparison, a female victim of abuse is likely to feel responsible for the abuse and thus say she does use violence, even when in self-defense, in anticipation of violence, or in retaliation for abuse against her.

o Second, it is crucial to know just how a study defines "abuse" and what questions the survey respondents were asked before accepting their findings. National studies show that men do not define many forms of violence as abuse. For example, if a couple in which domestic violence is perpetrated by the man against the woman is asked whether they have ever used violence, there is high probability the man will say he has not done so, because he does not define his behavior (including shoving, kicking, striking, hitting, punching, etc.) as abusive. Rather, he justifies his behavior as being provoked, triggered, and/or in response to something she did or did not do; and therefore, in his belief system, his behavior is not abusive because she is responsible for his actions. The woman, by contrast, will admit she has struck back or even initiated violence in response to his violence.

o Finally, if the study asks an open-ended question about abuse, rather than asking whether the person has engaged in specific forms of abuse, women are far more likely to include in their definition of abuse such behavior as shoving, pushing, slapping, or restraining the other person in addition to other more overt forms of violence. Men often do not include what they perceive to be "minor" forms of abuse in their definitions.

o The bottom line: Unless the survey asks questions about specific types of behavior, there is no way to assess what the survey respondent meant when she or he did or did not acknowledge the use of violence against his or her intimate other.

Although domestic violence is perpetrated by both genders, it is crucial to note and understand the above-described gender differences in the use of violence by men and women. This chapter refers to victims of domestic violence generally as females—this is not to exclude the genuine existence of male victims of domestic violence, but rather to acknowledge the reality that the vast majority of domestic violence victims are women.

WHEN DOES DOMESTIC VIOLENCE OCCUR?

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Domestic violence occurs as a pattern of abuse, not as a single isolated incident. When dealing with victims of domestic abuse, it is important to ask whether the types of behavior described above or described in the power and control wheel (see Appendix A) are occurring or have occurred at any time in the past. Domestic violence can be distinguished from one-time situational violence, which can and does occur in many intimate relationships, such as the individual who shoves or slaps his spouse when learning she is having an affair or filing for a divorce. While this means of conflict resolution is not acceptable—and may result in an arrest and prosecution—it is not domestic violence because it is not a pattern of abuse. The role of the victim advocate is to ask questions to ascertain whether a pattern of physical, sexual, and/or emotional and psychological abuse is or has occurred.

WHERE DOES DOMESTIC VIOLENCE OCCUR?

Domestic violence occurs in intimate relationships. These relationships include current or former spouses, partners, and significant others, including boyfriend/girlfriends, gays, lesbians, transgendered persons, inter-sex persons, and bisexuals; family members, both by blood or by familial ties, such as in-laws, step-family members and foster family members; those who currently or formerly reside together, such as roommates and household members; those who have or share a child in common, or created a child in common; and those who provide services to a dependent person, such as attendants or caregivers for an elderly person or for a physically, cognitively, or mentally disabled person.

WHY DOES A PERSON ENGAGE IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?

A person engages in domestic violence because he or she wishes to gain and/or maintain power and control over an intimate other, and believes he or she is entitled to do so.

Power and control wheels. The power and control wheel demonstrates the pattern of coercive behavior in a domestic violence relationship (see a sample in Appendix A following this chapter). At the heart of the wheel is power and control. This is the motivation behind the abuse—the answer to the question: Why does a person engage in domestic violence? The abuser has a need to ensure that he gains/maintains control of how the partner thinks, feels, and behaves. The outside of the wheel contains the cement of the abusive relationship: the threat of or actual use of physical and sexual violence. Physical and sexual abuse is the behavior most people think of as "the problem." It is the abuse most easily recognized or identified and often the only behavior that is illegal. However, the abuser may not need to use physical forms of abuse against the victim to maintain control because the victim attempts to do all she can to avoid the physical and sexual attacks. A victim need only be threatened or harmed once to know the abuser is willing and able to use physical and/or sexual abuse against her.

Inside the wheel are a variety of behaviors, known as tactics, which the abuser uses to gain and maintain control. Not all of these tactics are used in every relationship, and the tactics may be changed as the victim's response changes. The abuser will switch tactics

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when the victim learns to respond to one type of tactic or attack. When the struggle to challenge the abuser becomes too exhausting or too dangerous, the victim begins to modify her behavior—slowly giving up control of pieces of her life in order to avoid further abuse or to survive.

A victim advocate needs to be aware of three issues when dealing with a victim of domestic violence. First, most victims report they experience far greater shame and lasting effects as the result of psychological and emotional abuse than as the result of physical abuse. Victims report they feel less able to explain "crazy-making behavior" to others; they are more often disbelieved when they report forms of psychological and emotional abuse; and they do not have any visible injury to substantiate their allegations. Victims often report that the physical injuries heal and are forgotten—the psychological and emotional injuries repeatedly haunt their minds.

Second, while all abusive tactics are harmful to victims, the use of isolation may have the most severe impact on victims of domestic abuse. Once the abuser has succeeded in isolating the victim, she has no one with whom to check reality, making it more likely she will believe the abuser's perceptions of reality, including the abuser’s claim that she is responsible for the abuse. This means she has no one to whom she can describe the psychological and emotional abuse, which leads her to feeling more desperate and alone. Continued isolation also means she has fewer options and resources. This means women in isolated communities, such as rural farms or suburban homes with large lawns, are already physically isolated, possibly putting them at higher risk of injury and non-reporting.

A third issue to consider when dealing with victims of domestic violence is that the use of power and control tactics varies according to the abuser and the victim. The original Power and Control Wheel, developed by the Domestic Violence Intervention Project of Duluth, Minnesota, reflects the experience of those first victims who sought services from a domestic violence program or shelter: relatively young, able-bodied, white women. Because it is now known that domestic violence is perpetrated against women in all cultures, of all conditions, and all ages, additional power and control wheels have been created to reflect the tactics reported as experienced by these victims. It is useful for victim advocates to share with victims the power and control wheel(s) most appropriate to their situation. For example, domestic violence against the elderly has often been ignored, misunderstood, or misnamed as caregiver stress. A power and control wheel depicting domestic violence in later life illustrates power and control tactics that may not be used against a younger victim. At the other end of the life cycle, statistics indicate teen violence is the most rapidly growing form of domestic violence in the country. Again, the tactics used against a teen victim of domestic violence may be very different from those used against an older victim.

Victim advocates need to recognize that domestic violence can and does occur against all women, regardless of age, socioeconomic status, culture, race, etc. The sample Power and Control Wheel in Appendix A illustrates some of the tactics used by batterers. The

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Equality Wheel, also in Appendix A, depicts male/female interactions in a healthy relationship.

The Dynamics of Domestic Violence

TYPICAL DEVELOPMENT OF A DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RELATIONSHIP

Most victims describe the beginning of their relationship as being wonderful and intense. He pays a lot of attention to her; he wants to be with her all the time; he wants to be with her when she is with her friends and family members; he takes an active interest in where she goes, what she does, and how she spends her time; he suggests they spend most of their time doing things they both enjoy doing, rather than doing things on their own, so they can be together; he begins to make decisions for her, explaining he is happy to help her out; he is extremely attentive in public places, huddling over her, monitoring who she interacts with and letting other guys know she is with him. Simultaneously, he flatters her, confides in her, and reveals that he really wants to make a life with her. Sometimes he admits he does not know how to live without her. Then he begins to pout or express concerns about her interest in him if she does things independently of him. He may also explain how glad he is that she is not like his former spouse/partner, who was really difficult and even forced him to leave or doesn't let him see his kids. He explains his former spouse/partner did not understand him and turned everyone against him.

For many victims, they mistake these behaviors as devotion to a relationship—rather than recognizing these behaviors as red flags that indicate an abusive personality. These red flags include his insistence on obtaining information about her whereabouts at all times. Other red flags include the rapidness with which he establishes himself in her life, including making decisions for her, stating his inability to live without her, and insisting on a commitment to a relationship. His discussion about his former spouse/partner is a red flag as he does not take responsibility for the problems he experienced with that person. Big red flags include saying things like she had him arrested or she “slapped a restraining order” on him. He is already displaying abuser characteristics: signs of obsessive and controlling behavior. He is acting on his belief system which says he is to be in charge and make the rules, and that he can expect her to follow him and attend to his needs.

As the relationship continues, she is drawn to the positive side of his actions: his attentiveness and his interest in her activities and the people in her life. She may enjoy feeling doted upon and may be flattered by his initial bouts of jealousy. She makes a commitment to him—usually under pressure from him very early in their relationship—and is happy to be with someone who cares so much about her life. As time passes, she becomes aware of feeling discomfort around some of his behavior, such as his reactions when she discusses doing things with others, but dismisses these feelings due to her desire to make the relationship work. Like any person in a new relationship, she figures it will take time for them to develop a trusting relationship.

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Domestic violence generally begins with forms of control through psychological and emotional abuse. He begins to suggest she ought not to do certain things or ought to do things a certain way if she loves him. He begins to subtly suggest she may wish to wear or not wear certain items of clothing. He tells her she may wish to change her hairstyle to look a certain way. He tells her he would prefer her to act or not act in certain ways, such as how she talks, walks, or smiles. Generally these statements begin in a subtle manner by suggesting the changes he would like her to make, but the implication is that her appearance or behavior is not good enough. She also begins to experience his anger if she does something he does not like. He begins to demand that she never do that again, or if she does not make the suggested changes, he asks her if she does not love him or thinks she is too good for him. He believes any action she takes that draws positive attention from others, especially attention from other men, is a threat to him. Again, just as any person in a new relationship is apt to do, she tends to attribute his reactions to their not yet knowing each other very well. She believes she will earn his trust.

When confronted with the first incident of physical abuse, the victim will typically view the response as an aberration—a behavior that is not typical of this person and will not occur again. It is normal, then, for the victim to excuse or explain the behavior—to "forgive" the behavior. This is a normal response for anyone in a new relationship experiencing a new situation. The abuser's telling her that he is sorry and it will never happen again reinforces this response. She has no reason to think it will ever happen again, so she will, understandably, accept his apologies and/or explanation. Further, she is likely to question what caused this behavior and wonder what she did to prompt this behavior, since he has never acted in this manner before.

If an unacceptable form of psychological or physical abuse occurs again, the victim will respond as most persons do: she will likely ask why he is repeating such behavior. In an abusive relationship, the abuser will quickly shift the focus from his behavior to her behavior—stating that his actions are "provoked," "triggered," and/or "caused" by something she did or did not do. This form of blaming can be quite subtle or very overt. He makes it clear that she is responsible "for setting him off" and it won't happen again if she just changes her behavior. She wants their relationship to return to the way things used to be, so she is likely to accept his statements, thinking she can easily change whatever behavior he now claims caused him to act as he did. This process, repeated over and over again, begins to erode her sense of confidence and self-esteem. In addition, she begins to internalize the blame.

Simultaneously, he is beginning the isolation process. He questions whom she spends time with, suggests family and friends are interfering with their relationship, and either asks or forbids her from seeing them again. Even if he does not prevent her from such contacts, he makes it very difficult before and/or after she spends time with others by engaging in such behavior as questioning exactly what they did, where they went, and what they talked about. He acts in a suspicious manner and becomes uncomfortable if she describes doing anything that suggests she had a good time without him. As this continues, it is easier for her to simply quit seeing the people of whom he disapproves rather than face the consequences. She tries to figure out what will set him off so she can

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avoid those situations. It takes her a long time to realize nothing she does can please him or stop his constant barrage of criticism. As she becomes more isolated, she has fewer people with whom to check reality.

Additionally, she experiences a lot of emotional conflict. She is confused about what is happening to her, but she also feels responsible, resulting in feelings of shame, embarrassment, and humiliation. She does not want to believe she could be "one of those women" so she works to justify why he behaved in an abusive fashion, further reinforcing her sense of blame. She is grieving the loss of the person she has come to love and the life they intended to create, so she keeps struggling to change her behavior so he has no reason to become upset and act badly. She keeps trying to control him by changing her behavior to conform to his ever-growing list of complaints. All the while, he is engaged in the thinking pattern of denying he is doing anything unreasonable in making such demands, blaming his actions on her and believing she is responsible for the conflicts they experience. They become enmeshed in a pattern that stops only when she learns she is not responsible for his behavior and when he is held accountable for his behavior.

Adding to the complexity of this pattern is his increasing use of threats and force. This creates a new reaction—fear—which often keeps the woman trapped in the relationship. If she confronts him, he escalates his use of threats and force. If she states her intention to leave if he does not change his behavior, he engages in more severe forms of abuse, telling her that he will kill her if she tries to leave the relationship. She may find it takes less energy to stay and appease him than to try to leave. She may also come to realize it is safer to stay in the relationship than to leave.

OBSTACLES PREVENTING A VICTIM FROM LEAVING

The victim of abuse fears that when she tries to leave, she cannot make it on her own, for a variety of reasons such as lack of finances, lack of resources (i.e., housing), inability to care for the children without assistance, fear of what he will do when he finds the children and her, his pleas and promises that he will change if she just gives him one more chance, her desire to have a lasting marriage/relationship and father for her children, and her all-too-human desire to be with someone who loves her. Interspersed with his abusive behavior are his pronouncements of his love for her, his promise that he will change, and his statements that only she can help him change.

The reality is that most people in non-abusive relationships do not immediately leave even when they believe there is a problem with the relationship. Most people leave more than once before they finally sever the relationship. Victims of domestic violence act just like everyone else: they waiver; they return; and they give it another chance. Rather than saying victims of domestic violence do not leave, it is more accurate to describe their pattern as coming and going from the relationship. Most victims of domestic violence repeatedly attempt to leave the relationship, but return when they cannot overcome the obstacles of getting away from the abuser. They will make a final separation if they are able to find a combination of resources to attend to the needs of their children and themselves, and to do so safely.

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The question is not: "Why does a victim stay?" But rather, "What are the obstacles that prevent a victim from leaving?" A victim may face any/or all of these, or other obstacles:

Economic dependence on the abuser.

Fear for her safety and the safety of her children and/or other family members.

Isolation. She has no support system or others with whom to check reality.

Beliefs about family. She may believe that a family is not to air its dirty laundry and that all families encounter hard times. These beliefs are often reinforced by family, church members, and the legal system.

Beliefs about marriage. She may believe she must stay married forever, that it is "God's will."

Belief that she is the only person who can stop the abuser which is reinforced by the abuser who says that she is the only one who ever understood him.

Belief that he will find her no matter what she does to try to leave. This belief is based in reality if the abuser has hurt the victim when she attempted to leave.

Lack of options and resources. She does not have the money or the resources to support herself and her children.

Fear of being seriously hurt or killed if she attempts to leave. This fear is reinforced by the abuser who tells her that he will kill her if she ever tries to leave. Victims know these are not idle threats as they have feared for their lives before.

Threats against others if the victim leaves. The abuser frequently threatens to hurt all those whom the victim knows and loves—including children, family members, friends, and co-workers.

Health concerns. A victim of family violence may experience her own health issues in later life that make it difficult for her to leave, or she may feel that she must stay to take care of the abusive partner because of his health issues.

Society's ageist responses to elder victims. When elder victims of domestic violence report abuse, those to whom the abuse is reported often presume injuries are the result of the victim's age, not the result of abuse. For example, people may blame the bruises on the victim's frail condition rather than on abuse. People may interpret the victim's silence around financial and other issues as senility and lack of ability rather than fear to speak up in the presence of the abusive person.

LEAVING DOES NOT MEAN SAFETY

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Those who work with victims of domestic violence may be tempted to put their emphasis on pushing the victim to leave the relationship. This approach may, in fact, put her at higher risk of danger. An appropriate response is to help her determine what her risks are and help her to problem-solve how to minimize those risks. In some cases, staying within the relationship may be the safest response.

Statistics indicate that women are at a greater risk of becoming victims of domestic homicide when they attempt to leave the relationship. In fact, women who leave their batterers are at a 75 percent greater risk of being killed by their batterer than those who stay (Wilson and Daly 1993).

Victims who attempt to leave are often hunted down—stalked, harassed, threatened, and pursued across county and state lines. Because abusers believe they are entitled to control the behavior of their partners, they may continue this behavior even after the petition for divorce is filed or granted. This is so common it is known as "separation violence."

The rate of attack against women separated from their husbands is about three times higher than that of divorced women and 25 times higher than that of married women.

HOW THE DYNAMICS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AFFECT LEGAL CASES

Once victim service providers working within the legal system understand the dynamics of domestic violence, they know to expect and prepare for these types of victim behavior:

Repeated filing and dropping of a case.

Changing her story once the seriousness of abuse is disclosed.

Minimizing the abuse once it is discovered.

Changing her mind about what is wanted in the settlement or a willingness to give up important legal rights.

Denying anything ever happened or explaining away all the documented abuse.

Taking responsibility for the abuse by either saying she provoked or deserved it or by explaining its occurrence by saying she fell down or ran into a wall.

It is crucial for members of the legal system to view these behaviors as the victim's effort to be safe and stay alive.

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The victim will do whatever it takes to feel safe. If it feels safe to start an action, she will do so. If she assesses she is in more danger by continuing her involvement with the criminal justice system, she will back away.

A victim is at great risk once she takes steps or indicates her intent to leave. The abuser will likely increase the tactics used to control her. The victim will now either receive a lot of positive or negative attention from the abuser, which may result in her not wanting to continue with actions such as a protective order, divorce, or prosecution.

Working with victims can be a frustrating experience. The victim service provider, including the attorney, wants the best legal outcome. The victim's goal is to stay alive or get out of the relationship safely. These goals may conflict.

Each person has a separate role in the system. The prosecutor's role is to hold the batterer accountable for his behavior. The advocate's role is to help the victim understand the system, to provide accurate and complete information about her options and resources and to support the choices she makes. The victim's role is to stay safe. All members of the system need to support her efforts to stay safe and alive.

When a prosecutor is involved in a case with a reluctant witness (which is likely to be most cases, because the dynamics of domestic abuse teach us that the victim will not testify if she believes it will subject her or her children to further violence), the prosecutor needs to educate the jury as to her behavior. If the prosecutor uses an expert witness, the witness is being asked to describe the "battered woman's syndrome." The battered woman's syndrome explains her behavior via the cycle of violence and the theory of learned helplessness. What follows is an examination of these concepts and their drawbacks. Nationally, prosecutors report they are more successful in cases with reluctant witnesses when they provide this explanation, rather than rely on an expert.

The Cycle of Violence. In 1979, Dr. Lenore Walker—in the landmark book The Battered Woman—identified three distinct phases that comprise the "cycle of violence." Dr. Walker determined that the phases vary in duration and intensity; as such, it is difficult to predict how long a batterer and victim will remain in any one phase or in the length of individual cycles.

Phase One is described as the tension building phase in which the abuser becomes more and more prone to react to any stimulus negatively. The victim responds to the escalation in tension by trying to nurture or appease him—or to stay out of his way. In this phase, the abuser becomes fearful that the victim may leave him, which is reinforced as she avoids him in the hope of not triggering the impending explosion. He becomes more oppressive, jealous, threatening, and possessive. Victims often describe this phase as "walking on eggshells."

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Phase Two is the battering incident. Phase two is the shortest phase, usually lasting from minutes to a few hours. When the acute attack is over, it is usually followed by initial shock, denial, and disbelief that it really happened. Both the batterer and the victim find ways of rationalizing the seriousness of such attacks. Many victims report reactions similar to those of disaster victims. Victims of catastrophe usually suffer emotional collapse twenty-four to forty-eight hours after the disaster. Symptoms include listlessness, depression, and feelings of helplessness. Similarly, battered women often do not experience the full emotional impact of an attack until twenty-four to forty-eight hours after it has occurred.

Phase Three is described as the "honeymoon phase." Just as phase two is characterized by brutality, phase three is characterized by the extremely kind, loving, and contrite behavior of the abuser. He knows he has gone too far and tries to make it up to his victim. It is a phase welcomed by both parties, but ironically it is the phase during which the woman's victimization becomes complete. In this phase, the batterer constantly behaves in a charming and loving manner. He is usually sorry for his actions in the previous phase. He conveys his remorse to the victim, promises that he will never do it again, and begs her forgiveness. He is like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. The batterer truly believes that he will never again hurt the woman he loves, and that he will be able to control himself from now on. He also believes that he has taught his partner such a lesson that she will never again behave in a way that tempts him to physically assault her. He is quite sincere and can easily convince anyone involved that his behavior will change.

The batterer frequently begins an intense campaign to win forgiveness and to prevent his victim from separating herself from him permanently. It is common for an abuser in phase three to shower his victim with elaborate gifts and to attempt to "romance" her into forgiveness. He may enlist the aid of significant others—family, friends, clergy, even counselors—to persuade her that breaking up the relationship is a bad decision. Often everyone involved believes the rationalizations—that he is sorry and will change, that his workload or his drinking is to blame, that the children need a father, that the abuser needs the help of the victim—and somehow the victim begins to assume responsibility for his behavior. She sees herself as the one who must stand by her man while he gets the help he so desperately needs. In reality, it is very unlikely that the abuser will ever seriously seek professional help to change his violent behavior as long as the victim stays with him. Most often, the abuser will seek help only after his victim has left him and if he thinks seeking counseling will convince her to return. The battered woman chooses to believe that the behavior she sees during phase three is what her spouse/partner is really like. She chooses to believe that the contrite behavior is more indicative of the real person than the battering behavior.

Victims and advocates for domestic violence victims identify several drawbacks to the use of the cycle of violence. First, not all victims experience these stages. Some abusers simply batter without any indication they are about to do so—there is no tension-building phase. Many victims report they never experience a honeymoon phase—he shows no remorse or contrition in spite of the severity of abuse. Most victims report if they ever

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experienced a honeymoon phase, it disappears over time. Victims report their experience of violence is not a cycle: they may experience none of these phases or they may experience the phases in random order.

A second problem with the use of the cycle of violence is the tendency of the legal system to use it to try to "explain" why violence occurs. In fact, it does not answer the key question the legal system needs to address: Why does the batterer engage in violence? The power and control wheel is the current tool used to explain both the why (to exert power and control) and the how (tactics used to exert power and control) of domestic violence.

Another problem with the cycle of violence is its description of the third phase, in which the abuser is said to show remorse in an attempt to prevent her from leaving. In reality, since there have been concerted efforts to arrest abusers and hold them accountable through the criminal justice system, many victims report abusers as likely to use negative efforts to keep her in the relationship or to encourage her to drop the charges. For example, after an arrest he may act in a loving, begging, contrite manner or he may become more agitated and threatening, blaming her for the consequences of his behavior. He is just as likely to threaten harm to her if she attempts to leave as he is to beg her to stay. The honeymoon phase might more accurately be described as a coercion phase, the coercion may be through the use of positive and/or negative tactics.

Finally, the cycle of violence fails to address the behavior patterns of the abuser and their effect on the victim. Rather, it tends to be explained in terms of their pathology—his sense of desperation and her response based on her low self-esteem. While there may be some truth in this, the analysis also shifts the focus from the abuser's violence and makes the issue a "couple's problem," rather than focusing on his choice to use violence and other controlling behaviors to accomplish his goal of control.

In spite of its limitations, the cycle of violence is commonly referred to in the criminal justice system because it is a component of what is known as the battered woman's syndrome. An attorney may use the battered woman's syndrome to explain why the victim's behavior in the incident under scrutiny is reasonable in light of this woman's circumstances. For example, a prosecutor might introduce the battered woman's syndrome to explain why the victim recants, while a defense attorney might use it to explain the victim's belief that she had to use the amount of force or violence she did that resulted in her abuser's death.

The battered woman's syndrome requires the attorney to explain both the cycle of violence and the theory of learned helplessness and show how they apply to the victim in the legal case. The theory of learned helplessness can be even more troubling than the cycle of violence for victims of domestic violence.

Advocacy for Victims of Domestic Violence

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There are thousands of staff and volunteers in communities across the country who assist, support, and serve victims of domestic violence. Often these professionals provide a lifeline to women and children who desperately need assistance and direction but are confused by the dynamics of their victimization, the thought of leaving a violent environment, and, in some cases, entering into the criminal justice system.

The following are goals of advocacy for victims of domestic violence:

Empower women with the ability to make significant changes and solve problems.

Increase a victim's ability to make a successful transition from a battering environment to independence.

Connect the victim—both in the short- and long-term—with community resources that provide support, encouragement, and assistance.

Provide information and support throughout the criminal justice system and beyond.

Multiple responsibilities are associated with assisting victims of domestic violence:

Responding to crisis calls from victims through twenty-four-hour hotlines.

Accompanying or following law enforcement officials who respond to domestic violence incidents.

Providing safety and shelter to battered women and their children.

Providing follow-up services to increase the number of victims who file charges or seek protection through the civil or criminal courts.

Advising victims about their legal rights throughout the criminal justice system. (see "Domestic Violence and the Criminal Justice System" later in this chapter).

Advising victims about information and resources relevant to protection and security, divorce, custody, and visitation.

Helping victims develop "safety plans."

Providing information and assistance to victims who leave battering environments, including temporary and long-term housing, employment training (or re-training) and placement, and child care.

Providing assistance in financial matters, including child support, restitution, victim compensation, and financial planning.

Upon request, acting as liaison between the victim and the criminal justice system.

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Providing peer counseling.

Providing support groups.

Providing information and referrals to community resource agencies, including public assistance, child protective agencies, public and mental health agencies, social services, and schools.

Providing training to law enforcement, criminal justice, social service, mental health, and other allied professionals about the dynamics of domestic violence and the specific rights and needs of domestic violence victims.

Working to establish or strengthen a coordinated community response to domestic violence and its victims.

Generating greatly needed public awareness about domestic violence and its effects on victims, witnesses, communities, and society in general.

Working to affect changes in laws, agency policies, protocols, and programs that enhance rights and services for victims of domestic violence.

Tennessee Domestic Violence Agency Resources

For a list of domestic violence programs in the state of Tennessee, visit the Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence website at www.tcadsv.org and go to Tennessee Programs.

VICTIM VALIDATION

One of the most crucial skills a victim advocate must possess is the ability to validate the victim's feelings, experiences, and fears. Many domestic violence victims do not view themselves as victims, and fail to realize that domestic violence is a crime perpetrated against many other women.

Guidelines for validation of domestic violence victims include the following:

Learn and practice effective communication skills, including verbal and nonverbal techniques.

When interviewing the battered woman, do not ask for verification of her story from second parties.

Assess the complete history of violence, including the current battering incident as well as the first and worst incidents.

When conducting this assessment, ask the woman directly to describe the violent acts and how she felt when and after they occurred as well as how she feels now.

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Do not avoid speaking directly about the violence. Provide encouragement and support to the victim for sharing her feelings and experiences.

Empathize with the victim and validate her feelings, stressing the criminal nature of the violence, and the fact that the victim is not to blame.

Universalize the crime of domestic violence, pointing out the scope and prevalence of such crimes that cut across socioeconomic, racial, cultural, and geographic lines.

Provide information and referrals for continued support and assistance, including local, state, and national resources.

Develop a plan for follow-up contact, support, and assistance from you, your agency, or allied community service or criminal justice agencies.

Affirm the fact that the victim is not alone and that there are people and programs available to assist and support her.

VICTIM-CENTERED ADVOCACY

In her book, Safety Planning with Battered Women—Complex Lives/Difficult Choices, Jill Davies encourages advocates to provide woman-centered advocacy, which for purposes of this discussion will be hereinafter referred to as victim-centered advocacy. Victim-centered advocacy involves engaging in a risk analysis with the client based on her perceptions. An advocate needs to find out what a client perceives as risks, and how the advocate can most effectively use this information to advance the woman's plans and priorities. The advocate and the woman may be working at cross-purposes, either deliberately, because they have different goals, or inadvertently, because the advocate does not know enough to ask about the client's concerns.

Victim-centered advocacy involves a three-step process: (1) help the client identify what she perceives as batterer-generated risks and what the effect of staying or leaving may be on those risks; (2) help the client identify life-generated risks and identify how the abuser may manipulate these risks to further his control; and (3) assess the client's past and current safety plans.

The first step involves identification of batterer-generated risks. These include risk of physical injury; risk of psychological harm (including concerns regarding her mental health, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicidal ideation); child-related risks; financial risks; risks to family and friends, including the possible loss of relationship with them; and risks involving arrest and legal status. Gathering this information involves approaching each woman as a unique individual whose concerns may vary from those of other victims, listening effectively, and understanding that a woman's perspective will change as the process unfolds.

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The second step in identification of batterer-generated risks is to listen effectively. This involves creating a safe place in which the woman can speak openly. Only then can an assessment of risk factors be made. This approach is quite different from the approach taken by an advocate who says "I only have twenty minutes to spend with the client so I make sure I spend the time describing what services are available to her." This approach to advocacy does not explore whether any of these services are relevant to the particular woman. In addition, this approach does little or nothing to establish trust with the client. Without a relationship of trust, the client is less likely to contact the advocate again. Establishing trust begins by listening to her story and hearing her concerns and questions.

Battered women analyze the risks to themselves and their children on an ongoing basis. What she fears as the biggest risk will likely change as his tactics change and as she receives information that allows her to reassess her previous concerns. Unfortunately, advocacy often stops at assessment of the physical risks, which is only one of her fears.

An advocate can also assist the client to identify life-generated risks. These include such issues as: finances; home location; physical and mental health; discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, class, or other form of bias; and inadequate response from major social institutions including the legal and/or health system and workplace. Beyond identification of the concerns, real or perceived, the client expresses about such life-generated risks, the advocate also needs to assist the client in discussing the methods by which the batterer may manipulate these risks to reinforce his power and control.

Once the batterer-generated and life-generated risks are discovered, the advocate can begin the process of giving the client complete and accurate information to dispel any concerns or explain options to address the concern. The advocate can also begin the process of allowing the woman to engage in decision making and safety planning. As women weigh the risks and their options, the decision they face is more complex than simply whether to stay or to leave. Even if the woman does stay in the relationship, it does not mean she accepts the violence. It cannot be overemphasized that leaving the relationship provides neither a guarantee of her safety nor a guarantee that other risks will be reduced, despite social beliefs to that effect.

Studies show that women typically try many strategies to deal with the abuse. Researchers find the process of change is slow for most battered women, with an average of leaving five times before permanently leaving, and an average length of eight years to leave permanently. As noted earlier, studies also show women who left suffered more abuse than those who stayed.

After identifying the risks, the goal is to help the victim to create a safety plan that addresses the batterer-generated and life-generated risks. Such a plan includes protection strategies, staying strategies, and leaving strategies.

DEVELOPING A SAFETY PLAN

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If and when a victim is able to leave her battering environment, it is essential that she has a "safety plan" to increase her opportunity for a successful departure. Advance planning is crucial. Start by assessing the battered-generated and life-generated risks with her. Based on this information, concerns and actions may need to include the following:

Does she have family and friends with whom she can stay?

Would she find a protective order helpful?

Can a victim advocate safely contact her at home? What should the advocate do if the batterer answers the phone?

Does she know how to contact emergency assistance (i.e., 911)?

If she believes the violence might begin or escalate, can she leave for a few days?

Does she know how to contact a shelter? (If she doesn't, provide her with information for future use.)

Does she have a neighbor she can contact or with whom she can work out a signal for assistance when violence erupts or appears inevitable?

If she has a car, can she hide a set of keys?

Can she pack an extra set of clothes for herself and the children, and store them—along with an extra set of house and car keys—with a neighbor or friend?

Can she leave extra cash, checkbook, or savings account book hidden or with a friend for emergency access?

Can she collect and store originals or copies of important records such as birth certificates, social security cards, driver’s license, financial records (such as banking and other financial accounts, mortgage or rent receipts, the title to the car, etc.), and medical records for herself and her children?

Does she have a concrete plan for where she should go and how she can get there regardless of when she leaves?

Does she have a disability that requires assistance or a specialized safety plan?

Does she want access to counseling for her children or herself?

Are there any other concerns that need to be addressed?

Domestic Violence and the Criminal Justice System

INITIAL CONTACT WITH THE LEGAL SYSTEM THROUGH 911 EMERGENCY CALLS

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Domestic violence calls should receive priority from law enforcement agencies. Dispatchers should be specially trained in how to handle such calls, including victim sensitivity and nonjudgmental attitudes in cases of repeat calls. Information dispatchers should obtain the information that is essential to police response:

Who is calling.

Address of complainant.

Telephone number (usually automatically provided by computer in 911 systems).

Location of caller if not at the scene of the crime.

Who is present (including children).

What is happening (is the victim and/or others in household safe?).

Whether weapons are present.

Whether there are any injuries to victim(s) and/or witnesses.

Status of the alleged assailant:

o Location of assailant. o Prior history of abuse by assailant. o Any court orders or protective conditions in effect.

Status of the offender within the criminal justice system (when applicable).

Lethality assessment: Is the assailant threatening the use of violence, the use of force, the use of weapons, or suicide or are other lethality indicators present (see the lethality assessment checklist in "Prosecutor Role in Lethality Assessment" later in this chapter).

Police dispatchers are encouraged to remain on the line to maintain contact with a victim in crisis and to be able to relay important information to the responding law enforcement officer(s). The 911 call is invaluable for later criminal justice intervention because it contains information as to who was doing what to whom and the impact of the violence on the victim and children.

POLICE RESPONSE/ARREST

Many law enforcement agencies have developed and implemented protocols and policies for responding to domestic violence. As crisis responders, both victim sensitivity and caution are vital to the safety and security of all involved. In addition, responding officers can provide a valuable service to victims of domestic violence by offering them information and referrals to assistance and support from victim service providers.

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A law enforcement protocol for responding to domestic violence should include the following objectives:

Obtain as much information as possible from the dispatcher. Approach the scene with caution, preferably with a partner. When the alleged assailant is present, immediately separate him from the victim. When the alleged assailant is not present, immediately attempt to ascertain his

location. Secure the scene and check for weapons. Make mental notes about the condition

of the scene. Check for the presence of witnesses, especially children. Immediately detect signs of injury to the victim(s) and seek emergency medical

treatment, as needed. Interview victim and any witnesses separate from the assailant/offender:

o Maintain sensitivity toward the victim(s). o Be accurate and thorough, because the police report will be the basis for

the case. o Determine history of violence.

Collect the following evidence:

o Record "excited utterances" (excited statements made by victims or witnesses at the critical stage immediately following the arrival of law enforcement), which may be allowed into court as exceptions to the rule against hearsay.

o Record statements from victim(s), witness(es), and alleged assailant. o Observe demeanor of victim and alleged assailant. o Photograph victim and crime scene. o Take notes and draw sketches that describe the crime scene. o Obtain a copy of the emergency response or dispatcher audiotapes (911

call) and/or police videotape of scene. o Include medical and emergency room records.

Determine "probable cause" for arrest. Determine violation of any court order, injunction, or specific conditions of

probation and parole. Provide information about domestic violence to the victim. This information

includes statements such as: "You are not responsible for his violence." "You do not deserve to be abused." "I am concerned for your safety." "Your children are being affected by witnessing violence against you." "I just want you and your children to be safe, and I want him to get help for his use of violence." "His behavior will not stop without intervention."

Provide any information required by law outside the presence of the abuser. This includes information about a no-contact waiver or how to bail the abuser out of jail.

Provide an immediate referral to a shelter, domestic violence program, or victim services.

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Follow up with the victim after the initial contact to determine her current status and to take additional photos.

Tennessee’s Domestic Violence Arrest Policy

Tennessee law outlines specifics regarding arrests in domestic violence cases. Specifically, the Tennessee Code states, “If a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that a person has committed a crime involving domestic abuse, whether the crime is a misdemeanor or felony, or was committed with or without the presence of the officer, the preferred response of the officer is arrest,” (T.C.A. 36-3-619). The law goes on to state that the officer on the scene needs to determine the primary aggressor in the domestic abuse situation. The law sets out specific requirements the officer must consider in determining the primary aggressor:

The history of domestic abuse between the parties; The relative severity of the injuries inflicted on each person; Evidence from the persons involved in the domestic abuse; The likelihood of future injury to each person; Whether one of the persons acted in self-defense; and Evidence from witnesses of the domestic abuse.

Only the primary aggressor can be arrested. If the officer determines that all parties are equally responsible, the officer must exercise his or her best judgment in whether to arrest all parties or none of the parties. In addition, the Tennessee code also states that the officer will offer transportation to the victim to a place of safety, will advise the victim of community services, and will give information regarding the victim’s legal rights.

POLICE REPORT

Because domestic violence cases may have to be prosecuted without the assistance of the victim, it is crucial the officer recognize his or her role as the chief witness for the case. The officer will be the witness who provides both the eyes-at-the-scene report for the jury and an impartial—and thus, credible—description of what occurred. This person is the "make-it-or-break-it" witness. The officer's testimony, coupled with an explanation of why the victim acts as she does, is generally all that is needed for successful prosecution. The police report is the crux of the prosecution and must be thorough, accurate, and nonjudgmental. The following items are needed in the police report for successful prosecution with a reluctant witness:

1. Times (incident, arrival, statement). 2. What parties are present? If certain parties are not present, where are they?

Document your effort to locate missing party(ies) and how they responded if located.

3. Record (describe) the emotional state of the victim and suspect. This information is needed to establish the foundation for testimony.

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4. Determine injury to victim; injury to suspect. Self-defense? Strangulation? Attach a body map with victim/suspect injury (e.g., marks, bruises, swelling, or statement of the same).

5. Describe the scene, especially where the parties say the incident occurred. Does the injury match the story? Is anything disturbed? Are there any signs of force?

6. Determine relationship of victim/suspect: Where did they live in the past few years? Who are their relatives and friends?

7. State if children are present or not present and describe the involvement of children.

8. Describe involvement of any witnesses and get information from them.9. Take pictures of the victim and suspect. Take pictures of the condition of the

home and places of incident/injury. Repeat photos of injuries several times later. 10. Collect evidence. Telephone? Torn clothing? Weapons? Blood stains? Any items

used to defend or injure? 11. Determine if medical attention was sought. Obtain a copy of the medical release. 12. Note when any of the following are present: order or protection or conditions of

release; probation; alcohol or other drug for victim/suspect; suicide threats; abused pets.

13. Include all statements/excited utterances from parties—make no editorial/speculative remarks.

14. Note how the parties interact. For example: the suspect's treatment of the victim; who answers questions; description of language and behavior directed at the victim by the suspect; victim's eye contact or continual "checking in" with the suspect.

15. Record witnesses' names, addresses, telephone numbers, workplaces, relationship, and the same information for family and friends.

16. Note how the responding officer can reach the victim during the next twenty-four hours: name, address, workplace, family contact name and telephone number, and the telephone number of a person who knows how to reach the victim (obtain this information out of the presence of the suspect).

17. Take notes for narrative: victim statement; suspect statement; witness and child's statement; probable cause for arrested party; description of injuries to both parties; possibility of self-defense; any history of abuse; presence of risk factors. Determine if statements of incident match the physical evidence and injuries. If not, how do they differ? Are there self-defense wounds such as bite marks, scratches, marks on suspect's knuckles or hands?

18. Request to save the 911 tape and request a copy of the videotape, if either exists.

PRETRIAL RELEASE AND TRIAL STRATEGY: ADVOCATE AND PROSECUTION ROLE

Many prosecutors have victim support programs within their agencies or rely upon services available from community-based victim service organizations. Services for victims of domestic violence may include the following:

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Completing the intake process for a criminal case, which includes histories of the victim and any children; case history; court orders (when applicable); victim/defendant description; information about the current incident and the history of violence; defendant information; and referrals.

Assistance in securing protective measures.

Referral to appropriate victim and social service agencies.

Court preparation.

Court accompaniment.

Providing information about civil and criminal remedies.

Providing counseling and support groups.

Ongoing use of victim-centered advocacy.

The safety of the victim and any children must be paramount in any decisions made concerning pretrial release. Victim service providers should provide the prosecutor with the following information and advocate for these measures to help ensure victim security:

Information to convey to the prosecutor.

Wishes of the victim, including wishes for batterer to receive treatment including alcohol or other drug treatment. Victim-centered advocacy should be used to ascertain the victim's wishes.

Concrete steps that could be taken by members of the legal system to ensure victim safety and to hold the abuser accountable.

Whether the victim is reluctant to testify.

Information as to the victim's beliefs regarding lethality assessment (see checklist below).

Need for the abuser to know the decision to prosecute rests with the state—not with the victim. This can reduce the likelihood that the abuser will pressure the victim throughout the trial.

Safety measures to suggest to the prosecutor, dependent on the victim's situation:

Pretrial incarceration.

Higher bail/bond or denial of bail.

Victim notification of defendant's release.

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No contact between the victim and the defendant as a condition of bond and/or condition of release. Generally, no contact should be ordered in all cases to avoid further abuse.

Protective or restraining orders and their enforcement.

Alternative safe housing for the victim and any children.

In some jurisdictions, post-charge diversion programs are used to suspend case processing while the abuser undergoes batterers' treatment. Victim service providers must be aware of these programs and be able to explain them to victims, including program guidelines; treatment modalities; and whether or not the defendant will be prosecuted upon "successful" completion of the program as well as what could happen if he does not complete it.

PROSECUTION AND THE COURTS

When prosecuting domestic violence cases, all members of the criminal justice system need to proceed with two goals in mind at all times: provide safety for the victim and hold the abuser accountable for his behavior. The victim will make decisions about what she believes best protects her and her children. Her decisions may appear to conflict with the desires of one or more members of the criminal justice system. Victim advocates should anticipate this tension and be prepared to explain why it exists. They should not force or expect a victim to act against what she believes best provides for her safety; to do so puts her at high risk of abuse/death.

Prosecutors play a key role in holding domestic violence offenders accountable and in assisting victims and witnesses in such cases. In 1998, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges published two recommendations for prosecutors relevant to domestic violence:

Prosecutors should initiate, manage, and pursue prosecution in all family violence cases where a criminal case can be proved, including proceeding without the active involvement of the victim, if necessary.

Prosecutors should have specialized family violence personnel and written procedures for prompt screening and charging in family violence cases.

These recommendations serve to place responsibility for prosecuting batterers on the criminal justice system rather than on the victim; to provide specialized services for victims and witnesses; and to expedite criminal justice processes in domestic violence cases. They are a reminder of the separate roles of each member of the legal system.

Many prosecutors' offices today offer specialized units for domestic violence cases and victims, with personnel trained in the dynamics of domestic violence, legal issues specific to such cases, and victim sensitivity. Furthermore, vertical prosecution units include prosecutors whose caseloads contain solely domestic violence cases.

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Prosecutors are encouraged to adopt some version of a "no drop" policy in which cases proceed whether or not the prosecutor is dealing with a reluctant victim. They should avoid referring to the victim as being "non-cooperative”; she is cooperative: she is making choices to do what she believes best enhances her safety and the safety of her children.

Prosecutors should expect to deal with victims who do not wish to testify for a variety of factors, among them fear of retaliation. Cases can and are easily won with a reluctant witness by preparing the case from the beginning as if it is a homicide case. This is done as follows:

Use each step of the process to educate the jury. At voir dire, ask specific questions about what prospective jurors know and believe about domestic violence. Ask questions to find out if the jurors are capable of understanding that a victim may be reluctant to testify.

Always prepare a case as if the victim will be reluctant to testify. Even those victims who begin the process as a willing witness may become reluctant under pressure from the abuser.

Provide training to all line officers so they know what information prosecutors need from them in their police report to prosecute a domestic violence case with a reluctant witness. Training programs should include an explanation about why this information is necessary.

Provide training that emphasizes the need for excited utterances and their admissibility in court as an exception to hearsay rules. Prosecutors need to train police officers to be "partners" with the prosecution.

Begin a program of "cameras for cops." Every squad needs to be outfitted with cameras so the officer can provide a key component to a successful prosecution: pictures can document the severity of the abuse the victim is attempting to minimize, explain away, or deny.

Use the police officer who responded to the call as the chief witness. This person provides information regarding "excited utterances" from the crime scene (i.e., excited statements made by victims or witnesses at the critical stage immediately following the arrival of law enforcement). The officer will also provide other information (see "Police Report" earlier in this chapter).

Use testimony from family members or witnesses, including their statements of past abuse.

Use 911 audio tapes.

Use sworn statements of victims.

Use testimony from victim advocates.

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Use videotapes of victims from initial interviews.

Use expert witnesses unless the prosecutor chooses to explain the victim's reluctance.

Subpoena the victim to appear at the trial. In most cases, the reluctant witness will appear for the trial, but may minimize or explain away the incident(s). The victim may even deny what occurred, although this is less likely to occur with the use of a 911 tape. In a few cases, the victim does not show up at all for the trial. The prosecutor who subpoenas the victim allows her to be clear about the role of the state in prosecuting this case; and it clearly tells the abuser that the victim is attending the trial because she has been ordered by the court to appear. Victims report they are in less danger from the abuser when they show up at court because of a court order (the subpoena).

In some cases, the victim does not show up even with the issuance of a subpoena. The prosecutor needs to decide how crucial the victim's testimony is to determine whether the prosecutor will send an officer out to bring the victim in for the trial. Generally, if the prosecutor has prepared the case well and has the testimony of a police officer regarding the incident, the case can go forward without the victim's presence. It is absolutely contrary to the goals of the criminal justice system to prosecute a victim for failure to respond to a subpoena. This action gives the victim the message that if she calls for help, she will be punished. It also gives the abuser another tool for manipulation by reminding the victim that the criminal justice system will not take her fears seriously if she calls for help. This defeats the purpose of prosecution in these cases and further endangers the victim's safety while contributing to the abuser's belief system that she is the problem.

PROSECUTOR ROLE IN LETHALITY ASSESSMENT

Throughout the trial, the prosecutor needs to do a lethality assessment to make choices relevant to major decisions such as whether to subpoena the victim to appear; whether to set no-contact conditions; and whether to provide enhanced safety measures. The prosecutor also needs to present this information to the judge and the jury so they understand the severity of the abuse and the likelihood of its continuation.

While all batterers are dangerous, some are more likely to kill than others are, and some are more likely to kill at specific times. Assessment is difficult and never foolproof. The following checklist (adapted from "Beyond the Duty to Warn," written by Barbara Hart) provides a list of issues to be explored with the victim to assess lethality. The presence of any of the following factors does not mean the batterer will kill; however, the greater number of these indicators demonstrated by the batterer or the greater the intensity of the indicators, the greater the likelihood of a life-threatening attack. When assessing lethality, it is important to gather information about these indicators from the batterer and the battered victim separately. Further, information obtained from the victim is significantly more reliable than that from the batterer. Finally, lethality is to be assessed for the victim, family members, and those who assist the victim.

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1. Threats of homicide or suicide. The batterer who has threatened to kill himself, his partner, the children and/or relatives must be considered extremely dangerous.

2. Fantasies of homicide or suicide. The more the batterer has developed a fantasy about who, how, when, and/or where to kill, the more dangerous the batterer may be. A batterer who has previously acted out part of a homicide or suicide fantasy may believe killing is a viable "solution" to his "problems." As with suicide assessment, the more detailed the plan and the more available the method, the greater the risk.

3. Weapons. When a batterer possesses weapons and has used them or threatened to use them in the past, access to weapons increases the potential for lethal assault. The use of guns is a strong indicator of homicide potential. If the batterer has a history of arson, fire should be considered a lethal weapon.

4. Depression. If a batterer is acutely depressed and sees little hope for moving beyond the depression, the batterer may be a candidate for suicide or homicide.

5. Alcohol or other drug consumption. Consumption of alcohol or other drugs when in a state of despair or fury can escalate violence.

6. Obsessiveness about partner or family member, also exhibited as "ownership" of the battered partner. A batterer who obsesses about his or her partner, indicating an unwillingness or inability to live without the partner, likely believes he or she is entitled to the partner no-matter-what. Statements such as "death before divorce," or "you belong to me and no one else can ever have you," are an indication that the batterer believes his or her partner has no right to a life separate from the batterer. A batterer who believes in entitlement to his partner, including the partner's services, loyalty, and obedience, is likely to be life threatening.

7. Centrality of the partner. A batterer who either idolizes or depends on his partner to organize and sustain his life, or who isolates himself from the community, may find the loss of his partner represents the loss of hope for the future. If the batterer's partner tries to leave or end the relationship, the batterer may retaliate against the partner, rationalizing that the partner's "betrayal" justifies a lethal reaction. The prosecutor should become familiar with what, if any, support system the batterer has created for himself aside from the victim.

8. Pet abuse. If a batterer assaults or mutilates pets, he is more likely to kill a partner.

9. Rigid beliefs about partner roles. A batterer who has rigid beliefs about the roles to be assumed by himself and his partner may be more likely to seriously harm or kill the partner. For example, a batterer whose religious beliefs say the man is to be in charge may feel sanctioned to engage in violence.

10. Repeated outreach to law enforcement. Partner homicide almost always occurs in the context of a history of violence. If law enforcement is called repeatedly, this pattern may indicate that the batterer is not internally motivated to change his or her behavior. Prior calls to law enforcement likely indicate an elevated risk of life-threatening conduct.

11. Separation violence. The most life-endangering rage usually occurs when the batterer believes his partner intends to leave, and the batterer does not desire a life alone.

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12. Escalation of batterer personal risk. When a batterer begins to act without regard to the legal or social consequences that previously constrained his or her violence, chances of lethal assault increase. One example of this could be the closeted gay or lesbian batterer who is now risking exposure by engaging in severe, life-threatening attacks. Risking the loss of invisibility may be an indication that the batterer is very desperate.

13. Hostage-taking. A hostage-taker is at high risk of committing homicide. Between 75 to 90 percent of all hostage-takings in the United States are related to domestic violence situations.

14. Access to the partner or the partner's family members. If the batterer cannot find his partner, he cannot kill the partner. If the batterer does not have unsupervised access to the children, the batterer cannot use the children as a means to have contact with his partner. Careful safety planning and police assistance are required when there is to be contact between the batterer and the victim for such things as court appearances, custody/visitation exchanges, or family functions.

JUDICIAL RESPONSE TO POLICY REGARDING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASES: DOCKETING

More and more courts today are giving priority to domestic violence cases. In some jurisdictions, all domestic violence cases are heard on the same day, with the same judge, prosecutor, and victim advocate present throughout all proceedings. This use of vertical prosecution units expedites handling of domestic violence cases. To reduce the potential for further violence, domestic violence cases should be given priority on court dockets. The judge has the greatest, if not total, influence over the docketing calendar.

JUDICIAL RESPONSE DURING TRIAL

The judge has an enormous opportunity to contribute to victim safety and hold the batterer accountable by making appropriate decisions regarding whether to allow pretrial release, and if so, what conditions to place on the abuser. During the course of the trial, the judge sets the tone for questioning in the courtroom. At the time of sentencing, the judge has an excellent opportunity to provide victim safety and to hold the abuser accountable through the use of sentencing options.

These options begin with the judge requesting the following information from the prosecutor:

Has the prosecutor consulted with the victim to determine her wishes?

Has the prosecutor ascertained information from the victim outside the presence of the abuser? If not, how does the prosecutor know whether the wishes are coerced by the abuser?

Has the prosecutor explained to and explored the dynamics of abuse with the victim?

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Has the prosecutor conducted a lethality assessment with the victim? If so, the judge can request the results of this assessment. If not, the judge can delay a decision and the proceedings until such an assessment is conducted.

What is the defendant's prior record? The judge is then able to determine what conditions are appropriate, including no contact based on an alcohol or other drug assessment, and lethality assessment.

JUDICIAL RESPONSE AT THE TIME OF SENTENCING: MONITORING OFFENDERS

In Spousal/Partner Assault: A Protocol for the Sentencing and Supervision of Offenders (1994), former Chief Probation Officer Andrew Klein of Quincy, Massachusetts, offers four key components of strict supervision conditions:

Punishment.

o Punitive conditions. o Financial assessments. o Apology to victim. o Community service. o Non-jail loss-of-liberty confinement (in cases not involving incarceration). o Electronic monitoring. o Intensive supervision.

Rehabilitation.

o Mandatory treatment that is "batterer-specific" provided by professionals who are specialists.

o Model regulations for abuser treatment that bar any approach that "blames or intimidates the victim or places the victim in a position of danger that is not appropriate."

o No couples counseling (keep victim separated from abuser). o Mandatory alcohol and other drug treatment, with a mandate of

abstinence.

Retribution/restoration.

o Restitution (including direct and indirect for replacement costs of damaged property, medical and counseling bills, and attorney costs).

o Ongoing child support. o Mortgage or rent payments. o All payments should be made through the court or correctional institution.

Protection. The offender should:

o Obey all outstanding civil protective or restraining orders.

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o Forfeit weapons, particularly guns and rifles. o Submit to warrantless searches of person or home. o Be supervised at maximum intensity. o Satisfy special protective obligations when children are involved such as

custody, visitation, etc.

Batterers Intervention Programs. Generally, there are six basic principles upon which successful intervention and treatment programs for batterers are based:

The batterer is responsible for his behavior. The victim cannot cause the violence or eliminate it.

Provocation does not provide justification for violence.

Violence is a behavior of choice—a dysfunctional, destructive choice with negative consequences.

Nonviolent alternatives to violence exist as functional, appropriate choices.

Violence is a learned behavior. Just as the perpetrator learns to be violent, so he can learn to be nonviolent.

Violence affects all family members. Although this impact may be less obvious, children learn that violence is an acceptable method of problem solving.

Seven common mainstream procedures for batterers intervention programs were identified by the National Institute of Justice:

1. Intake. First contact with batterer referred by the criminal justice system.

2. Assessment. Client agrees with terms of the program and is assessed for dangerousness, extent of abuse, substance abuse, mental illness, illiteracy, or other obstacles to treatment.

3. Victim contact. Victims may be notified about the batterer's status in the program, of any imminent danger, and victim services.

4. Orientation. An initial phase of group intervention that may be more didactic than later meetings.

5. Group treatment. A setting for a specific educational curriculum or less structured discussions about relationships, anger-management skills, or group psychotherapy.

6. Leaving the program. Batterers may complete the program, be terminated for noncompliance, or be asked to repeat the program.

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7. Follow-up. May consist of informal self-help groups of program graduates or less frequent group treatments (Healey, Smith, and O'Sullivan 1998).

There are a number of significant barriers to effective batterer’s treatment programs, most notably the overall lack of enough programs to meet the needs of convicted domestic violence perpetrators in the United States. Other factors that adversely affect the success of batterer treatment are as follows:

Offenders who are ordered or mandated by a court to attend a treatment program and may be resistant to change and therefore unwilling to participate.

Many batterers programs are short in duration (ten to twelve weeks), and may be inadequate to change a behavior learned and acted out over a lifetime.

Many convicted perpetrators drop out of court-ordered treatment programs prior to completion and sometimes without appropriate sanctions from the court.

Since most batterer’s treatment programs require the offenders to pay for the service, it is considered by some batterers to be cost-prohibitive.

If a batterer, who is also alcohol/drug dependent, receives treatment only for the violent behavior, then the correlating factor of substance abuse is not addressed.

DISPOSITIONS

Victims of domestic violence should have specific rights relevant to disposition, which include the following:

Consultation with the prosecutor prior to any plea agreement.

Notification of the disposition.

Opportunity to provide a victim impact statement to the court, and to have any children also submit impact statements in measures that are commensurate with their age and cognitive development.

Input into specific conditions of community supervision (in cases resulting in probation).

Opportunity to request specific measures of relief.

Securing a permanent restraining order that does not have to be reissued on a monthly or quarterly basis.

Information and assistance regarding civil remedies.

Information regarding restitution orders and other financial or legal obligations and enforcement.

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Notification of a convicted offender's release from incarceration (when applicable) or violation of any terms of community supervision.

ORDERS OF PROTECTION

Orders of protection are court orders that forbid the abuser from doing certain things to victims, having contact with victims, and/or compelling abusers to comply with certain requirements.

While orders of protection can be issued at any time, it is helpful for victims to seek them as soon as possible after a domestic violence incident has occurred.

Each jurisdiction has different policies and procedures for issuing and monitoring orders of protection. To best assist victims, service providers should be aware of the following considerations to maximize community response to domestic violence:

A definition of "domestic violence victim" that precedes the issuance of a protection order.

The entity which issues orders of protection—family court, municipal court, police department, or a combination depending on the circumstances.

Domestic violence complaints filed in conjunction with requests for protection are considered to be sworn testimony from the victim that can be utilized in court.

Whether the victim can receive a copy of either the complaint or the order of protection.

Whether the victim is entitled to "ex parte" proceedings (only one party, e.g., in this case, the victim, is present before the court, with the defendant not present).

The difference between ex parte orders of protection and final orders of protection in a jurisdiction.

What evidence victims should bring (photographs documenting injuries, documentation of medical records, and/or expenses, etc.).

What happens at the hearing (victim testimony, defendant testimony, presentation of evidence, request for relief by the victim, etc.).

The types of relief available, including— o No contact from defendant. o Prohibition of future acts of violence, intimidation, or harassment by the

defendant. o The defendant physically leaving the home and paying child support,

restitution, and/or rent or mortgage payments.

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o Carrying insurance for the victim and any children to cover all medical expenses.

o Paying a fine to the state victim compensation fund. o No possession of a weapon. o Counseling. o Refraining from using alcohol or other drugs. o Visitation conditions (when applicable).

That consent orders (whereby both parties agree that domestic violence has occurred and agree to abide by all terms of a restraining order) are strictly voluntary on the part of the victim, and cannot be coerced.

That victims should receive information about what to do if any order of protection is violated.

That advocates should be familiar with and able to explain the full faith and credit law (see "The Federal Domestic Violence Laws and the Enforcement of Those Laws" later in this chapter).

Tennessee Orders of Protection

Tennessee Code Annotated specifically outlines Order of Protection criteria under the following statute (§ 36-3-601 through § 36-3-622). Victims of domestic assault, sexual assault, and stalking are eligible to file for an order of protection under this statute. The order of protection scope can include prohibition of direct contact, threats, telephone contact, other indirect communication, and stalking. In addition, provisions can be made in the order of protection to include temporary custody, financial support, household residence, or mandating the respondent to attend counseling.

In 2006, the state of Tennessee made legislative changes that affect orders of protection. Specifically, the changes reflect the following:

T.C.A. § 36-3-602 (b) has been amended to reflect that a petition on behalf of an unemancipated minor can be signed by a caseworker at a state-funded not-for-profit family violence or child abuse prevention program or shelter.

T.C.A. § 36-3-605 was modified to provide that if a court finds that a respondent has violated an order of protection, the order may be extended for five years. For subsequent violations, the order may be extended for ten years.

The Effects of Domestic Violence on Children

It is significant that seven out of ten persons who enter domestic violence shelters are children. In 1998, the Centers for Disease Control published a study that indicated violence against mothers by their intimate partners may also pose a concurrent risk of abuse to the victim's children. Conversely, mothers of abused children are at a higher risk of being abused than mothers of non-abused children. Concurrence of child abuse is

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defined as the proportion of families in the population or research sample in which women and their children are victims of abuse by an intimate. In the mother's case, the intimate is her partner; the child may be abused by either the mother's intimate or by the battered mother. A continuing controversy regarding the prevalence of this type of abuse exists, but most authorities describe the concurrence rate as approximately 50 percent (McKibben, DeVos and Newberger 1998; Ross 1996).

Children are often incorporated into patterns of abuse. Batterers may also do the following:

Physically or sexually abuse their children.

Neglect children emotionally or financially.

Threaten to harm the children.

Use the children as "pawns" in episodes involving partner neglect or abuse.

Attempt to get children to "take sides" in partner disputes.

Degrade and humiliate their partners in front of the children.

Threaten to or actually cut off financial support for children in the event that the partner leaves the battering environment.

The effects on children who witness family violence or who, in some cases, are themselves victims, were summarized in Family Violence: An Overview published by the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN, n.d.). The ramifications of family violence have almost no boundaries. In addition to the obvious physical injuries and deaths that result, family violence is often cited in research and clinical case studies as contributing to numerous other individual, family, and societal problems:

According to Pagelow (1984, 81), "Victims of all types of family violence share a common experience of denigration of self that results in diminished self-esteem. The shame and feelings of worthlessness so often expressed by battered women are shared by maltreated children, as well as maltreated elderly parents."

In their review of research on the effects of family violence on children, Crites and Coker (Spring 1988) report:

o Children learn from an important role model (the parent) that violence toward a loved one is acceptable.

o Children exhibit fear, emotional symptoms such as psychosomatic complaints (physical complaints created by psychological stress), school phobias, enuresis (bed wetting), and insomnia. Young children may try to stop the violence, thus putting themselves at risk for unintended harm or may respond with immobilized shocked staring, running away and hiding, or bedwetting and nightmares.

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o After age five or six, children show strong indications of identifying with the aggressor and losing respect for the victim.

Many children suffer low self-esteem, sadness, depression, stress disorders, poor impulse control, and feelings of powerlessness, and they are at high risk for alcohol and drug use, sexual acting out, running away, isolation, loneliness, fear, and suicide (Jaffe, Wolfe, and Wilson 1990, 28-29).

Sons become aggressive, "act out, become disobedient and behave defiantly and destructively," whereas daughters become "withdrawn, clingy, dependent" (Ibid., 35).

Some adolescent boys assault their mothers and siblings. Older children, especially girls, take on the burden of protecting their younger siblings during the father's beatings. They feel constrained from leaving home (Ibid., 30-31).

Abusers who are extremely domineering and controlling frequently keep or destroy documentation (such as birth certificates and immunization records) as part of their control of the family, thus preventing or seriously delaying the family from receiving welfare benefits or housing assistance (Ibid., 28-29).

When a victim of domestic violence leaves the relationship, many times she is isolated and scared, and has no place to go. The abuser has made sure she has no outside support system. Additionally, she may not have access to any funds to pay for food or shelter for her and her children. Lack of funds and long waiting lists on affordable housing may require a victim to choose between staying in the relationship or living on the streets. A number of studies have concluded that domestic violence contributes to homelessness, particularly among families with children.

Recently 44 percent of cities surveyed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors responded that domestic violence is the primary cause of homelessness (Waxman and Trupin 1997). Similarly, children who are desperate to leave violent home environments run away from home, living on the streets or seeking temporary shelter relief.

Tennessee Child Abuse Reporting Law

A recent change in child abuse reporting laws in Tennessee effective in 2005 requires that all reports be made directly by the individual that suspected the abuse or neglect, not a program designee. This will affect all hospital, clinic, school, and children’s organizations whose policies may have reflected a specific agency designee to report child abuse or neglect. Individuals that fail to make a direct report will be subject to Class A misdemeanor charges (T.C.A. 37-1-403).

Developing a Coordinated Response to Domestic Violence

Victim advocates, criminal justice professionals, social service providers, and allied professionals cannot operate in a vacuum when it comes to providing quality services to victims of domestic violence. There are many professionals who have responsibilities to domestic violence victims. In a lecture to the American Probation and Parole Association's Annual Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1994, national domestic violence

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researcher and advocate Sarah Buel identified the following key components of a model domestic violence response by the community:

Develop and implement a coordinated response with strong advocates from criminal justice, victim services, children's services, and allied professions.

Establish a Family Violence Coordinating Council with monthly meetings to set an agenda and action plans for the community and to determine and clarify roles and responsibilities of individuals and entities.

Do not allow mediation between domestic violence victims and perpetrators because it creates a "power versus powerless" structure and poses danger for the victim. All interviews of victims and offenders should be conducted separately.

Do not allow joint custody under any circumstances.

Do not allow mutual restraining orders unless there are separate petitions with separate supporting findings. Use a checklist for probable cause; determine the history of abuse (through both criminal and civil proceedings); utilize evidence such as 911 tapes; and determine if the victim has a prior history of abuse.

Do not allow couple's counseling.

Implement child visitation centers (such as those in Arizona) that provide supervision, with drop off/pick up times staggered to avoid any contact between the victim and perpetrator.

Implement parenting classes in every junior high school.

Implement a massive community education program, designed to be proactive and to offer information and resources before women and children are victimized.

Implement court appointed special advocates (CASAs) and guardian ad litem (GAL) programs to provide advocacy, support, and representation to children in domestic violence cases.

Offer twenty-four-hour response to victims, as well as twenty-four-hour access to services.

Implement mechanisms to enforce child support and hold fathers financially accountable.

Conduct mandatory and frequent training of all professionals whose work involves domestic violence prevention, advocacy, and/or intervention, including orientation training, continuing education, and multicultural awareness.

Allow for permanent or indefinite restraining orders and orders of protection, eliminating the need for regular renewals.

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Implement frequent briefings on cases and issues affecting victims and the community.

"Fast track" domestic violence cases through priority docketing, specialized domestic violence courts, and vertical prosecution.

Many communities, counties, and states have formed Domestic Violence Coordinating Councils to address prevention, early interventions, victim assistance, and coordinated responses from the criminal justice system and community in responding to domestic violence. Such Councils serve a variety of purposes:

Determining how individuals and agencies in the public and private sectors respond to domestic violence and providing an ongoing forum to coordinate existing efforts and to plan for new initiatives.

Improving the coordination of justice agencies (including law enforcement, prosecutors, courts, probation, prisons, and parole) in domestic violence prevention and response as well as services for both victims and offenders.

Reviewing policies, protocols, and procedures relevant to domestic violence within justice agencies and making recommendations for improvement and for interagency policies that promote better coordination of services.

Collaboratively seeking support (including financial and human resources) from the community for domestic violence prevention and victim assistance services.

Developing and promoting public education and community awareness campaigns about domestic violence, which include publicizing available services and community-based resources for information and referral.

Coordinating public awareness activities during relevant commemorative observances such as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October and National Child Abuse Prevention Month in April.

Reviewing state and jurisdictional laws relevant to domestic violence prevention and response and making recommendations that contribute to a legislative agenda on domestic violence.

Developing short- and long-range strategic plans for preventing and responding to domestic violence.

In Tennessee, the Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence staffs the Domestic Violence State Coordinating Council (DVSCC) and its committees. The Council was developed in July 1995 to develop model programs and training curriculum for law enforcement and Batterer’s Intervention programs. The goal of the DVSCC is to

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improve the criminal justice response through leadership and education (TCADSV, 2005).

See Appendix B for a comprehensive community checklist (1996) detailing important steps to end violence against women, developed by the National Advisory Council on Violence Against Women, established in 1995 by Attorney General Janet Reno and Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna E. Shalala.

The Federal Domestic Violence Laws and the Enforcement of Those Laws

(The following section is excerpted from an article written by Margaret S. Groban, Violence Against Women Act Specialist, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, U.S. Department of Justice, April 1999.)

In 1994, the Congress of the United States, as part of the Crime Bill, enacted legislation empowering the federal government to participate in the fight against domestic violence. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) recognized that "violence against women is a crime with far-reaching, harmful consequences for families, children and society." To combat this violent crime problem, VAWA provided that federal domestic violence crimes be prosecuted by the Department of Justice. Consistent with this federal initiative, the Crime Bill also amended the Gun Control Act to include domestic violence related crimes.

This section provides a concise summary of the federal statutes in both VAWA and the Gun Control Act that allow prosecution of domestic violence offenders in the federal courts and provides a summary of selected prosecutions under each statute and a checklist of offenses.

THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT

Interstate Travel to Commit Domestic Violence. 18 U.S.C. §2261

18 U.S.C. §2261(a)(1).

It is a federal crime for a person to travel interstate (or leave or enter Indian country) with the intent to injure, harass, or intimidate that person's intimate partner when in the course of or as a result of such travel the defendant intentionally commits a violent crime and thereby causes bodily injury. The law requires specific intent to commit domestic violence at the time of interstate travel. The term "intimate partner" includes a spouse, a former spouse, a past or present cohabitant (as long as the parties cohabitated as if they were spouses), and parents of a child in common. The intimate partner definition does not include a girlfriend or boyfriend with whom the defendant has not resided unless protected by state law. There must be bodily injury for prosecution under this statute.

18 U.S.C. §2261(a)(2).

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It is a federal crime to cause an intimate partner to cross state lines (or leave or enter Indian country) by force, coercion, duress, or fraud during which or as a result of which, there is bodily harm to the victim. This subsection does not require a showing of specific intent to cause the spouse or intimate partner to travel interstate. It does, however, require proof that the interstate travel resulted from force, coercion, duress, or fraud. As in subsection 2261(a)(1), the defendant must intentionally commit a crime of violence during the course of or as a result of the travel and there must be bodily injury to the spouse or intimate partner.

Interstate Stalking. 18 U.S.C. §2261A. As of September 23, 1996, it is a federal crime to cross a state line with the intent to injure or harass another person, if in the course of or as a result of such travel, the defendant places such person in reasonable fear of the death of, or serious bodily injury to, that person or a member of that person's immediate family. The law requires specific intent to violate this subsection at the time of interstate travel. "Immediate family" includes a spouse, parent, sibling, child or any other person living in the same household and related by blood or marriage. It is also a federal crime to "stalk," as it is defined in Section 2261A, within the special or maritime jurisdiction of the United States.

Interstate Travel to Violate an Order of Protection. 18 U.S.C. §2262.

18 U.S.C. §2262(a)(1).

This law prohibits interstate travel (or travel into and out of Indian country) with intent to violate a valid protection order that forbids credible threats of violence, repeated harassment, or bodily injury. To establish a violation of this statute, the Government must demonstrate that a person had the specific intent to violate the protection order at the time of interstate travel and that a violation actually occurred. This statute does not require an intimate partner relationship—although this relationship may be required by the state or other governmental body issuing the order—nor does it require bodily injury.

18 U.S.C. §2262(b)(1).

It is a federal crime to cause a spouse or intimate partner to cross state lines (or leave or enter Indian country) by force, coercion, duress, or fraud during which or as a result of which, there is bodily harm to the victim in violation of a valid order of protection. This subsection does not require a showing of specific intent to cause the spouse or intimate partner to travel interstate. It does, however, require proof that the interstate travel resulted from force, coercion, duress, or fraud. The Government must also prove that a person intentionally injured an intimate partner in violation of a protection order during the course of or as a result of the forced or coercive travel. This subsection, unlike corollary Section 2262(a)(1), requires an intimate relationship between the parties.

The U.S. Department of Justice recognizes that under both §§ 2262(a)(1) and (a)(2), law enforcement may be unable to verify the validity of a protection order at the time of arrest. The national data center from which law enforcement and prosecutors now can

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verify instantaneously protection orders will be of enormous benefit to federal authorities in the prosecution of criminal cases under Section 2262. However, because participation in the protection order registry is voluntary and not all states are participating, it will be necessary to consult with the United States Attorney in the appropriate district for guidance in these cases.

To assist in prosecution under Section 2262, it is necessary to examine the protection order currently used in one's jurisdiction.

Penalties. Penalties for violations of Sections 2261, 2261A and 2262 hinge on the extent of the bodily injury to the victim. Terms of imprisonment range from five years for bodily injury to life if the crime of violence results in the victim's death.

FIREARM OFFENSES

Possession of Firearm While Subject to Order of Protection. 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(8). It is illegal for a person to possess a firearm while subject to a court order restraining such person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or the child of an intimate partner. The protection order must have been issued following an evidentiary hearing as to which the defendant had notice and an opportunity to appear. The protection order must also include a specific finding that the defendant represents a credible threat to the physical safety of the victim or must include an explicit prohibition against the use of force that would reasonably be expected to cause injury.

Transfer of Firearm to Person Subject to Order of Protection. 18 U.S.C. §922(d)(8). It is also illegal to transfer a firearm to a person subject to a court order that restrains such person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or the child of an intimate partner. A violation of Section 922(d)(8) must be knowing. Proof concerning knowledge on the part of the supplier may be difficult to establish without a fully operational central registry for protection orders.

Official Use Exemption. 18 U.S.C. §925. The restrictions of Sections 922(d)(8) and (g)(8) do not apply to firearms issued by governmental agencies to a law enforcement officer or military personnel so long as the officer or military personnel is on duty. Personal firearms do not fall within this exemption nor may these personnel possess officially issued firearms when off duty.

Possession of Firearm After Conviction of Misdemeanor Crime of Domestic Violence. 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(9). As of September 30, 1996, it is illegal to possess a firearm after conviction of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. This prohibition applies to persons convicted of such misdemeanors at any time, even if the conviction occurred prior to the new law's effective date.

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Transfer of Firearm to Person Convicted of a Misdemeanor Crime of Domestic Violence. 18 U.S.C. §922(d)(9). It is also illegal to transfer a firearm to a person convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. A violation of Section 922(d)(9) must be knowing.

Official Use Exemption. 18 U.S.C. §925. The official use exemption does not apply to Sections 922(d)(9) and 922(g)(9). This means that law enforcement officers or military personnel who have been convicted of a qualifying domestic violence misdemeanor will not be able to possess or receive firearms for any purpose, including the performance of official duties.

Penalties. The maximum term of imprisonment for a violation of Sections 922(d)(8), 922(g)(8), 922(d)(9), or 922(g)(9), is ten years.

OTHER RELEVANT STATUTES

Full Faith and Credit to Orders of Protection. 18 U.S.C. §2265. This civil law provides that a civil or criminal domestic protection order issued by a court in one state or Indian tribe shall be accorded full faith and credit by the court of another state or tribe, and is to be enforced as if it were the order of the court of the second state or tribe. This law applies to permanent, temporary, and ex parte protection orders that comply with the statute's requirements. To comply, the protection order must have provided the defendant with reasonable notice and an opportunity to be heard, in a manner consistent with due process. This law does not apply to mutual protection orders if (a) the original respondent did not file a cross or counter petition seeking a protective order or (b) if such a cross or counter petition was filed, but the court did not make specific findings that each party was entitled to such an order.

Amendment of the Brady Statement. 18 U.S.C. §922(s). The Brady statement requirements were amended as of September 30, 1996, to include a statement that the recipient of the firearm has not been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. The Brady statement still does not require that the firearm recipient state whether he or she is currently subject to a valid protection order. The recipient will be compelled to fill out, at the time of receipt of the firearm(s), an ATF form requiring certification that he or she is not subject to a valid protection order.

Right of Victim to Speak at Bail Hearing. 18 U.S.C. §2263. The victim of a VAWA crime has the right to be heard at a bail hearing with regard to the danger posed by the defendant. In addition, depending upon the circumstances of the case, the United States Attorney's Office may move for pre-trial detention of the defendant.

Other Victims' Rights. 42 U.S.C. §10606(b). All federal crime victims, including a domestic violence victim, have the right to:

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Be treated with fairness and with respect for the victim's dignity and privacy.

Be reasonably protected from the accused offender.

Be notified of court proceedings.

Be present at all public court proceedings related to the offense, unless the court determines that testimony by the victim would be materially affected if the victim heard other testimony at trial.

Confer with the attorney for the Government in the case.

Restitution.

Information about the conviction, sentencing, imprisonment, and release of the offender.

Restitution. 18 U.S.C. §2264. In a VAWA case, the Court must order restitution after conviction to reimburse the victim for the full amount of losses.

Self-Petitioning for Battered Immigrant Women and Children. 8 U.S.C. §1154. VAWA specifically provides that battered and abused spouses and children of citizens and lawful permanent residents may self-petition for independent legal residency. This statute prevents citizens or residents from using the residency process as a means to exert control over an alien spouse or child and allows victims to remain in the United States independent of their abusive husbands/parents.

The federal domestic violence statutes provide powerful weapons for United States Attorney's Offices around the country to assist state and local law enforcement in their fight against domestic violence. Increased awareness of these federal laws will allow the U.S. Department of Justice to work in a collaborative manner with state and local counterparts in an effort to reduce one of the nation's most serious crime problems.

A checklist of federal domestic violence statutes can be found in Appendix C at the end of the chapter.

THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT OF 2000

The reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act of 2000 extended the funding of key VAWA programs set to expire at the end of the fiscal year 2000. On October 28, 2000 President Clinton signed into law VAWA 2000 as Division B of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (Public Law No: 106-386). The new legislation seeks primarily to improve current methods of addressing violence against women and expand existing programs. It seeks to build on the success of the first act rather than introduce new and sweeping reforms (Heger 2001). VAWA 2000 substantially increases support for sexual violence programs and coalitions. Among new programs tailored to assist underserved populations and new areas of concern are the

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inclusion of dating violence in several VAWA programs, greater protection for battered immigrant women, programs addressing violence against older and disabled individuals, and pilot programs for transitional housing and supervised visitation centers (NCVC 2001).

The Violence Against Women Act of 2005- Reauthorized:

On September 28, 2005 the House passed VAWA (H.R. 3402). On October 4, 2005 the Senate passed VAWA (S. 1197) unanimously for

reauthorization. On January 5, 2006 President Bush signed VAWA 2005 Reauthorization into law.

(Public Law No: 109-162).

THE BATTERED IMMIGRANT WOMEN PROTECTION ACT OF 2000

The Battered Immigrant Women Protection Act of 2000 improves access for battered immigrants to a variety of legal protections provided by VAWA, and sets out procedures for spouses and children to self-petition under VAWA:

It offers greater protection to spouses of citizens or residents who practice bigamy by clearly defining their status and providing them with the right to self-petition under VAWA provisions.

It provides access to VAWA self-petitions to battered immigrants living abroad who are abused by their permanent resident or citizen spouses or parents if they are government employees or members of the U.S. uniformed services.

It allows battered immigrants to file VAWA self-petitions within two years of divorce or death of the abuser. If immigration status of the abuser is lost due to incidents of domestic violence the battered immigrant may self-petition.

It offers clarifications regarding the possibility of naturalization or citizenship of battered immigrant women and protection from deportation when the battered immigrant has left the home of the abuser after being subject to battery or extreme cruelty.

It clarifies the use of VAWA funds to provide legal and social services to battered immigrant women.

It creates a non-immigrant visa for immigrant crime victims who have suffered substantial physical or emotional injury as a result of being subjected to crimes such as rape, torture, trafficking, incest, domestic violence, female genital mutilation, or kidnapping (NOW Legal Defense Fund October 2000).

Tennessee Domestic Violence Criminal Laws

For purposes of domestic assault, Tennessee defines a domestic relationship as, “a spouse, former spouse, person related by blood or marriage, or person who currently resides or in the past has resided with that person as if a family, or a person who has a child or children in common with that person regardless of whether they have been married or resided together at any time” (T.C.A. § 39-13-111). Domestic assault is

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defined and punishable in the same manner as Tennessee’s assault law (T.C.A. § 39-13-101). The only difference between the Tennessee domestic assault statute and the assault statute is the relationship of the offender to the victim. Both assault and domestic assault are considered class A or B misdemeanors depending upon the specifics in the case.

Tennessee defines stalking as a person who, “intentionally and repeatedly follows or harasses another person in such a manner as would cause the person to be in reasonable fear of being assaulted, suffering bodily injury or death,” (T.C.A. § 39-17-315). Stalking statute is a Class A felony.

OTHER STATE LEGISLATIVE TRENDS AND ISSUES

In its 1998 "Family Violence Legislative Update," the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges identified a number of trends in domestic violence legislation:

Making it easier for victims to keep their addresses confidential when obtaining and maintaining orders of protection.

Limiting the use of mediation to determine custody and visitation issues in cases where there is domestic violence.

Creating fatality review commissions.

Mandating that employers begin to address the safety of victims of domestic violence in the workplace.

Requiring hospitals to provide the parents of newborn babies with information about domestic violence and its effect on children.

Authorizing courts to take an offender's property and garnish a portion of his wages to meet unpaid restitution obligations to his victim.

Making it a crime to reveal the location of a shelter.

Promising Practices

Law Enforcement Response Procedures for Children. The Austin (Texas) Police Department's Domestic Violence Unit teaches police officers that they must:

o Ensure that every incident reported indicates whether children live in the home, where the children were during the incident, and where they were located when the officer arrived.

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o Let hiding children know the police officers are in the room and then count to five before opening the door or looking under the bed.

o Kneel down to the child's level when speaking to him or her and calmly ask open-ended questions.

o Ask the child "How can I help?" o Photograph every child whether or not they have visible injuries o Document the name, age, school, and teacher of each child in order to alert

teachers of the situation.

One of the most promising innovations in the legal system is the unified family court, which is being implemented in an ever-increasing number of states. Judge Robert W. Page describes the unified family court as "a court for families." A genuine unified family court has authority over child abuse and neglect; divorce, child custody, and visitation; partner abuse; elder abuse; juvenile delinquency; termination of parental rights; and other family law matters. The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges recommends that the family court should have "criminal jurisdiction over adults for crimes committed against family and household members."

In a paper delivered at the National Conference on Family Violence: Health and Justice in 1994, Judge Page's description of the advantages of a unified family court was offered:

The primary advantage claimed for a family court system is the unification of all complaints, petitions, and case types within one case processing and management system in order to provide a more efficient, less costly and damaging, consistent and longer lasting resolution of the problems presented. By directing that all complaints or petitions must be resolved in one unified court, the opportunities for inconsistency and errors based upon inaccurate or incomplete information are greatly reduced (Myers 1994, 3).

Advocacy for Women and Kids in Emergencies (AWAKE). The nation's first hospital-based program that offers advocacy and support to abused mothers at the same time that the hospital is providing protection to abused children was created in 1986 by Children's Hospital in Boston. AWAKE was formed to broaden child abuse programming to include intervention on behalf of battered women and to coordinate services that are often offered separately, and in conflict, to women and children. In the AWAKE program, battered women with abused children are paired with an advocate experienced in family violence. The advocate devises an immediate safety plan that is updated during each subsequent contact and is designed to keep mothers and children together and safe. Input is sought from a multidisciplinary team (Child Protection Services, District Attorney, Department of Social Services, and outside agencies). Long-term supportive services are also offered to these families. In addition, a 1994 program expansion began offering

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services at a health center located in a public housing development that are provided by two bilingual, bicultural advocates (FVPF 1997).

The Alexandria, Virginia-based Institute for Law and Justice (ILJ), with support from VAWA, has identified over 350 Web sites related to domestic violence. In a summary contained in the 1998 Report: Evaluation of the STOP Formula Grants Under the Violence Against Women Act of1994, ILJ identified eight types of information available to practitioner audiences that can be adopted by other agencies (Burt et al. July 1998):

1. Model police protocols for arrest policies and procedures.

2. Model protocols for prosecutor agencies.

3. Model training programs for police and other criminal justice personnel.

4. Guidelines for enforcement of out-of-state civil protection orders under the constitutional full faith and credit clause.

5. Interagency agreements and plans among county agencies to enforce domestic violence laws.

6. Batterer intervention program operational manuals.

7. Informational pamphlets for victims of domestic violence.

8. Physician guides for recognizing and treating domestic violence as a health problem.

ILJ's link page to more than 350 Web sites is located at www.ilj.org/dv.

An on-line Domestic Violence Shelter Tour and Information Site was created by Victim Services, Inc. of New York City. This innovative Web site includes a tour of a domestic violence shelter and features photos and the voices of women who have sought shelter with Victim Services; a children's art gallery of drawings by children who have survived domestic violence; a map that identifies domestic violence resources available across the United States; links to over 150 domestic violence Web sites around the world; and general information about domestic violence and victim assistance. The Victim Services Domestic Violence Shelter Tour and Information Site is located at www.dvsheltertour.org/. Community Partners. The East Boston Neighborhood Health Center has trained all its staff to identify and report incidents of violence against women to designated staff members. For example, janitors and clerical workers are asked to contact the nurse supervisor if they witness dangerous behavior on the premises. By teaching all staff that they are important links in keeping victims safe, the center reports an increased awareness among non-medical personnel about violence against women crimes and improved collaboration with local services in planning for safety.

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http://www.dvsheltertour.org/

http://www.ilj.org/dv


The California Youth Authority (CYA) Office of Prevention and Victim Services has created a series of Technical Assistance Bulletins that are designed to educate its staff about important victimization issues that might personally affect their families and them. A Bulletin on domestic violence was developed following the murder of a CYA staff member by her ex-boyfriend. It includes information about typologies of battering and victimization, protection issues, developing a safety plan, how to help coworkers who might be in domestic violence situations, and resources for local and national victim assistance programs. CYA encourages other justice agencies to replicate its Bulletins for their employees; a copy of the Domestic Violence Technical Assistance Bulletin is available by calling 916-262-1392. In Pierce County, Washington, all marriage license applications contain the following citation: "The laws of this state affirm your right to live within the marriage free from violence and abuse. Neither you nor your spouse is the property of the other. The laws against physical abuse; emotional or psychological abuse; sexual abuse; and battery and assault are applicable to spouses and other family members, and violations of these laws are punishable by either fine or imprisonment, or both." In 1998, the Domestic Violence Unit of the Newcastle County (Delaware) Probation and Parole Department initiated an on-call system for domestic violence matters related to all probationers that makes a probation officer available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. When a police officer responds to a domestic violence incident involving a probationer, he or she can contact the on-call officer, who can execute a violation of probation on the new charge; issue a no-contact order; or take other actions as determined to be appropriate. In addition to local law enforcement within the county, the unit also works closely with the state Domestic Violence Coordinating Council and coordinates its efforts closely with victim advocates, state police, family court personnel, and other probation agencies. Temporary Restraining Orders by Fax. The Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women (LACAAW) has a temporary restraining order fax service that allows victims to file for a temporary restraining order through the LACAAW office rather than going to the courthouse. To increase accessibility of services, women seeking restraining orders have access to advocates who know Spanish or American Sign Language. LACAAW advocates will help fill out the required paperwork and then fax the application to the courthouse. Within three days the courthouse will fax back a response. A number of law schools sponsor programs that integrate domestic violence issues into legal education and directly involve students in domestic violence legal advocacy. In a report generated by a focus group of law school professors, victim advocates, and experts in intervention with perpetrators of domestic violence (sponsored in 1996 by the Office for Victims of Crime), several promising practices were identified:

Third-year students at the Battered Women's Rights Clinic at the City University of New York Law School assist low-income clients with a

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range of legal needs. This may include obtaining civil protection orders, pursuing contempt charges, seeking child support or custody orders, and handling housing or public benefit cases. The clinic teaches students to consider the unique social and economic obstacles confronted by battered women and to work on law reform efforts to overcome these barriers. Students have conducted workshops in local shelters and for victim services agencies and citizen groups.

Law students at the University of Georgia Law School assist indigent victims of domestic violence in rural counties to file pro se petitions, obtain protective orders, and find appropriate referral services. The Protective Order Project also acts as a resource center for victims and service providers in the community.

Students in the Families and the Law Clinic at Catholic University (Washington, DC), Columbus School of Law, develop and run community education projects on dating violence prevention in local high schools. Law students address the dynamics of domestic violence, the civil and criminal remedies available, and dating violence myths. High school students respond to the substance and format of these workshops, viewing law students as both peer role model and an accurate source of legal information (ABA 1997).

The American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS), in partnership with the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the umbrella group for the majority of domestic violence shelters across the nation, provides free medical services to victims of domestic abuse. Shelter counselors refer domestic violence victims who have received injuries to the face, head, or neck to AAFPRS for consultation with a surgeon, and suitable candidates are given reconstructive surgery at no cost. Since July 1994, 614 victims have been referred to plastic surgeons (OVC 1998).

In its continuing efforts to educate the medical profession about domestic violence, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has produced a slide lecture about the health care needs of domestic violence victims. Target audiences include OB-GYN residents, third-year OB-GYN medical students, first- and second-year medical students in courses such as "Introduction to Clinical Medicine," and other health care providers including emergency department personnel, dentists, nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, and mental health providers (OVC 1998).

The Family Violence Intervention Model for Dental Professionals Project, funded by OVC, has developed comprehensive curricula and educational videos for dentists and dental ancillary staff that provide information about the dynamics of family violence, appropriate interventions by dental staff, and identification of family violence resources for dental providers. Training videos model appropriate

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interventions in the office environment, and depict the clinical signs of abuse and neglect. The materials have been piloted and incorporated into the training program of the dental school at the university. Additional training programs are scheduled to occur throughout the country.

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Appendix A

Power and Control Wheel

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Appendix B

A Community Checklist: Important Steps to End Violence Against Women

In July 1995, a National Advisory Council on Violence Against Women was established by Attorney General Janet Reno and Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna E. Shalala. The purpose of the forty-seven-member, multidisciplinary council was to "help promote greater awareness of the problem of violence against women and its victims, to help devise solutions to the problem, and to advise the federal government on implementing the 1994 Violence Against Women Act."

The Advisory Council developed a checklist of important steps that communities can take to end violence against women, including the religious community, colleges and universities, law enforcement, health care professionals, the sports industry, the news media, and the workplace.

As Attorney General Reno and Secretary Shalala stated in the introduction to the Community Checklist:

This is not intended to be an exhaustive list but is meant to offer some straightforward, practical suggestions that we believe can make a difference in communities across the country. By coming together as a community, exchanging ideas, and coordinating efforts, we can begin to end this violence that destroys so many American lives.

Published during the 1996 National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, "A Community Checklist" offers valuable insights into what individuals and community constituencies can do to address domestic violence.

RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY

The religious community provides a safe haven for women and families in need. In addition, it exhorts society to share compassion and comfort with those afflicted by the tragedy of domestic violence. Leaders of the religious community have identified actions to share with the nation to create a unified response to violence against women.

Become a safe place. Make your church, temple, mosque, or synagogue a safe place where victims of domestic violence can come for help. Display brochures and posters which include the telephone number of the domestic violence and sexual assault programs in your area. Publicize the National Domestic Violence Hotline number, 800-799-SAFE (7233) or 800-787-3224 (TDD).

Educate the congregation. Provide ways for members of the congregation to learn as much as they can about domestic and sexual violence. Routinely include

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information in monthly newsletters, on bulletin boards, and in marriage preparation classes. Sponsor educational seminars on violence against women in your congregation.

Speak out. Speak out about domestic violence and sexual assault from the pulpit. As a faith leader, you can have a powerful impact on peoples' attitudes and beliefs.

Lead by example. Volunteer to serve on the board of directors at the local domestic violence/sexual assault program or attend a training to become a crisis volunteer.

Offer space. Offer meeting space for educational seminars or weekly support groups or serve as a supervised visitation site when parents need to visit safely with their children.

Partner with existing resources. Include your local domestic violence or sexual assault program in donations and community service projects. Adopt a shelter for which your church, temple, mosque or synagogue provides material support, or provide similar support to families as they rebuild their lives following a shelter stay.

Prepare to be a resource. Do the theological and scriptural homework necessary to better understand and respond to family violence and receive training from professionals in the fields of sexual and domestic violence.

Intervene. If you suspect violence is occurring in a relationship, speak to each member of the couple separately. Help the victim plan for safety. Let both individuals know of the community resources available to assist them. Do not attempt couples counseling.

Support professional training. Encourage and support training and education for clergy and lay leaders, hospital chaplains, and seminary students to increase awareness about sexual and domestic violence.

Address internal issues. Encourage continued efforts by religious institutions to address allegations of abuse by religious leaders to ensure that religious leaders are a safe resource for victims and their children.

(Adapted in part from the Nebraska Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalition and the Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence, Seattle, WA. Used with permission.)

COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

Colleges and universities offer important opportunities to educate young men and women

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about violence against women. Experiences on campuses will be carried forth to everyday life and will influence future actions. Therefore, every effort to inform students may mean one less victim abused or one less crime committed. Leaders in higher education have identified the following strategies to assist educators across the country in reaching out to students and communities, and to make campuses safe places for women.

Make the campus a safe place. Evaluate the safety and security of the campus environment and the quality and availability of resources to ensure safety. For example, establish campus escort services through campus security and student government programs.

Increase awareness. Educate your students, faculty, and staff about the problem of sexual assault and dating violence on college campuses. Provide adequate training on the signs that often accompany abuse, on victims' legal rights, and on available resources.

Target special groups. Identify target groups (i.e., new students, fraternities and sororities, athletes, etc.) on your campus and develop specialized training and resources for them.

Coordinate resources. Identify resources addressing violence against women on your campus and bring together local community and university service providers.

Encourage reporting of violence. Through orientation and awareness programs on campus, encourage students, faculty, and staff to report incidents of violence. Develop effective linkages between campus and community law enforcement personnel.

Provide services to the campus community. Support a coordinated community response to violence against women; ensure that services are comprehensive and appropriate for the entire campus community.

Develop an administration response to violence on campus. Establish protocols to manage complaints of violence on your campus with care for the victim as the first priority. Your protocol should include a clearly defined process for providing assistance to victims and holding the perpetrators accountable.

Review and revise the student code of conduct and policies. Review your campus policies and disciplinary sanctions to assess that violence against women is treated as seriously as other crimes, with equally severe punishments.

Provide a voice for women on campus. Provide support for students and faculty to establish victim advocacy groups on campus.

Get the message out to the campus community. Speak out against domestic violence and sexual assault in your position of leadership on campus. Communicate expectations about appropriate conduct, include them in student

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policy statements. Post information about available resources in dining halls, health facilities, dormitories, locker rooms, and other places where students are likely to see it.

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Across the country, law enforcement is developing innovative and effective strategies to prevent and prosecute violence against women more effectively. Law enforcement leaders have identified several of these strategies that, if used consistently, may go a long way toward reducing incidents of violence against women.

Create a community roundtable. Convene a community roundtable bringing together police, prosecutors, judges, child protection agencies, survivors, religious leaders, health professionals, business leaders, educators, defense attorneys, and victim advocate groups, and meet regularly. Create specific plans for needed change and develop policies among law enforcement, prosecutors, and others that will result in coordinated, consistent responses to domestic violence.

Record domestic violence. To help understand and respond to the dimensions of violence against women, develop and require the use of a uniform domestic violence reporting form. It should include an investigative checklist for use in all domestic violence incidents or responses.

Continue to educate. Create informational brochures on domestic violence and sexual assault that include safety plans and a list of referral services, for distribution in all courthouses, police stations, and prosecutors offices and in non-legal settings such as grocery stores, libraries, laundromats, schools, and health centers.

Provide clear guidance on responding to domestic violence. Write new or adapt existing protocol policies for police, courts, and prosecutors regarding domestic violence and sexual assault incidents and train all employees to follow them. Policies should specify that domestic violence and sexual assault cases must be treated with the highest priority, regardless of the severity of the offense charged or injuries inflicted.

Ensure that law enforcement is well informed. Designate at least one staff member to serve as your agency's domestic violence and sexual assault contact, with responsibility for keeping current on legal developments, training resources, availability of services and grant funds. Wherever possible, create a unit of employees with special expertise to handle domestic violence and sexual assault cases in prosecutor's offices, police departments, and probation/parole agencies and ensure that these employees are well trained regarding their responsibilities.

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Reach out to front lines. Identify and meet with staff and residents from local battered women's shelters and rape crisis centers to discuss their perceptions of current needs from the law enforcement community. Solicit suggestions for improving the law enforcement response to these crimes.

Improve enforcement by implementing a registry of restraining orders and a uniform order for protection. Implement a statewide registry of restraining orders designed to provide accurate, up-to-date, and easily accessible information on current and prior restraining orders for use by law enforcement and judicial personnel. Develop a uniform statewide protection order for more effective and efficient enforcement.

Support and pursue legislative initiatives. Develop and support legislative initiatives to address issues regarding domestic violence and sexual assault including a) stalking; b) death review teams; c) sentencing guidelines; d) indefinite restraining orders; and e) batterers intervention programs.

Conduct training. Conduct ongoing multidisciplinary domestic violence and sexual assault training for police, prosecutors, judges, advocates, defenders, service providers, child protection workers, educators, and others. Training should include the victim's perspective and an emphasis on safety planning.

Structure courts to respond to domestic violence/create specialized domestic violence courts. Develop specialized courts that deal exclusively with domestic violence cases in a coordinated, comprehensive manner, where community and court resources can be utilized together to address domestic violence effectively. At a minimum, all court personnel involved with domestic violence cases, including judges, prosecutors, public defenders, probation officers, and corrections and parole officers should receive relevant and practical domestic violence training and have an understanding of the dynamics of domestic violence.

HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS

Health care professionals are in the critical position of providing services to victims of violence as the first contact point for many of these victims. It is crucial that health care professionals recognize their potential to intervene appropriately. Immediate recognition of the problem and the provision of medical care and referrals to appropriate resources within the community can make all the difference. Leaders in the field have identified the following strategies to make interventions by health care professionals more effective.

Incorporate training into curricula. Support the incorporation of domestic violence and sexual assault training in medical, nursing, and allied health care professional education curricula.

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Make resources available to patients. Make resource materials available in waiting rooms and restrooms. Include the National Domestic Violence Hotline number 800-799-SAFE (7233) or 800-787-3224 (TDD).

Support incorporation of protocols into accreditation process. Support efforts to ensure that domestic violence and sexual assault protocols are addressed through the National Commission for Quality Assurance and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals.

Encourage continuing education on violence against women issues. Encourage your state licensing boards and various specialty groups to encourage physicians and nurses to allocate Continuing Medical Education (CME) hours to violence against women related issues for re-licensure requirements.

Involve medical organizations and societies in increasing awareness. Collaborate with health care professional organizations and societies in your area to increase medical school and health care professional involvement in addressing violence against women.

Feature violence against women on meeting agendas. Arrange presentations and symposiums on violence against women at various health care specialty annual, regional, and local meetings.

Highlight commitment to violence against women issues. Give awards, citations, and certificates to exceptional organizations and individuals for their continued commitment to addressing violence against women.

Develop a standard intake form. Develop a standardized intake assessment form for health care professionals who interact with victims of domestic or sexual violence. This assessment form would ensure that certain information regarding these incidents is identified and proper resources are utilized.

Ensure Employee Assistance Programs are responsive to victims of domestic violence. Determine whether your health care facility's employee assistance program (EAP) includes domestic violence services or referrals. If it does not, speak with your human resources director or the appropriate manager about the possibility of expanding the program to address the needs of employees facing violence in their homes. All EAP personnel should receive domestic violence training and have an understanding of the dynamics of domestic violence.

Volunteer. Provide a health care series on a volunteer basis to community organizations that serve victims of domestic and sexual violence.

SPORTS

Today, more than ever, our sports players and organizations have an enormous capacity

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to influence the minds and behaviors of Americans, both young and old. The reason is simple. For many Americans, professional, college, and Olympic athletes are today's heroes. We must utilize this outlet to send a positive message to all Americans about preventing domestic violence and sexual assault. Following are a number of ways communities can work with the local sports industry to help stop the violence.

Bring sports leagues together in a common cause. Encourage local sports teams to come together in a joint effort to combat violence against women through joint awareness campaigns and public appearances.

Create strict disciplinary policies. Encourage the creation of disciplinary policies for players on domestic violence and violence against women similar to drug policies. These policies should include stiff sanctions and penalties for committing domestic violence and sexual assault.

Push for public service announcements (PSAs) during broadcast of sporting events. Write or call sports leagues in support of PSAs about violence against women during the broadcast of major sporting events, including NCAA games.

Promote the distribution of educational materials. Promote the distribution of educational materials from local shelters and programs to players by offering the materials to the teams.

Involve local sports heroes in community activities. Involve local sports heroes in rallies and events which bring attention to the problem of violence against women.

Reach out to potential sponsors. If there are businesses in the area that are known for making or selling sporting equipment or clothing, approach them for sponsorship of community awareness activities.

NEWS MEDIA

The media industry represents much more than television and film stars. It is the most influential source of information for millions of Americans. Before we can change people's attitudes about violence against women and prevent violent behavior, we must not only change the way violence is portrayed in the media, but also educate members of the media who report on domestic violence and sexual assault crime. Leaders in the media industry have identified ways in which communities can work with their local media to encourage responsible reporting of violence against women.

Use the power of communication. Contact local television, radio, and newspapers urging thoughtful and accurate coverage of violence against women, and the provision of educational messages about the problem when possible.

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Urge action through the local paper. Through community organizations, distribute model op-ed pieces and letters to the editor and urge community action for placement of these pieces.

Link media with experts. Provide media outlets with a list of well-known experts available for interviews and a packet of materials with information on a variety of related subject areas, such as local shelters and programs.

Organize public events. Plan a public event, such as a community education forum on violence against women, and solicit local media coverage.

Encourage employee awareness. Encourage the development of domestic violence awareness programs for employees of media outlets.

Build a bridge between media and law enforcement. Urge police chiefs and commissioners to go on air locally to discuss domestic violence and violence against women.

Provide a forum for community leaders. Encourage community leaders to speak to media about issues of violence against women.

Publicize local resources through reporting. Encourage local media to include the National Domestic Violence Hotline number, 800-799-SAFE (7233) or 800-787-3224 (TDD), through reporting on incidents of domestic violence.

THE WORKPLACE

Men and women spend more and more of their daily lives in the workplace. Domestic violence is a workplace issue that affects the safety, health, and productivity of America's workers. Business and labor leaders have identified several strategies that can be used to create safer and more supportive workplaces.

Ensure Employee Assistance Programs are responsive to victims of domestic violence. Determine whether your company's employee assistance program (EAP) includes domestic violence services or referrals. If it does not, speak with your human resources director or the appropriate manager about the possibility of expanding the program to address the needs of employees facing violence in their homes. All EAP personnel should receive domestic violence training and have an understanding of the dynamics of domestic violence.

Provide management with the tools to respond to domestic violence. Establish a training program for all supervisors and managers at your workplace to give them guidance on how to respond when an employee is a victim or perpetrator of domestic violence.

Educate employees about domestic violence. Sponsor a workshop or series of workshops at your workplace on domestic violence. Invite a domestic violence

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survivor to speak about her experiences and to discuss the impact of violence on her life and her work.

Share materials about domestic violence. Distribute educational materials about domestic violence to all employees in your workplace and display posters and brochures in public places which explain the issue. Send the message that there is no excuse for domestic violence. Make victim safety information available in private places such as restrooms or in paycheck envelopes. All information should include the National Domestic Violence Hotline number, 800-799-SAFE (7233) or 800-787-3224 (TDD).

Increase safety at the workplace. Find out whether security guards at your workplace have been trained to handle the special safety needs of battered women, who may be stalked at work. If they have not, speak with the appropriate manager to arrange training and help security personnel develop safety procedures.

Coordinate with local law enforcement. Arrange a meeting between security personnel at your workplace and local law enforcement agencies to facilitate appropriate information sharing and the development of collaborative working relationships.

Join in local community efforts to combat domestic violence. Conduct a drive in your workplace to collect items for local domestic violence shelters. Be sure to contact the programs first to find out what they want, but common needs for shelters are toys, clothing, furniture, office equipment, office supplies, and food. Alternatively, make a contribution of company products.

Donate time and resources. Adopt a local domestic violence shelter by collecting money from coworkers for a joint donation or by getting a group of coworkers to make a commitment of volunteer hours. For example, raise money to pay for a new roof for a shelter; organize groups of volunteers to paint a shelter, do yard work around the shelter, assist with a special event, or provide other specialized skills (Advisory Council on Violence Against Women 1996).

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Appendix C

Checklist of Federal Domestic Violence Statutes/Offenses

Domestic Violence Offenses.

o Interstate travel to commit domestic violence - 18 U.S.C. §2261.

o Interstate stalking - 18 U.S.C. §2261A.

o Interstate travel to violate a Protection Order - 18 U.S.C. §2262.

Firearms Offenses. o Possession of a firearm while subject to a Protection Order - 18 U.S.C.

§922(g)(8).

o Transfer of a firearm to a person subject to a Protection Order - 18 U.S.C. §922(d)(8).

o Possession of a firearm after conviction of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence - 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(9).

o Transfer of a firearm to a person convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence - 18 U.S.C. §922(d)(9).

o Official use exemption from firearms offenses (except §§922(d)(9) and 922(g)(9)) - 18 U.S.C. §925(a)(1).

Other Relevant Statutes.

o Full Faith and Credit - 18 U.S.C. §2265.

o Brady statement - 18 U.S.C. §922(s).

o Right of victim to be heard at bail hearing - 18 U.S.C. §2263.

o Other victims' rights - 18 U.S.C. §10606(b).

o Restitution - 18 U.S.C. §2264.

o Self-Petitioning for battered immigrant women and children - 8 U.S.C. §1154.

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Adapted from the National Victim Assistance Academy Textbook, 2002; Chapter 9.

References

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Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). June 1999. Presale Handgun Checks, The Brady Interim Period, 1994-98. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

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Burt, M. R., L. C. Newmark, L. K. Jacobs, and A. V. Harrell. July 1998. 1998 Report: Evaluation of the STOP Formula Grants Under the Violence Against Women Act of 1994. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.

Center for Disease Control (CDC), National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. April 1998. The Co-concurrence of Intimate Partner Violence Against Mothers and Abuse of Children. Atlanta, GA: Author.

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Frieze, I. H., and A. Browne. 1989. "Violence in Marriage." In L. Ohlin and M. Tonry, eds., Family Violence: Crime and Justice, A Review of Research. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 163-218.

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Kilpatrick, D. G., C. N. Edmunds, and A. K. Seymour. 1992. Rape in America: A Report to the Nation. Arlington, VA: National Center for Victims of Crime and Charleston, SC: Medical University of South Carolina.

Klein, A. 1994. Spousal/Partner Assault: A Protocol for the Sentencing and Supervision of Offenders. Quincy, MA: Quincy Court.

Kurz, D. 1987. "Emergency Department Responses to Battered Women: Resistance to Medicalization." Social Problems 34: 69-81.

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McKibben, L., E. DeVos, and E. Newberger. 1998. "Victimization of Mothers of Abused Children: A Controlled Study." Pediatrics 84: 531-535.

McLeer, S. V., and R. Anwar. 1989. "A Study of Battered Women Presenting in an Emergency Department." American Journal of Public Health 79: 65-66.

Myers, J. E. B. 1994. Medicine, Mental Health, and the Legal System: Critical Partners in Responding to Family Violence. Paper presented at the National Conference on Family Violence: Health and Justice, Washington, DC.

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National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC). Winter 2000/2001. Victim Policy Pipeline. Washington DC: Author.

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ). 1998. Family Violence: Legislative Update. Reno, NV: Author.

National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 1998. Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women: Findings From the National Violence Against Women Survey. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center (NVAWPRC). 1999. Prevalence Estimates: Intimate Partner and Domestic Violence. Charleston, SC: Author.

NOW Legal Defense Fund. 2000. "Conference Report on Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000." Section-by-Section Summary Division B-Violence Against Women Act of 2000, Title V-Battered Immigrant Women. Washington DC: Author.


Page, R. 12 March 1994. Advantages of a Unified Family Court. Paper presented at the National Conference on Family Violence: Health and Justice, American Medical Association, Washington, DC.

Pagelow, M. D. 1984. Family Violence. New York: Praeger.

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Pan, H. S., P. H. Neidig, H., K. D. O'Leary, 1994. "Predicting Mild and Severe Husband-to-Wife Physical Aggression." Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 62 (5): 975-981.

Randall, T. 1990. "Domestic Violence Intervention Calls for More than Treating Injuries." Journal of the American Medical Association 262: 939-940.

Rennison, C. M., and S. Welchans. May 2000. Intimate Partner Violence. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Ross, S. 1996. "Risk of Physical Abuse to Children of Spouse Abusing Parents." Child Abuse and Neglect 20: 589-598.

Rouse, L. P., R. Breen, and M. Howell. 1988. "Abuse in Intimate Relationships." Journal of Interpersonal Violence 3 (4): 414-429.

Stark, E., A. Flitcraft, and W. Frazier. 1979. "Medicine and Patriarchal Violence: The Social Construct of a Private Event." International Journal of Health Services 9: 461-498.

Stets, J. E., and M. A. Straus. 1989. "The Marriage License as a Hitting License: A Comparison of Assaults in Dating, Cohabiting, and Married Couples." Journal of Family Violence 4 (2): 161-180.

Straus, M. A., and R. J. Gelles. 1986. "Societal Change and Change in Family Violence from 1975 to 1985 as Revealed by Two National Surveys." Journal of Marriage and the Family 48: 465-479.

Straus, M. A., and R. J. Gelles. 1990. Physical Violence in American Families: Risk Factors and Adaptation to Violence in 8,145 Families. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.

Straus, M. A., R. J. Gelles, and S. K. Steinmetz. 1980. Behind Closed Doors: Physical Violence in the American Family. New York: Doubleday/Anchor.

Walker, Lenore. 1979. The Battered Woman. New York: Harper & Row.

Wallace, H. 1999. Family Violence: Legal, Medical, and Social Perspectives, 2nd ed. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.9

Warshaw, C. 1989. "Limitations of the Medical Model in the Care of Battered Women. Gender and Society 3: 506-517.

Waxman, L., and R. Trupin. 1997. A Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in America's Cities. Washington, DC: U.S. Conference of Mayors.

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White, J. W., and M. P. Koss. 1991. "Courtship Violence: Incidence in a National Sample of Higher Education Students." Violence and Victims 6 (4): 247-256.

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Additional Resources

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Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). 18 February 1999. "Characteristics of Crime." Summary Findings. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). 18 February 1999. "Criminal Offender Statistics." Summary Findings. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Burnam, M. A., J. A. Stein, J. M. Golding, J. M. Siegel, S. B. Sorenson, A. B. Forsythe, and C. A. Telles. 1988. "Sexual Assault and Mental Disorders in a Community Population." Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 56: 843-850.

Craven, D. September 1997. "Sex Differences in Violent Victimization, 1994." Bureau of Justice Statistics, Special Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Crites, L., and D. Coker. Spring 1988. "What Therapists See that Judges May Miss: A Unique Guide to Custody Decisions when Spouse Abuse is Charged." Judges Journal.

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Dutton, D. G. 1995. The Domestic Assault of Women. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.

Healey, K. M. and C. Smith. July 1998. Batterer Programs: What Criminal Agencies Need to Know. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs.

Kessler, R. C., A. Sonnega, E. Bromet, M. Hughes, and C. B. Nelson. 1995. "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey." Archives of General Psychiatry 52: 1048-1060.

Koss, M. P., W. J. Woodruff, and P. G. Koss. 1991. "Deleterious Effects of Criminal Victimization on Women's Health and Medical Utilization." Archives of Internal Medicine 151: 342-347.

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Norris, F. H. 1992. "Epidemiology of Trauma: Frequency and Impact of Different Potentially Traumatic Events on Different Demographic Events." Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 60: 409-418.

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Webb, W. 1992. "Treatment Issues and Cognitive Behavior Techniques with Battered Women." Journal of Family Violence 7: 205.

Wyatt, G. E., D. Guthrie, and C. M. Notgrass. 1992. "Differential Effects of Women's Child Sexual Abuse and Subsequent Sexual Revictimization." Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 3: 561-572.

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Chapter 7 Direct Services

Special Topics Supplement: Rural IssuesLearning Objectives


The problems and issues relevant to providing basic services to victims in rural-remote regions.

Collaborate with other victim services to find ways to fill gaps in victim services in rural areas.

Promising practices developed to meet the needs of victims in rural-remote regions.

Introduction

Nearly one-quarter of Americans live in rural communities or small towns. Once stereotyped as enjoying a quiet life in the country, rural residents now witness crime at an all-time high. Their communities are facing rising crime, particularly juvenile, violent and property crimes. School dropout rates have increased, the proportion of children living in poverty has grown, gang activity and violent crime have migrated from urban areas, and substance abuse has become a dominant factor in domestic abuse cases. These signs make clear that the need for rural communities and small towns to develop and implement aggressive crime prevention strategies has never been more urgent.

CHALLENGES FOR RURAL COMMUNITIES

The influx of crimes never experienced before presents rural communities with distinct challenges. Small towns must develop a wide-scale, tailored crime prevention response for the first time. Crafting this response can be difficult because these communities often have fewer financial resources available for additional prevention and enforcement activities and may not have a well-established infrastructure to support the wide range of activities that would comprise a comprehensive, reinforcing prevention strategy (e.g. domestic violence counseling, drug and alcohol treatment, tutoring and supervised after-school activities). Small towns also may lack the financial, human and institutional resources to obtain the training required to implement an effective crime prevention strategy.

In addition, rural communities may be disadvantaged at times when competing with urban areas for federal support. For example, rural communities sometimes find that federal grant applications may not be tailored to meet their particular crime reduction needs. Rural applicants with fewer resources are often competing with urban applicants

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with more resources, including specialists who prepare their grant applications. As a result, and because crime has been traditionally viewed as an urban problem, significantly larger proportions of federal and state grant funds have been dedicated to metropolitan areas.

Sometimes distinctive characteristics of rural communities increase their vulnerability to crime. For example, rural law enforcement agencies are responsible for and must respond to large rural jurisdictions. Residents living in areas of lower population density and larger distances between homes are more isolated. Longer commutes to urban areas for employment leave homes vacated for long periods of time. These are the types of characteristics of rural living that can make prevention and protection more difficult. Any community's organized and coordinated prevention and enforcement strategy must take such factors into account to be effective.

The evidence shows--and law enforcement officials across the country agree--that aggressive crime prevention, in combination with law enforcement, strengthens a community's ability to confront crime problems. It is imperative that comprehensive strategies and approaches be tailored to address the particular challenges facing rural communities in their efforts to reduce crime (Office of Justice Programs, Focus on Prevention, 2005).

The following is taken from a research article on Crime and Violence in Rural Communities by: Joseph F. Donnermeyer, Director of the National Rural Crime Prevention Center.

"One Society, Many Faces"

The first book to focus exclusively on rural crime in nearly 50 years, Rural Crime: Integrating Research and Prevention, was published in 1982 (Carter et al., 1982). The opening chapter to this book contains a section called "One Society: Many Faces" (Sagarin et al., 1982). This phrase calls attention not only to the great diversity of rural communities, but also to the social and economic dynamics that continually change the character of rural American society.

With this phrase in mind, the first step in exploring rural crime is to recognize that one standard definition of rural will not suffice. Therefore, this paper will review information from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), the National Crime Survey (NCS), and a variety of more localized studies of rural crime. In each of these sources, what is meant by the term rural will vary? When this paper cites a study, it will describe the author or authors' definition of rural or the place where the research was conducted.

The second step is to remember that rural areas are incredibly diverse - from the coalfields of Appalachia, to the farmland of Iowa, to the fishing villages of Louisiana, to the cattle ranches of Colorado, to the small towns of Illinois and Ohio. Just as most law enforcement agencies are small (as measured by number of personnel), so too are most communities and most prevention and treatment programs. Each community can exhibit a

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unique crime profile that is difficult to describe with national-level statistics and information.

Not only is the nature of crime in American society changing, but the ways in which crime problems are addressed also are changing. The 1960s, a time when crime rates were increasing rapidly, was marked by an increasing estrangement between the police and citizens. In response, the early 1970s saw an increase in the development of a large variety of crime prevention programs, such as maintaining neighborhood (i.e., block or community) watch programs, providing victim assistance, and placing a renewed value on foot patrols. By the early 1980s, the concept of community-based policing had emerged, and it continues to provide the philosophical underpinning for basic functional changes in the way police agencies operate (Moore & Trojanowicz, 1988; Kelling & Bratton, 1993).

Community-based policing emphasizes that the operating philosophy of law enforcement is to work cooperatively with a wide range of community groups and institutions to prevent crime and reduce citizens' fear of crime. Community-based policing emphasizes that the traditional police functions of enforcement and apprehension actually can improve as citizens learn once again to trust and cooperate with the police. The police learn to be more responsive to the demands of citizens and to follow a service-based philosophy of keeping the customer happy. Slowly, but inexorably, this philosophy is transforming police agencies across the country (Donnermeyer, 1994).

Unique Problems Faced by Rural-Remote Victims

Abuse

Virtually no information is available on levels of spouse, child, and elder abuse in rural areas. The nature of abuse, which involves sexual, physical, and psychological abuse often between family members or in relationships of trust between the victim and the offender, makes abuse impossible to measure in victimization surveys. Furthermore, victims often are reluctant to report cases of abuse. Nationally, child abuse cases are estimated at about 2.4 million annually. There are no rural-urban differences in physical forms of child abuse, but urban areas display more reported cases of nonphysical abuse, according to the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (1988). Miller and Veltkamp (1989) studied a small rural county in Kentucky with nearly 300 reported cases of child abuse (many times greater than any type of national average).

The vast majority (85%) of spouse abuse victims are female. Estimates indicate that the number of wives and girlfriends who are beaten or in other ways injured by their spouses, partners, and ex-spouses number close to two million each year. Once again, the prevalence of domestic abuse may be many times larger than the reported number of incidents. One study by Gagne (1992) of rural Appalachia suggests that rates of domestic violence in some rural areas may be higher than city rates.

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To the knowledge of this author and others familiar with the literature on rural crime, there is no systematic research on abuse of the rural elderly. However, it is safe to say that such abuse does exist. The author, while working as a crime prevention specialist for the Indiana Cooperative Extension Service during the late 1970s, heard several accounts of "granny bashing" in the southwestern area of the state. Most often, these anecdotes related stories of children and grandchildren who used physical force against older women living in isolated rural areas in order to steal their social security checks (Donnermeyer, 1994).

Crime in Rural Schools

In 1989, a special supplement to the NCS measurement instruments contained questions on the victimization experiences of persons 12 to 19 years of age at the school they attend. They also were asked their opinions about crime, the availability of drugs, and awareness of gangs (Bastian & Taylor, 1991).

Among the students living in rural areas, 7 percent indicated that they had been the victim of a property crime and 1 percent indicated that they had been the victim of a violent crime. In comparison, 8 percent of central city students had experienced a property crime and 2 percent had experienced a violent crime. The property and violent crime experiences for suburban students was 7 percent and 2 percent, respectively. As these results indicate, there was only a narrow difference in crime experiences among students by rural and urban location. This finding contrasts starkly to the more dramatic rural-urban differences found in both the UCR and regular NCS data.

Seventy-one percent of the rural students indicated that drugs were available at their school, compared to 66 percent of students from the city and 67 percent from suburban locations. Rural students were more likely than their urban and suburban counterparts to have attended drug education classes (44 percent versus 40 percent and 35 percent, respectively).

One large rural-urban difference is the reported presence of gangs. Only 8 percent of the students living in rural areas indicated that gangs were active in their school, compared to 14 percent of suburban students and 25 percent of city students. Despite this difference, 6 percent of the rural students reported avoiding places at school out of fear of being attacked. This figure was slightly higher than the 5 percent figure for suburban students, but lower than the 8 percent of city students who avoided places at school. In addition, 20 percent of the rural students indicated that they were fearful of being attacked at school (versus 20 percent of suburban students and 24 percent of students from cities). Thirteen percent of rural students feared being attacked while going to and from school - slightly higher than the rate for suburban youth (12%), but lower than that of their city counterparts (19%).

These results indicate that rural youth are experiencing crime at a level and in ways similar to youth from the cities and suburbs. If these findings are accurate, rural crime takes on another new face: crime experiences and feelings of vulnerability and risk

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exhibit considerable differences by age. Simply put, rural youth have different experiences with crime than their parents (Donnermeyer, 1994).

Drug Use

It would be impossible to summarize fully the problems and risk behaviors associated with alcohol and drug use among rural adolescents and adults. Suffice it to say that rural-urban differences in usage rates have declined, and for some substances the rural population is ahead. This conclusion is drawn from a review of four national studies: the American Drug and Alcohol Survey, the High School Senior Survey, the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, and the National High School and Beyond (NORC) Survey. A more detailed summary of patterns of rural alcohol and other drug use can be found in a special issue of the journal Drugs and Society, edited by Ruth W. Edwards, entitled "Drug Use in Rural American Communities."

There is little rural-urban difference in the use and abuse of alcohol, and the rural population may be more at risk because rural residents are more likely to drink in a motor vehicle. Methamphetamine has become a problem in rural areas, as it is easier to create methamphetamine labs without being undetected. The rate of marijuana use, especially among rural adolescents, is only slightly lower than rates of use among urban youth. Finally, usage rates for certain hard drugs, including inhalants and stimulants, are higher for rural youth. Tranquilizer use shows no rural-urban differences. However, urban youth still exhibit higher usage rates for cocaine and cocaine derivatives - heroin and LSD (Donnermeyer, 1994).

Farm and Ranch Crime

Several specialized victimization surveys of farms and ranches have been conducted in Arkansas (Voth & Farmer, 1988), Montana (Saltiel et al., 1992), Ohio (Donnermeyer, 1987) and Tennessee (Cleland, 1990). None of these studies calculated victimization rates in the same fashion as the NCS. Instead, they examined the percentage of operations that experienced various types of crime within a one-year time period. The results indicate that vandalism, household-level larceny (mostly in the form of stolen farm supplies and tools and, on occasion, farm machinery and livestock), and burglary are the most frequently occurring agricultural crimes. Each year, between one-third and one-half of agricultural operations experience a crime.

It is rare to find incidents of violent crime occurring among the farm population, and most of these incidents take place at off-farm/ranch sites. In addition, personal crimes of theft are relatively rare on agricultural operations, but can occur to the farm and ranch population at other locations. The surprising statistic from the farm/ranch victimization studies is that the percentage of agricultural operations that annually experience one or more burglaries appears to be higher than the percentage for central city households. In particular, the number of break-ins and illegal entry into barns and other buildings is high; however, farm/ranch homes are burglarized infrequently. The difference in the vulnerability of farm/ranch buildings versus the homestead is due to the two simple facts

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that the home is the base of operations (someone is normally there) and that many farm/ranch buildings are in remote locations and cannot easily be kept under surveillance during the normal routine of chores (especially during the busy times of planting, harvesting, and herding) (Donnermeyer, 1994).

Gangs: Some Preliminary Evidence From Rural Communities

Despite the focus of media and researchers alike on urban gangs, some gangs already are operating in rural areas. For example, Abadinsky (1986) documents the drug-dealing and other criminal activities of motorcycle gangs in many rural areas. More recently, young white supremacists and skinhead groups have been active in a number of rural communities. Despite this evidence, research on rural-based gangs, on how they emerge, and on their connection to urban gangs simply has not been conducted.

The problem of gangs in rural communities is emerging rapidly. This author has interviewed nearly 30 law enforcement officers from a variety of rural locations throughout the United States. Without exception, these officers now see evidence of gang activity where as recently as five years ago they saw none.

How gangs emerged in rural areas illustrates the way rural and urban areas have become more closely linked and interdependent, as well as how the social forces that explain urban crime can be applied to rural areas. Based on such interviews, four models of urban-to-rural gang migration and one model of rural-to-urban gang migration are described below:

1. Displacement. Rural communities near metropolitan areas (often referred to as "rurban" areas) may experience an increase in gang activities due to the displacement effect. Urban police, through various strategies such as saturation patrol and undercover work, make it "too hot" for a gang to continue all or part of its operation in the city. The gang moves out to the edge of the metropolitan area and sets up its operations there.

2. Branch office. A gang from the city targets a small town and the surrounding area for two possible reasons. The first reason is that this town is near the intersection of two 4-lane roads and represents a transportation hub in a network of drug trafficking and other illegal activities. The second reason is that the street value of drugs in smaller towns is often two or three times higher than it is in large metropolitan areas, hence offering a market opportunity. Gang members seek a base of operations, perhaps through a relative or acquaintance who lives in the area, or by taking over the dwelling place of a "trophy" (i.e., an unattached, single woman). Sometimes the gang member initially lives in a rural area in order to get out of the city because another gang or the police are looking for him. The gang member then organizes the local youth or "wannabees" - youth who are at risk and prone to drug use, violence, delinquent behavior, and dropping out of school. Sometimes these local youth have developed romantic images of gangs based on cinema and television depictions of youth gangs.

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3. The franchise. Drug dealers working in rural areas may be seen as equivalent to "mom and pop" businesses. Some find it advantageous to link up with a gang from a large city. More money can be made, drugs can be transported more securely, the latest fad drug is available more quickly, and the local dealer has no choice but to cooperate or he will be forced out of business by a rival that establishes an affiliation with a gang, or the gang itself may be showing signs of moving in directly. For such reasons, a franchise style of gang has emerged in rural communities.

4. Social learning. A rural juvenile or adult offender is incarcerated in a detention facility or jail and associates with more hardened and sophisticated detainees from the city. The person serves time and then returns to his rural community with more "street smarts" than before. He is able to take over leadership of the local "wannabees" through a combination of intimidation and superior knowledge.

5. Hate groups. Skinheads and young members of the Aryan Nation and other white supremacist groups (many of whom grew up in rural areas) establish their base of operations in a rural area. From this base they move some or all of their activities to the fringe of a large city or even into the city, where minority groups can be targeted (for more information on fighting hate and promoting tolerance, visit www.tolernace.org).

Although information on the recent emergence of gang activities in rural communities is new, it is already apparent that the underlying causes of this development are no different than those experienced by the Puritan Colony of Massachusetts Bay. A large pool of at-risk rural youth is created by these underlying causes, and the growing interdependence of the rural and urban sectors of American society facilitates the organization of rural-based youth gang activities in rural communities (Donnermeyer, 1994).

Victims of Domestic and Sexual Violence

Domestic violence and sexual assault victims find themselves in vulnerable positions, where existing danger is intensified by physical isolation, lack of local services, transportation and weather issues. It is not uncommon for batterers to isolate victims by demanding no contact with family, friends, or even neighbors. In rural areas, this isolation can be magnified: there is no one next door who might hear the sounds of a beating and who can call for help, there is no public transportation, and no one visits the home for any reason (Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 1998).

It is imperative to convince state and federal funders, who are primarily concerned with allocating funds based on the “numbers served” within a community. However, people in rural areas suffer abuse the same as people living in urban areas. Services need to be made available to people in all areas because everyone deserves protection from abusive situations despite the cost and barriers that arise.

While far less research has been conducted about rural family violence than family violence in urban areas, in the publication Rural Crime and Rural Policing (Weisheit et

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al. 1994), the National Institute of Justice indicates the following characteristics and dimensions of rural versus urban family violence:

Recent studies indicate that children in rural communities are as likely, and possibly more likely, to be abused or neglected than children in cities.

Crimes such as homicide, rape, and assault are more likely to occur among acquaintances in rural areas than in urban areas.

While limited surveys of the level of rural domestic violence have been conducted, an Ohio study found that the least populated jurisdictions had the highest rates for domestic violence disputes.

Although rural families face the same drug, alcohol, poverty, and stress problems as do families who live in metropolitan areas, rural communities typically have fewer resources.

Many rural counties have very low populations. Currently, one out of three rural counties (850) has fewer than 10,000 residents. This presents a challenge to establishing even basic services for crime victims, such as counseling for child abuse victims and shelters for battered women. Many rural domestic violence victims face the additional problem of not only having to leave their home to find safety but their community as well. Often, the nearest shelter may be several communities and many miles away. Not only are these victims forced to leave whatever support network is available, but also their children must be taken out of school in order to reach safety.

The effects of geography also pose serious problems for rural family violence victims. Distance affects the response time and the speed with which law enforcement and emergency services respond to victims' calls for assistance. While urban areas judge emergency response time in minutes, access to medical treatment in rural areas generally takes longer. In addition, rural law enforcement waits longer for backup assistance, thus forcing difficult decisions by on-site personnel between responding to dangerous situations alone or delaying critical emergency responses.

Overall, the issues of rural family violence and rural justice have not received national attention in the development of policies and protocol for law enforcement or other areas of the criminal justice system. In light of the relative scarcity of resources in rural-remote areas, the need for collaboration within the criminal justice system and neighboring communities is critical. It is essential that victim assistance programs target the identification of other service organizations and criminal justice agencies that are available for and/or interested in coordinating and collaborative efforts. The unique needs of rural-remote victims must be viewed with an eye toward unique solutions that maximize current community and neighboring area resources.

A Profile of the Rural Offender

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According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports section on arrest data, 870,725 persons were arrested by law enforcement agencies covering rural jurisdictions. A comparison of arrest data in the UCR reveals two similarities and two differences in the profile of rural and urban offenders. Rural offenders are arrested for various offenses in roughly the same proportion as persons arrested by suburban and urban law enforcement agencies. This pattern is confirmed by Laub (1983), who analyzed victims' knowledge of offenders for violence, theft, and household crimes in the NCS. Another similarity is that about four out of five rural persons arrested are male, which is only one or two percentage points above the proportion of males arrested in the suburbs and cities.

The two differences involve the race and age of persons arrested. About four out of five rural offenders are white, and about one offender in eight is black. Three percent are Native Americans and one percent are Asian. In contrast, arrests in the suburbs and cities show a lower rate of white arrests - 21 percent (suburbs) and 32 percent (city), than black arrests - 78 percent (suburbs) and 66 percent (city). The second difference is that persons arrested in rural areas are older. For example, about 3 percent of rural arrestees are below the age of 15, and 10 percent are 18 years of age and younger. Nearly 40 percent of all rural arrests are of persons 25 years of age and younger. In suburban areas, about 4 percent are 15 years of age and younger, 13 percent are age 18 and younger, and 42 percent are 25 years old and younger. In cities, the ages of persons arrested becomes even younger. Slightly more than 6 percent of persons arrested in cities are 15 years old and younger. Almost 18 percent are 18 years of age and younger, and 47 percent are 25 years of age and younger.

Arrest profiles hardly tell the full story of rural offenders. Self-report studies, largely of rural juveniles concerning the commission of vandalism, violent crime, property crime, and the use of alcohol and other drugs, adds further evidence to the conclusion that rural crime is a serious problem. These studies show that rural youth are as prone to the commission of delinquent acts as urban youth (Donnermeyer & Phillips, 1982 and 1984; Edwards, 1992). The only difference is that rural youth are slightly less likely to commit more serious offenses, a difference that was far greater in the early rural delinquency studies cited near the beginning of this paper. Once again, rural communities are on the "same train" and the caboose is not that far behind the front engine.

Why do rural residents, in particular adolescents, commit criminal offences? Again, the answer goes back to the same economic, social, and cultural forces discussed earlier. Institutions that reinforce law-abiding behavior (primarily family, church, and school) have become weaker, while peer and other groups that encourage law-breaking behavior have gained in influence. The rural sector of American society is no different from the urban sector. As time goes on, there are more single-parent families and more families in which both parents work. Schools are consolidated, bigger, and more impersonal. Although rural persons have consistently shown higher rates of membership in religious organizations and are slightly more likely to go to church, religion's relative influence has declined. These trends create a cluster of risk factors that in turn increase the chances that adolescents will associate with peer groups that teach and reinforce attitudes and promote behavior that society considers inappropriate, such as using drugs, stealing, destroying

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property, resolving conflicts with violence, and so forth. The factors listed earlier create conditions in which some rural communities are more likely to exhibit weaker institutions of social control and/or stronger influences from deviance-reinforcing peer and other groups (Donnermeyer, 1994).

PLANNING STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING RURAL ORGANIZATIONS

By taking a systematic, methodical approach to planning a crime prevention strategy, a community can create a tailored, comprehensive approach to its crime problem(s). The basic steps for planning a strategy are to:

identify the planners and stakeholders; set clear goals based on identified crime and violence; target the population needing help; tailor activities to help achieve the goals and to help the targeted population; refine choice of activities; and take action and evaluate (Office of Justice Programs, Focus on Prevention, 2005).

Implications for Prevention Programming

While rural crime may suggest the effects of urbanization, it would be incorrect to blame rural crime problems directly on the nearest large city. Rural society is changing. One of the consequences of these changes is that crime levels in rural areas are at historic highs and new problems, such as gangs, delinquency, and drug use by rural youth, have emerged.

The causes of the increase in crime in rural areas can be reduced to three sets of factors. The first can be termed opportunity factors. Transportation systems have made rural areas more accessible today. Many rural areas are urbanizing, and with urbanization comes the inevitable increase in crime. Lifestyles also have changed. In the past, when most rural people lived on farms and ranches, the place of work was the same as the place of residence. Now, most rural people do not work in agriculture. They commute to work. Rural women have entered the workforce to the same extent as urban women. Children attend consolidated schools and often stay after school for sports and other extra-curricular activities. Rural families have shifted their shopping away from the stores on Main Street to the nearest shopping mall. These lifestyle changes mean that rural homes are often vacant, which provides greater opportunity for burglary and other crimes to occur. Rural neighbors are less likely to know each other and therefore to provide surveillance of each other's property. Rural residents spend a greater amount of time in urban locations, such as shopping malls and places of entertainment, where they are at greater risk of victimization.

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The second set of factors represent more basic changes in the social fabric of both the rural and urban sectors of American society. An underlying cause of violence, delinquency, drug use, and the emergence of gangs in rural areas has been the weakened influence of the family, schools, and churches on values and behavior. Rural youth, along with their urban counterparts, are exposed to images on television and in the movies that desensitize them to the consequences of violence. A recent report of the American Psychological Association (1993, pp. 32-33) concluded that:

"There is absolutely no doubt that higher levels of viewing violence on television are correlated with increased acceptance of aggressive attitudes and increased aggressive behavior."

The family, school, and church become less influential in later adolescence, and the probability of engaging in illegal behaviors is determined largely by association with delinquent peer groups. Since World War II, peer influence has grown stronger while the influence of family and other societal institutions has grown weaker (Oetting & Beauvais, 1986). As rural youth gain access to a motor vehicle, the informal primary group relationships of small rural communities diminish in their influence.

The third set of factors involve the economic conditions of poverty found in many rural communities and the impact of poverty on rural families and young people. In a report prepared for the Children's Defense Fund, Sherman (1992) indicated that rural children live in poor families in greater proportions than urban children. Dropout rates of students in rural schools are higher than in urban areas. Rural schools have fewer resources for handling students with special educational needs. Sherman (1992) also cites dozens of other ways that rural youth are more "at risk" than urban youth. These risk factors contribute to the volatile mix that includes the influence of the media, delinquency prone peer groups, the mobility of the population, and a growing network of gangs.

What are the implications for prevention programming of the social, demographic, and economic forces that have shaped rural America and contribute to rising rates of crime, violence, alcohol and drug use, spouse and child abuse, emergence of gangs, and fear of crime? The first and most obvious implication is that rural communities are highly diverse. Prevention programming needs to be sensitive to this diversity. Success in one rural community does not translate to success in another. The second implication is that multi-jurisdictional programming and cooperation of prevention efforts becomes more problematic in rural communities that may be "side by side" but very different in the problems they face. Third, models that have been successful in large metropolitan areas and, for that matter, in smaller cities may be only partially successful or complete failures in rural environments.

The bottom line is that neither "urban" templates nor "rural" templates can be copied to address the problems of specific rural communities. Solutions to local problems will depend on the ability of local leadership to identify accurately and respond effectively to local problems. Unfortunately, some local rural leaders may be reluctant to admit that a problem exists or is emerging, making prevention planning difficult, if not impossible.

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A scientific rendition of the social forces causing the level of violence and crime in rural communities to rise can never match the intuitive appeal and succinctness of that Ohio farmer who summed it up in 14 words: "We are on the same train as city people, but we're in the caboose." I would only add that some rural communities have moved closer to the front of the train. If there was ever an opportune moment for prevention programming to work, it is now and it is in America's rural communities (Donnermeyer, 1994).

Federal Grant Programs that Address Rural Victimization

Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization Enforcement Grants at the Office of Justice Programs improve and increase services available to rural women and children by encouraging community involvement in developing coordinated responses to domestic violence and child abuse. Grant recipients include:

The Maine Rural Health Family Violence Initiative coordinates services for battered women and abused children using health care providers as the first line of defense. The project fosters collaboration between service providers and law enforcement, provides on-site intervention, and is developing training programs that will be tested in four settings, including two Native American health clinics and the state's largest hospital.

The Greater Rural Assistance and Intervention Network (GRAIN) comprehensively responds to domestic violence and child victimization in seven rural counties in northwest Iowa. The project provides direct services, training for agencies involved in providing services to victims, develops protocols for law enforcement and prosecutors to promote victim safety and offender accountability, and sponsors prevention education for young people.

The STOP (Services Training Officers Prosecutors) Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program awards funds to states and territories to restructure and strengthen the criminal justice system's response to violence against women. For example:

The Farm Worker Women Leadership Project in California developed a model for identifying farm worker women in California communities to receive training in sexual assault and domestic violence awareness, prevention strategies, and available resources. In turn, these women train others in their communities about these issues.

Four percent of the amount budgeted each year for the STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program is awarded to Indian tribal governments. Examples include:

The Osage Nation in Oklahoma has developed written policies and procedures on domestic violence for law enforcement officers; the prosecutor and courts are establishing a more specific domestic violence code; the Osage Nation Counseling Center has hired a domestic violence/sexual assault counselor who is

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available during non-business hours; and the counseling center and the tribal court are collaborating to set up a treatment group for offenders.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina established a new shelter, hired a criminal investigator, and provides battered women with court advocacy to help them navigate the tribal justice system.

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota launched a campaign to raise awareness about domestic violence. The tribe also made policy and legal changes to stiffen sanctions against offenders and improve services for battered women.

(The previous section has been excerpted from a report prepared by the Rural Task Force, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington DC, 1998.)

Promising Practices

Family Resources Center, Wytheville, Virginia. Family Resources Center, a private nonprofit agency, provides victim assistance services to victims of child physical and sexual abuse, sexual assault, stalking, and domestic violence in seven counties in rural southwest Virginia. The program is supported by both Victims of Crime Act, and more recently, Violence Against Women Act funding. In many areas of this part of the state, Family Resources provides the only services available for crime victims. For example, in Wythe County, where the Center is located, there are no victim-witness assistance services based in the criminal justice system.

Transportation is the number one barrier to victims accessing services in this part of Virginia. The Center provides transportation for victims to criminal justice related appointments and to medical, psychological, or other critically needed treatment providers. However, due to the mountainous terrain throughout the seven counties served by the Center, such services often pose risks to both advocates and victims, especially during winter months.

In addition to providing transportation to help reduce the barriers to assistance, the Family Resources Center operates a toll-free 800 number because over four-fifths of their service area is long distance.

The Center also operates a satellite office to provide victim services to victims living in isolated jurisdictions without transportation. Services are provided in outlying counties once a week. With VAWA funding, the Center plans to open a second office in another isolated location with coverage three to four days per week.

Alternatives Incorporated of Madison County, Anderson, Indiana. Alternatives Incorporated of Madison County, Indiana, is a nonprofit organization that serves victims of adult and child sexual assault, domestic violence, elder abuse and neglect, and child abuse and neglect. While its primary service jurisdiction is

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Madison County, it also provides outreach and support to victims in three other counties-Hamilton, Hancock, and Henry counties. A total population of 130,000 is located in rural communities throughout the four-county area.

The program receives support from local, state, and federal grants, including Victims of Crime Act and Violence Against Women Act funding, and in-kind donations. The program employs four full-time staff and ten part-time volunteers.

Alternatives Incorporated has created a special domestic violence prevention program entitled HAVEN-Healthcare and Advocates Violence Elimination Network. The unique program is a collaboration between Alternatives Incorporated and rural hospitals. It is designed to identify domestic violence victims within communities and to produce an innovative response to domestic violence through the health care network.

Sheridan County, Wyoming Crime Victim Assistance Program. The Sheridan County Prosecuting Attorney and the Women's Center have combined resources to develop a comprehensive crime victim assistance program in Sheridan County, Wyoming. The town of Sheridan serves as the county center and has a population of 14,000. Including several other satellite towns, the total population of Sheridan County is almost 30,000--a geographic area that encompasses hundreds of miles, including mountain regions.

The Sheridan County Crime Victim Assistance Program has been in existence in this rural setting for just over two years. Prior to the establishment of the Crime Victim Assistance Program, no services were available for crime victims in Sheridan County, other than those offered by the Women's Center for family violence, sexual assault, and child abuse victims. For the most part, these crisis services tapered off when the victim went to court. The Women's Center and the County Attorney felt that victims would be more consistently and thoroughly served with the unique combination of services provided by the Center's experienced staff, and the information and space made accessible by the County Attorney's office.

The program has increased the range of victim services in the county. Advocacy services are now available to all victims of violent crime. Victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or child sexual abuse have the added benefit of advocates trained to provide criminal justice system information, court escort, and other services. Victims of arson, burglary, homicide, or elder fraud have a place to turn to for further assistance and support. The program has also increased victim satisfaction with the prosecutor's office and has assisted the prosecutor's office in implementing programs to further protect victims' rights. Recent collaborative efforts have resulted in the development of a comprehensive protocol for the investigation and prosecution of domestic violence and sexual assault cases (Wallace and Edmunds 1998).

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Carroll County Victims Assistance Program, Carrollton, Ohio. The Victim Assistance Program in the Carroll County Prosecuting Attorney's Office in Carrollton County, Ohio, serves victims of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, felonious assaults, and other serious crimes. With over 50 percent of their caseload being domestic violence cases, the victim assistance program established special services for families experiencing domestic violence.

With support from a private foundation, the prosecuting attorney's office started classes for children who live in domestic violence homes. The program is called KIDDS-Kids in Domestic Dispute Situations. The classes are held once a week for two age groups. They last one hour each and to date the program has served over thirty children. As the program director noted: "This may not seem like a lot, but we feel we have accomplished something with these kids who have lived in domestic situations." In addition, as an alternative to jail, the prosecuting attorney's office also started classes for men who abuse. They meet once a week in a group with a trained counselor.

Penn State Center for Research on Crime and Justice. The intricate causes of crime and its impact on rural and suburban communities are examined and analyzed at the Penn State Center for Research on Crime and Justice. Communities and crime are being examined in the context, for example, of different crime rates by victims' age, gender, and race as well as by neighborhood, including related factors such as the amount of housing, how often residents move in and out of town, the structure of area families, and economic issues. A particular focus is on how decisions are made in the criminal justice system by victims, police, prosecutors, judges, juries, and other groups, and how the results may affect a community. Additional information about this project is available electronically from http://www.psu.edu/ur/NEWS/news/crimeresearchcenter.html.

Rural Crime Watch. In California, the Rural Crime Watch program is a service of the California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF) to assist law enforcement agencies in sharing information about rural crimes. Extensive information is available in both paper and electronic formats on equipment thefts, commodity thefts, Rural Crime Task Force meetings, information and tips about thefts and scams, and information about rural crime prevention programs. The CFBF Web site http://www.cfbf.com also contains links that enhance inter county information exchange as well as information about crime prevention and victim assistance.

Student interns cover bases in four-county rural Tennessee. Through a collaboration with several colleges in the rural, four-county Tenth Judicial District of Tennessee, the Victim/Witness Assistance Program at the District Attorney General's office maintains four offices by relying on student interns to deliver services to victims and witnesses. The student intern program offers academic credit to criminal justice and social service majors, providing them with exposure to the system from the perspective of prosecutors, victims, and witnesses. Applicants to the Intern Program participate in a training program at the District Attorney General's office to learn about the role that victims and witnesses play in

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http://www.psu.edu/ur/NEWS/news/crimeresearchcenter.html


the criminal justice system, and they attend General Sessions Court to learn about court procedures. Interns are assigned to attend preliminary hearings to provide victims and witnesses with up-to-date information on the status of their cases, and to help them obtain answers from the prosecutors to any questions that they may have. Victim/Witness Administrator, Office of the District Attorney General, 10th Judicial District, 130 Washington Avenue NE, Suite 1, P.O. Box 647, Athens, TN 37371-0647 (423-744-2830).

Support from the clergy. The Victim Witness Division of the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, based in Maui, HI, provides more immediate response to victims on rural Maui and the lesser populated islands of Molokai and Lanai by involving clergy-based volunteers trained in victimization. The clergy has been a natural support group in the rural Hawaiian areas, and their participation has improved cooperation and communication between criminal justice professionals, victim services, and rural victims. Victim Witness Assistance, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney, 200 South High Street, Wailuku, HI 96793 (808-243-7695).

Multidisciplinary teams and full service response. Malheur County, OR is a geographically large, culturally diverse, rural county with a small population (30,000) and a high rate of domestic violence--102 reported cases in the first six months of 1999. The Domestic Violence Unit was formed to develop immediate response capability, a consistent protocol for contacting victims and keeping them involved and informed while their cases are processed, and a collaborative relationship with community services that provides victims with ongoing support. Team members (a deputy district attorney, a crisis coordinator, and a police officer) are bi-lingual, trained domestic violence specialists.

The district attorney is on call to law enforcement 24 hours a day. When a domestic violence incident occurs, he or she stays in close contact with the police officer dispatched to the scene of the crime in order to assess the situation and insure that information on the case is taken correctly. Arrests are made under a mandatory arrest law. Following the incident, the Unit Crisis Coordinator meets with the victim to enhance the safety of the family, to interview potential witnesses, and to determine the necessity of a restraining or anti-stalking order. Office of the District Attorney, Courthouse #6, 251 B Street West, Vale, Oregon 97918 (541-473-5127).

ADDITIONAL FEDERAL RESOURCES

There are two types of programs that rural areas should consider when looking for federal help to accomplish their crime prevention goals: 1) programs directly tailored for rural applicants; and 2) general programs open to all, including rural applicants.

The following resources--informational and financial--are available specifically for rural areas and small towns, and include the best sources for more general information. This

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section will help communities quickly locate federal resources that can help design and implement a comprehensive, rural crime prevention strategy.

CLEARINGHOUSES ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small SchoolsAppalachia Educational LaboratoryP.O. Box 1348Charleston, WV 25325-13481-800/624-9120http://aelvira.ael.org/erichp.htmCall for personal assistance in locating the most appropriate resources on education and schooling in rural areas.

National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Information P.O. Box 2345Rockville, MD 20847-23451-800/729-6686http://www.health.orgProvides resources on drug and alcohol education, prevention and treatment for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Clearinghouse's web site, PREVLINE, features federal drug prevention resources, including information for rural areas by keyword search.

National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS)P.O. Box 6000Rockville, MD 20849-60001-800/851-3420http://www.ncjrs.orghttp://www.pavnet.orgA clearinghouse for various divisions of the U.S. Department of Justice, NCJRS disseminates information on law enforcement, courts, corrections, crime prevention, and victim/witness services. Call to request rural materials or search the web sites for rural information.

National Rural Crime Prevention CenterAttn: Domingo HerraizAttn: Joseph F. Donnermeyer6543 Commerce Parkway, Suite RDublin, OH 43017614/761-0500http://www.ncrle.netDistributes 21 brochures on home and farm crime prevention in small towns and rural areas. Studies rural gangs, violence, crime, victimization, law enforcement and drug use.

National Rural Law Enforcement CenterCriminal Justice InstituteUniversity of Arkansas at Little Rock

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2801 South University AvenueLittle Rock, AR 72204501/570-8000Provides education, training, technical assistance, clearinghouse services and networking opportunities for rural law enforcement agencies.

Rural Information CenterNational Agricultural Library10301 Baltimore BoulevardRoom 304Beltsville, MD 20705-23511-800/633-7701http://www.nal.usda.gov/ricProvides specialized information on youth development programs involving agriculture, substance abuse prevention, after-school programs, 4-H, parenting and other services operated out of land grant university and cooperative extension efforts (Office of Justice Programs, Focus on Prevention, 2005).

Adapted from the National Victim Assistance Academy Textbook, 2002; Chapter 22, Section 6.

References

Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). 1999. Criminal Victimization 1998: Changes 1997-98 with Trends 1993-98. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Center for Disease Control (CDC) and National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

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(NCIPC). November 1997. Family and Intimate Violence Prevention Program: Coordinated Community Responses. Atlanta, GA: Author.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). 1998a. Uniform Crime Reports, Crime in the United States, 1983-1997/Crime Rates, Offenses Known to the Police. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). 1998b. Uniform Crime Reports for the United States, 1997. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). 13 December 1998. Uniform Crime Reports, January-June 1998. Press Release. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Greenfeld, L., and S. Smith. 1999. American Indians and Crime. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

National Court Appointed Special Advocates Association. 1999. "Tribal Court CASA Program Descriptions." Seattle, Washington.

Office for Victims of Crime. October 1997. Report to Congress. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime.

Rural Task Force. 1998. Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs.

Seymour, A. 1998. Responding to Victims of Campus Crime, draft report. Washington, DC: National Criminal Justice Association.

Snyder, H. and M. Sickmund. 1999. Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report. Washington, DC: U. S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention.

U.S. Census Bureau. 1997. Statistical Abstract of the U.S. Washington, DC: Author.

Wallace, H. and C. Edmunds. 1 July 1995. America's Forgotten Crime Victims. Grant proposal to U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crimes.

Wallace, H. and C. Edmunds. November 1998. Responding to Rural Crime Victims: An Overview of Local, State, and National Initiatives, draft. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime.

Weisheit, R. A. et al. 1994. "Rural Crime and Rural Policing." Research in Brief (October). Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.


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Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 1998.

Office of Justice Programs, Focus on Prevention, 2005.

Donnermeyer, J. Crime and Violence in Rural Communities, 1994.

Chapter 7 Direct Services

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Special Topics Supplement: Victimization of Individuals with Disabilities

Learning Objectives


The scope and causes of victimization of individuals with disabilities.

How the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 applies to criminal and juvenile justice and private nonprofit victim assistance programs.

How to use appropriate terminology to effectively respond to victims with disabilities.

Strategies for meeting the needs of crime victims with disabilities.


Approximately 54 million Americans report some level of disability, and 26 million of them describe their disability as severe (Holmes 1999).

Between 4 and 5% of Americans have a developmental disability, including mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy, and severe learning disabilities (LaPlante and Carlson 1996).

About 11 million women (29%) over the age of forty-five have conditions that limit their activities, compared with 9 million men (25%) (Hasler 1991) .

Research consistently shows that women with disabilities, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or class, are assaulted, raped, and abused at a rate two times greater than women without a disability (Sobsey 1994; Cusitar 1994).

The risk of being physically or sexually assaulted for adults with developmental disabilities is four to ten times higher than it is for other adults (Ibid.).

The FBI's Uniform Crime Reports show that in 1998, of the 9,235 reported bias-motivated offenses, 27 were motivated by disability bias--14 by anti-physical disability bias and 13 by anti-mental disability bias (FBI 17 October 1999, 60).

Estimates indicate that at least 6 million serious injuries occur each year due to crime, resulting in either temporary or permanent disability. The National Rehabilitation Information Center has estimated that as much as 50% of patients who are long-term residents of hospitals and specialized rehabilitation centers are there due to crime-related injuries (Tyiska 1998).

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Research conducted by the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN) in 1993 found that children with any kind of disability are more than twice as likely as children without a disability to be physically abused and almost twice as likely to be sexually abused. Of all children who are abused, 17.2% had disabilities (Crosse, Kaye, and Ratnofsky 1993).

Child protective services caseworkers reported that the disabilities directly led to or contributed to child maltreatment in 47% of maltreated children with disabilities (Ibid.; Barnett, Miller-Perrin, and Perrin 1997).

A national survey of 860 women found that women with and without physical disabilities were equally likely (62%) to experience physical or emotional abuse from husbands, live-in partners or other family members; however, for women with disabilities the abuse tends to last longer than for women without disabilities. Women with physical disabilities were also more at risk for abuse by attendants or health care providers (Young et al. 1997).

A national research project on young male victims of sexual assault in Australia found that young men with intellectual disabilities are at greatest risk (Colman 1997).

Introduction

The prevention of victimization and the provision of needed services to individuals with disabilities who are victims of crime are urgent issues that have yet to be comprehensively addressed by public policy makers, the criminal or juvenile justice system, and victim assistance service providers. The lack of attention given these issues, until recently, illustrates the enormous gap that has existed between those who advocate for the rights of individuals with disabilities and those who work to ensure fundamental justice in the justice system and advocate for the rights of crime victims.

Throughout the last two decades, these two advocacy movements operated on parallel tracks and made significant gains on behalf of crime victims and individuals with disabilities. Achievements include the passage of significant legislation as well as enhanced and expanded services. As crime victim advocates sought to ensure that victims are "at the center of the criminal and juvenile justice systems," disability advocates sought full "inclusion" of individuals with disabilities in communities and services. Many of the accomplishments of the two movements have been achieved through the joint efforts of self-advocates in partnership with service providers and allied professionals.

Only recently have the crime victims’ movement and the disability rights movement intersected with a common concern and national focus. The common ground has expanded as our awareness of the victimization of individuals with disabilities has increased and the need to improve our response to victims with disabilities has become clear. A better understanding of the issues related to victimization and victim assistance for individuals with disabilities will enable justice professionals and crime victim advocates to extend the possibility of justice and healing in the aftermath of a crime to

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victims with disabilities. As a result of their shared concern, victims' rights advocates and service providers and disability rights advocates and service providers have begun to forge coalitions that ultimately will dramatically improve the treatment of crime victims with disabilities.

Causes of Disability

The term "disability" is very broad, and there is a wide variety of conditions that can affect an individual and result in some form of disability. Age of onset, cause, and manifestation of a disability can be significant factors in treatment of individuals with disabilities. The effects of a disability on major life activities can range from mild to severe. The degree and type of accommodation needed for effective service provision for crime victims with disabilities also varies, depending upon the crime and its impact, the victim and his/her individual needs.

Developmental disabilities occur early in life and have a life-long effect on development, adaptive behavior, and learning (i.e., mental retardation, cerebral palsy, severe learning disabilities, and other neurological conditions). Historically, individuals with developmental disabilities were often placed in state-operated institutions as infants or children where they were isolated from family and society. When widespread physical, emotional, and sexual abuse and neglect of the "patients" in many public facilities were documented in the 1970s and early 1980s, advocates for individuals with developmental disabilities successfully launched the movement to "deinstitutionalize" people with developmental disabilities. "Mainstreaming"--enabling people with developmental disabilities to participate in the "mainstream of society" within the community--became the goal. As a result, community-based services, such as group homes, other assisted living arrangements, and day programs, have expanded tremendously in the last two decades. However, many individuals continue to live in state and private institutions, and issues related to their vulnerability to abuse and neglect remain a concern of family members and advocates. In addition, in recent years the victimization (sexual assault, financial exploitation, and emotional abuse) of people with developmental disabilities who live in the community has been identified as a concern.

The treatment and educational response to an individual's hearing loss or vision loss may vary, depending upon the cause, when it occurred, and whether the individual has any hearing or sight. Physical disabilities such as hearing or vision loss can be congenital or occur later in life as the result of an illness, accident, or injury due to a violent crime. Previously it was thought the best "special education" that children who were diagnosed with deafness or blindness at a young age could receive was in a special residential school away from family and community. Today, such education services are provided in local public schools. Differences in educational approaches for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing or blind may result in these individuals being more comfortable with different methods of communicating or moving. For example, some individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing are comfortable with sign interpreters while others prefer lip-reading; some may be comfortable with written material while others are not. Some

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individuals who are blind use a cane; some do not. Not all people who are blind read braille; some use scanners to read written material and others are accustomed to readers.

Disabilities that affect mobility and/or the ability to function independently (i.e., spinal cord injury) can occur in conjunction with a congenital condition or can occur in childhood, adolescence, or adulthood as a result of an automobile accident or crash, diving, or other accident or injury. Rehabilitation for such injuries is often a lengthy, difficult process involving medical treatment, physical and occupational therapy, counseling, vocational training, and other support services. In addition, people whose lives are changed in this way experience countless adjustments as they adapt to changes imposed by the disability.

The likelihood that an individual will have a disability increases with age, in part because the progression of many diseases can have disabling effects that limit activity and many aspects of daily life (i.e., heart disease, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and many others). In addition, some conditions that occur predominately among the elderly affect memory and intellectual functioning as well as the ability to care for oneself and live independently (i.e., Alzheimer's disease). Individuals with such conditions are often cared for at home by family members or treated in nursing homes or other care facilities.

DISABILITIES CAUSED BY VIOLENT CRIME

Millions of people suffer injuries as a result of criminal victimization each year, and many of these injuries cause long-term disabilities. Examples include assault victims who suffer gunshot wounds that cause spinal cord damage or blindness; victims of drunk or drugged drivers who suffer the loss of a limb, spinal cord injuries, or head injuries that cause traumatic brain injury; infants who suffer the effects of "shaken baby syndrome" and sustain severe brain injury and resultant developmental disabilities; children who are victims of severe physical abuse whose emotional and physical development is affected; or victims of domestic violence who sustain permanent injuries as a result of a single battering incident or repeated battering over a period of several years.

For many of these victims, the traumatic impact of the victimization is compounded by the life-changing impact of the disabling condition. The combination of these circumstances, imposed abruptly and unexpectedly, can have a profound emotional impact. Depending upon the disability, the impact may be seen in many areas. For example, mobility or the ability to live and travel independently may be affected and loss of employment and change in economic status may result. In addition, the impact is felt by family members who also experience changes in relationships and "the loss" of the way their lives had been. While coping with medical or mental health treatments and rehabilitation and these unexpected life changes, individuals who acquire a disability as the result of a crime may also have to cope with involvement with the criminal or juvenile justice system as a victim and/or witness.

Sensitivity to the needs of these crime victims and their physical and emotional recovery process is essential to providing effective victim assistance. In addition to providing

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information about the status of the case and facilitating participation in criminal or juvenile justice proceedings, victim assistance may need to coordinate a broad range of community resources and referrals and long-term support. Coordination with other service providers (medical, rehabilitative, income assistance, housing, etc.) may be necessary. Financial remedies such as crime victim compensation, criminal restitution, and civil actions against the perpetrator and other persons responsible are very important in such cases.

Attitudes and Myths About Disabilities

There are tens of millions of Americans with disabilities, many of whom have been victims of crime and most of whom are at risk of being victims of crime. Societal attitudes toward individuals with disabilities often reflect negative stereotypes and a lack of knowledge. Attitudinal barriers are usually subtle but discernible. Examples include reactions of disgust, pity, or discomfort expressed both verbally and non-verbally, overtly and covertly.

Tyiska (1998) discusses three myths about individuals with disabilities that were identified at an OVC-sponsored national symposium held to discuss issues related to assistance for victims with disabilities. Each of these myths is based on negative stereotypes and interferes with many people's ability to relate and interact with individuals with disabilities.

First, the "perception that people with disabilities are suffering," and should be extended charity and kindness instead of rights and responsibilities.

Second, people with disabilities are not capable of making decisions for themselves and need others to manage their lives.

Third, many people fear contact with people who have disabilities as if the condition were contagious. This stems from a fear of whatever is "unfamiliar" and different and a lack of information, knowledge, and experience. Anyone who is perceived as different from the "norm" is suspect and marginalized.

In 1990, Dick Sobsey outlined five "cultural myths" surrounding people with disabilities that serve to undermine their individuality and value as people, and even contribute to their vulnerability to abuse.

The "Dehumanization" Myth: Labels such as "vegetative state" suggest that a person with a disability is something less than a full member of society and serves to dehumanize the individual. Thus, perpetrators may rationalize their abusive behavior as not really injuring another person.

The "Damaged Merchandise" Myth: Similar to "dehumanization," this myth asserts that the life of the individual with a disability is "worthless" and thus he or she has nothing to lose. This thinking is aligned with advocates for euthanasia of children with severe disabilities, who rationalize that such killing is in the best

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interest of the child. For example, a well publicized case in Canada, argued in the courts through 1997, involved a father's so-called "compassionate homicide" of his thirteen-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy.

The "Feeling No Pain" Myth: With this myth, people with disabilities are thought of as having no feelings or as being immune to pain and suffering. There is no basis for this myth and, in fact, individuals with disabilities experience the same range of emotions found in any person.

The "Disabled Menace" Myth: Perceived as "different," individuals with disabilities are often considered unpredictable and dangerous, whether or not there is any foundation for the fear. Adherence to this myth may motivate people to prevent community facilities, such as group homes for adults with mental retardation, from being developed in their neighborhoods.

The "Helplessness" Myth: Beliefs or perceptions that individuals with disabilities are "helpless" and unable to take care of themselves undermine their self-esteem and ability to take on decisions related to daily life. This in turn, makes the individual more vulnerable to abuse and manipulation.

These attitudes undermine the individual's self-advocacy and increase vulnerability. Sobsey suggests that "changing societal attitudes towards persons with disabilities" is important to long-term empowerment and the prevention of abuse. Through empowerment and self-advocacy, individuals with developmental disabilities will better be able to protect themselves from abuse or seek assistance to end it.

Scope of the Problem of Victimization of Individuals with Disabilities

There is no definitive or comprehensive source of information on the extent of the problem of victimization of individuals with disabilities. However, considerable research conducted over the last two decades consistently suggests that individuals with disabilities are as likely or more likely than nondisabled individuals to be victimized by crime. Research consistently reports that children and adults with disabilities are at much greater risk of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse (Sobsey and Mansell 1990, 1998; Sobsey and Doe 1991; Sobsey 1994, Sobsey et al. 1994; Doucette 1986; Crosse, Kaye, and Ratnofsky 1993; Baladerian 1991). In addition to the growing evidence of victimization, anecdotal evidence suggests that crimes against individuals with disabilities are seriously underreported, and that when it is reported, victims are not believed and cases are not prosecuted (Sorensen 1997; Petersilia 1997; Sanders et al. 1997). Finally, it appears that few victims with disabilities ever reach victim assistance programs for assistance and support.

In addition, concerns about violence against women with disabilities are growing among disability advocates and researchers (Chenoweth 1996; Young et al. 1997; Harness-DiGloria 1999). In 1995-1996, a survey was conducted by Berkeley Planning Associates under a federal grant entitled Meeting the Needs of Women with Disabilities: A Blueprint for Change. The survey sought input from women with disabilities about the importance

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of various research and policy issues. Issues relating to violence and abuse were rated as the number one priority of survey respondents.

THE VICTIMIZATION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

The issue of child abuse and disabilities emerged in the mid-1980s; however the full extent of the problem was not known until a national study was mandated by Congress in 1988 (Crosse 1993). Early efforts in this area focused on the dual problem of the abuse of children with disabilities and the disabling effects of child abuse. Early programs combined the expertise of child abuse diagnostic and treatment specialists with the expertise of specialists in developmental and other disabilities in children:

The Center for Child Protection-Children's Hospital and Health Center. In 1986, the Center for Child Protection in San Diego, California, developed one of the nation's first forensic assessment protocols for victims of sexual assault who have developmental disabilities. The Center offers specialized assessment and treatment to approximately 1,200 child victims of sexual assault each year, many of whom are disabled, including a four-week course for children who are scheduled to testify in court (Grayson 1992).

Boys Town National Research Hospital, Center for Abused Children with Disabilities. The Center, located in Nebraska, provides evaluation and treatment for 250 to 500 abused children with communication disorders each year. It offers a short-term residential program, specifically for abused hearing-impaired children and their families, and is the only program of its kind in the nation. The Center employs staff with disabilities, who thus serve as role models for the children and parents. In addition, the Center has developed protocols for police and child protection workers which assist them in conducting investigations of abused children with disabilities (Ibid.).

In 1991, Nora J. Baladerian, Ph.D., released a report from the Spectrum Institute in Culver City, California, entitled, Abuse Causes Disability. The report summarized the literature related to child abuse, its devastating impact, and the frequency with which children who are abused have disabilities. Dr. Baladerian called for a national program to combat the devastating and debilitating impact that child abuse has on children (Baladerian 1991).

In 1993, the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN) released the findings of a comprehensive national study entitled A Report on the Maltreatment of Children with Disabilities. The Report was prepared in response to Section 102(a) of the Child Abuse Prevention, Adoption, and Family Services Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-294). The study focused on maltreated children who had physical, intellectual, or emotional disabilities. Much of the information in the Report is based on data collected from a representative sample of thirty-five child protective service (CPS) agencies, which provided information on all cases of substantiated maltreatment of children over a six-week period in 1991. Information was collected on cases involving 1,834 children whose maltreatment was substantiated. The study found the following:

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An estimated 23 out of 100 children in the United States are maltreated each year.

Of children who are abused, 17.2% had disabilities, and of all children who were sexually abused, 15.2% had disabilities.

Abused children with disabilities were more likely to be male and generally older than children without disabilities who were abused.

The incidence of maltreatment (number of children maltreated annually per 1,000 children) among children with disabilities was 1.7 times higher than the incidence of maltreatment for children without disabilities. (The rate was 2.1 times higher for children who were physically abused; 1.8 times higher for sexually abused children; and 1.6 times higher for neglected children.)

The disabilities directly led to or contributed to child maltreatment in 47% of maltreated children with disabilities. The most common disabilities noted were emotional disturbance, learning disability, physical health problems, and speech or language delay or impairment. (Crosse, Kaye, and Ratnofsky 1993).

Based on the results of this study, six recommendations were made:

1. Risk assessment approaches used in child protective services (CPS) agencies should include the child's specific disabilities as a risk factor.

2. CPS caseworkers should be educated on the relationship between maltreatment and disabilities, on identifying disabilities, and on making appropriate referrals for children with disabilities.

3. Professionals who come into contact with children with disabilities should be educated on the relationship between maltreatment and disabilities, on identifying disabilities, and on making appropriate referrals for children with disabilities.

4. State and federal systems that report information on cases of child maltreatment should include uniform information on whether or not children have disabilities.

5. Caseworkers in CPS agencies and professionals in other settings should provide specialized services to prevent maltreatment in families who have children with disabilities.

6. Future research should continue to study the relationship among child maltreatment, race/ethnicity, and disabilities, and on the causal relationship between disabilities and maltreatment (Crosse, Kaye, and Ratnofsky 1993).

Response to Crime Victims with Disabilities

The victimization of individuals with disabilities was largely overlooked on the national level prior to passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101).

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The ADA provided a new framework for governmental and nonprofit agencies responding to individuals with disabilities. Since its implementation, the Department of Justice and other federal agencies have initiated a variety of efforts to provide information to state and local criminal and juvenile justice agencies and victim assistance programs on the intent and requirements of the Act. However, despite these efforts, many programs that serve crime victims lack a full understanding of whether their program is covered by the Act andwhat is required. The two sections of the Act that are of particular importance to justice systems and victim assistance programs are described below. Other significant national efforts and legislation pertaining to individuals and victims with disabilities are also described.

THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990

On July 26, 1990, landmark federal legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (Pub. L. 101-336; 42 U.S.C. 12101), was enacted to provide comprehensive civil rights protection to people with disabilities in the areas of employment, public accommodations, state and local government services, and telecommunications. A fundamental purpose of the ADA is to promote the full integration of individuals with disabilities into the "mainstream" of society.

In the legislation, Congress articulated a number of findings (Section 12101), which include the following passages:

historically, society has tended to isolate and segregate individuals with disabilities, and, despite some improvements, such forms of discrimination against individuals with disabilities continue to be a serious and pervasive social problem;

discrimination against individuals with disabilities persists in such critical areas as employment, housing, public accommodations, education, transportation, communication, recreation, institutionalization, health services, voting, and access to public services;

unlike individuals who have experienced discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, or age, individuals who have experienced discrimination on the basis of disability have often had no legal recourse to redress such discrimination;

individuals with disabilities continually encounter various forms of discrimination, including outright intentional exclusion, the discriminatory effects of architectural, transportation, and communication barriers, overprotective rules and policies, failure to make modifications to existing facilities and practices, exclusionary qualification standards and criteria, segregation, and relegation to lesser services, programs, activities, benefits, jobs, or other opportunities;

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census data, national polls, and other studies have documented that people with disabilities, as a group, occupy an inferior status in our society, and are severely disadvantaged socially, vocationally, economically, and educationally;

individuals with disabilities are a discrete and insular minority who have been faced with restrictions and limitations, subjected to a history of purposeful unequal treatment, and relegated to a position of political powerlessness in our society, based on characteristics that are beyond the control of such individuals and resulting from stereotypic assumptions not truly indicative of the individual ability of such individuals to participate in, and contribute to, society;

the Nation's proper goals regarding individuals with disabilities are to assure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for such individuals; and

the continuing existence of unfair and unnecessary discrimination and prejudice denies people with disabilities the opportunity to compete on an equal basis and to pursue those opportunities for which our free society is justifiably famous, and costs the United States billions of dollars in unnecessary expenses resulting from dependency and nonproductivity.

The requirements of two specific sections of the ADA are especially important for government-based and private nonprofit programs that serve victims of crime. These sections are Title II, which covers public entities and Title III, which covers public accommodations, including private entities that own, operate, or lease places of public accommodation.

Qualified individuals with disabilities. The ADA extended broad civil rights protection to people with a wide range of disabilities. U.S. Department of Justice regulations that implement Titles II and III (28 CFR Part 35 and 36) provide the following definitions:

Disability, with respect to an individual, is defined as:

o A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual.

o A record of such impairment. o Being regarded as having such an impairment.

If a person meets any one of the three criteria listed above, then the person is covered by the Act. Major life activities include functions such as caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working.

Under this definition, the term physical impairment means any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more of the following body systems:

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o Neurological. o Musculoskeletal. o Special sense organs. o Respiratory (including speech organs). o Cardiovascular. o Reproductive. o Digestive. o Genitourinary. o Hemic (blood). o Lymphatic. o Skin and endocrine.

The term mental impairment means any mental or psychological disorder such as:

o Mental retardation. o Organic brain syndrome. o Emotional or mental illness. o Specific learning disorders.

Although no comprehensive list of all of the specific conditions that would constitute physical or mental impairments exists, the ADA is thought to cover hundreds of disabling conditions. Examples of specific physical or mental impairments covered by the ADA include such contagious and noncontagious diseases and conditions as:

Orthopedic, visual, speech, and hearing impairments.

Cerebral palsy.

Epilepsy.

Muscular dystrophy.

Multiple sclerosis.

AIDS/HIV infection (symptomatic or asymptomatic).

Cancer.

Heart disease.

Diabetes.

Mental retardation.

Specific learning disabilities.

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Emotional illness.

Tuberculosis.

Drug addiction.

Alcoholism.

Individuals who currently engage in the illegal use of drugs are not protected by the ADA when an action is taken on the basis of their current illegal drug use.

Title II of the ADA: Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in State and Local Government Services. Title II of the ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by public entities, and extends the nondiscrimination mandate of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to all state and local government services regardless of whether the entity receives federal financial assistance. This includes all activities, services, and programs of state legislatures, courts, town meetings, police and fire departments, motor vehicle licensing, and employment.

More specifically, the ADA prohibits a public entity from excluding or denying the benefits of services, programs or activities to a "qualified individual with a disability," on the basis of the disability. A "qualified individual with a disability" means an individual with a disability who meets the "essential eligibility requirements" for the services or participation in the programs or activities, regardless of whether reasonable modifications are needed to do so. In other words, any individual who would normally be eligible for a service that is offered (for example, counseling or information and referral provided by a victim assistance program) cannot be denied that service just because the person has a disability.

In order to ensure access to all government-sponsored programs, services and activities must make reasonable modifications to policies, practices, or procedures. This includes the removal of architectural, communication, and transportation barriers and the provision of auxiliary aids and services to ensure that communication with individuals with disabilities is as effective as communication with others.

Communication State and local government programs must ensure effective communication with individuals with disabilities by providing appropriate auxiliary devices. A wide range of devices is currently available that afford an individual with equal opportunity to participate in programs and services. In determining the most appropriate auxiliary communication aid, service providers should defer to the preference of the individual whenever possible.

The types of devices or services that facilitate communication vary significantly. A particular device or service may be preferred by some and yet be completely inappropriate for others with the same type of disability. For example, some people who

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are deaf prefer sign language interpreters while others do not sign at all. A public entity may not charge an individual with a disability for the use of any auxiliary aid.

The following examples of auxiliary aids and services make aurally delivered material available to individuals with hearing impairments:

Qualified interpreters, note takers, transcript services, written materials, assistive listening devices, telecommunications devices for the deaf (TDDs), videotext displays, closed caption decoders, and telephones compatible with hearing aids.

The following examples of auxiliary aids and services make visually delivered material available to individuals with visual impairments:

Qualified readers, taped texts, audio recordings, brailled materials, and large print materials. If provision of the auxiliary aid would result in a fundamental alteration of the nature of the service, program, or activity or is an undue financial or administrative burden, public entities are not required to provide them. However, public entities are still required to provide another auxiliary aid, if available, that would not have these results.

Other Barriers to Accessibility Public entities must ensure that individuals with disabilities are not excluded from services, programs, or activities because buildings are not accessible. Where possible, barriers should be removed. The public entity may comply with the program accessibility requirement by delivering services at alternate accessible sites, providing an aide or personal assistant, or providing the service at an individual's home. Government programs may not provide access by physically carrying an individual with a disability (for example, up a flight of stairs), except in "manifestly exceptional" circumstances. While it is not necessary to remove physical barriers, such as stairs, in all existing buildings, any newly constructed or renovated buildings must be free of all architectural and communication barriers that restrict access or use by individuals with disabilities.

The purpose for the removal of barriers and the use of communication aids is to:

Make services and programs accessible to, or usable by, individuals with mobility, manual dexterity, hearing, or visual impairments in the most integrated setting possible.

Promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in programs, services, and activities of all public entities.

Ensure that individuals with disabilities enjoy any right, privilege, advantage, or opportunity received by others who receive any aid, benefit, or service.

Separate programs or services provided to people with disabilities are not permitted in most instances unless the separate programs are necessary to ensure that the benefits and

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services are equally effective. Even when such programs are available, an individual with a disability still has the right to choose to participate in the regular program. Further, programs may not have criteria that "tend to" screen out people with disabilities.

Title III: Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public Accommodations and in Commercial Facilities. Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by public accommodations and requires that public accommodations and commercial facilities (including social service agencies) be designed and altered to meet accessibility standards. The definition of public accommodation in Title III includes twelve categories of facilities, one of which is "social service center establishments." Implementing regulations (28 CFR Part 36) specifically include rape crisis centers, substance abuse treatment centers, and homeless shelters among the types of establishments that are included.

The requirements of Title III are similar in intent to those of Title II. Public accommodations must satisfy the following requirements:

Provide services in an integrated setting, unless separate measures are necessary to ensure equal opportunity.

Make reasonable accommodations in policies, practices, and procedures that deny equal access to individuals with disabilities, unless doing so would fundamentally alter the nature of the services.

Furnish auxiliary aids when necessary to ensure effective communication, unless undue burden or fundamental alteration would result.

Remove structural and architectural communication barriers in existing facilities where readily achievable--"easily accomplished and able to be carried out without much difficulty or expense."

Provide readily achievable alternative measures when removal of barriers is not readily achievable.

Maintain accessible features of facilities and equipment.

Ensure that newly constructed public accommodations and commercial facilities should be convenient to get to, enter, and use for all patrons or employees with disabilities.

MEETING THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

In The Americans with Disabilities Act and Criminal Justice: An Overview, Rubin (1993) suggests the following questions to determine whether a governmental agency is meeting the requirements of the ADA:

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Are any modifications to the agency's policies, practices, or procedures necessary to ensure accessibility?

Do any eligibility criteria eliminate or tend to screen out a qualified individual with a disability from enjoying the benefits of these programs, services, or activities?

Do any policies or practices segregate persons with disabilities from others participating in these programs, services, or activities?

Are any of these programs, services, or activities delivered at a location or facility that has the effect of denying persons with disabilities the right to enjoy the benefits of these programs, services, or activities?

If alternative services are offered to persons with disabilities, are these benefits unequal to those offered to the public at large?

Rubin suggests that if the answer to any of these questions is "yes," the agency may need to revise the way it offers its programs, services, or activities.

For further information about ADA compliance, please refer to the Additional Resources at the end of this chapter.

NATIONAL LEVEL EFFORTS

On the national level, little attention was given to the issue of how to respond to crime victims with disabilities until the year the ADA was passed. By 1990, the crime victims' discipline had achieved significant recognition and VOCA funding had enabled crime victim assistance and compensation programs to expand services and increase in number. Several milestones that illustrate the victim service field's growing awareness and concern about addressing the needs of victims with disabilities are noted below:

In 1990, the National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA) first helped to bring awareness to the many obstacles faced by disabled victims seeking services with its publication entitled Responding to Disabled Victims of Crime in 1990 (Tyiska 1990).

In 1992, the National Resource Center on Child Sexual Abuse (NRCCSA) published a comprehensive series of articles, written by research and practitioner experts, on the sexual abuse of children with disabilities. In addition, the Center's annual National Symposium on Child Sexual Abuse regularly features a training track on child victims with disabilities (Baladerian 1992; Pawelski 1992; Sobsey 1992; Tobin 1992).

In 1993, with support from the Office for Victims of Crime, the National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC) developed a training curricula entitled Differently-

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Abled Victims of Crime that provides extensive information on how to provide specialized services and information to disabled crime victims (Gregorie 1994).

In 1993, the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN) released findings from a comprehensive national study entitled A Report on the Maltreatment of Children with Disabilities. The study focused on maltreated children who had physical, intellectual, or emotional disabilities. It found a significant correlation between maltreated children and abuse and offered key recommendations for responding to abused children with disabilities (Crosse, Kaye, and Ratnofsky 1993).

After the passage of The Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), within the U.S. Department of Justice, launched an initiative to examine the implications of the ADA for criminal justice agencies at the state and local levels. In 1993, NIJ published The Americans with Disabilities Act and Criminal Justice: An Overview as a bulletin in its Research in Action publication series (Rubin 1993).

In 1994, Dick Sobsey's books, Violence and Abuse in the Lives of People with Disabilities: The End of Silent Acceptance and Violence and Disability: An Annotated Bibliography, were published. The texts extensively review literature on violence and abuse toward individuals with disabilities and provide guidance for prevention of abuse and victimization. Although much of the material focuses on individuals with developmental disabilities and abuse in institutions, the books give new weight to the overall issue of victims with disabilities.

In 1997, the Victims of Crime Committee of the Criminal Justice Task Force for People with Developmental Disabilities in Sacramento, California, issued its report outlining evidence of the high rates of violent and criminal victimization of people with developmental and other substantial disabilities (including mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, severe major mental disorders, degenerative brain disease such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's, permanent damage from stroke, organic brain damage, and others). These high rates of victimization, coupled with underreporting of the crimes and low rates of prosecution and conviction, led the Committee to develop fifty-nine recommendations to improve the reporting, investigation, and prosecution of such crimes. In addition, the group called for multidisciplinary teams to provide victim support and numerous measures to prevent abuse and victimization by service providers. Finally, the Committee recommended that the Bureau of Justice Statistics include information on victims with developmental and other substantial disabilities in its Crime Victimization Survey. Members of the Committee, including Daniel Sorensen, chair, and Joan Petersilia, presented the recommendations to the California legislature and to members of Congress (Criminal Justice Task Force 1997).

On October 27, 1998 the President signed the Crime Victims with Disabilities Act of 1998 which represents the first effort to systematically gather information on

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the extent of the problem of victimization of individuals with disabilities. This legislation directs the Attorney General to conduct a study on crimes against individuals with developmental disabilities within eighteen months. In addition, the Bureau of Justice Statistics must include statistics on the nature of crimes against individuals with developmental disabilities and victim characteristics in its annual National Crime Victimization Survey by 2000. The legislation was sponsored by Senator Mike DeWine (OH), a former prosecutor, and represents an unprecedented level of attention to an often overlooked crime victim group.

VOCA ASSISTANCE GUIDELINES: PROVISIONS THAT ADDRESS SERVICES TO VICTIMS WITH DISABILITIES

In 1997, the Office for Victims of Crime modified the VOCA Assistance Guidelines that give direction and guidance to the states and territories administering VOCA funding to strengthen its message regarding services to victims with disabilities. According to the Office for Victims of Crime, VOCA administrators are strongly encouraged to require state and local programs to meet the needs of disabled crime victims. In the 1997 VOCA Guidelines, allowable costs to accommodate the needs of crime victims with disabilities are addressed as follows:

1997 VOCA Guidelines (IV.E.2.d.). The costs of furniture, equipment (such as braille equipment or a TTY for the deaf), or minor building improvements that make victims' services more accessible to persons with disabilities are allowable.

1997 VOCA Guidelines (IV.E.2.g.). VOCA funds generally should not be used to support contract services. At times, however, it may be necessary for VOCA subrecipients to use a portion of the VOCA grant to contract for specialized services. Examples of these services include assistance in filing restraining orders or establishing emergency custody/visitation rights (the provider must have a demonstrated history of advocacy on behalf of domestic violence victims); forensic examination of a sexual assault victim to the extent that other funding sources are unavailable or insufficient; emergency psychological or psychiatric services; or sign and/or interpretation for the Deaf or for crime victims whose primary language is not English.

THE FIRST NATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON WORKING WITH VICTIMS OF CRIME WITH DISABILITIES

The Office for Victims of Crime within the U.S. Department of Justice provided funding to NOVA to host a two-day "Transfer of Knowledge" symposium on the needs of victims with disabilities. The symposium convened experts (including victims of crime with disabilities) from the fields of disability rights and services, crime victims advocacy and services, and research, January 23-24, 1998, to discuss issues related to the extent of victimization of people with disabilities and how to improve the capacity and preparedness of victim service providers to respond effectively to the needs of crime victims with disabilities.

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Highlights of the symposium discussions were published in an OVC Bulletin, entitled Working with Victims of Crimes with Disabilities (Tyiska 1998). The Bulletin represents the first attempt to outline recommendations for crime victim and disability advocates, service providers, and Department of Justice agencies with regard to this important topic. The Symposium participants developed fifteen recommendations for criminal justice agencies and victim service programs, eight recommendations for disability rights specialists, ten recommendations for OVC, and five recommendations for other Department of Justice agencies. Excerpts from the recommendations for criminal justice and victim assistance programs are as follows:

Accessibility. 1. Criminal justice agencies and victim service programs should receive training on the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and should support its vigorous enforcement. Such agencies and programs should take advantage of technical assistance that is available and abide by the letter as well as the spirit of the law, ensuring equal access to the justice system.

2. When full implementation is not immediately achievable, criminal justice agencies and victim service programs should initiate a transition plan that focuses on obtaining accessibility by a specified date. Such compliance plans are mandated under Titles II and III, and should guide the development of incremental steps toward accessibility.

3. Criminal justice agencies and victim assistance programs should be proactive in acquiring technology that would help crime victims with disabilities to be informed, present, heard, and understood when they communicate with law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, and victim advocates, through all phases of the criminal justice process. (Note: VOCA funds may be used to cover the costs of acquiring assistive devices and other necessary efforts that enable victim service providers and crime victims to communicate effectively.)

4. Once the agency is accessible and staff is trained, criminal justice agencies and victim assistance programs should publicize their ability to work with crime victims with disabilities by putting the universal symbol of access (a line drawing of a wheelchair) and a TDD/TTY number on all literature, promotional materials, and business cards issued by the agency.

Training and networking. 5. Criminal justice and victim assistance personnel should receive training on disabilities, including instruction on disability cultures. In addition, criminal justice and victim assistance programs should enlist qualified people with a wide range of different disabilities to lead the development of policies and programs designed to assist crime victims with disabilities.

6. Criminal justice and victim assistance programs should reach out to local disability service organizations, providing information about victims' rights and services.

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7. Criminal justice and victim assistance programs should develop coalitions, as well as cross training and joint training opportunities, with disability advocacy and service programs to build better working relationships and to improve mutual understanding of each others' programs and services.

Improved policies, procedures, and protocols. 8. Agencies should implement or extend streamlined interviewing and intake procedures so that crime victims with disabilities, particularly those with cognitive or communication disabilities, do not have to undergo repeated interviewing in different locations. A multidisciplinary approach involving law enforcement, prosecution, victim assistance, and others as needed, in victim-friendly environments would be far more effective as well as cost-efficient.

9. Agencies should develop and implement specific protocols on disclosures, confidentiality, and safety for crime victims with disabilities, particularly where there is potential for retaliation by a caregiver or a disability services agency. For example, when a crime victim with a disability reports to law enforcement or others that he or she is being victimized by a caregiver, the victim should be provided assistance with relocating or obtaining an emergency replacement caregiver.

10. Criminal justice and victim assistance programs should incorporate into existing policies, procedures, and protocols the specific inclusion of persons with disabilities who are victims or witnesses of domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse, impaired driving crashes, survivors of homicide victims, or other violent personal crimes, and economic crimes.

In conclusion, the author notes that although few networks exist that link victim service providers with their counterparts in the field of disability, such linkages at the local level hold the greatest hope for policy and programmatic changes that will improve services for crime victims with disabilities. Such a partnership, built on mutual respect and a willingness to share knowledge and ideas, will strengthen the ability of victim and disability advocates to ensure that all crime victims are afforded fundamental justice and access to quality, comprehensive services.

RESEARCH FROM THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE

In 1997, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) released a report entitled Americans With Disabilities Act: Emergency Response Systems and Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf. As part of NIJ's Research in Action series, the report summarizes results and lessons learned by the incorporation of telecommunication devices for the Deaf through TDD capability in Denver, Colorado's 911 telephone emergency response services.

ADMINISTRATION ON DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES INITIATIVES

The Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has given new priority to the issue of preventing

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victimization and improving the response to individuals with developmental disabilities who are victims of crime. In 1998, ADD funded nine discretionary grants primarily to university affiliated programs which specialize in providing services and training to professionals who work with individuals with developmental disabilities. A list of the programs, which are located around the country, along with their major goals is provided below:

End the Silence. The Institute on Disabilities at Temple University is conducting a three-year initiative called End the Silence funded by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The program approaches crime against people with developmental and other disabilities as a problem similar to violence against women, child abuse, and elder abuse. End the Silence recognizes that while much progress has been made in these three areas, crimes against people with disabilities continues to be largely invisible and unaddressed in mainstream criminal justice. Part of the initiative is devoted to self-advocacy. Individuals with disabilities, including victims, are taking an active role in developing the training material on sexual abuse awareness and are participating in the pilot training programs.

Program goals are to:

o Develop and disseminate focused training curricula. o Develop communication boards with understandable vocabulary and

symbols to convey risk prevention strategies and disseminate them to individuals with significant cognitive and speech disabilities and/or assist these individuals in reporting sexual abuse when it occurs.

o Pilot test the training curricula for law enforcement, victim service providers, prosecutors, families, and allies in a five-county area around Philadelphia.

o Conduct research and advance systemic change. o Conduct a national public awareness campaign on the victimization of

individuals with disabilities.

Coalition on Disability and Abuse: Equity and Equality Under the Law, Institute on Disability and Human Development/University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL. The purpose of this project is to promote equal treatment by the criminal justice system of crime victims with developmental disabilities by developing, piloting, and disseminating a modular training curriculum for representatives of the criminal justice system, human service providers, and self-advocacy organizations.

Project Equality: Obtaining Justice Under the Law for People with Developmental Disabilities, Center on Aging and Developmental Disabilities/University of Miami, Miami, FL. Criminal justice personnel are required to make reasonable accommodations to assist individuals with developmental disabilities who encounter the justice system as victims of crime. This project will develop training materials for criminal justice professionals and self-advocates. Self-

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advocates will receive training about their right to participate in the criminal justice system and their entitlement to appropriate victim assistance and crime prevention strategies.

Invisible Victims of Crime-Individuals with Developmental Disabilities, Vermont Protection and Advocacy, Montpelier, VT. This project is a collaborative effort among organizations representing people with developmental disabilities and key criminal justice agencies. The purpose of the project is to educate criminal justice personnel, allied service providers, and people with developmental disabilities in understanding and responding to the problem of crime and violence against people with developmental disabilities.

Advocacy, Collaboration, and Training (ACT) For Justice, A. J. Pappanikou Center/ University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT. The ACT for Justice Project is designed to eliminate physical and attitudinal barriers that prevent an equitable response from the justice system in Connecticut when crimes are committed against consumers with developmental disabilities. Project objectives are (1) conduct research and data collection regarding the nature, type, incidence, extent, and setting of crimes; identify risk factors associated with victims and characteristics of perpetrators; (2) increase responsiveness to reports of crimes against individuals with developmental disabilities; (3) develop methodologies that will promote an increase in self-advocacy behaviors among consumers, effecting a reduction in risk of victimization; (4) promote equitable prosecution and sentencing of perpetrators of crimes against persons with developmental disabilities; and (5) develop and disseminate a model for collaborative, interagency training that can be adapted and implemented throughout other communities in Connecticut and the United States.

Safety First: Sexual and Domestic Violence Prevention and Response Strategies for Women with Developmental Disabilities, Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault, Kansas City, MO. This collaborative project of the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Abuse (MOCSA), Rose Brooks Center (a domestic violence service agency), the University of Missouri-Kansas City University Affiliated Program, and criminal justice organizations has as its goal the improvement of safety, independence, and productivity of women with developmental disabilities through enhancement of the current network that addresses domestic violence and sexual abuse and the enhancement of the consumer's ability to prevent this violence.

The Arc of Maryland, Annapolis, MD. The Arc of Maryland, in partnership with The Arc of Southern Maryland and The Arc of the United States, proposes to develop, pilot, and evaluate an 8-12 class gender violence prevention curriculum for women and adolescent girls with developmental disabilities.

Personal Safety Awareness Center, Travis County Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Survival Center, Austin, TX. The Personal Safety Awareness Center (PSAC) will create a statewide abuse/violence prevention and intervention

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program for persons with disabilities. The project objectives include increasing awareness of Texans with disabilities, families, caregivers, and disability service providers about domestic violence; increasing accessibility of domestic violence/crisis services; and increasing access to counseling/support services for family violence victims who have disabilities and their families.

Women with Developmental Disabilities Violence Project, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, OR. The goal of this project is to design, demonstrate, and evaluate a coordinated community education program to empower women with developmental disabilities to prevent, recognize, and address violence.

Terminology

Over the last two decades "accepted" terminology related to disabilities has changed significantly. The term "mainstreaming" was used a decade or more ago to refer to enabling individuals with disabilities, particularly children who had been placed in separate special education classes, to participate and receive services in their public school or community. More recently, the term "inclusion" is used to convey the practice of including people with disabilities in "regular" programs or services, instead of special/separate services. "Least restrictive environment" refers to the optimum environment with the least amount of restriction in which the individual with a disability can learn, develop, and function as independently as possible. For example, an individual with a developmental disability may live in a group home that offers fewer restrictions and more opportunities for independence and community involvement than does living in an institution.

At the time of enactment of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, the terms "handicapped" and "people with handicapping conditions" was used to describe people with disabilities. In 1990 when the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, "individuals with disabilities" was commonly used throughout the statute and its implementing regulations to refer to the entire population of people who are covered by the protections conveyed in the Act.

Despite this usage in legislation and laws, one important message is clear: an individual with a disability may be very comfortable with some terms and very uncomfortable with others. The "disability community" is not a single entity with a single set of preferences or concerns about terminology or treatment. In fact, it encompasses a very diverse group of individuals with disabilities and their family members. It is so diverse because literally hundreds of physical and mental conditions that limit major life activities, to a mild or severe degree, are covered by the ADA (for example, diabetes, mental illness, cerebral palsy, and learning disabilities, all of which may be associated with mild or very severe disabilities). Thus, there is no single source of information on terminology that is comfortable to all individuals with disabilities.

INDIVIDUALIZED RESPONSE

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The best way to show sensitivity and respect for the preferences of a crime victim who has a disability is to ask the individual which terminology he or she is most comfortable with. For example, some individuals who have a loss of hearing are deaf, while others may have some hearing or be "hard of hearing." The terms "deaf" or "hard of hearing" may be more preferable to an individual than the term "hearing impaired." To ensure that the terms you use are not offensive, ask the individual victim for guidance on his or her individual preferences. Many terms used to describe disabilities or individuals with disabilities evoke stereotypes that are negative and dehumanizing to the individual. For example, terms such as "deaf and dumb," "disabled," or "wheelchair-bound" have a negative connotation and yet have been used by many people to describe individuals with disabilities. Such terms should not be used.

When designing services for individuals with disabilities, victim assistance providers should be mindful that many advocates for crime victims with disabilities regard the terms "special needs" or "special services" as negative and inappropriate. They point out that victims with disabilities simply want the services to which they are entitled and request reasonable accommodations to ensure that they are accessible. They do not want "special services," they want appropriate and accessible services that are individualized to meet their needs (Tyiska 1998).

Care also should be taken with regard to the term "victim" when working with crime victims with disabilities. The term "victim" has been used with a negative connotation to refer to many medical conditions, for example "victim of heart disease" or "victim of cancer." Many disability advocates have fought to overcome this label, and its use following criminal victimization may add an additional burden due to prior experience. This may be a significant issue for some, and not a concern for others. Again, the best way to ensure sensitive treatment of a crime victim is to ask about individual preferences.

Guidance for Working with Crime Victims with Disabilities

While no all-encompassing, up-to-date curriculum that outlines strategies for working with all victims with disabilities is currently available, the following section offers guidance for victim assistance service programs on addressing the needs of crime victims with disabilities. These recommended strategies incorporate many of the ideas contained in Gregorie's Focus on the Future (Gregorie 1994) and the recent OVC Bulletin, Working with Victims with Disabilities (Tyiska 1998).

The best method of determining what accommodations people with different disabilities need in order to access services is to solicit the input of individuals with different disabilities regarding how to make a program or facility accessible. Contacting local organizations that provide services to individuals with various types of disabilities and inviting their guidance and collaboration in assessing accessibility and planning improvements are essential to achieving a truly accessible victim service program--a program that is barrier-free in both architecture and communication access.

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SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS FOR SERVING CRIME VICTIMS WITH DISABILITIES

Treat victims with disabilities with compassion, dignity, and respect.

Ask the individual victim how you should communicate most effectively with him/her.

Address and speak directly to the victim, even if he/she is accompanied or assisted by a third party.

Ask the individual victim about whether or what type of physical assistance the individual would prefer, before offering an arm or hand for support or to guide.

Address the victim's safety, expressed concerns, and immediate needs first.

Ask the individual victim if he/she has any transportation or other needs that will require individualized services or arrangements and then attempt to make arrangements to meet those needs.

Don't tell the victim with a disability that you admire his/her courage or determination for living with his/her disability.

With regard to most accommodations, take your cue from the victim.

When communicating with an individual who is hard of hearing and who prefers to speech-read, face the person directly when speaking. Be sure you have the person's attention before you begin speaking. Speak slowly and distinctly, but not unnaturally. Avoid gesturing and reduce background noise, which may be distracting. Speak in a normal tone of voice without shouting.

When using a sign language interpreter, have him or her sit next to you so that the hearing impaired victim can easily shift his/her gaze back and forth from the interpreter to you.

As with all victims, it is appropriate to assist victims with disabilities in becoming acquainted with the physical surroundings of your office and, if necessary, the courtroom where he or she may be coming for interviews and/or hearings.

When greeting or meeting with a person who is blind or has very limited vision, indicate your presence verbally, identify yourself by name, and speak in a normal tone. If others are also present, ask each person to identify himself/herself. This will enable the blind person to associate the voice with the name and know the relative location of each person.

When giving directions to someone who is blind or has very limited vision, be as clear and specific as possible. Make sure to identify obstacles in the direct path of

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travel. To be most helpful, ask the individual, "I would be happy to give you directions. How should I describe things?"

Do not assume that a victim who uses a wheelchair or walker needs your assistance entering a room. Provide mobility assistance only if you are asked.

Be aware that a person's wheelchair is a part of his/her body space and needs to be treated as such. Do not stand too close to the wheelchair, as this could block the individual's movement with the wheelchair if he or she wanted or needed to move about.

When working with a person with a developmental disability, give the individual time to respond. Rapid or intense questioning is likely to cause confusion. Talk slowly and calmly, using easy-to-understand language with clear, concise concrete terms. Do not use complex sentences.

Obtain expert consultation on how best to communicate with individual victims with developmental disabilities and victims with serious mental illness.

Depending on the victim's level of mental disability, the victim's parent or guardian should be present when meeting with the victim in the office or at another location.

GETTING PREPARED-PROACTIVE STEPS YOUR PROGRAM SHOULD TAKE

Establish contact, exchange information, and develop a list of local and state organizations and service providers that have expertise in working with individuals with various types of disabilities to provide consultation and to provide information and referral to crime victims.

Develop a training program for staff to enhance their understanding of individuals with various disabilities in order to better understand the needs of crime victims with disabilities.

Develop a resource directory of qualified professional (including court certified) interpreters for assistance with deaf victims or others who need facilitated communication.

Enlist the assistance of service providers and individuals with disabilities in assessing your program's architectural and communication accessibility and in designing appropriate accommodations. Also, tap such individuals and organizations for suggestions on how to make individuals with disabilities aware of the availability and accessibility of services for crime victims with disabilities.

Ensure that the courtroom and offices are physically accessible to all victims, especially those who may use a wheelchair or walker or who have limited stamina for walking.

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Be aware of the location of wheelchair ramps and accessible restrooms so that you can direct the victim to these facilities, when needed.

Install a TDD or a TTY telephone or become familiar with the operation of and use a relay service to make your program accessible for deaf victims.

Innovations in Training

UNDERSTANDING MENTAL RETARDATION: TRAINING FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT

A three-hour training curriculum, Understanding Mental Retardation: Training for Law Enforcement, provides police officers with information about victim and offender issues involving people with this disability. The training includes a fifteen-minute video, program materials, hand-outs, and references for background reading. The ARC of the United States, 500 E. Border Street, Suite 300, Arlington, TX 76010 (817-261-6003) (Davis August 1998).

RESPONSE PROTOCOLS FOR THE MALTREATMENT OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect at the Department of Health and Human Services has sponsored the development of a curriculum to provide trainers with a framework for teaching victim service providers about the maltreatment of children with disabilities. Responding to Maltreatment of Children with Disabilities: A Trainer's Guide is made up of five modules that include an introduction to disabilities; the relationship between maltreatment and disabilities; assessment protocols; child protective services practices for children with disabilities; and risk reduction. The training curriculum specifically addresses myths about disabilities; impact of disability on communication and culture; incidence and prevalence of abuse and neglect; signs of abuse and neglect; and medical examination practices. The curriculum manual provides a lecture guide, participant guides, trainer's texts, transparencies or Power Point slides, and videotapes for each module (Steinberg, Hylton, and Wheeler 1998).

SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN AND ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES

The Disability, Abuse & Personal Rights Project (DAPR) has developed sensitive forensic interviewing protocols for use by criminal justice professionals with victims of sexual assault who have cognitive and communication impairments. A curriculum for police making first response is currently under development. For disability service providers, DAPR has developed training on the identification and reporting of sexual assault. They have also developed training on risk reduction strategies for parents of and individuals with cognitive and communication impairments. They are currently working with the California State Board of Control (SBOC) and child protective services to change the child victim data collection system to include the reporting and tracking of children with disabilities who are sexually assaulted, and children who are disabled as a result of abuse. In addition, DAPR coordinates a national conference, conducts research,

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and generates articles, documents, and guidebooks on sexual assault primarily of children and adults who have developmental handicaps. Related subjects include: sexual abuse, other types of abuse, sexuality of persons with disabilities, parenting issues, protections of sexual civil liberties, and other civil rights. Issues related to abuse, such as perpetrators with developmental disabilities, and the onset of disability as a result of abuse, are also addressed. Disability, Abuse & Personal Rights Project, Spectrum Institute, P.O. Box T, Culver City, CA 90230 (310-391-2420) www.disability-abuse.com.

KEEPING YOURSELF SAFE AT HOME, AT WORK, AND IN THE COMMUNITY

Keeping Yourself Safe at Home, at Work, and in the Community is a 5-hour risk reduction program specifically designed to aid victim service and disability professionals in educating people with developmental disabilities about sexual abuse and personal safety strategies. A professionally developed training video (open and closed caption) and curriculum entitled Your Safety...Your Rights II has expanded this curriculum to include material appropriate for adults with physical and sensory disabilities. Both curricula contain modules for training staff who work with people with disabilities to identify abuse and handle disclosures. Network of Victim Assistance, 16 North Franklin Street, Doylestown, PA 18901 (215-348-5664; TDD 215-348-2963).

Promising Practices

Abused Deaf Women's Advocacy Services (ADWAS), Seattle, Washington. In 1986, Marilyn Smith founded Washington State’s Abused Deaf Women's Advocacy Services (ADWAS), which offers a twenty-four-hour crisis line, counseling and legal advocacy for deaf and deaf-blind victims of sexual assault and domestic abuse. Most staff members and volunteers are deaf or hard of hearing. The program has developed training for both deaf and hearing crime victim advocates and has published educational materials targeted specifically for deaf adult and youth victims. In 1997, the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) awarded a grant to ADWAS to develop a training and technical assistance package for five cities across the country, to create and expand services for deaf women who are victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, and to provide follow-up technical assistance on-site to replicate its successful program.

After the first year of this project, twenty-three deaf women from five separate communities (the San Francisco Bay area, Minneapolis, Rochester, New York, Boston, and Austin, Texas) were undergoing training for the development of services for deaf women who are victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. ADWAS staff delivered follow-up technical assistance on-site in each of the communities. At the close of 1998, all five communities were preparing to offer a twenty-four-hour crisis line and basic services to victims during 1999. During the next phase of this project, OVC will fund ADWAS to assist the development of programs for deaf women in additional communities, including Washington, DC, Des Moines, Iowa, Burlington, Vermont, and Flint/Detroit, Michigan.

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http://www.disability-abuse.com/


The Midwest LEAD Institute-Leadership Through Education and Advocacy for the Deaf (MLI). The Institute has developed a program to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate crisis intervention and counseling services to deaf victims of domestic violence. With support from VOCA funds, MLI provides volunteer sign language interpreters for shelters and agencies, and has established a twenty-four-hour 1-800 crisis line for deaf victims of violent crime. MLI also developed a manual entitled Breaking the Silence--A Manual on Domestic Violence and the Deaf Community to help shelters and other agencies meet the needs of their deaf clients (Marshall 1997).

The Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights Center (PACER). The Center is a coalition of nineteen Minnesota disability organizations that is staffed primarily by persons with disabilities as well as by parents of children with disabilities. PACER has developed a special program to help teach disabled children about child abuse. The project, entitled "Count Me In," reaches over 14,000 school children each year. Over thirty trained volunteers take life-sized puppets to schools to promote understanding of children with disabilities and help children feel comfortable with disabled children. These puppets are also used to teach disabled children about child abuse (Grayson 1992).

The Bronx Independent Living Services Crime Victims and Domestic Violence Programs, Bronx, New York. The BILS Crime Victims Program provides assistance to all types of crime victims with disabilities. Victim assistance services include crisis intervention; assistance with the state crime victims compensation application; assistance with housing, Medicaid, or Public Assistance; accompaniment to police stations and courthouses; supportive counseling; information and referral to community service programs; information about the progression of cases through the criminal justice process; support groups; interpreters for sign language and Spanish; a wheelchair lift van for transportation; barrier-free entry to court buildings, shelters, and offices where people can assist victims; and community education and advocacy.

Barrier Free Living, Inc. (BFLI), New York City. As one of the first Independent Living Centers to offer services to domestic violence victims with disabilities, the BFLI offers shelter to domestic violence victims with disabilities and counseling, skills training, court accompaniment, advocacy, and assistance in finding alternative housing. Sign interpreter services and Spanish-speaking staff are available to assist with communication. In addition, van transportation is available.

Hennepin County Attorneys Office, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Working closely with the local police departments, the Hennepin County Attorneys Office developed Police and People with Disabilities, a training program that promotes more effective treatment of individuals with disabilities.

Domestic Violence Access Project, State of Hawaii. Using Violence Against Women Act grant funding, the Hawaii Attorney General's Office supports a

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statewide effort to link domestic violence programs with programs that serve individuals with disabilities. The linkages are designed to enable shelter programs to receive training on disabilities and make accommodations to increase accessibility to programs.

Enhancing Your Interactions with People with Disabilities. This American Psychological Association (APA) brochure targets victim service providers, mental health providers, advocates, and psychologists and assists them in the development of improved communication skills with people with disabilities. Enhancing Your Interactions with People with Disabilities addresses three critical areas:

o Initial approaches to people with disabilities. The effective use of language in portraying their condition lays the groundwork for the success of further communication. Words mirror prevailing attitudes, and societal attitudes are the fundamental barriers that people with disabilities must overcome to have successful interactions.

o Communication issues. To reduce anxiety when interacting with people with specific disabilities, the brochure offers specific advice on how to communicate with deaf individuals, the visually impaired, the speech impaired, and individuals with mobility impairments.

o Compliance. To meet the legal and ethical obligations as set forth by The Americans with Disabilities Act, and to better serve the needs of individuals with disabilities, the brochure offers guidelines and advice on service requirements, referrals, physical barriers to office access, and specials aids to enhance communication.

The brochure is available by mail from APA or in an alternative form on its Web site. American Psychological Association, 750 First Street NE, Washington DC 20002 (800-374-2721).

All Walks of Life . The mission of this Texas-based, nonprofit organization is to empower social solutions for people with disabilities. They believe that the vulnerability of people with disabilities attracts predators, and that whenever there is a reduction in an individual's mobility or life skills, there is an increased risk of violence and repetition of violence unless measures are taken to prevent it. All Walks of Life promotes the position that people with disabilities can and should engage in prevention solutions, that they are capable of being responsible for self-awareness that they live in a violent culture, and that they should learn violence prevention skills that will help them compensate for their vulnerability. The All Walks of Life Web site includes useful resources and links relating to violence and violence prevention for people with disabilities. All Walks of Life, 9106 Benthos, Houston, TX 77083 (281-495-9226).

Web Sites

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http://www.awol-texas.org/

http://www.apa.org/

http://www.apa.org/pi/cdip/

http://www.apa.org/pi/cdip/


The National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities (NICHCY). Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, NICHCY is a national information and referral center on disabilities and disability-related issues for families, educators, and other professionals that emphasizes services to children and young adults, age twenty-two years or under. State resource sheets that help locate organizations and agencies that address disability-related issues serving children and youth can be found through NICHCY, P.O. Box 1492, Washington DC 20013 (800-695-0285).

Disability Resources, Inc. Disability Resources, Inc. , a nonprofit organization, maintains the Disability Resources Monthly (DRM) Guide to Disability Resources on the Internet, an extensive online resource established to promote and improve awareness, availability, and accessibility of information that can help people with disabilities. It serves individuals with disabilities through a multidisciplinary network of service providers and consumers, targeting their services and publications to libraries, disability organizations, independent living centers, rehabilitation facilities, educational institutions, and health and social service providers. The DRM WebWatcher maintains an extensive database of disability-related resources (links to Web sites, documents, databases, and other informational materials) in order to perform customized searches, including a page for victims of abuse who have disabilities.

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Sobsey, D., D. Wells, R. Lucardie, and S. Mansell. 1994. Violence and Disability: An Annotated Bibliography. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.

Sorensen, D. 1997. "The Invisible Victims." Impact. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, Institute on Community Integration (UAP)/Research and Training Center on Community Living.

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Steinberg, M. A., J. R. Hylton, and C. E. Wheeler. 1998. Responding to Maltreatment of Children with Disabilities: A Trainer's Guide. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect.

Tobin, P. 1992. "Addressing Special Vulnerabilities in Prevention." National Resource Center on Child Sexual Abuse, the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect 1 (4): 5.

Tyiska, C. 1990. "Responding to Disabled Victims of Crime." NOVA Network Information Bulletin, 8-12. Washington, DC: National Organization for Victim Assistance.

Tyiska, C. 1998. "Working With Victims of Crime with Disabilities." Office for Victims of Crime Bulletin, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime.

Young, M. E., M. A. Nosek, C. Howland, G. Changpong, and D. Rintala. 1997. "Prevalence of Abuse of Women with Physical Disabilities." Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 78 (December).

Additional Resources

VALOR provides links to other Web sites as a convenience to its visitors and tries to ensure that the links are current. The inclusion of a link on this document does not constitute an official endorsement, guarantee, or approval by VALOR. VALOR neither endorses, has any responsibility for, nor exercises any control over the organizations' views or the accuracy of the information contained in those pages.

Abused Deaf Women's Advocacy Services. 1996. Domestic Violence in Deaf Community. Seattle, WA: Outreach Packet.

Aiello, D., and L. Capkin. 1984. "Services for Disabled Victims: Elements and Standards, Response." Response to Violence in the Family and Sexual Assault 7 (5): 14.

Furey, E. M. 1994. "Sexual Abuse of Adults with Mental Retardation: Who and Where." Mental Retardation 32 (3).

Lewis, M., and M. Smith. 1995. "A Community Based Model Providing Services for Deaf and Deaf-Blind Victims of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence." Sexuality and Disability 13 (2): 97-106.

McPherson, C. 1990. "Bringing Redress to Abused, Disabled Persons." NOVA Network Information Bulletin, 8-12, 14.

Monahan, J. October 1996. "Mental Illness and Violent Crime." Research in Action. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.

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National Symposium on Abuse and Neglect of Children with Disabilities. 1995. Abuse and Neglect of Children with Disabilities: Report and Recommendations. Lawrence, KS: The Beach Center on Families and Disability, University of Kansas, and the Erikson Institute of Chicago.

Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). 1998. "Initiatives to Combat Violence Against Women." Fact Sheet. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

Rubin, P. June 1995. "Civil Rights and Criminal Justice: Employment Discrimination Overview." Research in Action. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.

Sobsey, D. 1988. "Sexual Offense and Disabled Victims: Research and Practical Implications." VIS-A-VIS 6 (4).

Sorensen, D. 1996. Criminal Justice Task Force for Persons with Developmental Disabilities. Sacramento, CA: Victims of Crime Section.

Sorensen, D. 1996. "The Invisible Victim." Prosecutor's Brief: The California District Attorneys Association's Quarterly Journal 19 (1): 6-7, 24-26.

Stimpson, L., and E. Best. 1991. Courage above All: Sexual Assault and Women with Disabilities. Toronto: DisAbled Women's Network.

Ticoll, M. 1992. No More Victims: A Manual to Guide the Police in Addressing the Sexual Abuse of People with a Mental Handicap. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

The Department of Justice offers technical assistance on ADA Standards for Accessible Design and other ADA provisions applying to state and local government programs and nonprofit organizations: ADA Information Line: 800-514-0301 (voice); 800-514-0383 (TDD); and on the Internet.

The Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers (DBTACs) are a network of programs that provide information, training, and technical assistance on ADA responsibilities. These regional programs are supported by the U.S. Department of Education National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. Contact 800-949-4232 (Voice/TDD) or for the program in your region.

TENNESSEE RESOURCES

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http://www.adata.org/

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm


Tennessee Disability Pathfinder- http://kc.vanderbilt.edu/tnpathfinder/ Contact Information: English & Español: 800-640-INFO [4636] | 615-322-8529 TTY users: dial 711 for free relay service e-mail [email protected]

Technology Access Center- The Technology Access Center (TAC) is a program of Access Services of Middle Tennessee, a 501(c) (3) organization based in Nashville, Tennessee, that exists to increase awareness about and integration of assistive technology into the everyday lives of people who can benefit from it. Website Address: http://tac.ataccess.org/affiliations.shtml Contact Information: Mailing Address: Suite 126 2222 Metrocenter Boulevard Nashville, Tennessee 37228 E-Mail: [email protected] Phone / TTY: 615-248-6733 Outside Tennessee Toll Free: 800-368-4651 Fax: 615-259-2536

Disability Law and Advocacy Center of Tennessee- Disability Law & Advocacy Center of Tennessee (DLAC) advocates for the rights of Tennesseans with disabilities to ensure they have an equal opportunity to be productive and respected members of our society. Contact Information: As part of our efforts to serve all Tennesseans with disabilities, we have three regional offices. Disability Law & Advocacy Center of Tennessee can be found in Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville. You may contact us by: Phone: 1-800-342-1660 (TTY: 1-888-852-2852) E-Mail: [email protected] All requests for services must go through our central toll-free line. You may be asked to provide documentation of your disability. Tennessee Disability Coalition - The Coalition is an alliance of organizations and individuals in Tennessee that have joined to promote the full and equal participation of men, women and children with disabilities in all aspects of life. Contact Information: 480 Craighead Street, Suite 200 Nashville, TN 37204Phone (615) 383-9442 FAX (615) 383-1176 TTY (615) 292-7790

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mailto:[email protected]


http://tac.ataccess.org/affiliations.shtml

http://tac.ataccess.org/whatisat.shtml


http://kc.vanderbilt.edu/tnpathfinder/


Describe the different types of working relationships and identify examples in your work.

Recognize the characteristics of successful collaboration in working relationships.

Identify key collaboration partners and describe your roles in effective victim services.

Identify challenges to, and benefits of, successful collaboration.

Describe a six-step process for successful collaboration.


CHAPTER 8COLLABORATION FOR VICTIMS’ RIGHTS AND SERVICES

Anne Seymour, Marti Anderson, and Kevin Lowe, Ph.D.*

This chapter explores the foundational research and key concepts of collaboration, along with recommended strategies for successful collaborative efforts to enhance public safety and to improve services for victims and survivors of crime. One of the ultimate strengths of America’s victim assistance field is its willingness and capacity to collaborate with allied professionals, volunteers, and organizations. To best identify and meet the needs of crime victims and survivors, victim-serving professionals have created unique partnerships that recognize and respect differences yet, at the same time, establish a common vision and goals that promote crime victim assistance, support, and safety. Both public- and private-sector entities have joined in collaborative efforts that enhance victims’ rights and the comprehensive delivery of victim services.

Collaboration is critical to the ongoing success of the crime victim assistance field in America and around the world. It embraces differences, yet it recognizes the many commonalities that unite efforts to help victims and survivors of crime.

In the early days of the victims’ rights movement, there was often a pervading sense of “us against them”—that is, victims and service providers struggling for dignity and acknowledgment against a variety of barriers: offenders’ rights taking precedence over victims’ rights, lack of understanding within communities about victim suffering and trauma, a justice system that was not designed to protect the interests of victims nor involve them in key processes that affected their lives, limited laws that protected

* Authors of this chapter are Anne Seymour, Justice Solutions, Washington DC; Marti Anderson, Iowa Office of the Attorney General, Des Moines, IA; and Kevin Lowe, Ph.D., Sacramento, CA.

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victims’ rights and interests, and limited financial and human resources to support victim-related initiatives. The pioneers of victims’ rights looked to past civil rights movements for guidance to build both an agenda and a constituency.

Let us not be blind to our differences, but let us also direct attention to our common interests and the means by which those differences can be resolved.

And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.

—John F. Kennedy, 1963

The lessons learned from women who fought for the right to vote and civil rights activists who struggled for equality proved to be invaluable. While many elements contributed to the success of these historical efforts, one common theme emerged: The ability to collaborate and find supporters who shared a common vision and goals was critical to success. Perhaps most important was to reach beyond the core constituencies affected by injustice (in these cases, women who could not vote and persons of color who were treated as second-class citizens) and build a powerful, diverse collaborative network of allies and partners.

Like these earlier groups who strived for equal justice, crime victims had a significant weapon in their struggle for dignity, respect, and recognition: the power of the personal story. With hundreds of thousands of individuals in America personally hurt by crime, there was a core constituency of real people with real pain to whom many ordinary people could relate: the family whose grandparents were killed in a fiery drunk-driving crash (which was not even considered a crime 30 years ago); the rape victim who was blamed and shamed for the violent assault committed against her; the mother whose teenage son was molested by his soccer coach, who found limited protection under the law; and the countless families whose children were abducted, often found murdered, and sometimes never recovered at all. Some of the most crucial networks that resulted were victims helping victims by providing mutual support and validation. The grassroots network of victims and their collaboration with caring and concerned professionals joined to create an effective social activism that has come to change the face of how justice and public safety are viewed in America.

This historical foundation has provided important guidance to professionals and volunteers who serve crime victims, and serves as a basis on which to build important partnerships that ultimately benefit victims and survivors of crime.

RESEARCH ABOUT COLLABORATION

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Within the past decade, significant research has examined general trends and strategies in collaboration, as well as trends specific to victim- and justice-related collaborative initiatives. A range of findings are helpful to understand what works in collaboration and what strategies are most effective in forming successful partnerships and coalitions that benefit crime victims and those who serve them.

Collaboration: What Makes It Work

In Collaboration: What Makes It Work, Mattessich, Murray-Close, and Mooney (2001) synthesize a considerable body of research to identify 20 factors that influence the success of collaborations formed by nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and other organizations (see chart on next page). Within collaboration research, these factors are considered the standard for the discipline of collaboration.

A more detailed summary of this checklist for success can be accessed online at: www.pfdf.org/collaboration/challenge/pdfs/mtcc-appxc.pdf. Benefits of successful collaboration are included in Appendix A.

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Factors That Influence Successful Collaborations

1. Factors related to the environment: History of collaboration or cooperation in the community. Collaborative group seen as a legitimate leader in the community. Favorable political and social climate.

2. Factors related to membership characteristics: Mutual respect, understanding, and trust. Appropriate cross-section of members. Members see collaboration in their self-interest. Ability to compromise.

3. Factors related to process and structure: Members share a stake in both process and outcome. Multiple layers of participation. Flexibility. Development of clear roles and policy guidelines. Adaptability. Appropriate pace of development.

4. Factors related to communication: Open and frequent communication. Established informal relationships and communication links.

5. Factors related to purpose: Concrete, attainable goals and objectives. Shared vision. Unique purpose.

6. Factors related to resources: Sufficient funds, staff, materials, and time. Skilled leadership.


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Criminal Justice and Collaboration

In The Emergence of Collaboration as the Preferred Approach in Criminal Justice, the Center for Effective Public Policy (CEPP) and State Justice Institute make a strong case to suggest that “justice can be more effectively served when those tasked with carrying it out define their roles, responsibilities, and relationship to one another differently and work together in pursuit of shared visions, missions, and goals” (Carter, 2005, pp. 3-5). In addition, seven challenges to forming collaborative relationships in an “adversarial system” are identified:

1. Adversarial foundation of our legal system.

2. Competition for resources among those at the table.

3. Political pressure on elected officials.

4. Creation of overlapping bodies by the requirements of different authorities.

5. Need for leadership in an independent system of justice.

6. The critical role of facilitator/convener of collaborative teams.

7. Special place of the judicial branch of government.

The Emergence of Collaboration as the Preferred Approach in Criminal Justice, which includes suggestions to meet the seven challenges described here, can be accessed online at: www.collaborativejustice.org/docs/The%20Emergence%20of%20Collaboration.doc.

Impact of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) on Collaboration

A National Institute of Justice (NIJ) report, State and Local Change and the Violence Against Women Act, examined outcomes of Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) funding that are specific to collaboration within four prosecutors’ offices in Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Oregon (Chaiken, Boland, Maltz, Martin, and Tragonski, 2005). One of the major benefits of VAWA cited by practitioners interviewed for this study was “a dramatic rise in collaboration and cooperation addressing domestic violence” (p.32). This study also examined how cooperation is achieved:

To cooperate effectively, prosecutors and victims’ advocates have had to recognize and respect (if not agree with) their different perspectives and goals.

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Prosecutors in the jurisdictions studied saw enactment of VAWA as an opportunity to increase victim safety and offender accountability. They viewed the victim service provisions, primarily, as services that would ensure the victim’s immediate safety and facilitate the collection of appropriate statements and evidence to secure a conviction. Victims and their advocates looked to the law for direct short-term aid, such as shelter, and for long-term assistance that would allow the victim to become psychologically, emotionally, socially, and financially independent of the abuser. (p. 32)

This study indicated that prosecutors and advocates often view new programs differently and that VAWA helped stimulate initial discussions and ongoing mechanisms for resolving these concerns, often spearheaded by prosecutors.

A summary of State and Local Change and the Violence Against Women Act is available online at: www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/journals/252/anxieties_print.html.

.Establishing and Maintaining Successful Researcher-Practitioner Collaborations

In 1999, the National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center, in conjunction with the National Victim Assistance Academy, conducted a series of focus groups with “victim advocates, practitioners, and researchers to examine ways these groups could work together more effectively to produce sound and practical research about violence against women” (Kilpatrick, Resick, and Williams, 1999, p. 5). This research examined the needs and expectations of practitioners and researchers relevant to violence against women; characteristics of successful collaborative relationships; ways to initiate collaborations and establish goals for research on prevention of violence against women; ethics, confidentiality, and safety when conducting victim-related research; and dissemination of research findings. Mouradian, Mechanic, and Williams (2001) offer the following eight key tips for making collaboration work.

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Eight Key Tips for Making Collaboration Work1. Discuss all aspects of the collaboration until mutually satisfying solutions are

reached.

2. Talk about and establish a shared vision and goals for a joint project, and come up with specific scientific and research-to-practice and/or research-to-policy goals.

3. Be certain that goals are clearly stated and understood by all key participants.

4. Involve both the researchers and the practitioners/advocates in the planning of each phase of a project, and/or allow for the modification of a planned project based on feedback from partners.

5. Ensure that all parties’ questions about the work are answered adequately (including the questions of project and organization staff).

6. Ensure that responsibilities for various project tasks are divided in ways that are reasonable, fair, and sensitive to the time constraints of those involved.

7. Provide for the materials and other support needs of all the individuals and/or organizations involved.

8. Make it a goal to secure funds to support the time of all involved in the collaboration,


New Models of Collaboration for Public Service Delivery

In a working paper that examined worldwide trends in collaboration, including trends in the United States, “collaboration for public service delivery” refers to “the reciprocal and voluntary support that two or more distinct public sector agencies, or public and private administrations, including nonprofit organizations, provide each other in order to deliver a ‘public’ service, i.e., one that is part of the government mission” (Prefontaine, Ricard, Sicotte, Turcotte, and Dawes, 2000, p. 6)). This research found that very often such support translates into a formal agreement between the parties as to the purpose of their collaboration and the sharing of both tangible and intangible responsibilities, resources, risks, and benefits. As a general rule, such formal written agreements are for a specific period of time and most often are presented in contract form. The models of collaboration generally have the following characteristics:

A minimum of two distinct administrators—one from the public sector, the other from the private, public, or nonprofit sector.

A formal written agreement for a definite term.

A common objective aimed at the delivery of a public service.

Shared responsibility consisting of shared risks, resources, costs, and benefits—both tangible and intangible.

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This study also highlights six critical success factors or “dimensions” of collaboration for public service delivery:

1. Political, social, economic, and cultural environment.

2. Institutional, business, and technological environments.

3. Partners’ objectives and characteristics.

4. The collaboration process.

5. Models of collaboration (mode of governance).

6. Performance of the project and the collaboration model (p. 9).

The working paper, which offers detailed guidelines for achieving the six dimensions, can be accessed online at: www.ctg.albany.edu/publications/reports/new_models_wp.

Evaluating the Collaborative Process

The research on collaboration clearly states the need for effective strategies to evaluate the overall process and outcomes of collaborative efforts. Several simple evaluation tools and strategies have been developed that can help assess the effectiveness of victim-related collaboration initiatives, including the following:

The Wilder Collaboration Factors Inventory includes 42 questions designed as a tool for assessing the 20 factors that influence the success of a collaboration. (See the previous section “Collaboration: What Makes It Work” in this chapter). The online inventory, which takes about 15 minutes to complete, can be accessed from the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation at surveys.wilder.org/public_cfi/index.php.

“Assessing Your Collaboration: A Self Evaluation Tool,” an article in the Journal of Extension of the U.S. Cooperative Extension System, offers a simple collaboration progress checklist at: www.joe.org.

Evaluating the Collaboration Process, an Ohio State University fact sheet, describes potential areas for evaluation at http://ohioline.osu.edu/bc-fact/0007.html.

TYPES OF WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

Many phrases are used in the victim assistance community to describe efforts that bring people together with a common cause. George Keiser of the National Institute of Corrections (1998) describes these terms and their meanings:

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Some recurring words are often used in a very cavalier fashion to describe types of working relationships. It is important to be clear about the depth of involvement contained in the meaning of these various words, and then to use the appropriate word for the relevant circumstances. These words include cooperation, coordination, collaboration, and partnership.

CooperationCooperation does not require much depth of relationship from the parties involved. Typically, a couple of people identify how what they are doing in their organizations would benefit each other. They agree to share what they do, but are not required to do anything differently. The activities engaged in are very informal. No resources are transferred, and the life of those involved goes on much as it has. This may be the initial point of developing relationships between the involved organizations. A key element for initiating cooperation is personal trust.

CoordinationLike cooperation, the depth of involvement between organizations is not required to be great. The relationship tends to be more definitive with specific protocols or conventions commonly being established. The business of the various organizations does not change significantly. The number of people involved in the process is increased, and the participants are more cognizant of how their independent activities can be integrated for common benefit or can influence the work of another organization. This level of working together requires more discipline and more formal structure in following the established protocols. The importance of integrity of the various participants and their activities becomes more apparent.

CollaborationCollaboration introduces the concept of organizations coming together to create something new, commonly a new process. Generally, the organizations bring a business they already know well and identify how, by joint actions, they can redesign a process to their mutual benefit. There must not only be trust and integrity as a foundation, but the parties now need to understand the perspectives of the other collaborators’ self interest(s). This understanding suggests a greater depth of involvement between organizations. It is not merely exchanging information, but also developing a sense of awareness for whom the other parties are, what motivates them, and what they need out of working together. Unlike cooperation or coordination, for the first time something new is being developed through the relationship of organizations. Even with the increased intensity of involvement, the various organizations retain their independent identities.

Partnership

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Partnership is the bringing together of individuals or organizations to create a new entity. This may be the extreme extension of collaboration. The depth of involvement is reflected by a commitment referred to as ownership. No longer are there independent organizations agreeing to work together on some initiative as long as it is convenient. Nor is this a group of organizations buying into someone else’s plan. With a partnership, there is an agreement to create something new which, through joint ownership, requires that the partners make it succeed. One measure of success is whether the partnership makes all the partners successful.

Keiser (1998) also clarifies the nature of working relationships based on the following elements:

Characteristics of the relationship.

Nature of the relationship.

Involvement.

Resource investment.

Control over resources.

Authority to make decisions.

This is shown in Exhibit VIII-1.

.EXHIBIT VIII-1OVERVIEW OF CHARACTERISTICS OF WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

Continuum Ranging from Cooperation to Partnership

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ELEMENTS COOPERATION COORDINATION COLLABORATION PARTNERSHIP

Characteristics of Relationship

Trust and reliability

Integrity and discipline

Understanding and selflessness

Commitment and ownership

Nature of Relationship

Informal, ad-hoc

Semiformal Formal Formal, legal incorporation

Involvement As few as two people

Several, maybe horizontal organizational slice

Several, many horizontal and vertical organizational slices

New or refined organization

Resource Investment

Minimal Moderate Major Major

Control Over Resources

Unchanged original organizations

Modified original organizations

Shared or transfer to new unit

Legally binding

Authority to Make Decisions

Retained by original organizations

Retained by original organizations

Transfer to new unit Create new structure

CHALLENGES TO SUCCESSFUL WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

Whether victim assistance professionals cooperate, coordinate, collaborate, or partner with allied professionals, volunteers, and communities, there are 10 common challenges that can hinder the success of these important working relationships. These challenges are:

Lack of a shared vision or mission.

Lack of agreement about the problem or issue to be addressed.

Lack of incremental successes on the pathway to an ultimate goal.

Egos.

Lack of diversity among group members working toward a common goal.

Not having the right players at the table.

Lack of understanding and implementation of change management techniques.

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Lack of resources.

Lack of measures to evaluate success.

Lack of understanding about victim trauma, rights, and needs.

1. Lack of a Shared Vision or Mission. When people work together toward a common goal, it should be clearly understood, easily communicated, and shared by all involved parties. If a vision or mission is preestablished by an individual or a small faction of a larger group, it may not achieve the ownership that is needed by the whole group to ensure success. It is crucial to take time and establish a process to create a shared vision or mission with all stakeholders and determine common goals and objectives that are supported by all.

2. Lack of Agreement About the Problem or Issue To Be Addressed. While diversity is one of the essential elements of collaborative efforts, it also results in differing and often unique perspectives about the basic issue that is being addressed. In developing good working relationships, stakeholders must seek a consensus that respects different views and opinions.

3. Lack of Incremental Successes on the Pathway to an Ultimate Goal. Too often, people working together aim for one definitive goal that, in their view, connotes success. It is necessary to determine incremental, smaller successes that can help stakeholders ensure that they are headed in the right direction and to evaluate possible alternatives along the way to the ultimate goal, if warranted.

4. Egos. The concept of egos as barriers is familiar to most victim advocates and others who assist victims of crime. When such conflicts expand to incorporate even more stakeholders (and more egos), the results can be highly damaging to collaborative efforts. All interested parties must be willing to check their egos at the door in their mutual attempts to reach a common vision and/or goals.

5. Lack of Diversity Among Group Members Working Toward a Common Goal. If it is true that great minds think alike, it is likely that different minds think even better. One of the greatest strengths of professionals and volunteers involved in public safety and victim assistance issues is their diversity—by gender, age, culture, sexual orientation, profession, socioeconomic status, and geography. The many different viewpoints and perspectives of victim advocates and allied professionals are a key asset to collaborative efforts; without them, such efforts are doomed to fail. Victim-serving professionals must mirror the victims and survivors whom they serve to build and maintain trust. Diversity is essential to this goal.

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6. Not Having the Right Players at the Table. In too many public safety initiatives, crime victims and their representatives are missing from collaboration forums. It is helpful to adopt a global view of the problem or issue that is being addressed in terms of all the stakeholders who are affected: victims, offenders, the community, system professionals, public policy-makers, and the like. If a person or group of people is affected by a problem, it is critical that they be involved in developing a solution. For a collaborative initiative to be successful, it must be victim-driven and victim-centered, which requires the participation from and buy-in of crime victims and survivors. (See the section “Range of Partners for Collaboration” later in this chapter to determine the key stakeholders who constitute the right players.)

7. Lack of Understanding and Implementation of Change Management Techniques. Most working relationships seek change in justice processes, service delivery, engagement of key stakeholders, and community involvement. If the road to a solution does not address the specific changes that will occur as a result and institutionalize these changes for the future, the outcomes will not be successful in the long run. Managing change is one of the most difficult yet most important elements of collaborative efforts.

8. Lack of Resources. If time, level of commitment, and human or financial resources are not adequate to achieve a shared goal, failure is likely. Throughout the collaborative process, considerable attention should be paid to what type of resources are needed, at what point, by whom, and for how long.

9. Lack of Measures to Evaluate Success. As stakeholders in collaborative processes begin their joint efforts, evaluation must be a key tenet of all their activities. Stakeholders’ vision, goals, and objectives should all be measurable in concrete terms, and their plan should be flexible enough to accommodate changes that result from evaluative data that show a need to change course. (See the previous section “Evaluating the Collaborative Process” in this chapter.)

10. Lack of Understanding About Victim Trauma, Rights, and Needs. While most collaborative efforts related to improving public and personal safety are well intentioned, some lack an overall understanding of how victims are affected by crime. It is important to incorporate information and training about crime victims’ rights, needs, trauma, and sensitivity into any collaborative initiative that addresses public safety issues. The involvement of crime victims as active participants or advisors to guide the planning and implementation of such initiatives is also helpful.

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COLLABORATING FOR VICTIMS’ RIGHTS AND SERVICES: KEY RELATIONSHIPS

Crime victims, service providers, and allied professionals work together at the local, state, and national levels in a number of ways, which are discussed in the following paragraphs.

Fiduciary Relationships. These primarily involve financial support from government sources for victim services from the federal level to the states and localities and from states to local jurisdictions.

Public Policy Initiatives. These have led to the passage of more than 30,000 federal and state victims’ rights statutes. Often, good ideas for laws cross jurisdictional boundaries. For example, when California passed the nation’s first antistalking statute in 1990, the other 49 states followed suit within 18 months. The strength of America’s victim assistance field has also been instrumental in organizing to support key federal initiatives, most notably the successful passage and subsequent reauthorizations of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 and the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994.

Implementation of Victims’ Rights. This helps ensure that no matter where a victim lives or what type of crime he or she has been hurt by, help is available. With more than 10,000 victim assistance programs operating in the public and private sectors and advocacy services provided by numerous national organizations, collaborative efforts have strengthened crime victims’ ability to understand and seek implementation of their rights.

Research Initiatives. These increasingly involve partnerships between researchers and victim assistance practitioners. National and regional public opinion surveys, research on specific victim populations, and focus groups have been conducted by national, state, and local practitioners and researchers, with the results guiding the development of innovative and effective approaches to victim services.

Training and Technical Assistance. These are used to develop curricula and training tools, with significant support from the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), and have helped increase professionals’ and volunteers’ knowledge of victims’ rights and services. Standardized training programs have been developed for law enforcement, the judiciary, prosecutors, institutional and community corrections, and juvenile justice professionals as well as for allied professionals such as mental health and public health practitioners, faith communities, and educators.

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Information and Referral Services. These constantly cross jurisdictional boundaries to provide timely resources and referrals to victims in every region of the nation. The use of technology and the Internet, national toll-free telephone numbers, and the U.S. Department of Justice-sponsored Resource Centers have greatly enhanced the ability to provide information and referrals to crime victims and concerned citizens.

Written Interdisciplinary Protocols. These change the face of how business is done in responding to crime victims. Policies and procedures are altered by each agency to better serve the crime victim. These protocols have established some of the most sweeping changes within the criminal justice system in the last 20 years.

RANGE OF PARTNERS FOR COLLABORATION

“Leave no stone unturned” is an appropriate motto for crime victim-related collaborative projects. Since crime and victimization, in ways large and small, affect most segments of the population of America, the potential for collaborative partnerships is seemingly endless and can be categorized into six key areas:

Crime victims and survivors.

Criminal and juvenile justice agencies.

Victim assistance programs.

Public policymakers.

Allied professions.

Community.

Crime Victims and Survivors

Crime victims and survivors have been the driving force behind many of the successes and accomplishments of America’s victim assistance field. Their personal experiences and insights have helped guide the development of myriad programs, policies, and protocols and the passage of thousands of federal and state laws and constitutional amendments. Examples of collaborative initiatives involving victims and survivors include:

Establishing Victim Advisory Councils to guide program and policy development and implementation for both system- and community-based agencies.

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Conducting focus groups or group field interviews of victims and survivors to determine their most critical needs, as well as solutions to meet such needs.

Conducting legislative testimony panels that include, for example, a justice professional and a victim advocate, with a victim/survivor testifying to personalize the need for the proposed law.

Engaging victims and survivors in commemorative observances, such as National Crime Victims’ Rights Week and National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, with activities sponsored that allow victims to share their personal experiences.

Criminal and Juvenile Justice Agencies

Within the criminal and juvenile justice systems at the federal, state, and local levels there are eight key agencies that can enhance collaborative initiatives for improving victims’ rights and assistance:

Law enforcement agencies. These serve as first responders to victims and handle the investigative portions of criminal and juvenile cases.

Prosecutors’ offices. These collaborate with law enforcement on investigations, prepare and implement the prosecution of cases within the court system, and often have programs to facilitate the participation of victims and witnesses.

Defense counsel. Their primary purpose is to represent people who are accused or convicted of crime; they also negotiate terms of sentences with prosecutors and the judiciary.

The judiciary and court administrators. They oversee the administration of justice and facilitate decisions in cases that are processed by the criminal and juvenile justice systems.

Probation agencies. These supervise convicted offenders who are sentenced to community supervision and often provide information, assistance, and referrals to victims of probationers.

Institutional corrections agencies. These house offenders who are sentenced to periods of incarceration and provide support and services to crime victims through corrections-based victim assistance programs.

Paroling authorities. They make decisions related to the potential release of incarcerated offenders (with input from victims) and, upon release of parolees, provide supervision of offenders within the community.

Attorneys General offices. In most states, these offer appellate-level review of some criminal cases and provide victim assistance services through designated

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programs.

Victim Assistance Programs

There are more than 10,000 victim assistance programs in the United States today. These include:

Community-based victim assistance programs.

System-based assistance programs.

State coalitions and associations.

National coalitions and associations.

Federal agencies.

Community-based Victim Assistance Programs. These serve a variety of crime victims, including victims who report crimes and go through the justice system as well as those who do not. Examples include:

Rape crisis centers and sexual assault awareness programs.

Programs and shelters for battered women and their children.

Homicide support groups (e.g., Parents of Murdered Children chapters).

Drunk-driving victim assistance programs (e.g., Mothers Against Drunk Driving [MADD] or Remove Intoxicated Drivers [RID] chapters).

Children’s Advocacy Centers, which provide multidisciplinary services to victims of child abuse and neglect.

Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) programs, which advocate for abused and neglected children.

Elder protection programs, which assist victims of elder abuse and neglect.

System-based Victim Assistance Programs. These operate within the context of the criminal or juvenile justice system or state agencies that oversee victim assistance programs, help victims understand and exercise their rights, and offer referrals to other victim assistance services. Examples include:

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Victim assistance programs in law enforcement, prosecutors’ offices, courts, probation, parole, institutional corrections, and Attorneys General offices.

State victim compensation programs. (Information about and links to victim compensation programs are available from the National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards at www.nacvcb.org.)

State VOCA assistance administrators, who oversee victim assistance funding authorized by the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (VOCA) through fines, fees, and forfeitures collected from convicted federal offenders by the Crime Victims Fund, which is administered by the OVC within the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. (Information about and links to state VOCA administrators are available from the National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators at www.navaa.org.)

State Coalitions and Associations. These advocate for local victim-specific programs and issues. Examples include:

General victim assistance coalitions, which involve all types of crime victims and those who serve them.



State offices of MADD.

State associations of victim/witness professionals.

State offices of Adult Protective Services.

State offices of Child Protective Services.

National Coalitions and Associations. These address a wide range of crime victim assistance issues, many of which sponsor national toll-free information and referral telephone lines, as well as comprehensive Web sites for victim assistance, information, and referrals.

Federal Agencies. Their primary or collateral role is assisting crime victims. Federal agencies include the OVC and Office on Violence Against Women within the U.S. Department of Justice and allied federal agencies at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Transportation, and U.S. Department of State.

Public Policymakers

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At the local, state, and national levels, public policymakers are important partners in identifying the need for laws as well as passing laws that promote public safety and define and protect victims’ rights. Collaboration with public policy and legislative bodies over the past three decades have contributed significantly to more than 32,000 constitutional amendments, state statutes, and local laws and ordinances that protect victims’ rights. Key public policymakers include:

City and municipal-level councils.

County boards of supervisors.

State legislators.

Tribal councils.

U.S. Congress.

Allied ProfessionsNearly any profession can be considered a potential partner in collaborative efforts that benefit victims of crime. The pervasiveness of crime and victimization has created specialized efforts within a number of allied professions, including:

Health professionals. These include physicians, nurses, emergency medical technicians, and emergency room staff who tend to the physical wounds of victims in the aftermath of crime, as well as many professionals who have specialized training in treating victims.

Mental health professionals. They help victims cope with the psychological impact of crime in the immediate-, short-, and long-term aftermath of crime.

Addiction professionals. They often collaborate with victim assistance professionals to serve victims who have correlated problems with the use or abuse of alcohol and other substances.

Faith-based communities and victim assistance programs. These are increasing in both number and scope of services and help victims of different faiths cope with the spiritual impact of crime and provide other support and assistance.

Businesses and labor unions. Many of these have developed policies and protocols that specifically address crime prevention and responses to incidents when employees have been victimized both on and off the job.

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Legal professionals and associations. They often offer pro bono assistance and services to victims of crime.

Education professionals. They have helped focus attention as well as program and policy development on safety in schools.

Academia. Members of this group have partnered with victim assistance and justice professionals to conduct research and evaluation specific to crime and victimization and helped formalize victimology as a standardized curriculum component within higher education.

Community

Crime and victimization are commonly recognized as a community problem that requires a collaborative community solution. The adage “think globally, act locally” directly applies to important partnerships that can be developed with community-level collaborators, including:

Civic organizations. These often partner with victim assistance professionals to encourage voluntarism for crime victims among their members and help publicize community resources that assist victims of crime.

Associations. Both volunteer and professional associations represent the interests of various community constituencies and provide a wealth of resources for collaboration, volunteers, and program development and implementation.

News media. Members of this group have partnered with victim assistance and justice professionals to sponsor public service campaigns about community safety, victim assistance, and crime prevention.

THE COMMUNITY AS A PARTNER IN COLLABORATION

A theory that is gaining much credence across America is that when neighborhoods or communities are given the opportunity to be involved in measures to prevent crime, intervene with at-risk youth, and assist victims, they will take advantage of that opportunity. It makes great sense that the people who are most affected by a problem are the ones who have the greatest stake in developing effective solutions.

In 1997, Joseph Lehman, the former secretary of the Department of Corrections in the State of Washington, said that “the community must own justice.” This sense of ownership of the problems related to justice as well as the potential solutions has

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provided a strong foundation in many communities that have involved their members in collaborative measures to combat crime and help victims. National trends toward community policing, community prosecution, community courts, and community justice have resulted in strong partnerships among justice practitioners, community members, and neighborhood groups. Victim service providers can have a significant role in such collaborative endeavors. To do so, they need to develop contacts with allied community groups and professionals (where applicable) and seek avenues of involvement.

In the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Community Partnerships Bulletin, the National Crime Prevention Council (1994) points out:

…Working in partnership with community members and groups is an effective and productive way to address a community’s problems and needs. This effectiveness can translate into less crime, less fear of crime, and a greater sense of community power and cohesion. Law enforcement officers have long known that they cannot successfully deal alone with the twin issues of responding to crime and correcting the conditions that generate crime. Partnerships to prevent crime can get something done about an immediate problem, build a base for dealing with future problems, gain new resources for action, and increase or sustain the community’s social and economic health. They are among the most promising assets in the ongoing struggle against violence and other crimes.

The National Crime Prevention Council also offers an excellent example of how partners in public safety are identified:

Potential partners will come from among those groups directly affected by the current problem, those who must deal with its aftermath or consequences, and those who would benefit if the problem did not exist. For example, if graffiti are the problem, those directly affected include business owners and home owners, other area residents, and highway and park departments. Those who must deal with the consequences include insurers, residents, traffic control personnel, elected officials, and law enforcement. People who would benefit if the problem did not exist include realtors, the chamber of commerce, neighborhood residents, and school and youth programs that could use funds otherwise spent on cleanups. All these people are potential partners.

Community collaborations often involve partnerships with both the government and nonprofit organizations, which require significant oversight and management. The Nonprofit Risk Management Center offers an overview of joint projects that engage private and public sectors and includes a risk management checklist and a checklist to create a memorandum of understanding among partners in a collaborative initiative. It is available at: www.nonprofitrisk.org.

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When the engagement of the community in forming partnerships is applied to who is affected by crime and victimization, the list of potential partnerships is seemingly endless. Everybody has a stake in individual and community safety and, as such, everybody has a similar stake in ensuring that people who are hurt by crime have comprehensive, quality services to assist them.

COLLABORATION IN ACTION: SIX STEPS

As noted throughout this chapter, collaboration occurs at various levels involving both private and government entities and has proven to be an effective strategy for the successful implementation of and advocacy for victims’ rights and services. So how do victim-serving organizations begin the collaborative process?

An effective collaboration model helps organizations move from being problem-driven to being vision-driven, from muddled roles and responsibilities to defined relationships, and from activity-driven to outcome-focused (National Network for Collaboration, 2006). The following model for collaboration draws on research and successful components of several national models and proven collaboration strategies and takes practitioners through a series of activities to answer the following questions:

Why and when should we collaborate?

Who should be at the table?

How do we get going?

What are we going to do?

Did we meet our goals?

What’s next?

The model is also supported by key factors for implementation and 20 factors that make collaboration work, as discussed in this chapter, and Austin’s (2002) seven “Cs” of strategic collaboration. These guidelines provide practitioners with key factors to consider both during and after the collaboration process.

Step 1: Why and When Should We Collaborate?

The power of collective versus independent efforts is well documented and emphasized by noted leaders throughout America’s history. As Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang

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up,” or as Henry David Thoreau put it, “It takes two to speak the truth—one to speak, and another to hear.”

In spite of the inherent power of the many over the few, most organizations do not seek collaborative relationships until a current problem or crisis propels them into action. A section from the University of Kansas (2003) Community Tool Box, “Coalition Building I: Starting a Coalition,” provides a variety of reasons to build community coalitions that are applicable to collaborative efforts within the field of crime victim assistance. These reasons are to:

Address an urgent situation.

Empower elements of the community, or the community as a whole, to take control of its future.

Actually obtain or provide services.

Bring about more effective and efficient delivery of programs and eliminate any unnecessary duplication of effort.

Pool resources.

Increase communication among groups and break down stereotypes.

Revitalize the sagging energies of members of groups who are trying to do too much alone.

Plan and launch communitywide initiatives on a variety of issues.

Develop and use political clout to gain services or other benefits for the community.

Create long-term, permanent social change.

It is important not only to share and collect information but also to share decisions and ownership. Collaboration allows for shared leadership, decisions, ownership, vision, and responsibility. It discovers solutions and expands capacity within the organization and the community (Petersen, 2003). As noted earlier in the chapter, there are additional ways that crime victims, service providers, and allied professionals can work

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together at the local, state, and national levels: fiduciary relationships, public policy initiatives, implementation of victims’ rights, research initiatives, training and technical assistance, and information and referral services.

The impetus to pursue a collective or collaborative approach often comes as the result of several factors in an organization’s immediate business environment—a current crisis or problem, the new knowledge of a shared vision between organizations, and/or a specific desired outcome. The University of Kansas (2003) Community Tool Box identifies seven immediate conditions that prompt coalition building:

When dramatic or disturbing events occur in a community.

1. When new information becomes available. 2. When circumstances or rules change. 3. When new funding becomes available. 4. When there is an outside threat to the community. 5. When a group wishes to create broad, significant community change.

6. When you have not only a good reason for starting a coalition but also the possibility that one can be started successfully in the community.

Key collaboration strategies for Step 1 include the following:

Complete an organizational assessment. (A Collaboration Assessment Survey is available online from the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation at www.wilder.org.

Determine capacity for collaboration.

Establish a core work group. (See the previous section “Range of Partners for Collaboration” in this chapter to identify potential members.)

Identify the reason for collaboration.

Determine strategic benefits of and barriers to collaboration. This can be accomplished by conducting a Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats (SWOT) or situation analysis, which is described in Section 2 of the OVC Training

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and Technical Assistance Center (TTAC) Strategic Planning Toolkit, available online at: www.ovcttac.org/taResources/stratplan.cfm.

Step 2: Who Should Be at the Table?

National victim advocate Anne Seymour often remarks that when you are meeting on victim-related issues, “unless victims are at the table, you can’t serve supper!” When establishing collaborative relationships to address victim- and justice-related issues, it is critical to involve crime victims and survivors from the beginning, including membership within the core work group identified in Step 1.

This chapter lists several conventional stakeholders: crime victims, service providers, and juvenile and criminal justice officials and agencies. Nontraditional partners include members of the clergy, mental health and public health professionals and agencies, public policymakers, news media, and researchers and practitioners in the field of substance abuse. Who else should be at the table?

When addressing public safety issues, the National Crime Prevention Council (1994) indicates that “potential partners will come from among those groups directly affected by the current problem, those who must deal with its aftermath or consequences, and those who would benefit if the problem did not exist.” The potential partners identified in the National Crime Prevention Council’s Community Partnerships Bulletin (which can be accessed online at: www.ncjrs.gov/txtfiles/wpcg.txt) should be assessed in Step 2.

Diversity is another component to be addressed when determining membership in collaborative efforts. The “collaboration framework” developed by the National Network for Collaboration (2006) suggests:

Valuing diversity honors the uniqueness, gifts, and talents that each person, group, and organization brings to the collaboration. It opens the door to gaining an understanding of how all the elements fit together and how each is important to the whole. Diversity brings a critical balance to any level of collaboration. When a real diversity of people and opinion occurs in a group, a reverence for the shared vision often takes hold. It becomes easier to understand each member’s perspective on current reality, and each other’s ideas about courses of action. People whose lives are affected by decisions must be equally represented in the decision process.

Key collaborative strategies for Step 2 include the following:

Identify stakeholders (traditional and nontraditional).

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Address questions: Who is affected? Who must deal with the aftermath? Who would benefit?

Ensure diversity.

Step 3: How Do We Get Going?

The time has come for the collaborative process to begin. After determining the when and where of the initial meeting, the first step is to identify who will conduct the meeting. Depending on resources and availability, organizations should consider the use of a skilled facilitator. An effective facilitator and supporting staff can help advance the work of a collaborative group and contribute to its success (Gilligan and Carter, 2006). In addition to helping collaborative teams to conduct effective meetings, a neutral facilitator allows all collaborative members to be actively involved in and contributing members of the meeting process. The planning and organization of collaborative meetings are critical to their success. Appendix B in this chapter includes guidelines for conducting effective meetings.

The next step in the process is to conduct a multidisciplinary assessment that helps identify the current environment (the “as is”), with a focus on reaching consensus about strategic goals and objectives (the “to be”). Guidelines for developing an assessment process, including effective tools to assess the current environment, are included in the OVC TTAC Strategic Planning Toolkit, which can be accessed online at: www.ovcttac.org/taResources/stratplan.cfm.

Another step in the process is to set the strategic direction. This can be accomplished by developing a comprehensive strategic plan or, at the very least, guiding statements (values, mission, and vision statements), goals, and objectives. Establishing shared values and a collaborative mission statement and vision unifies the group and promotes joint effort toward a shared vision. Under the guidance of a skilled facilitator, initial meetings focus on developing these guiding statements, which should be documented and prominently

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displayed during future meetings and open to updates and revisions as needed. Detailed information about strategic planning, developing guiding statements, and action planning can be found in the OVC TTAC Strategic Planning Toolkit available online at: www.ovcttac.org/taResources/stratplan.cfm.

A skilled facilitator can guide the collaborative effort through the process of developing goals (measurable and readily observable end results) and objectives (measurable steps to reach goals). Specific objectives (short-term and long-term) with assigned responsibility and benchmarks allow collaborative initiatives to gauge success and make modifications as necessary.

In a collaborative process, the primary attention is often given to determining group membership, developing and accomplishing goals and objectives, and monitoring progress. Too often, the critical role of the leader receives much less attention. The complexity of facilitating, planning, and managing the meeting requires the skills of a designated leader. Value-based dedicated leadership is essential for anything lasting, significant, and positive to be accomplished, as stated by the National Network for Collaboration (2006):

One of the major responsibilities of leadership is to [ensure] that appropriate members have been brought to the collaboration. A diverse membership should encompass potentially impacted groups and individuals….Norms of operation must be established that include protocols, conflict resolution, political and cultural sensitivity, structure, and roles and responsibilities. Leadership should facilitate and support team building and capitalize upon diversity and individual, group, and organizational strengths.

Additionally, the specific roles and responsibilities of collaborative partners should be delineated clearly and accepted by all members.


Consider and recruit a skilled facilitator. Develop guiding statements, goals, and measurable objectives. Develop an action plan (tasks, responsibilities, deliverables, and timelines). Designate leadership. Delineate roles and responsibilities.

Other tips for conducting effective meetings can be found in Appendix B.

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Step 4: What Are We Going to Do?

Petersen (2003) lists 13 principles that are important for this phase of community collaboration:

1. Coordinate—organize.2. Show respect for people and time.3. Consider logistical needs of others.4. Be open-minded. Share ownership. Empower others. Share leadership.5. Build relationships.6. Communicate.7. Motivate.8. Take responsibility and give credit.9. Stick with it. Persevere. Work.10. Let go, forgive.11. Focus on continuity, consistency, dependability.12. Be flexible.13. Show gratitude.

The key to capacity building and sustainability within a collaborative effort is the ongoing support of existing members and the identification of new members when current trends or issues call for expansion or change. It is essential that systems be instituted to provide sustained membership, resources, and strategic program planning (National Network for Collaboration, 2006).

The University of Kansas (2003) Community Tool Box recommends allowing time before and after meetings for visiting, which can often be as important as the meeting itself. Such simple things as serving refreshments, acknowledging members, and sending thank-you notes can go a long way in building relationships. In addition, the Community Tool Box offers some general process guidelines: “Communicate, be as inclusive as possible, network like crazy, be creative about meetings, be realistic and keep your promises, and acknowledge diversity among members and among their ideas and beliefs.”


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Continue to be open to change.

Over time, success may require a change of direction, emphasis, or focus.

New goals need to be continuously set and achieved.

Evaluate outcomes.

Celebrate success!

Advertise success!

Let the community know about key accomplishments.

(University of Kansas, 2003)


Establish meeting protocols.

Build relationships.

Communicate.

Identify needed resources and the sources to obtain them.

Step 5: Did We Meet Our Goals?

A critical component of a collaborative effort is measuring what the collaboration achieves (evaluation). The collaborative effort is initiated to work collectively toward a shared vision defined by a set of goals and objectives. If a collaborative initiative fails to conduct some level of analysis of whether stated goals and objectives are accomplished, the question becomes, “Why does the collaborative exist?”

Evaluation is not concerned with summarizing collaborative accomplishments so much as understanding whether the collaborative effort accomplished what the group said it would accomplish. Evaluation asks, “Did we do what we set out to do?” and “What was the impact of our activity?” (National Network for Collaboration, 2006).

Excellent evaluation tools specifically developed for collaboration are available online. For example, check out the following:

Collaboration Rubric edweb.sdsu.edu/triton/tidepoolunit/Rubrics/collrubric.html

Managing for Results Workbook, Tennessee Office of Criminal Justice Planninghttp://tennessee.gov/finance/rds/ocjp/documents/Managingforresultsworkbook.pdf

OVC TTAC Strategic Planning Toolkit, Section 6: Evaluate www.ovcttac.org/taResources/stratplan.cfm

OVC, National Victim Assistance Standards Consortium, Standards for Victim Assistance Programs and Providers www.ncjrs.gov/app/publications/Abstract.aspx?id=190688


Develop an evaluation strategy.

Collect data.

Revise goals and objectives, as needed.

Recognize and celebrate success.

Step 6: What’s Next?

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For a collaborative effort to continue, it must continue to fulfill a shared purpose. Sponsors can continually seek to bring in new members and resources to enhance the collaborative effort, revise goals and objectives as needed, and consider additional strategic goals.

Communication from the collaboration to the broader community must be established through the outreach venues of participating individuals and organizations, news media, and other formal information channels. Marketing of the collaboration efforts must also be conducted to obtain community support and acquire needed resources (National Network for Collaboration, 2006).


Conduct an assessment of the overall collaborative effort, and revise goals and objectives as needed.

Identify and recruit new members.

Gather new resources.

Communicate and market outcomes and successes.

Constantly work to rejuvenate and sustain the collaborative effort.

A matrix that highlights the key strategies and recommended guidelines for these steps is included in Appendix C in this chapter.

PROMISING PRACTICES IN COLLABORATION FOR VICTIM SERVICES

Integrated Domestic Violence and Substance Abuse Services for Women

The Iowa Integrated Services Project focuses on developmental processes necessary for collaborative work between domestic violence shelters and substance abuse agencies. The VAWA-funded project is based at the University of Northern Iowa and has been evaluated by the Iowa Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation at the University of Iowa.

Women who turn to domestic violence and substance abuse programs for advocacy and treatment often have life issues in both arenas. Domestic abuse and substance abuse workers often have their work questioned in communities because many of their clients

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require repeated assistance before results are seen. These service fields have traditionally not formed collaborative relationships to better serve their common clients.

The Integrated Services Project concluded that this hesitancy to work together emerged from myths surrounding the work of each field; lack of communication arising from concern that their questions may be inappropriate; lack of information about each others’ capabilities; and lack of information regarding the issues faced by each others’ clients.

Two communities worked collaboratively with the Integrated Services Project to develop better practices, cross-train staff regarding battered women and substance abuse, and establish integrated services to work more effectively with battered women who are substance abusers. In each community, meetings were conducted to identify common missions, goals, and issues, as well as to build relationships and respect among the workers. A minimum of 12 hours of cross-training was conducted with 90 percent of the staff members of both fields.

In the beginning, 91 percent of the workers thought that their agency could meet the needs of clients with joint issues. However, 55 percent of the substance abuse workers felt unable to develop a safety plan, and 83 percent of the domestic violence workers felt unable to develop a relapse plan.

After training, 91.8 percent stated that they had received new knowledge, and 92.7 percent felt that they would be better able to serve women with both issues. Support groups for substance abuse were established in the domestic violence programs, and domestic violence support groups were started in the substance abuse program, using staff from the other. The substance abuse programs stopped couples counseling with domestic violence clients and provided gender-specific support groups for the women. Intake forms in both types of programs were amended to include the issues of domestic violence and substance abuse. Cross-training has been embedded in the operations of both fields.

Professor William Downs of the University of Northern Iowa was awarded funding from the NIJ and Office of Violence Against Women for this project. Based on the results of the work in the original communities, several other communities in Iowa are replicating this model of collaboration on behalf of victims of domestic abuse who have substance abuse problems and needs.

For additional information, please visit http://iconsortium.subst-abuse.uiowa.edu/new_Projects.html#DVSA.

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Victim Services 2000 (VS2000)

In the late 1990s, funds became available from the OVC to create seamless, integrated victim service delivery systems. The Denver Victim Assistance and Law Enforcement (VALE) board had a history of collaborating over the years on distinct projects and smaller scale initiatives. VALE recognized this opportunity to improve services to crime victims and convened its planning committee of more than 50 victim service providers, allied professionals, and victims and survivors to acquire funds for Denver Victim Services 2000 (VS2000).

VS2000 provided the first opportunity for metrowide collaboration with participation from the full spectrum of service and justice systems. Three goals for VS2000 were established:

The creation of a seamless, comprehensive, coordinated, interdisciplinary system of service delivery for victims of crime, with emphasis on services for victims previously underserved or unserved.

The establishment of a training institute that integrates technology, cross-training among victim service providers, and training for allied professionals who work with crime victims.

The application of relevant technology to the delivery of services for victims of crime.

Critical to the success of VS2000 was the fact that the VALE board already had in place the leadership necessary to facilitate this complex collaboration. VALE convened the VS2000 Planning Committee, supported the development of the project financially, and arranged for the housing and administration of the project by the Denver District Attorney’s Office. In the first month of its work, VS2000 adopted its guiding vision, “When crime victims in Denver look for services, there will be no wrong door for them to open. Wherever they turn, a quick, reliable connection will be made to get them to the most appropriate services.”

The structure of VS2000 was critical to its success. Each agency involved had a seat on the VS2000 Steering Committee. Agencies also participated on working teams that addressed the core issues of collaboration: technology, network development, and training. Subcommittees addressed more specific issues and made recommendations to the working teams, which then submitted them to the Steering Committee for approval.

A culturally diverse staff, which reflected Denver’s demographics and had experience in both criminal justice and community-based victim service organizations, was hired to

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demonstrate a commitment to cultural competency and meeting the needs of all victims of crime.

Long-term changes emerged from VS2000 that benefit victims and survivors of crime, including:

Development and implementation of a collaborative, Internet-based directory of resources available for use by all service providers.

A needs assessment that surveyed victims of crime on how services might better meet their needs.

Training, technology, and community advocacy initiatives.

Coordination of specialized service providers so victims receive services that are networked and interconnected.

Development and support of community advocacy programs as well as community advocates who are members and residents of the community they serve. These advocates are known, respected, and involved in their communities and are responsible for linking victims with available services.

Collaboration changes the way professionals think and work and requires a profound shift in thinking about how change is created. In VS2000, collaboration shifted organizational focus from competing to consensus building, from working alone to including others, from thinking about activities to thinking about results and strategies, and from focusing on short-term accomplishments to demanding long-term results.

VS2000 provides training and technical assistance to jurisdictions across the United States on adapting the model to the unique aspects of each community.

For additional information, please visit www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/.

Collaboration Between Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) and Victim Advocates

Community-based rape and sexual assault service centers have long worked to eliminate the lack of consistency in emergency medical forensic examination of sexual assault victims. Sexual assault victim advocates have led efforts to promote the sexual abuse nurse examiners (SANE) model, recognizing that it offers the potential of consistency paired with compassion in the medical-legal response to victims. A strong alliance between advocates and SANEs has facilitated a comprehensive and timely community medical response to sexual assault that is truly victim-centered.

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Agencies engaged in community response systems to sexual assault have worked together to revise protocols that ensure effective service delivery by SANEs. The groundwork to build trust and embed SANE services in a community response involves collaboration between sexual assault services, hospitals and community health providers, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, courts, and funders. The absence of cooperation from any one of these entities will create a formidable barrier to enhanced medical-legal services to sexual assault victims.

Where SANEs are used, law enforcement officers recognize the increased efficiency in the evidentiary exam process. SANEs contribute to an investigation by providing meticulously collected forensic evidence and extensive documentation that complement crime scene evidence and witness statements. Ultimately, the work of SANEs increases the chance that law enforcement will be able to move a case forward to prosecution.

Prosecutors find SANEs to be credible witnesses who have a positive impact on outcomes in sexual assault criminal cases. Thorough evidence collection and testimony by SANEs help prosecutors obtain increased numbers of guilty pleas and convictions. A Wisconsin SANE program reported that during a 3.5-year period, they had a 100 percent conviction rate in cases where a SANE conducted the medical examination and testified at trial.

As SANE-involved cases go to trial and result in an increased number of convictions, state and federal appellate courts review constitutional and evidentiary challenges by defendants. To date, the courts have rejected all defense challenges to convictions based on SANE testimony.

Regional SANE programs have been established in many rural areas. By serving a larger regional area, SANEs see more clients and complete a sufficient number of exams to develop and maintain clinical competence. Recognizing the vital service that SANEs provide in sexual assault cases, some hospitals have expanded the SANE’s role to include evidentiary exams of domestic violence victims, accident victims, and other populations.

SANEs, victim advocates, and justice professionals understand that there is more than enough work for everyone involved in community response to sexual assault. By recognizing the benefits of working collaboratively, resolving differences, and clarifying roles, they support one another in better serving the victim. For instance, the need for an advocate to monitor the forensic examination is greatly diminished with SANEs. Trusting in sensitive and competent care, advocates can more fully concentrate on providing crisis counseling, emotional support, and information to victims and their families.

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For additional information, please visit www.sane-sart.com and www.ovc.gov/ publications/.

Coordinating Criminal Investigation and Prosecution and Treatment in Indian Country

The complexity of multiple jurisdictions in Indian Country poses special challenges to reducing the number of interviews a child victim endures. Collaboration can be established with the goal of improved investigation and prosecution that limits additional trauma to the child victim. Multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) develop protocols, provide training to all agencies involved, participate in workshops and tribally sponsored training, plan panels and review committees, and provide informal interaction with tribal service providers.

Criminal jurisdiction for the investigation and prosecution of child sexual abuse in Indian Country requires coordination of tribal, state, and federal officials. The possibility for multiple forensic interviews of child victims is obvious, given the number of jurisdictions and agencies that have a legitimate interest in these cases. In the absence of careful collaboration, a child may be interviewed by six separate individuals in six or more separate interviews.

In addition, the advocacy and treatment of the child victim and the family can be disjointed. Basic financial and food needs, housing, childcare, job services for the nonabusing parent or guardian, counseling, medical care, and spiritual guidance are only a few of the services that might be required after a child reveals or exhibits symptoms of child sexual abuse.

Participation in MDTs was made mandatory for federal agencies under the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 and the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act (Public Law 101–630). The development of MDTs in Indian Country is an important vehicle for coordinating the investigation, prosecution, and disposition of child sexual abuse cases. To be effective, MDTs must have the participation of all law enforcement; prosecutors; and social services, medical, child welfare, victim assistance, and judicial agencies with jurisdiction over child sexual abuse cases, as well as the tribal representation.

Lack of access to information regarding the status of cases has long been a problem for tribal police and prosecutors, but the MDT offers an appropriate forum to share information and plan strategies. On an MDT, representatives from the U.S. Attorneys’ or local prosecutor’s offices meet with tribal prosecutors and determine the best venue for

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initial criminal prosecution. Information on the status of various investigations is regularly available.

In addition, the MDT is a vehicle for child protection, social service, medical and mental health, and spiritual advisors to collaborate in providing effective services and reducing the chaos in the life of the child and his or her family.

Tribal, state, federal, and human services collaboration in investigation and prosecution, as well as in treatment of the child victim and his or her family, better ensures successful resolution of child sexual abuse cases for the family and child.

For additional information, please visit www.ovc.gov/publications/infores/tribal/tribalbult.htm.

Sexual Assault Resource Service (SARS)The Southern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault (CASA), like many centers across the nation, started as a collaborative response to victims and survivors of sexual assault. CASA convenes monthly meetings of their collaborators including 11 law enforcement agencies, hospitals, prosecutors, and other victim service programs. CASA and its partners developed the Sexual Assault Resource Service (SARS) out of their commitment to provide the best practice community response to victims of sexual assault.

SARS is a 24/7 hospital response team for victims and survivors of sexual assault as well as their families and loved ones. In addition to providing immediate crisis intervention, advocacy, and effective evidence collection, SARS also facilitates survivors’ entry into both longer-term support and the Arizona’s criminal justice system. The success of SARS relies on significant communitywide collaboration. Until recently, SARS was the only program of its kind in the state of Arizona.

CASA provides the advocacy and sexual assault forensic exam components of the SARS response. Trained SARS advocates respond to all local hospitals to provide survivors with immediate support, information, and referral services. Law enforcement calls on trained sexual assault forensic examiners (SAFEs) to respond to medical exam sites.

All law enforcement agencies in the area call CASA’s crisis line at any time, day or night, by protocol. An advocate is dispatched to the hospital where he or she meets the law enforcement officer and the victim. CASA provides many important services to

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victims of sexual assault, but it is this service that contributes to law enforcement’s ability to prevent future victimization by identifying and apprehending criminals.

CASA has placed specialized equipment in two local hospital emergency departments designed for detailed, state-of-the-art forensic evidence collection. When law enforcement brings a victim to either of these emergency departments and a forensic exam is ordered, they again call the crisis line to dispatch one of CASA’s SAFEs to perform the examination.

CASA’s SAFEs provide consistent, high-quality evidence collection for the Pima County Attorney’s Office. The nature of evidence collection demands specificity and specialized methods required in the prosecution of a case. The CASA SAFEs also testify in subsequent criminal cases.

This level of community collaboration requires that the professionals involved communicate openly, trust one another’s professional integrity, and have authority from their offices to interact in a meaningful manner. Moreover, the collaboration requires a common vision that providing victim-centered, coordinated services will best serve the victim and the community.

For additional information, please visit www.sacasa.org/history.htm.

The Intimate Violence Enhanced Services Team (INVEST)The Intimate Violence Enhanced Services Team (INVEST) is a collaboration created in response to a recommendation from the Jacksonville, Florida, Mayor’s Domestic Violence Task Force report, Strategy to Eradicate Domestic Violence. The mission of INVEST is to identify and intervene in the most potentially lethal domestic violence cases.

The city of Jacksonville contracts with the local domestic violence program and shelter, Hubbard House, to provide advocates and with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to provide one officer specifically assigned to the INVEST office. The city’s Community Services Department provides a program coordinator and planning technician for INVEST.

All domestic violence police reports and referrals from other agencies are reviewed daily and assessed for potential lethality. Assessment includes the use of the Threat Assessment Checklist, which is completed by the police and referral sources. Cases identified as high risk for lethality are followed up by INVEST advocates and the deputy sheriff who work together to provide services to victims and accountability for

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perpetrators. Client participation is completely voluntary and confidential, and all services are free.

INVEST clients receive intense case management and advocacy throughout civil and criminal justice processes. The case management continues until their situations become safer or they choose to exit the program.

The INVEST collaborative serves as the advisory council to the INVEST program staff. The collaborative participants establish policies and ensure comprehensive services to clients from all participating agencies. The collaborative includes representatives from the City of Jacksonville Community Services Department, Victim Services Division, Animal Care and Control, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, Hubbard House, Florida Department of Children and Families, Navy Northeast Region, State Attorney’s Office, Women’s Center of Jacksonville, Salvation Army of Northeast Florida, Jewish Family and Community Services, University of North Florida/Police and Public Safety, Neptune Beach Public Safety Division, Jacksonville Beach Police Department, Atlantic Beach Police Department, Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Family Nurturing Center, and Planned Parenthood of Northeast Florida.

This program of collaboration was developed to decrease fatalities among women and men exposed to domestic violence. The specialized second review and intervention in these cases have a significant potential to save lives.

For additional information, please visit www.coj.net.

Faith-Based Collaborations for Crime Victims

Many victims of crime report that they turn to their faith as a source of personal strength. They call on faith communities for assistance, support, and guidance. Faith leaders are often the first source of comfort for victims of crime. There is a need for a seamless collaboration between the victim service agencies and the faith community.

To assist victims, faith leaders need to know the resources in their community, and they need to develop a relationship of trust with victim assistance professionals to whom they can make referrals. Victim assistance providers need to learn from faith leaders about the spiritual crisis that results from victimization and how to address each victim’s spiritual needs.

Diversity of spiritual beliefs and practices in the United States must be considered in collaboration to assist crime victims. Joining a religious group in today’s society often means crossing boundaries previously set by expectations of family members, ethnic

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groups, and social classes. Spirituality is an emotion-laden issue for victims of crime, and how it is addressed can harm or help the victim in his or her recovery. The way the issue is addressed can cause strengthening or diminishing of the victim’s faith.

Respect for individual and unique faith perspectives is more than tolerance; it includes genuine appreciation and competent spiritually sensitive services. Services will be significantly enhanced and will be far more effective when training and collaboration incorporate an understanding of the racial and ethnic groups within a community as well as their value systems, spiritual beliefs, practices, and historical traditions.

Members of the clergy are often experienced with issues arising from a range of social justice problems, such as poverty, homelessness, drug abuse, and even offender rehabilitation. However, they are frequently not trained to understand and deal with the particular dynamics of crime victimization.

In contrast, victim assistance programs and professionals possess the knowledge and practical resources for responding to the immediate needs of victims, but they may not be able to address the profound spiritual crisis brought on by criminal victimization.

The Maryland Crime Victims’ Resource Center (MCVRC) received a grant from the OVC to create systems of services that link faith-based organizations and victim service programs in five high-crime urban neighborhoods. The project will create collaborative models for local victim assistance programs in conjunction with faith-based organizations in high-crime urban settings to improve the range, quality, and accessibility of services to crime victims.

Activities planned for the project communities include creation of links between faith-based organizations and victim assistance programs, increased awareness of the spiritual needs of crime victims, coalition building, volunteer training, cross-training for victim assistance and faith-based organizations, needs assessment, elimination of service gaps, establishment of ongoing programs, improvement of the range and accessibility of services to crime victims, faith breakfasts, community roundtables, and development of resource guides and conferences.

For additional information, please visit www.mdcrimevictims.org/_pages/ f_faith_based/f2_faith_sites.htm.

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REFERENCES

Austin, J. 2002. “The Seven Cs: Questions for Partners.” In Meeting the Collaboration Challenge Workbook, Appendix B, eds. P. F. Drucker and J. E. Austin. New York: Jossey-Bass.

Carter, M., ed. 2005. The Emergence of Collaboration as the Preferred Approach in Criminal Justice. Alexandria, VA: State Justice Institute and Center for Effective Public Policy.

Chaiken, M., B. Boland, M. Maltz, S. Martin, and J. Tragonski 2005. State and Local Change and the Violence Against Women Act. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.

Gilligan, L. and M. Carter. 2006. The Role of Facilitators and Staff in Supporting Collaborative Teams. Retrieved June 11, 2006, from www.collaborative justice.org/docs/The Role of Facilitators and Staff in Supporting Collaborative Teams.doc.

Keiser, G. 1998. Types of Working Relationships. Washington, DC: National Institute of Corrections.

Kilpatrick, D., P. Resick, and L. Williams. 1999. Fostering Collaborations to Prevent Violence Against Women. Columbia, SC: National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center, Medical University of South Carolina.

Kovener, M., E. Startk, and B. Woodward. December 2002. “Making Collaboration Work: The Experiences of Denver Victim Services 2000.” OVC Bulletin. Retrieved September 4, 2007, from www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/bulletins/mcwedvs2000/welcome.html.

Mattessich, P. W., M. Murray-Close, and B. R. Mooney. 2001. Collaboration: What Makes It Work, 2nd ed. St. Paul, MN: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation.

Mouradian, V. E., M. B. Mechanic, and L. M. Williams. 2001. Recommendations for Establishing and Maintaining Successful Researcher-Practitioner Collaborations. Wellesley, MA: National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center, Wellesley College. Retrieved September 4, 2007, from www.musc.edu/vawprevention/general/rec_report.pdf.

National Crime Prevention Council. September 1994. “Working as Partners with Community Groups.” In Community Partnerships Bulletin. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance. Retrieved September 4, 2007, from www.ncjrs.gov/txtfiles/wpcg.txt.

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National Network for Collaboration. 2006. National Network for Collaboration Training Manual. Retrieved June 10, 2006, from http://crs.uvm.edu/nnco/ cd/framew.htm.

Petersen, C. R. 2003. Coming Together: Building Collaboration and Consensus. Retrieved June 10, 2006, from www.communitycollaboration.net..

Prefontaine, L., R. Ricard, H. Sicotte, D. Turcotte, and S. Dawes. 2000. New Models of Collaboration for Public Service Delivery: Worldwide Trends. Quebec City, Canada: CEFRIO.

University of Kansas. 2003. “Coalition Building I: Starting a Coalition,” in Community Tool Box, Part B, Chapter 5, Section 5. Retrieved June 10, 2006, from http://ctb.ku.edu/tools/en/section 1057.htm.

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APPENDIX ABENEFITS OF SUCCESSFUL COLLABORATION

The professionals and volunteers engaged in collaborative efforts to enhance victims’ rights and services should mirror the populations they seek to serve. Just as crime victims and survivors are remarkably diverse by age, gender, geography, race, ethnicity, faith, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status, partners in collaboration must reflect and respect diversity.

Instead of asking, “Who should be at the ‘table of collaboration,’” a more appropriate question is, “Who is traditionally missing?” Too often, the answer includes people who represent and serve populations who are diverse and often left out of the mainstream of efforts to promote positive change.

It is helpful to identify the benefits of seeking diversity within collaborative efforts in order to establish a strong foundation for diversity within partnerships. In Working with Diversity in Collaboration: Tips and Tools, the authors outline nine motive forces that build the business case for working with diversity in a meaningful way:

Enhanced innovation, creativity, and problem-solving capacity.

Stronger collaborative modes of working.

Broader access to clients, beneficiaries, investors, and other stakeholders.

Responsiveness to changing workforce demographics.

Better retention of high-quality staff.

Enhanced operational effectiveness.

Promotion of social justice and equity.

Responsiveness to organizational mandates and directives.

Superior performance and industry reputation.*

Within the fields of victim assistance and allied professions, there are at least seven actions collaborators can take to enhance diversity:

* Gormley, W., and L. Spink, 2003, Working with Diversity in Collaboration: Tips and Tools. Nairobi, Kenya: The CGIAR Gender and Diversity Program.

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1. Commit through a shared vision, mission, values, and goals to diversity as a key foundation of all collaborative efforts.

2. Engage in collaborative initiatives crime victims and survivors who represent the diverse nature of crime victims.

3. Identify “gatekeepers” who can serve as liaisons to communities that are diverse by race, ethnicity, faith, and socioeconomics and engage them in leadership roles in meaningful ways throughout all collaborative activities.

4. Examine all key collaboration issues through a “diversity lens,” and be aware of the impact of all outcomes on diverse populations.

5. Provide resources for interpreters (including American Sign Language) to encourage participation from non-English-speaking and deaf participants.

6. Rotate the locations of meetings and key activities, and sponsor some in neighborhoods with diverse populations or different faith community institutions.

7. Ensure that meeting spaces are in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act to facilitate participation by people with disabilities.

The Working with Diversity in Collaboration: Tips and Tools handbook, which includes many practical tools, can be accessed at:

www.genderdiversity.cgiar.org/publications/genderdiversity_WP39.pdf.

APPENDIX BHOW TO CONDUCT EFFECTIVE MEETINGS

Information in this appendix is derived from Seymour (2005).

Victim service providers spend a considerable amount of time in meetings, as both sponsors and participants. Consider for a moment meetings that you look forward to attending versus meetings that you dread attending. The differences between the two can be summarized by the following five “Ps”:

1. Planning. This should create buy-in from participants and ensure that all advance and onsite logistics are adequately addressed.

2. Process. This should address advance, onsite, and follow-on activities and ensure the meeting is conducted in a professional manner.

3. Personality. A skilled facilitator should adhere to a clearly stated agenda and engage all participants.

4. Participants. Participants should contribute to achieving the goal of the meeting and be willing to assume responsibilities for any follow-on activities.

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5. Products. Any products that result from the meeting should be prepared and disseminated in a timely manner.

Two elements for a successful meeting are to (1) determine if a meeting is needed and (2) have a clear agenda to guide both participants and the meeting process. To do this, follow these guidelines:

Call a meeting only if there is business that cannot be conducted by telephone or e-mail communications.

Have a concise meeting agenda that includes a clearly stated meeting goal.

Seek input in advance from meeting participants about the goals and objectives to achieve their buy-in. A meeting sponsor can also develop a draft agenda for circulation to participants so they can add agenda items.

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Key Components for Written Agenda

A header that includes the meeting sponsorship, date, time, and location.

Welcome and introductions (a participant icebreaker is optional).

Goal of the meeting.

Old business (for meetings that are regularly scheduled).

Key issues to address or accomplish.

New business (if there are any loose ends).

Clarification of any follow-up assignments or activities with deadlines.

Adjournment.


For a 2-hour meeting, limit agenda items to four key issues with specified time limitations on each issue.

Determine in advance the meeting participants who are responsible for facilitating or contributing to each key issue, and work with them to prepare their presentation within the time allotted.

Distribute the meeting agenda, which should include key topics, persons responsible for presentations and discussions, and so forth, along with the meeting logistics (e.g., date, beginning and ending times, location, and directions) at least 1 week before the meeting. Remind participants to bring their calendars or personal digital assistants (PDAs) for scheduling purposes.

MEETING LOGISTICS

By identifying and addressing key logistics, you can increase the likelihood of a meeting running smoothly. To do this, follow these guidelines:

Try to hold your meetings at a central location that is accessible by mass transit, has ample parking, and is disability-accessible. Provide information about the various methods of getting there to participants before the meeting.

Set up the meeting room in a manner that is conducive to group discussion (e.g., round table or horseshoe shape, not theater style).

Provide signage that clearly directs participants to the meeting location.

Provide a sign-in sheet that documents who is attending the meeting.

Arrange for audiovisual equipment, which may include:

Tear sheet pads and felt pens in different colors.

Overhead projector or LCD equipment and screen (e.g., for any presentation of goals).

Audio or video recording equipment (including adequate number of tapes and batteries).

Laptop computers to record notations from the discussion.

Arrange for specific needs of participants, which may include:

Accommodations for persons with mobility access needs.

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Sign language interpreters for participants who are deaf.

Interpreters for participants who speak a language other than English.

Arrange for onsite participant resources, which may include:

Any written resources or handouts relevant to the discussion.

Pads of paper.

Pens or pencils.

Name tags.

Name plates on card stock.

Boxes of tissues.

Refreshments (water and coffee at a minimum; if the group is conducted during lunch or dinner hours, a light buffet or boxed meal before the session is a good idea).

Individual worksheets (if applicable).

ONSITE MEETINGS

Follow these guidelines for onsite meetings:

Never penalize the people who arrive on time. Start the meeting at the time designated on the agenda. End on time as well.

Stick to the agenda to respect participants’ time and commitment.

Include a “parking lot” for meeting participants on a piece of tear sheet posted on a wall. Provide each participant with sticky notes to jot down issues they think about—which may or may not be related to the topic at hand—and post them on the parking lot. Allow at least 15 minutes at the end of the meeting to address parking lot issues, if needed.

Designate a staff member or volunteer to document the meeting by taking minutes. It is also helpful to designate a recorder to document key issues on tear sheets posted on the walls.

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Provide individual worksheets for key issues so that all participants can give their input. This process engages participants who are less likely to participate verbally and helps obtain additional data to address the meeting’s key issues. The facilitator can describe the type of information that is sought, provide a time limit for completing the worksheet, collect the worksheets, and assure participants that their input will be reflected in the meeting’s minutes.

Document the meeting’s proceedings through minutes, and distribute the minutes to participants within 1 week of the meeting. Either highlight action items or include a list at the end of the minutes with assignments and deadlines for persons who are responsible for each action item.

CONDUCTING THE MEETING

A well-managed meeting always has a designated facilitator or leader. This person should be at the site at least 30 minutes before the meeting to set up the room and welcome participants. Effective meeting facilitation includes:

Welcome from the sponsor and/or facilitator and an opportunity for participants to introduce themselves by name and agency affiliation.

“Housekeeping” announcements (e.g., where bathrooms are located, information about reimbursements).

An icebreaker that immediately engages participants, if time permits. For example:

“From the agenda we sent you in advance, I’d like each of you to identify one expectation you have of this meeting.”

“From the agenda we sent you in advance, I’d like each of you to identify one challenge to accomplishing our goal.”

Review of the agenda, with an opportunity for clarification if needed.

Review of general rules; these can be posted on a tear sheet on the wall. For example:

Everyone’s participation is welcome and encouraged, but please refrain from overparticipating.

Raise your hand when you wish to speak.

Silence your cell phones and pagers.

Facilitation of the agenda that respects time limitations and participants’ contributions. (See the text box, “Useful Tips for Meeting Facilitators,” in this

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appendix.)

Providing time before the end of the meeting for summary, clarification, and thanking the participants.

FOLLOW-UP TO THE MEETING

It is critical to prepare written minutes as soon as possible for dissemination to participants. Too often, a meeting ends with little or no follow-up, which makes participants ask, “What happened? “ “What are the results?” “Was this meeting worth my time?”

Meeting minutes essentially follow the outline of the agenda and clearly summarize action items with individual responsibilities and deadlines. The meeting host or facilitator is responsible for reminding individuals of their commitment to follow-up activities.

REFERENCE

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Useful Tips for Meeting Facilitators

1. In your brief welcoming remarks, try to make people feel that you are glad they came and that their contributions are important.

2. Speak slowly and clearly.

3. Maintain a positive and friendly demeanor; this is contagious.

4. Make the first introduction of yourself to model the type and brevity of the introductions of other participants.

5. Provide clear time limits for each agenda item to make the best use of limited time.

6. Try to involve all participants in the discussion, and avoid letting any one participant dominate. Comments that are helpful for accomplishing this goal include, “We haven’t heard from (name) yet on this topic. Do you have any ideas you’d like to share?” and “Thanks for that insight—why don’t we hear the others’ responses?”

7. Briefly summarize and provide opportunities for clarification of group discussions following each agenda item.

8. Document any action items on tear sheets in the meeting’s minutes, and verbally clarify to participants the individuals’ responsibilities for follow-on activities.

9. Discuss plans for any future meetings.

10. Thank people for attending and for their contributions to the meeting’s success. Follow up with a brief e-mail to offer your gratitude in writing.


Seymour, A. 2005. “How To Conduct Effective Meetings.” In VOCA Administrators’ Toolkit. Washington,

DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators, and Office for

Victims of Crime.

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APPENDIX CCOLLABORATION IN ACTION: SIX STEPS

Information in this appendix is derived from Austin (2002), Burnley and Murray (1997), and Seymour et al. (2002).

Step Strategy Guideline

1. Why and when should we collab-orate?

1. Complete an organizational assessment.

2. Determine capacity for collaboration.

3. Establish a core work group.

4. Identify the reason for collaboration.

5. Determine strategic benefits and barriers to collaboration.

The problem(s) or issue(s) of concern is clearly defined (Seymour et al., 2002).

Connection with purpose and people (Austin, 2002).

Clarity of purpose (Austin, 2002).

2. Who should be at the table?

1. Identify stakeholders (traditional and nontraditional).

2. Address questions: Who is affected? Who must deal with the aftermath? Who would benefit?

3. Ensure diversity.

Victim involvement (Burnley and Murray, 1997).

All potential stakeholders and key leaders/change agents have been invited to participate in the collaborative initiative: people who live with the problem, people who have the power to change the problem, people who have the technical expertise to address the problem (Seymour et al., 2002).

Diversity among stakeholders is sought and respected as a key tenet of collaboration (Seymour et al., 2002).

3. How do we get going?

1. Consider/recruit facilitator.

2. Develop mission and vision statements, goals, and objectives.

3. Develop action plan.

4. Designate leadership, and delineate roles and responsibilities.

Clear definition and delineation of roles (Burnley and Murray, 1997).

Efficient and streamlined coordination of agency tasks (Burnley and Murray, 1997).

A mission or vision statement that identifies the critical problems or issues and possible collaborative solutions is developed and shared by all key

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stakeholders (Seymour et al., 2002).

The problem or issue is analyzed to develop theories about why it is occurring and what can be done to change the situation (Seymour et al., 2002).

Possible strategies or solutions are brainstormed among key stakeholders, with consensus built around the most sound approaches to problem-solving or intervention (Seymour et al., 2002).

The consensus strategy is divided into strategic goals and measurable objectives (Seymour et al., 2002).

Goals and objectives are assigned an order of priority, with a sense of urgency given to the highest priority issues (Seymour et al., 2002)

Responsibilities for action are developed and assigned to the relevant stakeholders, with clear understanding of the interrelationships among goals and objectives (Seymour et al., 2002).

A time schedule for completion of goals and objectives is developed that includes tasks, persons responsible, deliverables, and deadlines (Seymour et al., 2002).

If necessary, memoranda of understanding and/or interagency agreements are drafted to clarify roles, responsibilities, and interrelationships needed to accomplish the goals and objectives (Seymour et al., 2002).

Congruency of mission, strategy, and values (Austin, 2002).

4. What are we going to do?

1. Establish meeting protocols.

2. Build relationships.

3. Identify resources needed

Effective communication and cooperation among the criminal justice agencies and professionals (Burnley and Murray, 1997).

Routine and regular flow of information

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and sources.

4. Communicate.

and data (Burnley and Murray, 1997).

Participation and accountability by all parties involved in the process (Burnley and Murray, 1997).

A list of resources needed for success is developed (Seymour et al., 2002).

Stakeholders involved in the collaborative effort assume responsibility (often jointly) for developing and/or providing resources that have been identified as critical to success (Seymour et al., 2002).

Methods of ongoing communications and regular meetings for status reviews are institutionalized (Seymour et al., 2002).

Creation of value (Austin, 2002).Communication among partners (Austin, 2002).

5. Did we meet our goals?

1. Develop evaluation strategy.

2. Collect data.

3. Revise goals and objectives, as needed.

4. Celebrate success.

Significant attention is paid to evaluation measures that can delineate success or failure. Flexible approaches are in place to allow for revision of original goals and objectives, based on evaluation results. This is an ongoing process (Seymour et al., 2002).

A commitment to managing the change that results from the collaborative is institutionalized, with consensus on how stakeholders will each educate their professional peers and volunteers about the positive aspects of the change and help them adjust to new policies, procedures, and/or programs that result (Seymour et al., 2002).

Small successes and achievements are celebrated, and barriers to success are viewed as surmountable challenges (Seymour et al., 2002).

Continual learning (Austin, 2002).

6. What’s next?

1. Conduct assessment; revise goals and objectives.

2. Identify and recruit new

An assessment of the overall collaborative effort is conducted, with participation of all key stakeholders (Seymour et al., 2002).

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members.

3. Gather new resources.

4. Communicate and market.

5. Rejuvenate the collaborative.

6. Dissolve collaborative, if appropriate.

Recommendations for revising or fine-tuning ongoing strategies for success, based on the overall evaluation, are developed (Seymour et al., 2002).

Efforts are made to identify other initiatives that could benefit from the collaborative efforts of key stakeholders involved in this initiative (Seymour et al., 2002).

Commitment to the partnership (Austin, 2002).

References

Austin, J. 2002. “The Seven Cs: Questions for Partners.” InMeeting the Collaboration Challenge Workbook, Appendix B, eds. P. F. Drucker and J. E. Austin, eds. New York: Jossey-Bass.

Burnley, J. N., and M. A. Murray. 1997. Restitution Reform: The Coordinated Interagency Approach. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime.

Seymour, A., M. Murray, J. Sigmon, M. Hook, C. Edmunds, M. Gaboury, et al., eds. 2002. National Victim Assistance Academy Textbook. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime.

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NVAA odule 9Learning Objectives

Describe ways that the victim service providers’ own attitudes and beliefs influence their response to victims of crime.

Find appropriate ethical standards in the NVASC Standards for Victim Assistance Programs and Providers relative to common professional situations.

Use a standard decisionmaking process when faced with an ethical dilemma.


CHAPTER 9ETHICS IN VICTIM SERVICES*

Dana DeHart and Melissa Hook†

The purpose of this chapter is to encourage the use of ethical standards to further the evolution of victim assistance as a professional discipline. The chapter includes four sections:

Introduction to ethics and ethical standards provides a brief history of ethics and the professional development of victim service professional standards through the National Victim Assistance Standards Consortium.

Values and response to crime victims describes the distinction between personal and professional values and helps participants understand the impact of both on the victim service provider’s response to crime victims.

Ethical decisionmaking and ethical dilemmas describes the steps of an ethical decisionmaking model and considers them in relation to common ethical dilemmas.

* This chapter is largely excerpted or paraphrased from writings authored by Melissa Hook with funding provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime, under grant #95 MU-GX-K002. These materials were subsequently published in a text, Ethics in Victim Services, (Baltimore: Sidran Institute Press and Victims’ Assistance Legal Organization, 2005) and are used here by the Office for Victims of Crime with acknowledgment to the text’s publisher. For more information about the book, visit www.sidran.org/store. Discounts are available for NVAA participants. Contact [email protected] for details.

† The authors of this chapter are Dana DeHart, Ph.D., University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC; and Melissa Hook, District of Columbia Office of Victim Services, Washington, DC.

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Educating yourself about legal and policy issues provides guidelines to research and reflect upon ethics in the victim service provider’s own jurisdiction, discipline, and place of employment.

INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS AND ETHICAL STANDARDS

This section provides an introduction to the concept of ethics and to the Ethical Standards for Victim Assistance Providers developed by the National Victim Assistance Standards Consortium (NVASC). NVASC is a multidisciplinary group of victim service experts formed for the express purpose of creating standards of competency and credentialing in the victim services discipline.

The Evolution of Ethics

For thousands of years, philosophers, scientists, and teachers have contemplated matters such as the meaning of life, what behaviors are most valued, and the distinction between right and wrong behavior. Perhaps the tendency to pursue such matters is just part of being human or necessary for surviving peacefully. Aristotle in the neo-Greek era taught that leading a virtuous life was the path to happiness and life satisfaction.

As humankind evolved, societies developed their own systems of moral principles based on values. Values are ideals that society upholds as reflective of the way the world should be and how people should act toward one another. It is interesting to note that many of these moral principles are nearly universal regardless of culture or historical time period. For example, most societies expect members to refrain from murder, rape, theft, assault, slander, and fraud. The standards almost always reflect the virtues of honesty, compassion, and loyalty.

Moral principles are the foundation of ethics, which is the professional discipline dealing with standards of right and wrong that serve as a guide for human behavior. Ethics are usually stated in terms of obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. Developing a code of ethics has been an essential part of all professional disciplines since the ancient professions of medicine and law were established. The earliest known professional code, for instance, was developed in ancient Greece in the fourth century B.C. when Hippocrates initiated a movement calling for all physicians to exhibit a high level of professional and ethical behavior. As a guide for this behavior, the Hippocratic Oath was adopted by medical doctors throughout the ancient and medieval world and continues to serve as the inspiration for modern codes of ethics in the field of medicine.

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Victim assistance began as a grassroots movement in the late 1960s but is now evolving as an established profession. As such, there exists the need for ethical principles to guide the practice of victim services. When a profession establishes a code of ethics, it serves several purposes. It safeguards the reputation of the profession, protects the public from exploitation, and furthers competent and responsible practice. The victim assistance ideals of do no harm, care for others, eliminate injustice, and treat others as one wishes to be treated are all rooted in centuries of ethical reasoning and inform most ethical codes in the helping professions.

Standards in Victim Services

The professional evolution of victim services has given rise to a wide diversity of organized community- and systems-based organizations whose service to crime victims range the entire gamut of the justice experience. As this evolution has continued, there has been a call on many levels for greater accountability by victim assistance providers, with many victim assistance organizations and coalitions drafting codes of ethics for use by their memberships. This is a natural progression paralleled in other disciplines and is well-founded for a movement increasingly recognized by the juvenile and criminal justice systems, academia, and the public at large as a credible and much-needed service. To facilitate use of such ethical codes and to promote consistency and quality of standards, the National Victim Assistance Standards Consortium (NVASC) developed a set of model program, competency, and ethical standards for the field of victim assistance.

NVASC was created in 2000 by the Office for Victims of Crime at the U.S. Department of Justice with the express purpose of creating model standards of conduct for the field of victim assistance. To do this, NVASC researched existing standards in victim assistance and similar professions, polled the field of victim assistance, and utilized the expertise and experience of a representative and diverse core of victim assistance professionals. The result of this work is the NVASC Standards for Victim Assistance Programs and Providers published by The Center for Child and Family Studies, College of Social Work, at the University of South Carolina. The document can be accessed at: www.sc.edu/ccfs/training/consortium.html.

The book Ethics in Victim Services is based on the NVASC model of ethical standards. It is designed to help victim assistance professionals identify, analyze, and resolve the many ethical dilemmas they face in their work on a daily basis. A CD-Rom by the same name is a full training based on that text.

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NVASC Ethical Standards

The foundation for the NVASC code of ethics consists of underlying values such as client autonomy, privacy, and self-determination; objectivity and abstention from abuse; honesty and equity of service; compassion and respect for individuals; social responsibility; confidentiality; and working within one’s range of competence. This set of guiding values represents the foundation from which the NVASC developed the following 19 standards of professional conduct to guide victim assistance providers in resolution of common ethical challenges.

SECTION I: Scope of Services

ETHICAL STANDARD 1.1: The victim assistance provider understands his or her legal responsibilities, limitations, and the implications of his/her actions within the service delivery setting and performs duties in accord with laws, regulations, policies, and legislated rights of persons served.

Many agencies do not provide this type of training and expect service providers to gain this knowledge on their own or on the job. A victim assistance provider who has an insufficient knowledge of the specifics of the legal authority under which he or she works may unintentionally follow unethical practices, violate the law, and/or cause harm to the victim. The final section of this chapter contains more information on educating oneself about legal and policy issues.

ETHICAL STANDARD 1.2: The victim assistance provider accurately represents his or her professional title, qualifications, and/or credentials in relationships with persons served and in public advertising.

The professional and educational credentials of victim assistance providers that pertain to their positions should be disclosed in order to avoid misconceptions about their role in the context of service to the victim or their responsibilities to the agency and their colleagues. Victim assistance providers should exercise discretion in terms of self-promotion or advertisement. For example, they should not represent themselves as counselors, therapists, or specialists in a specific type of advocacy if they have not received the training and accreditation that the discipline requires. They are discouraged from using victim testimonials or descriptions of the uniqueness of their services as a means of self-promotion.

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ETHICAL STANDARD 1.3: The victim assistance provider maintains a high standard of professional conduct.

This means that providers must not only avoid improper behavior, but avoid even the appearance of impropriety. In maintaining a high degree of professional conduct, providers must not use their positions to obtain special favors, privileges, advantages, gifts, or access to services that are unrelated to agency interests or that serve them personally. Moreover, providers must distinguish between agency and personal points of view, and refrain from communicating a personal viewpoint as if it were agency opinion or policy.

ETHICAL STANDARD 1.4: The victim assistance provider achieves and maintains a high level of professional competence.

Achieving and maintaining professional competence serve the interests of the victim, the field of victim services, and the victim assistance provider. Victim assistance providers must keep informed of new and pertinent developments within the field, including research findings, newly enacted statutory guidelines, and policy changes. Being competent also means recognizing the need for supervision or consultation and providing appropriate referrals when task demands fall beyond the provider’s defined role and responsibilities. Providers must also be aware of the signs of severe stress and burnout and refrain from providing services if impaired. More information on self care is provided in Chapter 11, “Developing Resilience.”

ETHICAL STANDARD 1.5: The victim assistance provider who provides a service for a fee informs a person served about the fee at the initial session or meeting.

Full and accurate information concerning when payment is expected, whether insurance may cover any expenses, how payment is handled, and the policy regarding missed or canceled appointments must be clearly communicated before services are delivered. Bartering—that is, the trading of goods or services for victim assistance services—is not appropriate except in situations wherein the victim’s culture provides for such customs, when it would be offensive to the victim to refuse such an arrangement, when the bartering creates no potential conflict of interest, and with the full knowledge of the provider’s supervisor.

SECTION II: Coordinating within the Community

ETHICAL STANDARD 2.1: The victim assistance provider conducts relationships with colleagues and other professionals in such a way as to promote mutual respect, public confidence, and improvement of service.

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Since the field of victim services is one of public service, it is important for providers to contribute, whenever possible, to public confidence and betterment of victim services. When engaged in professional communication or public speaking, providers should clarify that they are speaking on their own behalf, as a representative of their agency, or on behalf of all victim assistance providers.

ETHICAL STANDARD 2.2: The victim assistance provider shares knowledge and encourages proficiency in victim assistance among colleagues and other professionals.

Knowledge sharing in the field of victim assistance should be carried out in the spirit of continuing improvement of the quality of victim services. Victim assistance providers must be ready, willing, and eager to share their knowledge and skills with other practitioners both in and out of the workplace, including both paid and volunteer workers. In the case of volunteer workers, victim assistance providers should do everything within their power to ensure that volunteers have access to the information, training, and resources they need to do their jobs properly and effectively. Particularly in the field of victim assistance, service to victims involves a team approach and the willingness to share with and listen to colleagues from various cultures, disciplines, and philosophies.

ETHICAL STANDARD 2.3: The victim assistance provider serves the public interest by contributing to the improvement of systems that impact victims of crime.

Providers are expected to take part in professional or community activities that support the goals of their own program or of victim services more generally, including the improvement of justice system(s), victim services, and/or access to such services.

SECTION III: Direct Services

ETHICAL STANDARD 3.1: The victim assistance provider respects and attempts to protect the victim’s civil rights.

In addition to basic civil rights, many state statutes and guidelines provide for the protection of other rights, including rights around confidentiality (discussed further in Ethical Standard 3.5) and the right to nondiscrimination (Ethical Standard 3.9).

ETHICAL STANDARD 3.2: The victim assistance provider recognizes the interests of the person served as a primary responsibility.

The provider should advocate for what the victim desires (see Ethical Standard 3.4) and for what is in his or her best interests within the limits of ethical standards, program policy, and state and federal laws. It is never appropriate for a provider to offer a service

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only if a victim agrees to a particular course of action. A provider may deeply disagree with a victim’s proposed course of action, but the only ethical response is to provide as much information as possible so that the victim can make a fully informed choice. If a conflict develops between the provider and the victim over these choices, the provider should explain the situation, make a referral for an alternative provider, and/or seek outside assistance to resolve the issue.

ETHICAL STANDARD 3.3: The victim assistance provider refrains from behaviors that communicate victim blame, suspicion regarding victim accounts of the crime, condemnation for past behavior, or other judgmental, anti-victim sentiment.

To maintain professional trust with the victim and effectively advocate on his or her behalf, a victim assistance provider must be vigilant to avoid doing or saying anything that might communicate suspicion, blame, doubt, or condemnation of the victim’s actions, nonactions, feelings, beliefs, and so on, about the crime.

ETHICAL STANDARD 3.4: The victim assistance provider respects the victim’s right to self-determination.

Victims have the most informed perspective regarding their personal history, victimization, and risk, and therefore they have ultimate authority over their interests. If the provider’s perceptions of what is best for a victim are at odds with that victim’s point of view, information can be presented to enhance the victim’s perspective, but ultimately, the provider should encourage victims to make their own decisions. If there is a conflict between what the victim wants and the applicable state, federal, or agency authority, then the provider must take steps to resolve that conflict, including disclosure of the conflict to the victim and possible referral to an outside professional.

ETHICAL STANDARD 3.5: The victim assistance provider preserves the confidentiality of information provided by the person served or acquired from other sources before, during, and after the course of the professional relationship.

A violation of confidentiality can be extremely harmful to the victim; it can also potentially leave the victim assistance provider and/or his or her agency open to legal liability. Since confidentiality is a complex area of ethical consideration, due care should be taken by all providers to be fully informed and continually current regarding any and all legal, statutory, policy, and agency authority. Information about confidentiality should be provided to the victim at the first meeting, or at least at the first available opportunity if exigencies of the first meeting do not allow it. In disclosing information regarding confidentiality or in communicating to a victim the fact that certain confidential information may need to be disclosed, the provider should be prepared to address the victim’s reaction to this disclosure. While a provider or agency cannot provide specific

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confidential information for statistical purposes, it is appropriate to provide it without identifying its source. Exceptions to confidentiality are discussed later in this chapter.

ETHICAL STANDARD 3.6: The victim assistance provider avoids conflicts of interest and discloses any possible conflict to the program or person served, as well as to prospective programs or persons served.

Conflicts of interest can arise as the result of past professional relationships, either within the current position or through some past employment. Previous relationships, be they familial, professional, personal, or business, with individuals who come to a victim assistance provider for services create potential conflicts of interest. Providers who have survived a crime and, as a result, have entered the field of victim services may at times be tempted to refer to their own victimization during the counseling relationship with another victim. The transfer of focus from the client victim’s experience to the provider’s experience can be considered another kind of conflict of interest. Victim assistance providers must be rigorous in their efforts to discern potential conflicts of interest and step down from any job where the conflict will lessen the quality of service they deliver.

ETHICAL STANDARD 3.7: The victim assistance provider terminates a professional relationship with a victim when the victim is not likely to benefit from continued services.

The provider should prepare the victim for the eventuality of termination of services, particularly if the victim is unusually vulnerable and/or derives a great deal of support from their relationship. If referral to another professional is indicated, the provider should obtain as much information as possible and provide this to the victim in a timely manner. Providers are strongly discouraged from terminating a relationship with a victim in order to pursue a business or personal relationship with the victim.

ETHICAL STANDARD 3.8: The victim assistance provider does not engage in personal relationships with persons served which exploit professional trust or which could impair the victim assistance provider's objectivity and professional judgment.

Dual relationships are sometimes difficult to avoid, particularly in small communities. The application of the standard to avoid dual relationships is therefore explored in the context of the potential to cause harm. Whenever there is the potential for loss of objectivity, conflict of interest, or the exploitation of a victim seeking help, the mixing of personal and professional roles is not appropriate. When a provider cannot avoid a personal or business relationship with a client, the provider should seek counsel and supervision from colleagues regarding his or her objectivity regarding the case and best interests of the client. Under any circumstance, sexual relationships with victims are the most serious violations of this ethical standard. Further, a provider should not behave in a

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way that verbally or physically indicates sexual interest toward current or former clients. It is the provider’s responsibility to act appropriately with clients and maintain appropriate boundaries regardless of the client’s attempts to initiate a personal or business relationship.

ETHICAL STANDARD 3.9: The victim assistance provider does not discriminate against a victim or another staff member on the basis of race/ethnicity, language, sex/gender, age, sexual orientation, (dis)ability, social class, economic status, education, marital status, religious affiliation, residency, or HIV status.

If there is any doubt about a provider’s ability to offer judgment-free and objective assistance, the provider should seek consultation and/or supervision. More information about personal values and responses to victims is provided later in this chapter.

ETHICAL STANDARD 3.10: The victim assistance provider furnishes opportunities for colleague victim assistance providers to seek appropriate services when traumatized by a criminal event or client interaction.

It is common for victim assistance providers to “process” traumatic events or other difficulties experienced in the course of their everyday jobs. Because of limited resources, it may be difficult—if not impossible—for providers to pursue outside intervention or support. However, if possible, providers who are in need of formal support in the wake of trauma should try to seek assistance from allied professions or providers in other jurisdictions, so as to minimize the possibility of potential professional conflicts of interest.

SECTION IV: Administration and Evaluation

ETHICAL STANDARD 4.1: The victim assistance provider reports to appropriate authorities the conduct of any colleague or other professional (including oneself) that constitutes mistreatment of a person served or that brings the profession into dishonor.

A victim assistance provider must report clear violations of ethical standards to the appropriate authorities. This would include governing boards, funding entities, administrators, and supervisors. The victim assistance provider should never knowingly participate in actions that violate ethical standards. Furthermore, providers are encouraged to self-report violations that require a written report be filed.

Since the classical Greek era, ethicists have contemplated codes of human behavior that manifest their values and belief systems. As societies expanded and grew more complex, ethical theories increased in scope from rules of behavior for individuals to rules that

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addressed societal well-being. Professional ethics have grown out of a need to set performance standards within specific disciplines. The field of victim assistance has now matured to the point where a code of ethics has become useful to establish standards of excellence in the delivery of services to crime victims.

VALUES AND RESPONSE TO CRIME VICTIMS

This section is intended to raise awareness of personal attitudes, biases, and beliefs and how these may affect the victim service provider’s responses to victims.

Personal and Professional Values

Providing quality services to the victims of crime depends on many factors, but begins with the personality, moral orientation, and subjective beliefs and opinions of the victim service provider. Victim services are about relationships between providers and crime victims. Therefore, the personal values of the provider and the ethical codes that support these values will directly influence his or her interactions in the relationship.

Before beginning, consider the following terms and their definitions:

■ Values are the ideals or beliefs to which an individual or group aspires.

■ Morals relate to making decisions between right and wrong.

■ Ethics is the articulation of standards of behavior that reflect those values or morals.

Victim assistance providers should remember that, when ethical challenges arise, they may have little time to distinguish between right and wrong before they are required to act. Inaction is often the fallback position when stressful events happen too quickly to think through the appropriate response. Socrates’ advice to “know thyself” is a reminder of the importance of undertaking a serious moral inventory. Few know the strength of their moral fiber or the depth of their character until it is tested. Victim assistance providers sometimes have only a minute to decide what is right or wrong.

Knowing oneself ethically requires self-awareness. It is important that providers understand their own definition of a morally good person. They must understand how their personal values may influence their response to challenging situations, how their

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religious beliefs may influence their judgments, and how their attitudes toward the rights of individuals may come into conflict with the broader principles of justice.

As important as it is to understand their own moral orientation, providers must also understand how willing they are to act on their values and to uphold their personal ethics if they are challenged. Being aware of the need for action, determining the right course of action, and having the emotional and intellectual commitment to follow through are all important factors when assessing personal values.

Professional values grow from the same basic desire as personal values (to do no harm, help others, and make the world a better place), but they are different in focus and content. Any conflict between a provider’s personal and professional values could affect the ethical decisionmaking process and compromise the capacity to serve effectively in a particular circumstance. Therefore, personal values must be recognized and dealt with appropriately. A provider’s character and commitment, motivation, and personal viewpoint are all authentic components of their ethical decisionmaking process. Searching for ethical self-knowledge is necessary if they are to understand their innate reactions when value conflicts appear.

When providing services to victims of crime, it is providers’ professional values (i.e., ethical code) that must be the key determinants in the ethical decision-making process. Their competency, integrity, responsibility, respect for the victim’s right to self-determination, concern for others’ welfare, and social responsibility are the professional values they will rely on to help them deliver ethically responsible services. If a situation requires them to choose one objective over another, it is these values that will inform their choices.

Competing Priorities and Conflicts of Interest

Some of the ethical questions that victim assistance providers may face in the service of crime victims will revolve around personal issues. Competing priorities are part of modern life, and it is not unusual that the pursuit of personal interests has the potential to conflict with professional responsibilities. That is why it is important that providers develop the tools they need to recognize and resolve situations where their personal interests might cause ethical conflicts in their work. This can be done by identifying their personal ethical standards, coming to terms with the values they support, and becoming aware of their significance in the ongoing service to crime victims. For example, when providers have personal interests in their relationships with clients, colleagues, or outside agencies and organizations, the objective exercise of their duties and responsibilities may

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be affected. Not only will providers’ personal perceptions be challenged, but there may be viable reasons for acting in ways that could be contrary to a victim’s interests.

Competing priorities between personal interests and professional responsibilities become conflicts of interest when a personal or private interest conflicts with the provider’s official duty or interferes with the provider’s objective professional judgment. Some examples of personal activities that create professional conflicts of interest in the field of victim assistance include dual relationships, inappropriate use of confidential information, and accepting unofficial perks. Whenever possible, it is best to avoid any situation where there is even a potential conflict of interest. Conflicts of interest can limit the providers’ ability to act in the best interest of the persons served and/or interfere with their independent judgment. Trust is the core issue. Conflicts of interest involve the abuse, either actual or potential, of the trust people have placed in providers as professionals. When a provider is faced with unavoidable ethical concerns, open communication with colleagues on these matters will be invaluable. It is important that providers share their concerns with trusted colleagues and test their professional objectivity in questionable situations.

Multicultural Competency

Sometimes, providers’ own cultural biases and/or limited understanding of other ethnicities and cultures can result in ethical conflicts that have important and far-reaching consequences for the delivery of services to crime victims. This area of potential ethical conflict should be taken into account as providers assess their personal values and moral orientation relative to their work.

While personal values and professional values often stem from the same beliefs, they are different in content and should not be confused. Questions over competing priorities will likely appear on a regular basis. To make choices effectively, it is critical that providers be clear about both their own values and the professional values and roles inherent to carrying out professional responsibilities.

ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING AND COMMON DILEMMAS

This section describes how to use a standard process to make ethical decisions and to explore common ethical dilemmas that victim assistance providers face.

A Decision-Making Model for Resolving Dilemmas

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The practical application of professional ethical standards is not clear-cut when circumstances involve multiple interests and perspectives. Adherence to standards must be prioritized based on the needs of the person served, agency policy, and state law. When a question arises as to what is the most ethical course of professional conduct in a particular situation, an ethical “dilemma” may exist. A dilemma suggests that the answer is not obvious; there may be more than one “right” answer for the situation, depending on the various interests of the parties involved. These issues may be so complex that arriving at a clear and ethical course of action becomes a difficult process—and may be further complicated by common pitfalls in the resolution process.

Ethical decisions should be made in a systematic and logical way that recognizes that there are multiple points of view in most dilemmas. Many ethical decisionmaking models can be useful for analyzing and resolving ethical dilemmas in victim services. Here is a six-step model:

1. Assess facts. Review all relevant documents and legislation; and verify sources of all information.

2. Identify the ethical standards and the corresponding practical considerations that are in conflict.

3. Brainstorm at least three (preferably more than five) courses of action and the consequences of each.

4. Consult peers or supervisor.

5. Choose the best option and act.

6. Evaluate—How can this situation be avoided in the future?

This model affords providers opportunity to analyze a given dilemma, identify the practical considerations, review the relevant standards, and reflect on actions and outcomes.

Next, we examine common ethical issues faced by victim assistance providers, including boundary issues and multiple relationships, confidentiality, legal advocacy versus legal advice, and professional competence.

Boundary Issues and Multiple Relationships

If providers offer friendship (or love) to clients outside the purview of their duties, or if they exchange goods and services with a victim, then professional boundaries have been violated and a dual relationship has been created. In a counseling or advocacy

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relationship, the provider has professional influence over the victim. When a second or dual relationship is established, the provider’s influence and the victim’s subordination are generally replicated. The victim remains vulnerable to the provider’s position of power, creating an unfair dynamic in the second relationship. This blurring of the boundaries between the primary and secondary relationships permits intentional or unintentional abuse of power.

Victim assistance providers who enter into dual relationships with victims often rationalize their behavior by asserting that the circumstances are unique or that they cannot serve the client without making efforts that exceed normal boundaries. However, regardless of these well-meaning intentions, crossing the boundaries of ethical practice creates a potentially exploitive situation for the victim and impairs the good judgment of the provider. Any time providers venture outside the boundaries established in the professional code of ethics, they do a disservice to the victim, who may ultimately experience distrust and anger.

If providers engage in dual relationships or have an inclination to do so, they should seek assistance in identifying their motivations and request intensive supervision of their interactions with victims. If necessary, they may need to leave their job until the ability to maintain appropriate boundaries has been reestablished.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is the foundation from which trust in the provider-victim relationship is developed and nurtured. Serving victims often requires that providers become involved in private and personal areas of people’s lives. Respecting the privacy of the victims served and keeping all aspects of the relationship confidential to the fullest extent possible is an ethic that applies to every client served. Many providers are required to sign confidentiality agreements with their agencies. They are also required to maintain the confidentiality of agency records and are held accountable for adherence to the agency policy on confidentiality.

However, confidentiality is not a guaranteed right in the field of victim services. Unlike other legal rights of confidentiality, such as the attorney-client privilege or the psychotherapist-patient privilege, there is not a commonly established right of confidentiality between victim service providers and their clients. Some states have extended—most by way of the psychotherapist-patient privilege—the right of confidentiality to domestic violence and sexual assault victim service providers.

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Even where the rule of confidentiality is established by state statute, there are situations in which confidentiality can, and even should, be broken. It is the provider’s duty to inform a victim of these exceptions at the beginning of the relationship (except in extraordinary crisis situations). Exceptions to the right of confidentiality are discussed in detail in the NVASC’s Ethical Code for Victim Assistance Providers, and include the following circumstances:

Emergency health issues (including death), i.e., information pertaining to the health of an individual in need of immediate medical intervention.

Conditions relating to minor victims, i.e., reports of imminent danger to the minor.

Sharing of information among agency colleagues that extends the confidentiality clause to those privy to the information.

Informed consent—a written release signed by the victim that permits providers to disclose written or oral communications to any individual or entity.

When subpoenaed to testify in court in some states.

When a confidential communication has raised a threat of imminent harm to either the client or a third party.

Child and elder abuse; in some states, providers will be mandated to report child and elder abuse to child or adult protective services.

Duty to warn—the legal obligation to inform people of danger; states differ regarding duty to warn and confidentiality privileges.

Regarding the latter, precedent for the “duty to warn” exception was set by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976 in the landmark case of Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California. In this case, a therapist at the university health center failed to warn a female student that her ex-boyfriend had made threats against her life during his counseling sessions. The ex-boyfriend later stabbed the female student to death. The decision cited four conditions that were necessary for the duty to warn exception to be acted upon in a counseling relationship:

There should be evidence that the client presents a threat of violence to another.

The violent act must be foreseeable.

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The violent act must be impending.

The counselor must be able to identify a potential victim.

It is imperative that providers be as educated as possible about the controlling legal authority in their states with respect to confidentiality and its exceptions as these apply to providers.

Legal Advocacy Versus Legal Advice

Legal advocacy to crime victims is also complicated by unauthorized practice of law (UPL) statutes. All states have laws that limit the practice of law to licensed attorneys, but the courts differ widely on how they enforce the law. Generally, the courts look at UPL in terms of harm caused by the practice of law by an unlicensed person.

Many victims of domestic violence pursue cases in court for custody and restraining orders without the services of a lawyer, and legal advocates often find themselves walking a fine line between assisting victims in the legal process and UPL. The advocate can give information and support and can make referrals to appropriate resources. For example, a victim assistance provider can give a tour of the courtroom and explain what typically happens in court, but he or she should avoid giving any advice to crime victims.

Phrases to remember and to keep clear of giving legal advice include:

I can’t tell you what to do, but some of your options are… I can’t predict what will happen in your case, but the usual process

is…

I know that none of these choices are what you want, but which option will move you closer to what you need?

I can never guarantee what the judge/police/social services will do, but what usually happens is…

It’s been my experience that women in similar circumstances to yours have done…but you’ll need to decide what will work best for you.

When advocates find themselves saying, “you should,” “what will work is,” or “if I were you,” it is time to stop and figure out a way to rephrase these thoughts in a way that puts the choice/responsibility back on the client.

Professional Competence

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Victim assistance providers must keep informed of all new and pertinent developments within the field, including research findings, newly enacted statutory guidelines, policy changes, etc. Achieving and maintaining professional competence serve the interests of the victim, the field of victim services, and the victim assistance provider.

Being competent also means providers must recognize when the need for supervision or other types of consultation arise. In serving the best needs of the victim, providers must stay within the clearly defined range of their roles and responsibilities. If the victims’ needs go beyond these particular skills, providers must make an outside referral. To do this, providers must be familiar with community resources including the provider’s allied professional contacts in that area.

When a victim no longer benefits from the services the victim assistance provider has to offer, or the services are no longer relevant to his/her needs, the professional relationship should be terminated. The provider should prepare the victim for this eventuality, particularly if the victim is unusually vulnerable and/or derives a great deal of support from their relationship. If referral to another professional is indicated, the provider should obtain as much information as possible and provide this to the victim in a timely manner. On the other hand, providers are strongly discouraged from terminating a relationship with a victim in order to pursue a business or personal relationship with the victim.

Ethical standards provide general guidelines for addressing ethical dilemmas such as dual relationships, confidentiality limitations, unauthorized practice of law, and maintaining professional competence. When ethical codes come into conflict in a provider’s service to a client or among intra-agency service providers or allied professionals, there may be many ways to resolve the dilemma. Providers who develop the ability to analyze ethical dilemmas from all perspectives, who can determine the victim assistance ethical codes that apply in a particular dilemma, and who review all options with an open mind will navigate the resolution process more effectively.

EDUCATING YOURSELF ABOUT LEGAL AND POLICY ISSUES

This section identifies resources to learn about legal and policy issues that impact ethical practice in the victim service provider’s own program or jurisdiction.

As the victim assistance discipline evolves and performance standards become institutionalized, civil liability concerns assume greater importance. Little established statutory or case law is directly applicable to victim assistance providers in terms of legal liability. Issues being addressed on the state and federal level are beginning to lay the groundwork for greater protection from liability and for confidential privilege, but the

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issues are still largely unlitigated and applied differently in different states. Therefore, providers and their agencies should be as educated as possible about state and federal statutes relevant to their liability in the course of their professional duties. Most agencies and organizations are aware of the applicable statutes; if not, victim advocates may need to address the issue with supervisors and research applicable laws and regulations. Beyond statutory issues, providers should also be aware of organization policies that may influence professional ethics.

Statutes and policies to be aware of include those regarding:

Confidential privilege.

Exceptions to confidentiality.

Duty to warn.

Protection from civil liability.

Good Samaritan laws.

Mandated reporting laws.

Unauthorized practice of law (UPL): legal advocacy versus legal advice.

To find out more about state and federal laws and policy on these topics,

Consult your program’s policies and procedures manual.

Consult the local law school.

Contact the attorney general’s office.

Research statutes online.

Check with state advocacy groups or national advocacy organizations such as the Victims’ Assistance Legal Organization, National Organization for Victim Assistance, or National Center for Victims of Crime.

Because new state laws are passed and court decisions are filed that impact the field, practitioners are strongly encouraged to remain up to date on their state laws and recent court decisions as part of their ethical competency. Often, victim assistance coalitions or advocacy networks publish legislative updates that can be helpful in this respect.

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Finally, providers in different types of victim assistance programs are subject to a wide variety of policy and legal authorities governing their conduct that result in different ethical priorities. These differences should be communicated between collaborating organizations to ensure delivery of quality and ethically responsible services to crime victims. When providers conflict over differences in ethical priorities among victim service agencies and organizations that are required to collaborate, cross-training on professional ethics may be helpful.

Because professional ethical practice is subject to varying state and federal statutes as well as program policies, it is imperative that victim assistance providers take initiative to educate themselves about applicable guidelines in their own program and locale. There exist numerous resources for doing so at the programmatic, regional, and national level, and providers must utilize such resources to maintain current knowledge in an evolving ethical context.

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REFERENCESCenter for Child and Family Studies. In press. Ethics in Victim Services (CD-Rom). Publisher TBA. Retrieved August 13, 2007, from www.sc.edu/ccfs.

DeHart, D. D. 2003. National Victim Assistance Standards Consortium: Standards for Programs and Providers. Columbia, SC: Center for Child and Family Studies. Retrieved August 13, 2007, from www.sc.edu/ccfs/training/victimstandards.pdf.

Hook, M. 2005. Ethics in Victim Services. Baltimore, MD: Sidran, Inc. and Victim Assistance Legal Organization. Retrieved August 13, 2007, from www.valor-national.org/valorethics.html.

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Define cultural and spiritual competence.

Recognize the multidimensional nature of culture.

Explain the importance of cultural considerations in providing victim services.

Describe common barriers to providing culturally and spiritually competent services.

Identify specific skills, strategies, and resources required to effectively serve diverse crime victims.


CHAPTER 10CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL COMPETENCE

Brian Ogawa, D. Min.*

Given the changing face of America and its growing cultural and spiritual diversity, it is essential for victim service providers to be increasingly sensitive to the beliefs, attitudes, and values of the victims they serve. This chapter describes best practices in cultural and spiritual competence as well as a number of barriers that service providers and victims face in communication and understanding. Also offered here are some strategies for self development and growth in cultural and spiritual awareness and sensitivity.

OVERVIEW OF CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL COMPETENCE

The nature and extent of trauma and its aftermath for victims are never simplistic, ordinary, or universal. Each victim’s experience intertwines with a number of variables, including intervening circumstances, relation to the offender, availability and timeliness of support, and racial, ethnic, and spiritual background. Humans in the midst of struggle share the bond of a search for well-being. Notwithstanding, this bond is experienced through a prism replete with “cultural and spiritual colorations.” Every criminal justice and crime-related issue is thus fundamentally multicultural (OVC, 1998, p. 157).

America Is Changing

W.E.B. Dubois (1919) observed that the problem of the twentieth century was the problem of the color line. Race relations in the United States were historically marked with the successes and failures of blacks and whites to share equality in our nation. Population changes from 1990 to 2000 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2001), however,

* The author of this chapter is Brian Ogawa, D. Min., Washburn University, Topeka, KS.

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reveal a new dynamic in demographics as the result of an immigration boom. The foreign-born population increased 57.4 percent during that decade with the addition of about 10 million immigrants. The color line became color lines. As Molefi Asante has observed, “Once America was a microcosm of European nationalities. Today America is a microcosm of the world” (Henry, 1990, p. 29).

EXHIBIT X-1U.S. POPULATION 1990-2000 (U.S. CENSUS)

Race/Ethnicity Population (Millions)

Growth (%)

Hispanic 35.5 57.9

Asian 11.9 48.3

American Indian 4.1 26.4

Black 36.4 15.6

White 216.9 5.9

Since the turn of the century, the United States has become even more pluralistic, with the white population decreasing proportionately. This new demographic is fueled by both immigration patterns and differential birthrates.

In the United States in 2005, 12.4 percent of the U.S. population was foreign-born, compared with 11.2 percent in 2000 and 7.9 percent in 1990. Within that 12.4 percent,

53.5 percent were born in Latin America.

26.7 percent were born in Asia.

13.6 percent were born in Europe.

3.5 percent were born in Africa.

2.3 percent were born in other North American countries such as Canada, Greenland, Bermuda, etc. (Migration Information, 2007).

According to the PEW Hispanic Center (Passel, 2006) there are now more than 37 million legal immigrants in the United States; more than a million became citizens every year during the 2000s. More than half of them are change-of-status immigrants already within the United States. The total unauthorized population is estimated to be 11.5 to 12 million.

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Looking at one state, Texas, the population has doubled since 1970; since 2004, less than half the population has been Anglo. Projections are that 65 percent of the state will be Hispanic in 2010. Between 1990 and 2030, the state will grow at the rate of 20.4 percent for the Anglo population, 62 percent for blacks, 257.6 percent for Hispanics, and 648.4 percent for others, primarily Asian. This means that 87.5 percent of the change will be due to growth in minority populations. Almost 75 percent of this growth will be due to immigrants and their first-generation descendants (Murdock et al., 1997).

New immigrants, as contrasted with those whose families immigrated generations ago, are usually still closely tied to their own cultural and spiritual practices. Without at least some understanding of these practices, not to mention language itself, victim service providers will be unable to offer significant and meaningful services. After a generation or two, immigrants tend to become more “Americanized,” and our more standard services may be more appropriate, even though they still need to be culturally and spiritually sensitive.

Culture

What is culture and, consequently, cultural competency for victim assistance? A straightforward definition of culture is “the shared values, beliefs, and traditions that guide and structure a certain people’s lifeway.” The “glue” that holds a group or community together (Poindexter and Valentine, 2007) includes specific attitudes and behaviors, communication styles, relationship matrices, religious practices, and paradigms of spirituality. Every aspect of living has some cultural underpinning to help ensure the health, cohesiveness, and continuation of the group. Cultures are also inherently diverse within themselves. People within a given culture may vary in how they approach and cope with victimization and trauma, but this does not mean that a particular perspective or method is “strange,” “primitive,” or useless. It is therefore important to understand and appreciate the ways dissimilar cultures view suffering and healing, relate to the criminal justice system, and are best served by victim assistance.

The more we understand the nature and purpose of culture, the more we become effective in serving across cultural differences. All people desire the same things in life but may take different paths to reach those outcomes. It is the hallmark of any culture to sustain its essential elements while at the same time carefully adapting to changing needs. Culture is not static. Victim assistance providers must be aware of specific cultural rubrics without assuming that they are fixed in time and place. What is considered traditional culture for some may be different for others.

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Is there then an American culture? Have successive immigrant cultures been reduced to a singular “melting pot?” We may speak about American freedoms as the attributes that attract immigrant groups to our shores, but these very same freedoms allow and encourage the fruition of a multifaceted American culture. Newcomers change society even as society changes its newcomers. Culture in America, therefore, will always be progressive and open as to what “real Americans” look like, how they act, and how they speak.

Unfortunately, we are most often peripheral observers and dabblers of cultural expressions that are commercialized for entertainment and amusement. We too casually examine cultures through music, dance, arts, and food. Attending a Cinco de Mayo festival, watching an American Indian powwow, or enjoying Chinese noodles do not in and of themselves make us knowledgeable about the underlying historical and spiritual meanings of these cultural forms. We are prone to dismiss their significance for these respective peoples. There is, however, a deeper culture that has been described by Cushner (1996, p. 215) as the overwhelming mass of the iceberg below the surface. It is here where values, norms of behavior, and world view must be examined “if interactions across cultural boundaries are to be effective.”

It is also critical to note that race is not synonymous with culture. An example is the identifying term “Black Portuguese,” indicating a person who is racially black African but culturally Portuguese as a result of colonization. This is one reason why the mere portrayal of a variety of races in victim assistance materials and media does not ever suffice as evidence of cultural competence. These depictions are important (Ogawa, 1997), but only in that they apparently make victim assistance available to all people. In reality, those within a certain racial group can be more culturally varied than those between races. There are, for example, common threads woven into the African American experience. Residents of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, however, may have more in common with non-African Americans in Hawaii than their racial counterparts in Chicago because of the peculiarities of urban and island cultures.

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Social Constructs and SubculturesAlthough racial background reasonably persists in being the social construct that captures our attention the most, myriad others factors infuse what we generally accept as culture. These subcultures include:

Generation and age.

Region or locale of residence.

Socioeconomic status.

Gender and sexual orientation.

Occupation or profession.

Developmental and chronic disabilities.

Language.

Politics.

Nationality.

All of these areas, and others, directly affect our lives and influence our response to personal and societal challenges. We tend, for example, to coalesce with others according to familiarity and commonality. Recent immigrants and refugees often cluster for mutual support and develop their own living, business, and social communities. The existence of a Little Saigon, Koreatown, Chinatown, or Islamic neighborhood is highly visible in cities where these groups have settled. Recent arrivals, however, may have tenuous relationships with those of their same racial/ethnic background who have been Americans for generations because of differences in acculturation, facility in native languages, and adherence to ancestral customs. Mexicanos and their Chicano predecessors, for example, may have noteworthy differences that victim assistance providers must respect. Although there is usually some cultural stream through generations, not all Mexican Americans are fluent in Spanish or live in barrios.

The age of the victim/survivor may or may not be helpful in sorting out these variations. There are nuances based upon immigration/citizenship standing and generational place and role that trump other attributes. It is thus helpful to listen to how people refer to themselves.

Regions in the United States also seemingly have cultural markings. For example, we speak matter-of-factly about Southern hospitality. We may wholly accept this description of Alabamans, Georgians, and Mississippians while at the same time recognize that living in Atlanta is unlike living in Savannah. Where we live helps mold how we live. Residents

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of farming communities on the Midwestern prairie may seem like extraterrestrials to retirees in resorts on the Florida peninsula. Transplants to Las Vegas may have only minimal resemblance to diehard Milwaukeeans.

Culture, moreover, is linked to a person’s socioeconomic position and occupation or profession. Former Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder, the first African American governor in the United States, has persuasively stated that class difference is the key issue for the 21st century. The cultural divide may be more determined by poverty and wealth than other conditions and identifiers. How does victim assistance take into account a victim’s situation of “concentrated disadvantage” (Sampson and Raudenbush, 2001)—poverty, absence of social resources, high unemployment—in providing services? Are outreach and transportation, for example, key to being culturally competent for this population?

Occupational culture structures the lives of many Americans. Law enforcement, for example, organizes itself by a uniform code of conduct, in-group jargon and terminology, and loyalty that strongly exists among the ranks. The Los Angeles Police Department, accordingly, once adopted as its minority recruiting slogan “We are one color—blue” (Ogawa, 1999, p. 142). Law enforcement indeed serves cross-culturally to the civilian population. That stereotypes about law enforcement and misunderstandings with the general public exist is not surprising (Bickham and Rossett, 1993, p. 43).

Gender and sexual orientation also have cultural implications. Do women and men, in fact, think, act, and relate differently from one another? Is there an ideal of “womanhood” and another for “manhood” that is perpetuated in America and affects how we provide and receive assistance? Do female victims experience their victimization through issues and concerns different from those of men? Gender may, in fact, influence how we perceive the seriousness of crimes themselves. Male assault victims may constitute a very large number but infrequently either seek or receive services.

Seelau and Seelau (2005) found that perceptions about the severity of domestic violence do adhere to gender-role stereotypes. Violence perpetuated by men and against women, no matter the sexual orientation of the relationship, was regarded as more serious than violence perpetuated by women and against men. In other words, offending heterosexual or gay males were considered more dangerous than heterosexual females or lesbians regardless of their victims. The assignment of any group to the role of “outsider” or “misfit” does not lend itself to forthright and effectual service.

Persons with developmental and chronic disabilities, moreover, constitute a large subculture. Numbers for the noninstitutionalized civilian population (U.S. Census, 2000) indicate that one-fifth of the American population has some type of disability. Disabilities

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can include physical, sensory, or mental impairment, or a combination of these conditions.

EXHIBIT X-2PROPORTION OF THE POPULATION WITH A DISABILITY

Population 5 years and overTotal

(n=257,167,527)

Males(n=124,636,825)

Females(n=132,530,702)

With a disability 49,746,248 24,439,531 25,306,717

Percent with a disability 19.3 19.6 19.1

Mobility assists, facility accessibility, caregivers and interpreters, vulnerability to abuse, and independent living choices occupy the lives of those with disabilities. Services to persons with disabilities (as with all cultural groups) must, therefore, be approached in a comprehensive manner (Nosek and Howland, 1998; Ivey et al., 2002). After all, as advocates sometimes point out, people without disabilities are TABs—temporarily able-bodied. There is the possibility that anyone may acquire a disability at some time in life (Poindexter and Valentine, 2007, p. 270).

Spirituality and ReligionIn most cases, it is impossible to totally separate cultural concerns from spiritual concerns because they are so tightly interwoven. Spirituality and religion provide a person of faith’s worldview and way of life.

The Japanese culture, for example, is heavily based on Buddhist holistic concepts and Shinto veneration of the human-nature connection. These elements are vital to the very being of the Japanese people (Ivey et al., 2002, pp. 254–255). A holistic philosophy also shapes life for American Indians. Everything that happens is part of a whole. This means, according to Melton (1995), that for offenders and victims, restoring spirituality and cleansing one’s soul are essential for them to be able to return to their natural, circular way of understanding life. Prayer occurs throughout the healing process. Sweat lodge ceremonies, fasts, and purification are also employed.

Spirituality and religion, however, are not equivalent. Religion attempts to sustain and embody spirituality but does not circumscribe it. Spirituality is personal, an individual’s need to connect with and harmonize with meaningful reality. Religion is communal, an attempt to render spirituality public and institutional. Victimization dramatically affects, alters, prompts, and challenges both spirituality and religion. Competency in victim

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assistance thus requires an appreciation for the dynamic of spirituality and religion in people’s lives, partnerships and networking with appropriate church bodies, and responsiveness to the spiritual impact of victimization.

As the Catholic Church, for example, continues to labor with child sexual abuse by clergy, some Mexican American parishioners are faced with a dilemma. Does disenchantment with the church and thoughts about leaving its fold also mean departing from those aspects of Mexican culture (such as community festivals and family customs) that the church has helped to define? The betrayal of the priesthood has tremendous ramifications for the interlocking identities of religion and culture for some Mexican Americans.

The coming together of culture and religion is also seen in the strong religious orientation of many African Americans. The church has historically been the only institution outside the family to be trusted. It provided a salve for the pain of slavery, a safe social gathering place, and a seedbed for leadership (Ogawa, 1999, pp. 176–177). The guidance of the church should therefore not be minimized in providing victim assistance for many African Americans.

Providers must also be careful how their own religious/spiritual views affect their work with victims (Ivey et al., 2002, p. xviii). Of the more than 300 million people in the United States, religious affiliation is estimated (ARDA, 2006) to be Christian (84.12 percent), Jewish (1.92 percent), Muslim (1.55 percent), Buddhist (0.91 percent), and Ethnoreligionist (0.39 percent). The strong heritage of the less widespread religions in the United States should, however, be measured by their numerical position and therefore cultural impact in the world as a whole. For example, Muslims are recorded as approximately 4.7 million in the United States but 1.3 billion internationally. American Buddhists number about 2.7 million, but adherents globally total 379 million. These approaches to spirituality constitute major forces in the lives of their believers. Religious teachings and communities are a reality for the majority of Americans and will never be neutral in their effects upon victims (Fortune and Enger, 2005).

BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE ASSISTANCEBefore being able to incorporate best practices in cultural and spiritual competence, it is important to recognize some of the barriers to effective assistance and begin to develop strategies to overcome them. In the course of our daily interactions, we intentionally or unintentionally relate to others in the manner we perceive them to be “comparable” to us. At times we may deny any differences or globalize them into overbroad statements of a group’s cultural norms. Some of the barriers can be provider-based, and some may reside

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in the victim’s own cultural and spiritual experience. Even so, victims who are unserved, underserved, or misserved are not responsible for culturally insensitive or incompetent services. The responsibility lies with providers. It is never the victims’ fault even if they do not avail themselves of assistance readily offered. The provider must always strive to overcome barriers, whatever their source.

Provider-Based ResistanceSome victim assistance providers see little value in developing cultural and spiritual competency. Williams and Becker (1994), in a national survey of domestic partner abuse treatment programs, found that “little or no special effort is being made to understand or address the needs of minority populations.” More recently, Donnelly et al. (2005) found the situation no better, likewise reporting in a study of battered women’s shelters in several Southern states that three themes emerged regarding shelter policy: (1) race was not considered important so that all women were treated the same; (2) “othering” women of color based upon stereotypes to explain why they were different from white women and thus not receptive to or in need of services; and (3) normative practices based on the needs and experiences of white women. Lack of understanding and response to the concerns of battered women of color thereby deprived them of critical services.

Such color blindness, Tello (n.d., p. 3) warns, subverts needed services:

Typically, one may hear service providers…minimize cultural differences by stressing the similarities between ethnic groups. Statements such as, “We all have feelings, the same emotions, want the best for our children and therefore are all alike,” or “You really just have to look at each family or person on an individual basis rather than looking at their culture and community,” are often heard . . . . Although these and other such remarks merit discussion, these points cannot and should not negate cultural differences based on traditions, customs, history and socio-economic experiences. What it does demonstrate is the service provider’s inability to understand and articulate these differences. When this occurs, the service provider may attempt to further justify his own position by minimizing the role of culture.

A provider’s rigid ethnocentricity and the adherence to routine models of service may also foster hostility to accommodate minorities. One of the drawbacks of designating cultural minorities as special populations is that some people disdain giving such groups special attention. This “ethnoprison,” as Ridley (1989, p. 61) insightfully points out, is the behavioral essence of racism:

Mistakenly, racism is often equated with prejudice, and solutions to the problem are generally limited to attitude change and consciousness raising. Certainly, these concerns are important. However, such a focus distracts from the more basic

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problems of identifying and modifying the specific types of behavior that systematically produce adverse consequences for ethnic minorities.

Direct services and rendering of justice to victims are also complicated by misleading stereotypes and victim blaming. Attitudes of superiority by providers, for example, have been noted in Native American communities (Hamby, 2004). In a survey of sexual assault agencies, Wgliski and Barthel (2004) also found that underrepresentation of minority clients was partly due to their “negative experiences with community agencies operated by majority representatives.”

Lafree (1989, p. 290), moreover, studied 38 rape trials in Indiana and found that “jurors were less likely to believe in a defendant’s guilt when the victim was black.” Interviews with jurors suggested that stereotypes of the sexual behavior of black women had an influence. A rape victim, in general, is judged by her part in what occurred, the intensity of her resistance, or the credibility of her character. For women of color, this screening may be compounded by degrading myths. As Hawkins, a sociologist in the Black Studies Department of the University of Illinois-Chicago states, “Society has this outdated notion that good girls don’t get raped and most Black girls are not good girls” (O’Brien, 1989, p. 9; Madriz, 1997).

Stereotypes of Cultures That Are Not RealWhen aspects of a culture are exaggerated or misinterpreted, effective cross-cultural interaction is threatened. Generalizations about “violent cultures,” for example, persist, despite the fact that no culture, for its own survival, can actively promote violence.

Similarly, when the Mexican value of machismo is popularized to portray an overaggressive male who is domineering, jealous, and explosive, it distorts a valuable element of Mexican family life. The macho, according to Rodriquez and Casaus (1983, p. 42), is a “man who meets his family responsibilities by providing food, shelter, and protection for his wife, children and, in some cases, other relatives living with the family.” The husband must show respect (respeto) for his family and not commit selfish and outrageous acts. The wife shows respect by supporting her husband as provider and protector. Mexican culture is thereby not pathological, as has been postulated by those who have seen machismo as promoting wife-battering. Such a false culture may serve to justify excess by Mexican males themselves (cultural birthright) and eventually destroy the best in the culture itself (T. Martinez, personal communication, January 8, 1998). Machismo, in fact, safeguards against domestic abuse.

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Pronouncements concerning female passivity and male power in other cultures (Kasturirangan et al., 2004), in other words, must be cautious so as not to label certain groups as fostering domestic abuse. Yick (2000) points out, for example, that traditional gender role beliefs in Chinese American families were not related to physical intimate violence. Acculturation, on the other hand, was a significant predictor. Kim and Sung (2000) also noted that absence of egalitarian decision-making and high level of stress are important variables related to violence in Korean American families. Immigration burdens certain Korean American husbands who have unproductive coping skills. This precipitates the need to forcefully dominate. As Blackman (1996, p. 15) summarizes, “Violence in the family is no basis for cultural distinction.”

Condemning an entire race or ethnicity as being violence-prone can lead us to minimize the victimization experience of entire communities. Some time ago, for example, the newspaper headlines announced: “Just Another Day in South Central Los Angeles.” Yet another gang-related slaying involving drug dealers, automatic weapons, and bullet-ridden bodies in this besieged neighborhood. The shooting did involve the notorious Eight-Trey Gangster Crips, but this time two innocent teenage girls were murdered in a case of mistaken identity. This was not just another day for the mothers, loved ones, and classmates of these two girls. Because they live in an area where violence is prevalent does not mean that they are immune to pain. A high incidence of homicide does not mean absence of hurt and suffering (Ogawa, 1999, pp. 70–71).

Practitioner Fears about Discussing Religion or SpiritualitySpiritually sensitive victim assistance is not religious counseling or pastoral care. Yet, because some victim service providers think it is, they conclude that they are incompetent to address victims’ spiritual concerns as they would address their physical, mental, emotional, financial, and justice-related concerns. Thus, they fail to address the whole person by avoiding inquiry about how the victim’s faith and religious perspectives may be affected by trauma.

Some victim assistance providers who are in agencies that receive government funding may have been told that they should not concern themselves with victims’ spirituality because of First Amendment restrictions. The First Amendment issue is confusing to many providers.

The First Amendment states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

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Before the 1947 case of Everson v. Board of Education (330 U.S. 1 (1947), the Court’s attention to religion focused primarily on ensuring that no single denomination would be established as the national religion (the Establishment Clause) and that no one would be denied the right to freely exercise the religion of his or her choice (the Exercise Clause). The intent was not to limit religious expression or activity but to limit the power of government to prohibit or interfere with that expression.

In 1971, Lemon v. Kurtzman (403 U.S. 602 (1971), provided more specific standards for the passage of laws. Even though this decision addressed laws rather than individual practitioners, its influence may have caused many practitioners to believe that they cannot react to the spiritual concerns of clients. The decision states that laws:

Must create no excessive entanglement between government and religion. Must have a predominately secular purpose. Must neither advance nor inhibit religion.

The U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime has never questioned the ability of the victim services field to respond sensitively and appropriately to the spiritual concerns of crime victims. In fact, the landmark 1982 Presidential Report on Victims of Crime pointed out that “The victim, certainly no less than the victimizer, is in need of aid, comfort, and spiritual ministry” (OVC, 1982). When that document was updated and revised in 1998, New Directions from the Field: Victims’ Rights and Services for the 21st Century offered eight additional recommendations to bring faith communities and crime victim services agencies together (OVC, 1998). For several years, the Office for Victims of Crime has supported projects and programs that address the spiritual needs of victims.

Negative Influence of Some Faith CommunitiesReligion can be a source of hope and solace for many victims. Clergy and fellow believers can form a profound matrix of support and healing. On the other hand, religious leaders who conclude that religion is the answer to everything can constitute a major roadblock to victims as they seek understanding, counseling, and justice (Fortune and Enger, 2005). Perspectives on family life and the role of women and children, for example, can impede disclosure or thwart assistance in situations of family violence and sexual assault. Giesbrecht and Sevcik (2000), for example, noted that because the church (in their study, conservative evangelical) functioned as an extended family, it could “minimize, deny, and enable abuse.”

Fortune and Enger (2005) summarize how certain renderings of three world religions— Christianity, Judaism, and Islam—have constituted barriers to assistance. They cite the following Christian scripture as an example of “prooftexting” (selective use of text out of

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context to support one’s position) to erroneously justify male violence: “Wives be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord” (Ephesians 5.22-24 NRSV). Either by silence or instruction, the church has thereby communicated to battered women to accept “discipline” by their husbands and to “forgive and forget.”

In Judaism, likewise, the Jewish value of shalom bayit (peace in the home) has been misused to burden women with the sole responsibility of maintaining the perfect home, in which abuse and other problems are covered up as shameful. In Islam, Ayah 34 of Surah 4 of the Qur’an has been mistranslated to state: “Men are the protectors and maintainers of women because Allah gave more to the one than the other.” This has been taken by some to condone hitting a disobedient wife. Hassouneh-Phillips (2001), for example, studied the lives of American Muslim women and the effects of one particular hadith: “Marriage is half of faith and the rest is fear Allah.” Abused wives found themselves in the predicament of inner conflict and negation of the self when they believed they must submit to their husbands because of strongly held religious tenets.

For Catholic Latinas, Destito, Santiago, and Darder (1985/1986) describe a similar internal conflict among those who have been raped. These Latinas are caught between the moralistic extremes of madonna and whore. The marriageability of a single woman who has been raped is placed at risk because her virginity is lost and reputation tarnished. The only acceptable reason for not being a virgin is motherhood. The married woman who has been raped by someone not her husband is therefore disgraced. The church in its attempt to sanction sexual mores and family life has, in effect, brought confusion to the Latina’s formation of self-concept as women (Ogawa, 1999, p. 174).

The preservation of marriage is vital in most religions. However, this union must be viewed within the context of mutual respect and mercy. As Fortune (1995, p. 267) emphasizes:

The crisis of family violence affects people physically, psychologically, and spiritually. Each of these dimensions must be addressed, both for the victims and for those in the family who abuse them. Approached from either a secular or a religious perspective alone, certain needs and issues tend to be disregarded…Thus, the importance of developing a shared understanding and cooperation between secular and religious helpers to deal with family violence cannot be emphasized too strongly.

Impediments to this collaboration include a religious leader’s presumption that domestic violence advocates are intent on “breaking up families” or “undermining a woman’s faith” (Fortune and Enger, 2005). Secular advocates, on the other hand, may distrust clergy as sexist or endangering a woman’s life. If both religious leaders and secular

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advocates truthfully focus on the well-being of the abused woman, she may be guided to safety and strength rather than sentenced to peril and endurance.

Experiences of Immigrant and Refugee Victims That Cause Them to Fear Government-Supported ProgramsMany victims come from countries where their rights and freedoms were not honored. Government and criminal justice authorities may have exercised brutal, callous, or arbitrary authority. Political corruption, internal warfare, and social instability may have contributed to this situation. A distrust and avoidance of officials is an understandable result of pervasive injustice, lack of due process, and unresponsiveness to needs.

Since 1993, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, for example, hundreds of young women who worked in the maquiladoras (manufacturing plants) have died violently (Knox, 2001). They came to the border (across from El Paso, Texas) from poverty-stricken towns farther south, drawn by the promise of steady work and a more exciting life. Many were sexually assaulted, murdered, mutilated, and left in desolate areas. Activists and family members of the victims say that authorities have shown little concern and have made little effort to identify or even find bodies—a task mostly undertaken by concerned private citizens. Although several individuals have been charged and prosecuted, activists and families believe this was through coerced confessions and little hard-nosed forensic work.

That Mexico’s justice system is deeply flawed is no secret. That many Mexican immigrants initially do not trust the criminal justice system in the United States should therefore be no surprise. As Davis et al. (2001) report, mistrust of authorities, coupled with language difficulties, denies access to a “uniform system of justice.” Given the unsettled nature of current U.S. immigration policies, moreover, especially in the wake of homeland security measures, numerous undocumented workers are even more reluctant to seek the involvement of criminal justice authorities and victim assistance in their lives. The stark reality of the vulnerability of immigrant and refugee women is particularly revealed by the plight of low-income and foreign-born Latinas who are abused by their partners. As explained by AYUDA (1997, p. 3), a community-based advocacy group in the Washington, DC, area,

They are new arrivals in a foreign country, traumatized by the life-threatening experiences that caused them to flee their homelands, separated from their families, living under the threat of deportation, and often dependent upon the financial resources and language abilities of an abusing spouse. Fearful of seeking legal or other assistance, they remain marginalized and alone, with no traditional cultural support.

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A wide range of predators, in fact, are known to victimize undocumented immigrants. According to the National Institute of Justice (McDonald, 1997, p. 4),

Guides and organized gangsters have robbed, raped, and killed them; abandoned them in the desert; tossed them overboard at sea or out of speeding cars under hot pursuit; or forced them to work in sweat shops or prostitution rings to pay off the cost of the trip. Bandits prey upon them during their journeys. Xenophobes and hatemongers terrorize them. Some employers cheat them of their earnings. The fact that illegal immigration is a crime makes the immigrants particularly vulnerable because they are unlikely to seek the protection of the law.

The entire circumstance of undocumented residents does, in fact, involve complex issues of racial prejudice, international politics, cross-border economics, and antiterrorism initiatives. The discussions concerning state and local criminal justice agencies having supplementary jurisdiction in arresting and detaining illegal aliens, and the prospect that service providers will be outlawed or restricted in providing assistance to undocumented resident victims, erect a substantial barrier to services not only for victims but also for providers (Ogawa, 1999, pp. 58–63).

Some of this barrier has been overcome by the need for federal prosecution of trafficking through special assistance to victims, including residency and services (Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000). U.S. Government estimates indicate that approximately 800,000 to 900,000 people annually are trafficked across international borders worldwide (Clawson, Small, Go, and Myles, 2003). Their destinations are industrialized nations and countries with higher standards of living, including 18,000-20,000 trafficked into the United States, primarily from Southeast Asia, Middle America, and the former Soviet Union (Clawson et al., 2003, p. 3).

These victims do not know how to escape the violence or where to go for help. They generally avoid authorities out of fear of being jailed or deported, especially if they have fraudulent documents. A backdrop to this barrier to seeking assistance is the relatively high degree of collusion between officials and organized crime in trafficking. Corruption provides the lubricant that allows criminal organizations to operate with maximum effectiveness and minimum interference. Assistance to victims willing to cooperate with criminal justice authorities is critical to breaking this pattern.

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Group Survival Concerns That May Affect Reporting of CrimeBetween 1992 and 2001, American Indians experienced violence at rates more than twice that of blacks, two and a half times that of whites, and four and a half times that of Asians (Perry, 2004). Many Native American tribal communities face the possibility of extinction (Hamby, 2004, p. 4). Only 11 tribal groups have more than 50,000 members. Victims may be unwilling to report crime or participate in the prosecution of tribal members because it reduces community size, including the limiting of intraracial couplings (Hamby, 2000). The power of this motivation may not be fully appreciated by non-Native Americans, but decimation is both a historical reality and a future prospect for a culture that thrives on ancestral lineage. Native Americans are a kinship network whose strength is interdependence and group affiliation. This is more than genealogy. Among the Sioux, for example, it is an abiding contract with wakan tanka, the Great Spirit that unites all forms of being into an unbroken network of relationship (DeMaille, 1994). Everything must therefore lend itself to ensuring continuity.

In 1997, African American males comprised 38 percent of the U.S. correctional population. This meant that about 9 percent of the black population was under some form of correctional supervision, compared to 2 percent of the white population and over 1 percent of other races. An estimated 12 percent of black males, 3.7 percent of Hispanic males, and 1.7 percent of white males in their late 20s are in prison or jail (Harrison and Beck, 2006). Furthermore, in 2002, 39 percent of all felons convicted of violent offenses in state courts were African American. Of these, 24 percent were sentenced to incarceration, compared to 21 percent of whites (Durose and Langan, 2005).

This means that a highly disproportionate number of black males have been at least temporarily removed from their communities. This “shrinking pool of marriageable men” results in the stark and enormous reality of single-parent households (Wilson and Neckerman, 1987, p. 258). For some victims, particularly in domestic violence cases, the reporting of crime and cooperation with criminal justice authorities has thus been regarded as an act of treason. As Boyd (1990, p. 227) writes,

Generational teachings regarding trusting others outside the ethnic and cultural community have been strongly enforced by family and respected community members. From early childhood, black women have been taught that personal disclosure outside the community is synonymous with treason. This strong devotion to non-disclosure has for many years silenced black women in personal crisis.

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The view, coupled with the historical reinforcement of the fact that “whites enslaved the blacks” (Ogawa, 1999, pp. 148–151), persists and appears to be confirmed by incarceration rates. Supporting such an intractable trend is presumed by some to, in effect, betray the African American family life and community. It is an exceedingly sad form of victim blaming that tragically has some measure of fact. Out of every 1,000 persons in a particular racial group, 26 blacks, 21 whites. and 13 persons of other races were victims of a violent crime (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2004). Nevertheless, according to Kingsnorth and MacIntosh (2004), a study of 5,272 domestic violence cases processed through the prosecutor’s office in a certain California county revealed that African Americans, although no less likely to call for assistance and support arrest, are “significantly less likely to support prosecution.” Until socioeconomic situations seriously change, this barrier for a significant number of victims may continue to haunt the African American community.

CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL COMPETENCE STRATEGIES FOR VICTIM SERVICES AGENCIES

Parson (1985, p. 315) states that the “client’s ideas, feelings, beliefs, values, gestures, intonations, perceptions, and evaluations can only be understood within the patient’s ethnocultural context.” At the same time, the ethnocultural context never exactly matches for everyone within a culture. In the process of seeking to enhance cultural and spiritual competence within an agency, what constitutes appropriate service may have to be redefined. Each agency, for example, should scrutinize its policies, programs, and protocols for unwitting blocks to service. The following are some important guidelines:

Acknowledge that there are different and equally valid cultural definitions of personal well-being and recovery from traumatic events.

Include cultural awareness training that gives staff the capacity and skills to serve victims whose thinking, behavior, and modes of expression are culturally different.

Develop multiethnic teamwork (and advisory committees) for implementing and monitoring effective services, including referrals and community networking.

Consider Key Findings on Cultural and Spiritual CompetenceMuch of victim assistance has centered upon the individual victim. Although the social consequences of victimization have been addressed, the focus has been on the effects, strain, and detriment to the victim. Interventions, for example, have thus been based upon individual well-being. Many cultures, however, focus on a more ecological framework. This includes the “being-in-relation” orientation found particularly in cultures that are grounded in religion and spirituality.

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Self-in-Relation

In many cultures, instead of focus on the individual self (I suffer), more attention is brought to bear on the self-in-relation ( My family or community suffers). The impact of victimization is primarily a disharmony in core relationships. Mary, for example, was a 6-year-old Vietnamese girl who was raped by her 26-year-old male cousin in the bathroom of the apartment in which their family lived (Ogawa, 1999, pp. 76–77). Her cousin warned her not to tell anyone and bribed her by giving her a new box of crayons. In the days that followed, Mary had nightmares and would awaken screaming. She then began to have severe pain in urinating. Her mother took Mary to a medical clinic, not realizing the cause of her daughter’s suffering. The doctor found a gonorrhea infection and a criminal investigation followed. The cousin was the only son of Mary’s father’s brother. Her father had allowed the boy to live with the family so that the money he earned in the United States could be sent back to Vietnam for his parents. The father felt badly for his daughter but also had a strong sense of obligation that he did not guide his nephew firmly enough. He did not want the nephew imprisoned—otherwise the family in Vietnam would suffer.

A Vietnamese social worker was able to explain the circumstances sufficiently for the court to order probation with strict conditions of employment, treatment, and residence elsewhere. This allowed the father to fulfill his promise to his brother and also provided for Mary’s safety. This may not seem like a good outcome if we take into account only the welfare of the child. Undoubtedly, attending to Mary’s physical and emotional trauma was paramount. The outcome, however, did reflect the cultural context. Mary would have suffered from extreme (though unwarranted) self-blame for her family’s hardship. The cousin, of course, deserved all the blame. The dire social consequences for Mary’s relatives were also, nevertheless, a major concern. Fortunately, in this case, these were addressed in the sentencing.

The impact of social disconnection is tragically seen among trafficking victims. Traffickers often move victims from their home communities to other areas—within their country or to foreign countries—where the victim is often isolated, unable to speak the language, and unfamiliar with the culture. Most importantly, trafficking victims lose their support network of family and friends, thus making them more vulnerable to the traffickers’ demands and threats. Direct physical threat to the safety of the victim’s family is a large controlling factor. Victim assistance must offer some assurance to trafficking victims not only that they will be protected but that every effort will be made so that their families will not be harmed. Young women who are forced or coerced into

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servitude in brothels and sex clubs are also regularly moved so as not to form ties. Traffickers intentionally and cruelly sever family ties and meaningful associations. The consequences of escape from trafficking, disclosure to authorities, and cooperation with prosecution can be exceedingly severe.

Self-in-Context

Criminal victimization may be the immediate matter, but the historical experience of the victim’s cultural group should not be disregarded. Self-in-context refers to the collective experience (My people suffer). The salient point for African Americans is the summation by some that the heightened consciousness brought about by the black identity movement in America has done more for the mental health of African Americans than all counseling theories combined (Ivey et al., 2002). For Native Americans, it means that the intergenerational “soul wound” or traumatic suffering (Duran and Duran, 1995) from centuries-long genocide and assault on culture must be incorporated into victim assistance. This is done by avoiding condescension and paternalism, networking with credible resources, and accepting culturally relevant ways of coping.

The Sioux, for example, practice a form of self-treatment called wacinko, usually translated as “pouting” (Trimble and Fleming, 1989, p. 187). Wacinko is a sort of time-out by which nonproductive activity is purposefully set aside. This practice has frequently been misdiagnosed by non-Native American psychiatrists as a reactive depressive illness and a maladaptive form of withdrawal. As Blue and Blue (1993) report, however, the Sioux are simply waiting out the circumstances of an intransigent problem because they trust a resolution will naturally occur. This is a culturally expressive form of healing, a passivity that is not hopelessness but hopefulness. To discredit its use would be yet another form of cultural destruction.

Self-in-Environment

The attainment of home as a place of security, acceptance, and peace is fundamental for meeting whatever life brings to us. When victimization robs us of that comfort and belonging, there can be serious disorientation. Home invasions, residential burglary, domestic violence, and intrafamilial child abuse leave victims feeling unattached and dislocated. Although change of residence, including moving to other cities and states, is now relatively common in the United States, for some cultural groups the meaning of a particular place remains important. The forceful removal of Native Americans, for example, has meant displacement from not only their lifeways but also from the places of their life source. As a Karok shaman lamented, without a land, the children of the creator are left in darkness and all will become like the “off-colored white people” who are lost

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in their wanderings (Buckskin, 1990). Crime on reservation lands has meant not only a violation of space but also the reminder of alienation from historic areas where healing ceremonies and practices were developed. The practice of shamanistic powers is usually reserved for specific locations because tribal identity is rooted to a particular space and topography (Ogawa, 1999, p. 181).

Some cultures also believe that crime pollutes and desecrates the place where it occurs. In Stockton, California, on January 17, 1989, Patrick Purdy, a white 26-year-old drifter, unleashed a murderous assault on the playground of Cleveland Elementary School. In less than 2 minutes, five children were dead and 29 children and one teacher were wounded. A compelling explanation for the shooting was that Purdy blamed all minorities for his failings and selected Southeast Asians as his particular target (Kempsky, 1989, p. 2). Most of the Cleveland schoolchildren were Cambodian. Their families had fled their country during the murderous reign of the Khmer Rouge. They settled in the San Joaquin Valley in the late 1970s because of the area’s mild climate and delta landscape, not unlike their homeland (Ogawa 1999, p. 116–119). A father whose daughter was killed wept and said, “I feel like I try to escape the killing fields in Cambodia, but here is only more killing field for my family” (Fitzgerald, 1989, p. A-10).

The United States was no longer the safe haven for which these refugees had hoped. They had been out of sight in housing projects but were now the center of intense media attention and crisis intervention. Mental health treatment was offered but politely refused. What proved to be most important in terms of victim assistance was facilitating the Cambodian families’ request that the school playground be formally blessed according to their religious practices. Because the children had died unnaturally and violently, their spirits were not at rest. The purification of the playground by a venerable Buddhist monk provided the major source of comfort for the Cambodians in their very painful loss.

Recognize Natural Helpers as Appropriate IntervenersEurocentric helping is said to depend on professionals (Ivey et al., 2002, p. 302). In cultures that emphasize self-in-relation and group life, however, there is more reliance on “natural helpers.” It is not uncommon for Mexican Americans, moreover, to consult curanderos (folk healers). This does not mean that Latinos shun all formal professional help, but such assistance may occur simultaneously with help from other sources (West, 1988, pp. 139–140). Native Americans are also apt to use help from Western health and human service providers as well as indigenous healers (Hamby, 2004).

Because of the cultural moorings in collective identity and spirituality, the counsel and guidance of ancestral spirits is often sought. This openness to the spirit realm may seem

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puzzling, superstitious, or delusional to some victim assistance providers. Reliance on deceased ancestors, however, is celebrated through various festivals and rituals, including Dia de Los Muertos (Mexican), obon (Japanese), and powwows (Native American). Dreams, visions, and visits by ancestral spirits also play an important role. These are all “expressions of a greater universe of sharing and belonging” (Coyote, 1988, p. 7). Victim service providers must strive to honor and work in concert with all these sources of intervention to be culturally competent.

Respect Diversity Within DiversityCultural differences obviously endure between groups of people, but their nature and extent need to be clarified beyond misleading stereotypes and over-generalizations. People are basically both similar and dissimilar from one another. No person is solely what we label or classify him or her. We are “multidimensional beings” (Ivey et al., 2002, p. xxiii). Categorizations are, accordingly, part logic and part insult. The term Hispanic, for example, tries to encompass Puerto Ricans, Guatemalans, Mexicans, Cubans, and others. It promotes the linguistic and historical ties of these peoples but blurs the “finer distinctions” (Hecht, Andersen, and Ribeau, 1989, p. 178). Not all Mexicans, that is, have Spanish as their first language. Those of Mayan and Aztec descent living in remote mountainous regions speak their native languages and, consequently, are not Hispanic. There are, admittedly, ways that any particular Mexican American is like all other Mexican Americans. But there are also ways in which any particular Mexican American is like no other Mexican Americans (Roll, Millen and Martinez, 1980, p. 165). These within-group differences may be even more notable than between-group ones.

The same is true for those members of the 562 federally recognized Native American tribes. Native Americans speak languages from many different linguistic groups, including Algonquian, Athapascan-Eyak, Hokan, Iroquoian, Penutian, and Siouan (U.S. Census, 2000). Within these large categories, there are also numerous subsets. For example, the Algonquian cluster includes Arapaho, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Cree, Delaware, Fox, Kickapoo, Miami, Ojibwa, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Shawnee, Yurok, and other languages. Almost half of Native Americans also do not live on reservations (National Institute of Justice, 2005).

Another example of sometimes unacknowledged diversity is the Islamic American population. Muslims are not all Arab. Only 25 percent of American Muslims are of Arab descent; 33 percent are South-Central Asian; and 30 percent are African American. Likewise, not all Arabs are Muslims. The first Muslim communities in America were in the Midwest. Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is the home of the oldest mosque still in use. Dearborn, Michigan, has long been home to both Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims from many parts of the

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Middle East. Many were initially drawn by the opportunity to work at the Ford Motor Company plant, and having formed a community, they have been joined by other Muslims. Together with Middle Eastern Christians, these Detroit area Muslims form the largest Arab-American settlement in the country (Smith, 2006).

There are, in other words, many variables among individuals, just as there are between cultures. People are inseparable from their cultural backgrounds but not strictly determined by them. All crime victims deserve to be treated as individuals even as race and culture (and degrees of acculturation) are taken into account. This becomes even more important as we include interracial marriages and those persons with biracial or multiracial backgrounds. The U.S. Census now seeks to delineate, through self-reporting, a person’s racial and ethnic identity. It allows “check all that apply” for this self-identification. How much of what heritage is dominant should thus be evaluated before too many assumptions are made. If the information is not readily available through other trustworthy sources, a brief inquiry into a victim’s cultural self-identification—prefaced by an explanation of the desire to be aware of the victim’s cultural preferences—might be useful. Making false assumptions is more risky than announcing an effort to understand what matters to the victim.

Anticipate Unique Service Needs

Given the present population trends in the United States, providers cannot assume that the victim populations they have dealt with in the past will remain the same. Shifting economies, variable markets, and mobile labor forces, have created unexpected community demographics. When chicken processing plants in northern Arkansas needed a new labor pool, for example, large numbers of Mexican workers were recruited. Almost overnight, communities were faced with a new cross-cultural reality. Most providers, including law enforcement, were not prepared. Immigration does not cause crime, but it does alert criminal justice and human service providers to the need to adopt culturally appropriate ways to respond and serve resulting new victim populations.

In El Paso, Texas, a slightly different scenario has occurred. El Paso has been a primarily Latino city. It is very difficult to be a service provider there without the ability to speak at least some Spanish and value Mexican culture. Almost everyone embraces a bicultural identity. However, when thousands of Koreans from South Korea, New York, and Los Angeles settled in the area because of the many business opportunities, providers were confronted with a new foreign culture. Korean crime victims, including merchants who were robbed, posed a unique test to customary approaches. Fortunately, the already existing commitment to and practice of cross-cultural services provided the will and framework to respond.

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Recognize Varying Perspectives of Trauma, Suffering, and HealingCultural groups have developed numerous ways to meet and recover from hardships. These include determining when to ask for help, whether to trust helpers, and what is acceptable behavior. Service providers also have “cultures of helping” (Poindexter and Valentine, 2007, p. 38) that may coincide or conflict with various victim cultures. These may include the provider perspectives that there are “rational” causes of distress, experts know what is best for those seeking help, and maintaining formal settings and personal detachment from clients are important. But what types of services are, in fact, most important to different cultural groups? Do service providers have viable and available alternatives so that diverse victims are respected for their choices and preferences?

About 49 percent of murder victims are white, 47 percent are black, and 3 percent are Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2004). Victim assistance to homicide survivors has often emphasized death notification, supportive counseling, and emotional recovery. These provide undeniable valuable assistance to many survivors. Nevertheless, other services may be even more critical for some groups. African American communities, for example, are especially sensitive about personal identification of their deceased loved ones. Tangible evidence and the need to physically confirm death are important. Support before and during victim identification, being able to actually touch and caress their loved ones, and the manner in which the deceased are addressed are important. As a long-time advocate in Los Angeles’ 77th Precinct describes (Ogawa, 1999, p. 72), responding to a mother whose daughter was murdered required being prepared with “practical suggestions and straightforward answers.”

Norma (the advocate) offered emotional support and information on mortuaries that had designed funerals to match the state criminal injuries compensation guidelines…She then escorted Cheryl (the mother) to select a casket and plan the services…Cheryl wanted to know if her daughter’s face had been badly disfigured by her injuries. She was also concerned how Jeanine’s (her daughter’s) body would be treated during the autopsy. Norma promised her that she herself would go to the coroner’s office to witness the autopsy while it was being performed. She knew that the only way Cheryl would continue to trust law enforcement authorities was if someone she trusted could provide her with first-hand knowledge.

For an advocate to lend support by attending funerals and burial services may also be warranted. Moreover, most cultures have some “place of remembrance” in the home for a deceased family member. These places may be elaborate Asian family shrines, Catholic religious icons, or simply photos and flowers. No matter what their nature, they are the

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At the shelter everyone is supportive and helpful. On the top of food, clothing and a place to live, they were always there whenever I needed help. While I worked, the volunteers and staff helped with my children. Asian Women’s Shelter helped me find permanent housing, a child care center and more. It is just like an extended family (Yamamoto, 1991, p. 1).


focus of a family’s mourning and honoring. Proper attention and respect to these sites by the advocate when visiting homes help generate trust. Disregard of the sites may jeopardize survivors’ belief in the sincerity of the provider’s expressions of concern.

Service providers, counselors, or therapists trained in Western/European modalities adhere to mental health perspectives on trauma and recovery. The basic model has been the psychological interpretation of suffering, with the therapeutic goals of healing emotional wounds and regaining a healthy state of mind. The techniques for accomplishing these goals have relied on verbalizing worries and fears and providing symptom relief through prescribing medications (Eth, 1992, p. 105; Lee and Armstrong, 1995, pp. 447–448). This emphasis in much of Western psychotherapy can be related to the Judeo-Christian tradition (Ivey et al., 2002, p. 9).

In other cultures, however, trauma is seen as affecting the whole person. There is no dichotomy between the mind and body. There are accordingly unique “idioms of distress” to communicate hurt and discomfort. Southeast Asian refugees often complain about bodily ailments such as headaches or chest pains when experiencing depression (Nishio and Bilmas, 1987, p. 343). Asians in general experience and report stress psychosomatically (Root, 1985). When Western approaches minimize these complaints as hypochondria, important information influencing treatment can be lost. Working toward achieving insight may, accordingly, be less essential than concentrating on other aspects of living.

Kim, for example, a Southeast Asian refugee, was told by a therapist that she needed to “heal the child within” (Ogawa, 1999, pp. 190–192). Kim became very nervous and agitated. She wondered how this white woman would know that she was pregnant when Kim herself was unsuspecting. Even more, she did not want to be pregnant with another child from the abusive husband she was attempting to flee. Noticing the anguish in Kim’s face, the therapist hurriedly explained that the term “child within” was not to be taken literally. It was an expression in Western therapy that meant the spirit of a child within someone. After the session, Kim returned to the battered women’s shelter and cried to a staff member that the spirit of the child she had lost through miscarriage several months earlier was distressed and trapped inside of her. It was many hours before Kim could be reassured that her fears were not necessary. She still could not understand what the therapist meant but was less upset with it.

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What Kim was most anxious about was the stigma and loss of connection she now faced in the community. She no longer had her primary identity from her husband and his family. She was an oddity. The service providers helping Kim had to meet this sense of isolation by providing an especially strong base of support. Kim’s cultural moorings did not stem from empowerment through independence as a woman but from finding interdependence and social esteem within her community. This search for a “sense of belonging” helped her to offset the previous lonely and silent endurance of abuse and establish a network of support and broad ties to the community.

Some have criticized this approach as too protective and fostering dependency. This criticism, however, reveals a cultural bias and does not appreciate the cultural context for Kim and other Asian women. Self worth is not arrived at through psychological processes but through a rebuilding of social acceptance.

Provide Communication Methods Based on Client NeedIn a baseline study of victim services in Texas, the Crime Victims Institute (CVI) confirmed that the methods of serving crime victims varied greatly depending on the type of agency and its role (CVI, 1999, p. 48). More than 1,400 agencies were surveyed as to their primary means of communicating with crime victims: face-to-face, telephone, or written correspondence. Exhibit X-3 summarizes the findings, with the greatest percentages shown in bold italics.

EXHIBIT X-3COMMUNICATION METHODS

Face-to-face Writtencorrespondence Telephone

Law Enforcement 52.5% 32.5% 15%

Prosecutors 11.1% 48.1% 40.8%

Family Violence/Sexual Assault 30.7% 0.4% 68.9%

Probation/Community Service 2.7% 59.8% 37.5%

It is readily apparent that victim assistance relies on assorted means to have contact with victims and that the skills needed to work with diverse cultural populations must be refined for each agency category. Rape crisis counselors, therefore, must be specially trained to assist victims with whom they have no direct in-person contact. Since many

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Asian Americans are not accustomed to verbalize problems but rely on direct example and guidance by someone respected, it is important to establish a trusting relationship as soon as possible. This can be accomplished through intonation, repetition, and word choice. Referrals that are sensitive to privacy and confidentiality matters in Asian American communities help relate the caller to supportive providers. A carefully constructed list of culturally competent providers is therefore crucial.

In face-to-face interactions, communication styles differ. The manner of greeting often sets the course of the exchange. While a firm and vigorous handshake is expected by many Americans, a softer offering of the hand of friendship for Native Americans is more customary. In Muslim cultures, moreover, touching between males and females who are not related is not acceptable. The ability and willingness to listen is critical to any culture, but indicators of listening differ. For many white Americans, direct and unwavering eye contact indicates attentiveness and interest. For Mexicans, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans, contrastingly, such eye contact might indicate discourtesy, defiance, and disrespect.

Furthermore, written correspondence must be adapted and generalized for a larger population group than is usually the case. For most recipients, legal terminology is unfamiliar and confusing. Correspondence translated into other languages may be necessary, although there are pitfalls to this approach. Hamby (2004, p. 4) points out, for example, that languages other than English do not have as extensive terms for victimization:

The U.S. social movements against rape and intimate violence have influenced American English. English-speakers have many terms for sexual victimization, including “rape,” “sexual assault,” “date rape,” “sexual abuse,” “incest,” and “molestation.” There are also many terms for physically and psychologically abusive behavior. For purposes of both intervention and prevention, it can be hard to identify comparable words in other languages. Even English speakers who are not immersed in addressing these social problems may not appreciate the subtle distinctions between these terms.

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Offer Appropriate Translations and TranslatorsThe emphasis in American society on English as the commanding language compromises communication and reassigns roles by using children or staff members from other agencies as interpreters and fostering negative self-esteem in people who are not bilingual (Szapocznik, 1995; Rodriquez and Casaus, 1983). Although the “English only” movement is rife in parts of the United States, this approach is far too inflexible to be adopted by victim assistance providers. Language is a purveyor of culture, and the degree of respect one has for other ethnic groups is shown in one’s attitudes toward proficiency in English. It is undoubtedly practical for immigrants to learn English, but it is equally important to retain elements of one’s heritage.

No one can be conversant or fluent in all the hundreds of languages spoken among U.S. residents. Victim assistance providers, however, can learn at least some key words that convey the provider’s concern and help demystify courtroom and other processes. As the number of foreign-born residents increases, raising the percentage of languages other than English that are spoken in the home, reliance on translations and translators obviously grows. The California Penal Code, for example, mandates that translation services be made available for the non-English-speaking populace in comprehensive victim service centers and at certain court proceedings.

EXHIBIT X-4ENGLISH AND OTHER LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

Population 5 Years and Over by Language Spoken at Home and Ability To Speak English

U.S. Census 2000 %

Population 5 years and over 262,375,152 100.0

Speak only English 215,423,557 82.1

Speak a language other than English 46,951,595 17.9

Foreign born 31,485,018 12.8

Translations do not necessarily produce material that is culturally meaningful. Providing directions to the courthouse is fine, but explaining the impact of crime and recommending coping skills must be adjusted to the victim’s experience and perspective and not just the provider’s bias. As Tello (n.d., p. 6) argues regarding the ubiquitous translating of materials into Spanish,

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Agencies typically offer translations of materials, information, and articles that are based on conventional theory. The idea being promoted is that a linguistic translation alone makes the information culturally appropriate. Clearly, this is a false assumption. All it does is make the information readable to those literate in Spanish. Frequently, mere translations have done more harm than good.

Written materials, in other words, must reflect cultural symbols, practices, concerns, and needs. Ideally, these materials should be written first in the languages of the various groups to help ensure cultural relevance. They can then be translated into English so that English-speaking providers can better understand the victim’s culture.

Using translators poses interesting issues of confidentiality, accuracy, and trust. For example, translators have been known to alter what is said because of bias or difficulty in conveying what was intended (Ivey et al., 2002, p. 42). The interpreter may also be either too far removed from or too familiar with the victim’s personal history and situation. Translators may miss nuances but may also be valuable sources of cultural interpretation. All providers that rely on translators must therefore be properly trained in the optimum use of their services.

The following strategies can help to improve a victim assistance provider’s cultural competency.

Know the Principal Cultural Values of Your Own Community Groups

First, become increasingly knowledgeable about various cultures, especially those within your agency’s demographic area. You can avail yourself of the growing number of written materials and conference trainings on the subject (www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/ovcres/welcome.html), but you can also learn from each person you serve who is from a different background. Spending time in different communities when you are not responding to criminal activity or crises provides a more balanced experience. Crime represents only a fraction of a community’s daily reality.

Remember, however, that it is impossible to understand all the idiosyncrasies of any culture. Providers are “tentative learners” (Poindexter and Valentine, 2007) of another culture. Therefore, do not compile and memorize a set checklist of cultural do’s and don’ts. Victims are never well served by formulaic or methodical responses. Instead, learn some of the principal values of a culture. A key cultural value among Asian Americans, for example, is not to be overly oppositional or confrontational. As Ivey et al. (2002, p. 184) state, “What is assertive for European-American cultures may be

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considered intrusive and aggressive by those from other cultural groups.” This is frequently expressed in the tendency to be very agreeable in conversation, to not demand (deserved) services, and to not burden someone (e.g., a victim assistance provider) with one’s troubles.

A Chinese American sexual assault victim, for example, found it difficult to schedule pre-trial meetings with the victim advocate because of the advocate’s busy schedule (Ogawa, 1999, pp. 67–68). The victim would apologize each time for disturbing the advocate. She made less use of what was available to her in order not to inconvenience or impose upon the advocate, who was quite willing to help. If the advocate better understood this victim’s reluctance, she might have offered more encouragement to meet. This may require asking several times. A victim’s initial decline of help may reflect culturally-based humility rather than flat refusal.

Practice Sincerity and RespectEven if you are not familiar with a victim’s prevailing culture, sincerity is the greatest communicator. Victims sense insincerity. Sincerity is a matter of character. Therefore, the more we grow in character, the more we grow in cultural competency. One facet of character is respect for others. “Respect” means, literally, to “look again.” That is, we do not minimize, quickly dismiss, or superficially address the concerns of those different from us. Respect leads us to be more observant and willing to adjust our routine approaches.

A lieutenant in a certain city’s police department, for example, arrived at a Laotian community meeting to unexpectedly find “a whole pile of shoes outside” (Ogawa, 1999, pp. 145–146). Although taken by surprise, but without undue hesitation, he removed his own shoes before entering. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the recent surge in vandalism and intimidation directed at the Laotian residents in a subsidized housing project. The lieutenant’s removal of his shoes was an important gesture of courtesy to the Laotians. It was a sign that he came respecting their customs and feelings—a crucial step toward working jointly to find solutions. A custom may seem odd, but leaving our prejudices/biases (literally) at the door as we enter into service to others communicates that we are viewing their victimization from their perspective as we offer our help.

Include Spirituality in Assessments for Long-Term ServicesNot all victim services roles are appropriate for spiritual assessment. It may feel intrusive to victims who are meeting with a provider for one specific purpose, such as to fill out a Crime Victims Compensation form or to learn about the justice system. Spiritual

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assessment is suggested only for providers who expect a reasonably long-term relationship with a victim.

Conducting a brief spiritual assessment may be all that is required for many victims of crime. When being asked a few simple questions, some victims will make it clear that they do not wish to include spiritual concerns in their services. Those who do, however, may feel validated because their provider has inquired in a respectful manner.

Some unassuming questions that may encourage victims to begin talking about their spiritual concerns include:

What is most important to you in your life right now?

What has been meaningful and helpful to you as you have coped with your victimization?

What has strengthened you as you deal with this?

Do you have a support system as you go through this experience?

If the responses to these questions are not spiritually oriented, that’s fine. You may not want to explore spirituality any further.

If the victim’s responses are spiritually oriented, continue to explore their answers as you would any other information that helps you assess their strengths and resources as well as stressors.

Establish Personal Integrity in Your Professional SurroundingsEven if we do not feel the same about all peoples and cultures, we are called upon to base our behavior on our professional responsibilities and not on our personal likes and dislikes. We are called upon to treat others equally and fairly even as we find it impossible to feel the same way about everyone. We must of course assess and eliminate our own discriminatory practices, whether individual or institutional. Self-development in cultural competency ultimately, however, depends upon personal integrity in the victim assistance field. The ethical treatment of victims mandates cultural competency.

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RESOURCES

Black Church and Domestic Violence Institute

[email protected]

First Response to Victims of Crime Who Have a Disability

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/infores/firstrep/2002/welcome.html

This handbook for law enforcement officers (NCJ 195500) describes how to approach and help victims who have Alzheimer’s Disease, mental illness, or mental retardation or who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, or hard of hearing. It is designed as a field guide for personnel who respond first to crime victims and includes contacts for assistance.

Incite! Women of Color Against Violence

www.incite-national.org

Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community

[email protected]

MADD

www.madd.org

Minority Community Victim Assistance

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/infores/minor/welcome.html

This handbook (NCJ 170148) prepared by the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers offers minority community residents a practical approach to assisting crime victims in their communities and neighborhoods.

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

www.thetaskforce.org

This is a civil rights organization dedicated to promoting freedom and equality for all lesbians and gay men. Its Antiviolence Project was initiated to promote appropriate response to antigay violence, improve treatment by the criminal justice system, and assist

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http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/infores/firstrep/2002/welcome.html

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/infores/minor/welcome.html


local communities in organizing against prejudice and violence. It reports annually on antigay/lesbian victimization.

National Network to End Violence Against Immigrant Women

www.immigrantwomennetwork.org

The National Network to End Violence Against Immigrant Women is a coalition of survivors, immigrant women, advocates, activists, attorneys, educators, and other professionals committed to ending violence against immigrant women by (1) working with diverse immigrant communities to prevent violence against women; (2) building capacity for immigrant women to become leaders against all forms of violence; (3) promoting an understanding of the complex realities of immigrant women facing violence; (4) providing technical and training support to service providers, attorneys, community advocates, and other professionals (both governmental and nongovernmental) working with immigrant women at the local, state, federal, and international levels; and (5) promoting law and public policy reforms at the local, state, and national levels that benefit immigrant women facing violence.

Needs Assessment for Service Providers and Trafficking Victims (2003, October) (OJP-99-C-010)

Prepared by Caliber Associates for the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice, it is the first-ever assessment of the needs of trafficking victims and the domestic service providers who work with them. The report, complete with survey instruments and focus group protocols, will help educate the field at large on meeting the specialized and complex needs of trafficking victims.

Southern Poverty Law Center

www.splcenter.org

Through its Klanwatch project, this group monitors hate crimes and groups across the nation. It also provides training for law enforcement and community groups.

Trafficking in Persons: A Guide for Non-governmental Organizations (2002)

www.dol.gov/wb/media/reports/trafficking.htm

This brochure (BC 000674) from the U.S. Department of Justice is intended for nongovernmental organizations, such as service providers and other community-based organizations, to use as a reference guide to help trafficking victims.

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http://www.calib.com/home/practice_areas/cfcs/pubs.cfm#pubjuvandcrijussysenh

http://www.immigrantwomennetwork.org/


Identify negative and positive effects of doing trauma-related work.

Describe five core elements of resilience.

Develop personal strategies to strengthen your resilience.


Chapter 11Developing Resilience

Janice Harris Lord, MSW, and Kevin O’Brien, Ed.D*

First heal yourself, and then go out and heal others.—Maya Angelou

Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it.—Helen Keller

Victim service providers come in contact with graphic descriptions of violence, victimization, and detailed reenactments of traumatic events. They can become vulnerable to personal negative consequences, but they also can experience many positive rewards as they become more resilient.

This chapter describes the traits of resilience and uses research to suggest strength-based proactive strategies to develop or strengthen these traits in individual victim service providers. Since resilience can be learned, adjusting to the impact of trauma work is within our control. Resilient strategies, if employed, will result in decreased provider distress and increased positive client outcomes.

The field of crime victim services recognizes the potential impact of exposure to trauma. Whether performed on the streets, in police departments, through the prosecutor’s office, or in direct care programs, victim assistance makes huge demands on staff and volunteers. Yet, not all victim service providers are diminished by their work. In fact, many are strengthened and energized by it. As providers help victims integrate, strive, adjust, and move through trauma, they also are challenged to develop personal and workplace strategies to integrate, cope, and manage traumatic material.

* The authors of this chapter are Janice Harris Lord, Arlington, TX; and Kevin O’Brien, Ph.D., National Center for Victims of Crime, Washington, DC.

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Sharon, an experienced victim assistance provider, found herself losing sleep over one of her cases. An 8-year-old girl had been beaten to death by a neighbor in the basement of her home. As Sharon struggled to comfort the girl’s mother, she became overwhelmed by the brutal crime.

“It was shocking!” she said. “It was shattering. It was evil. The girl’s mother would never be the same. And neither would I.”This case crashed into Sharon’s personal life with unexpected force. “I had never been so close to such pain,” she said. “I could feel it and touch it, it was so strong.”

Driven to do something, Sharon felt drawn into the tragedy. She gave the mother her personal phone number and her beeper number, telling her that she would be there for her anytime she needed to call. Sharon’s family worried about the effect this case was having on her.Yet, as the relationship evolved, both Sharon and the young mother moved forward. Sharon listened for hours. She accompanied the mother to the morgue, to the funeral, throughout the trial, and during the empty hours that followed the murderer’s sentence. Fourteen years later, the young mother credits Sharon with saving her life. Sharon has grown herself as she has witnessed the mother’s resilience and courage as she began a new relationship, remarried, had another child, and then became a victim advocate herself. In many unexpected ways, the process and relationship were strengthening for both the survivor and the provider.


A 1999 focus group of victim service providers (U.S. Department of Justice, 1999) reported that 75 percent of their agencies recognized the stress-related symptoms of staff and volunteers. Supervisors in these agencies attempted to intervene by discussing stressful incidents during staff meetings and providing individual supervision with credentialed mental health counselors to address stress-related issues.

Other agencies have more limited resources to build resilience to the negative consequences of trauma work, often facing high turnover, which necessitates additional time, effort, and costs of recruiting, training, and employing new staff and volunteers. When replacing seasoned victim service providers with novice ones, agencies must recognize that inexperienced providers are more likely to require one-on-one support and supervision than more experienced colleagues (Neumann and Gamble, 1995; Pearlman and Saakvitne, 1995a). Agencies may even find themselves legally liable for compensation to victim service providers who claim psychological damage at work, particularly if supervisors have not initiated preventive policies and strategies to enhance worker performance and satisfaction (Sexton, 1999).

While acknowledging the hazards of trauma work, this chapter emphasizes a strength-based action approach (Saleeby, 1996) to inform individual victim service providers about resilience and to offer them strategies to develop and strengthen resilience. A growing body of research suggests that the negative impact of stressful situations is reduced through the use of adaptive coping responses (Lazarus and DeLongis, 1983).

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Strengthening victim service providers’ resilience should buffer potential negative reactions to trauma exposure. This chapter describes five core elements of resilience and details more specific traits and strategies within each element. These strategies, if employed, may result in decreased stress among victim service providers and, therefore, increased quality services to victims of crime.

OVERVIEW OF SELF-CARE

As researchers have looked beyond the negative impact of trauma work, they have increasingly discovered both positive and negative effects (Joyce, 2004). While the focus of this chapter is on strengthening resilience as an effective tool for self-care among victim service providers, the potential for negative outcomes of trauma work cannot be overlooked.

New victim service providers may be unprepared for hearing the intensely painful experiences of persons victimized by violent crime. Providers supply many kinds of services: short- and long-term counseling, safety planning, education, assistance with compensation and restitution applications, court accompaniment, and overall case management. Working with trauma survivors involves more than simply facing traumatic events. It means living with each victim’s unique reactions to the event, as well as walking with her or him through the various institutional and social reactions to the crime, which can be further victimizing (Dutton and Rubenstein, 1995). Through exposure to the trauma and the traumatized victim, providers also become aware not only that traumatic events can occur, but that they may occur again at any time and any place (Danieli, 1985).

Efforts to identify the troubling aspects of traumatic encounters among human services providers have resulted in numerous labels, including secondary stress, cumulative stress, countertransference, emotional contagion, burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious traumatization. Many professional psychotherapists and victim service providers say they are unsure what to call the phenomenon or how to define it, but they know it when they see it. Such statements as, “I’m not supposed to feel this way” and “I need to hide my feelings so I can be strong for others” illustrate syndromes that can disrupt a person’s sense of life meaning, connections to others, personal and professional identity, and assumptions or views of how the world works (Pearlman and Saakvitne, 1995a).

To date, most of the professional literature on the effects of working in the trauma field has been based on anecdotal experiences with limited systematic research. The following research, conducted primarily on licensed or certified professionals who work with trauma victims, yields both positive and negative aspects of trauma work. For example:

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A high percentage of trauma counselors working with Holocaust survivors report numbing defenses (avoidance, denial, distancing), bystander guilt, rage, shame, horror, and grief (Danieli, 1988).

Often, but not always, the greater the exposure of psychotherapists to child and adult traumatized clients, the greater their number of symptoms that are similar to those of their clients. These symptoms may include disturbed sleep, anger, fear, nightmares, flashbacks, irritability, anxiety, alienation, loss of control, suicidal thoughts, physical distress, low self-esteem, and disturbing images (Cornille and Meyers, 1999; Cunningham, 1996; Dalton, 2001; Hollingsworth, 1993; Kassan-Adams, 1994; McCann and Pearlman, 1990; McCann and Pearlman, 1999; Pearlman and Saakvitne, 1995b; Schauben and Frazier, 1995).

A personal history of victimization may or may not be relevant to psychological stress, trauma symptoms, or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in female sexual trauma counselors (Schauben and Frazier, 1995; Follette, Polunsky, and Milbeck, 1994; Johnson and Hunter, 1997; Pearlman and Mac Ian, 1995).

Positive aspects of working with traumatized victims of crime include increased personal satisfaction, life meaning, purpose, competence, spiritual well-being, and political activity; improved clinical skills; and deepened social relationships (Brady, Guy, Peolstra, and Brokaw, 1999; Joyce, 2004; Lobel, 1996; Miller, 2001; O’Brien, 2002; Radeke and Mahoney, 2000; Schauben and Frazier, 1995).

It appears that the negative effects of trauma work, while present, are not only short-lived but also crucial to providers’ development of longer-term positive effects (Lobel, 1996).

In short, these data support the need for more research. The authors were unable to locate any reliable empirical research on staff and volunteer victim service providers without certifications or licenses.

DEFINING RESILIENCE

Resilience generally refers to one’s ability to return to healthy functioning after being in a stressful situation (Luthar, Cicchetti, and Becker, 2000; Tugade and Frederickson, 2004). Being resilient does not mean that individuals are problem-free or unaffected by difficulties. It does mean drawing on personal beliefs, behaviors, skills, and attitudes to move through stress, trauma, and tragedy rather than succumb to them. It means emerging from stressful situations feeling normal and perhaps even stronger than before (National Center for Victims of Crime, 2005).

There are many definitions of resilience, however, and some discrepancies in the conceptualization of resilience as a personality trait versus a dynamic process. While

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resilience refers to a dynamic process of adaptation to significant adversity, resiliency refers to a personal trait rather than a process (Luthar et al., 2000). Following on Masten (1994), we use the term resilience in this chapter to focus on positive adjustment under challenging conditions—a process of specific attitudes, behaviors, and skills that can be learned. This chapter defines resilience as the power to cope with adversity and adapt to challenges or change. The concept of resilience is similar to other known constructs, such as altruism (Monroe, 1996; Luks, 1993)—the practice of helping others without concern for oneself or what one might get in return—and hardiness (Maddi and Kobasa, 1984; Kobasa, Maddi, and Courington, 1981; Bartone, 1999)—the ability to endure stress without becoming physically ill.

RESILIENCE THEORY AND RESEARCH

One of the first people to study resilience was Emmy Werner, a professor of human development at the University of California at Davis, who had survived the bombing of Germany during World War II as a child. She began researching resilience in children in the 1950s and published a longitudinal study of resilient children in 1982 (Werner, 1982; Werner and Smith, 1992). Her study, which followed high-risk children from birth through the age of 32, identified the following traits of resilience among those who became productive and successful adults:

The skill needed to make and keep friends, including a sense of humor.

Problem-solving skills, which may be linked to parental competence—especially during the first year of life.

Internal locus of control or the ability to recognize that a person has control over much of what happens to him or her.

Hope, including a sense of purpose and a “success” orientation.

A warm, positive relationship with at least one other person.

Faith and prayer.

Since Dr. Werner’s pioneering work, hundreds of articles have been published on resilience among all age groups, professions, and sociological categories. Many clinicians attest to the resilience of humanity and the courage of the human spirit, the joy in participating in healing another person, and the personal growth that results from journeying with survivors of trauma (Pearlman and Saakvitne, 1995b; Guy, 2001; Schauben and Frazier, 1995).

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Flach (1990) lists the following resilience traits:

Insight into oneself and others.

Self-esteem.

Ability to learn from experience.

High tolerance for stress.

Low tolerance for outrageous behavior.

Open-mindedness.

Courage.

Personal discipline.

Creativity.

Integrity.

Sense of humor.

A constructive philosophy of life that gives it meaning.

A willingness to dream dreams that can inspire and give genuine hope.

Flach observed that those who cope best with trauma are those who have insight into the emotional impact of what they had been through and are able to express their feelings to another about traumatizing events. Similarly, Wolin and Wolin (1993), other pioneers in the field of resilience research, have identified six resilience traits:

Insight.

Independence.

Ability to develop and maintain intimate relationships.

Initiative in creative problem-solving.

Sense of humor.

Morality (knowing right from wrong and being willing to take risks for those beliefs).

In studying personal resilient characteristics of crisis workers who did not develop secondary PTSD, Lanning (1987) identified the following:

An easy-going personality and sense of humor.

Adequate training to perform the required tasks.

Religious beliefs.

Opportunity to train others or speak publicly.

Positive relationship with one’s father.

Desire to help people.

Interest in resilience has prompted three distinct chronological waves of inquiry. Richardson (2002) and others point out that theorists first identified significant resilient

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traits, as noted previously. This wave was followed by studies that began to investigate disruptive and reintegrative processes of resilience during adversity. The current wave of interest is in recognizing resilience as the primary force that motivates or guides individuals to grow when faced with adversity and disruption. Flach (1990), a pioneer in resilience research among adults, states, “The real question should not be ‘Why do some fall apart?’ but ‘Why on earth don’t they all fall apart?’”

Since Werner’s early studies on children, current research on human development and adaptation reveals that resilience in children is more common than uncommon, supporting the theory that resilience actually helps people grow when faced with trouble (Masten, 2001). Palmer (1997, 1999) has now identified four hierarchical degrees of resilience in children, suggesting that resilience can be developed and strengthened:

Anomic survival reflects the pattern of children who live in a constant state of chaos or disruption.

Regenerative resilience reflects children’s initial learning of new, more effective ways of dealing with challenges.

Adaptive resilience refers to relatively sustained periods when children become accustomed to using constructive and positive strengthening strategies.

Flourishing resilience is a function of self-actualized children who use effective and constructive coping strategies extensively and view their lives as meaningful and manageable, or resilient (Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman, 1990).

New traumatic activity can initiate a shift back to a former degree of resilience, but “flourishingly resilient” children have gained additional means to help them navigate through the challenge.

The last decade of empirical research on resilience has attempted to understand the underlying protective processes of resilience that contribute to positive outcomes (Cowen, Work, and Wyman, 1997).

One of these studies found that between 30 and 90 percent of people who suffer some form of traumatic event eventually experience some positive change as well (Calhoun and Tedeschi, 1999). People may change their life philosophy, learn to appreciate each day to the fullest, and reevaluate what really matters to them. They may believe that their experience made them wiser or encouraged them to act more altruistically in the service of others; they may dedicate themselves to social renewal or political activism; or they may enhance their relationships, for example, valuing friends and family more (Linley and Joseph, 2003).

In terms of the recovery of direct trauma survivors, phrases like posttraumatic growth, stress-related growth, and adversarial growth are becoming more common in the

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literature (Linley and Joseph, 2004; Ai and Park, 2005). This aspect of trauma research provides a strong foundation for incorporating proactive strategies for victim service providers and their agencies to counteract the potential negative effects of trauma work. Whereas many social and biological theories argue that most human behavior is based on self-interest, this pessimistic perspective does not explain the many heroic acts committed by people who risk much to help others (Finegan and Flannigan, 2004).

Some people appear to have become less resilient than they once were. For example, resilience in children tends to be weakened by violence, physical or sexual abuse, exposure to alcoholism, and removal from the home (Reynolds as cited in Gorman, 2005). Among adults, previous exposures to trauma and intensity of response to acute trauma (which may have included neuroendocrine changes) have been shown to weaken resilience (Yehuda, 2004). But despite any preexisting factors that may make some more people resilient than others, everyone can strengthen their resilience by developing additional resilience skills (Waite and Richardson, 2004; Trine, 2004).

Just as resilience traits can be developed within individuals, they can also be acquired by organizations. Fostering organizational resilience is crucial, because when organizations strengthen victim service providers’ resilience, they also notice a consequent positive effect in the services the providers deliver.

In many ways, a workplace functions much like a family system, and some of the work in organizational resilience has been adapted from family resilience literature (Patterson, 2004). Figley (1988, 1989) has identified nine qualities of healthy family systems that may be essential to healthy workplaces as well:

Acknowledgment and definition of problems.

Commitment to the family [agency] as a whole.

Orientation toward solutions rather than problems.

High tolerance for others’ differences.

Frequent expressions of concern and affection.

Open and effective communication.

Significant and genuine concern for each other.

High role flexibility.

Absence of violence and substance abuse.

Resilience is not static, but developing resilience takes time. Organizations and supervisors who are committed to developing resilience may be more patient with staff and volunteers who might be slow to show some improvement in their work. They can learn to value small emergent strengths in victim service providers, such as more

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significant connections with others and a stronger sense of coherence or meaning in their work.

Csikszentmihalyi’s (1988, 1990, 1999) concept of “flow” may also be helpful in creating a resilient working environment. Working individuals in flow, he suggests, balance the challenge of the work with their ability to perform the work satisfactorily. They are able to focus more on their work because they do not have to focus on themselves as workers. They are “in flow” when hours have passed but it feels like minutes. They are so focused on their work that time seems to stand still. They enjoy their work and are energized by it because there is no dissonance between who they are and the work they do.

CORE ELEMENTS AND STRATEGIES FOR VICTIM SERVICE PROVIDERS TO DEVELOP RESILIENCE

The pioneering researchers whose works have been cited previously in this chapter, as well as more contemporary ones, have identified numerous strategies for building resilience. While there is still no uniform single theory of resilience or resilient traits in the literature, most theorists, researchers, and practitioners would likely agree with the victim service provider who recently said, “While our river is still flowing, we need to do things—like keep the toxins out—to make sure it doesn’t dry up at the source” (S. Roos, personal communication, June 2006).

Resilience can be developed through attention to external supports (organizational and community resources), inner strengths (individual personality characteristics), and learned skills (coping skills). Developing these resilience elements works synergistically—meaning that improvement in one element is likely to affect improvement in the others, and vice versa.

The characteristics of resilience identified in this chapter summarize current resilience theory and research into five core elements:

Self-knowledge and insight.

A sense of hope.

Healthy coping.

Strong relationships.

Personal perspective and meaning.

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Each of these five core elements of resilience has distinct components that are presented with specific strategies for providers and organizations to foster personal, professional, and organizational resilience in supporting crime victims. While the majority of these strategies are research-based, some are derived from the collective common sense wisdom and experience of victim service providers and leaders in the field. This chapter offers strategies to be implemented by individual victim service providers. A later publication will address strategies to be implemented by agencies or organizations.

Self-Knowledge and InsightThe core trait of self-knowledge and insight simply means knowing who you are. It is having a clear sense of what you believe and how you feel rather than trying to be what others want you to be. It includes identifying your strengths and weaknesses—where you are successful and where you could use some help. Having insight into why you were drawn to victim assistance work helps you accept its challenges and motivates personal and professional growth. Both program directors and direct practitioners have identified insight or self-awareness as the top-ranked contributor to optimal functioning. Gaining strength in self-knowledge and insight includes:

Building self-esteem (Flach, 1990; Wolin and Wolin, 1993; Norcross, 2000; Waite and Richardson, 2004).

Developing a strong inner locus of control (Linley, 2003; Linley and Joseph, 2004; Waite and Richardson, 2004).

Becoming more independent (Flach, 1990; Wolin and Wolin, 1993; Trine, 2004).

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Build Self-Esteem*

Positive self-esteem means liking and respecting yourself enough that you can focus on the needs of others, rather than on constantly seeking someone else’s approval and affirmation. Positive self-esteem contributes to satisfying social relationships which, in study after study, have been shown to be crucial components of resilience (Myers, 2000; Myers and Diener, 1996; Pavot, Diener, and Fujita, 1990; Waite and Richardson, 2004; Trine, 2004). (Strong relationships are more fully discussed later as a core resilience trait.) It is difficult to develop and maintain intimate relationships with partners and friends or to establish meaningful relationships with clients or supervisors without positive self-esteem. The healing power of self-disclosure (Pennebaker, 1990) becomes possible only when you feel good enough about yourself to reveal yourself openly and transparently to someone else.

Janice Harris Lord, an advocate who began in 1978 and is still active in the field, says:

You have to know that you’re good. That’s not saying to be arrogant, but you have to acknowledge the things you are good at and act on those strengths. None of us can do everything, but an effective advocate feels good enough about himself or herself to be able to lead without bulldozing or offending (Seymour, personal communication, September 2006).

Develop a Strong Inner Locus of Control†

Some people tend to think that life just happens and there is very little they can do about it. These people are operating out of an “external locus of control.” It is important to distinguish between matters outside your control and those you can influence. If you have a strong “inner locus of control,” you recognize that you do have the ability to affect many outcomes. Deciding not to expend energy on things beyond your control frees up

* F. Flach, 1990, “The Resilience Hypothesis and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder,” in Posttraumataic Stress Disorder: Etiology, Phenomenology, and Treatment, eds. M.E. Wolf and A.D. Mosnaim, Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, 36–45; S.J. Wolin, and S. Wolin, 1993, The Resilient Self: How Survivors of Troubled Families Rise Above Adversity, New York: Villard Books; J.C. Norcross, 2000, “Psychotherapist Self-Care: Practitioner-tested, Research-informed Strategies,” Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 31(6): 7028–7035; P.J. Waite and G.E. Richardson, 2004, “Determining the Efficacy of Resilience Training in the Work Site, “ Journal of Allied Health 33(3): 178–183.

† P.A. Linley, 2003, “Positive Adaptation to Trauma: Wisdom as Both Process and Outcome,” Journal of Traumatic Stress 16(6): 601–610; P.A. Linley and S. Joseph, 2004, “Positive Change Following Trauma and Adversity: A Review,” Journal of Traumatic Stress 17(1): 11-21; P.J. Waite and G.E. Richardson, 2004, “Determining the Efficacy of Resilience Training in the Work Site, “ Journal of Allied Health 33(3): 178–183.

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energy to deal successfully with problems you can control. It takes insight to begin to recognize that most behaviors do have expected consequences. For the most part, life doesn’t just happen. It is not all a matter of luck.

Says Roberta Roper, whose daughter Stephanie was brutally raped, tortured, and murdered more than 20 years ago, and who is, today, one of the nation’s most respected victim advocates:

Since I was not only a victim/survivor, but an outsider in terms of the justice system, I was criticized early on as simply an “emotional mother seeking revenge.” However, I understood that if I was to make a difference and survive myself, I would have to acquire knowledge about the system, explore all perspectives on issues, research what other states and other advocates were doing, anticipate opponents’ arguments…and remain positive about our priorities (Seymour, personal communication, September 2006).

Become More Independent*

With high self-esteem and an internal locus of control, you will find yourself comfortable making independent choices and relying less on others to make decisions for you. Even when a choice is made that results in negative consequences, there is power in knowing that you did the best you could at the time. If you are highly independent in your victim services work, you may not adjust well to bureaucratic structure, and you may gravitate, with time and education, to running your own agency, private practice, or consulting. On the other hand, you may find yourself unable to be happy without a socially supportive setting but still value independent and creative planning and work. Recognizing your independent efficacy, or power to produce a desired effect, has been shown to contribute to resilience.

Sharon English, another long-term successful advocate whose expertise is in juvenile justice and corrections noted:

My main mentoring came from pioneer Jim Rowland who in essence said, “Go TRY something—anything!” He, too, did not have the answers. He just knew that the system then (the mid-80s) was incomplete and unjust. In a way, we couldn’t fail. There was nothing, so anything was better (Seymour, personal communication, September 2006).

* F. Flach, 1990, “The Resilience Hypothesis and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder,” in Posttraumataic Stress Disorder: Etiology, Phenomenology, and Treatment, eds. M.E. Wolf and A.D. Mosnaim, Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, 36–45; S.J. Wolin, and S. Wolin, 1993, The Resilient Self: How Survivors of Troubled Families Rise Above Adversity, New York: Villard Book; W. Trine, “How Can Young People’s Resilielce Be Enhanced? Experiences from a Clinical Intervention Project,” Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry 9(2): 167–183.

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Eight Strategies To Develop Self-Knowledge and Insight

1. Explore your motivations for working with victims of crime. Obviously, this strategy is best employed before applying for your first victim services position. However, it is never too late to do it. You may think that working with victims will be personally strengthening to you. This can be acceptable as long as the self-strengthening is not your primary motivation for the work. If it is, the price may be too high, and damage may be inflicted on victims who will likely recognize that you need affirmation. If you are a crime victim yourself, you can offer much to new victims as long as you are relatively free from the need to share your own story. You should have achieved enough healing to be able to focus primarily on other victims without becoming overwhelmed (Catherall, 1992).

2. Identify your own strengths and challenges. Good supervisors recognize that the employment interview provides a fertile opportunity to address self-esteem and the potential for healthy social interaction (Waite and Richardson, 2004; Trine, 2004). Therefore, it is wise to have already explored these issues yourself, and, as noted before, it’s never too late. How many close friends do you have with whom you can be honest and transparent? How well do you like and appreciate yourself? If you are a victim yourself, have you engaged in professional therapy to address it? In what areas do you still need growth? In what areas do you feel strong and competent? Once these are identified, your supervisor should be willing to assign you work that incorporates your strengths and provide opportunities and activities to strengthen your weaknesses.

3. Identify themes associated with discomfort. It is important to identify predominant themes or personal triggers that are upsetting to you so they can be worked through or, in some cases, avoided (Powers and Wampold, 1994). You may discover that specific populations (children, seniors, teenagers) or specific types of victimizations (assault, rape, child abuse) may be more difficult for you than others because of lingering past life influences. Knowing your “discomfort themes” allows you to prepare for your potential reactions and to develop alternative reactions that will not be damaging to the victims you serve. This self-awareness also will minimize potentially negative effects on you. For example, you may be the only victim service provider in your community and therefore must serve all victims regardless of your level of discomfort with them. You may realize that you become very anxious facing angry victims. However, you can develop the ability to think to yourself, in confronting these victims, that this is one of your personal triggers (it helps if you can identify the reason) and that you will use three strategies when facing anger. These strategies might be: realizing that beneath anger is usually hurt or fear; realizing that if you allow the victim to ventilate the anger until it runs out, it will not last forever; and responding that you can see that he or she was very hurt by what happened.

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Thinking through and planning for situations like these is an excellent resilience strategy for dealing with your discomfort.

4. Clarify goals, mission, and boundaries of the organization. You are fortunate if your organization’s board of directors has developed a mission statement that is current, clear, concise, and known by all staff and volunteers. For example, one of the key reasons Mothers Against Drunk Driving has been so successful is not only that its name is easily recognized but also that its original mission was simply stated: “To stop drunk driving and support victims of this violent crime.” Keeping the agency’s mission simple helps the community know what to expect in terms of services. You should know your agency’s mission and, if it is indeed short and simple, memorize it. Victim services staff and volunteers may benefit from having a framed copy of the agency’s mission in each office as a reminder of the specifics of the mission and an encouragement to establish appropriate work boundaries. In human services work, it is not unusual for staff and volunteers to attempt to address victims’ problems that fall outside the mission of the agency. You need to know if your agency provides direct services, prevention, or both. You need to know your agency’s geographical and service category boundaries. You also need clarity about agency policies, job descriptions, and grievance and termination policies.

5. Know your code of ethics. If your agency has a code of ethics, or it is a member of a larger group or coalition that has one, you should have thorough knowledge of it. If not, you may want to discuss this with your supervisor. The National Advocate Credentialing Program has a code of ethics that can be downloaded at: www.trynova.org and adapted to your program. Supervisors also may draw from existing codes that have been developed at the state level (e.g., Texas, Oregon, Florida, Colorado, South Carolina) to develop guidelines for their agencies. If you are a licensed professional such as a psychologist or social worker, your profession has a code of ethics to which you are to subscribe. Share it with your supervisor so that he or she will not place you in situations that might violate your own profession’s code of ethics.

6. Recognize limits of control. You cannot control everything. Victim service providers are subject to work within boundaries and policies set by government, law enforcement, and judicial, correctional, and community agencies. In addition, you cannot control how certain victims will or will not progress in their healing. But if you are able to recognize the things over which you have little or no control, you will become more resilient. The opportunity to ventilate frustration about things over which you have no control is important, but it is also important to move beyond frustration to positive planning about the things over which you do have control. For example, you do have some control over

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the interactions you have with a victim in your office or on the phone; you do not have control over the victim’s behavior when your contact ends.

7. Get adequate training. Nothing creates more stress than being expected to do a job you have not been trained to do. New crime victims and new situations place new demands on both the expertise and the personal resources of providers who may be ill prepared for this work (Pope and Feldman-Summers, 1992). Colleges and universities are now beginning to address professional victim services. State Victim Assistance Academies, sponsored by the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), provide basic training to new advocates and are in place in 29 states. Training at the local place of employment, therefore, remains crucial. When applying for a victim services position, you must inquire about the training you will receive and be sure that it will be adequate to make you feel competent to deliver the services you are to provide. Inquire about the possibility of attending a Victim Assistance Academy in your state or taking the 40-hour Victim Assistance Training Online course offered by OVC. Inquire about continuing education (e.g., victim services conferences and trainings after you become employed). It is imperative that you learn not only to serve victims but also about trauma and its impact on you as a provider. Training will further develop your resilience as well as assist you in addressing emerging problems promptly and openly (Neumann and Gamble, 1995; Lanning, 1987).

8. Individualize services to each victim. You will be much more resilient if you have the freedom to consider each victim’s needs on an individual basis rather than maintain a cookie-cutter approach, treating each victim as you did the one before him or her. Obviously, agency policies and guidelines must be followed, perhaps more so in bureaucracies than in grassroots groups, but within those guidelines you should have ample opportunity for independent decision-making. This individual approach demonstrates recognition of the uniqueness of each victim, just as you hope to be evaluated by your supervisor based on your own unique gifts, strengths, and challenges (Dutton as cited in Connolly, 2003).

A Sense of Hope

Operating with a sense of hope means that, in most cases, you believe that situations can get better. A positive outlook—belief that the future will be better than the present or past—is a trait strongly associated with resilience (Flach, 1990). If you operate out of a sense of hope, you recognize the difficulty of the experiences of the victims you serve, yet you maintain a positive view of the challenges of life (Calhoun and Tedeschi, 1998). In Werner’s studies of resilient children, hope was the key factor in whether or not a child

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would break out of an unhealthy living environment and become a stronger person (Werner, 1982). Operating with a sense of hope includes being optimistic (Linley and Joseph, 2004) and strengthening one’s sense of humor and ability to have fun.

Be Optimistic*

Optimism means the capacity to envision a solution. It means moving from hope as an aspiration to planning for change and growth. Optimistic people recognize problems and attempt to work through them (American Psychological Association, 2005). They see problems as challenges rather than catastrophes.

Research has found that hope and optimism also appear to be correlated with immune system strengthening and to be protective against illnesses such as hypertension, diabetes, and upper respiratory infection (Segerstrom, Taylor, Kemeny, and Fahey, 1998). Exactly how states of mind affect body biochemistry is still far from clear, but optimism has been shown to lower levels of cortisol, a hormone released in response to stress. Also, optimistic, happy people tend to take better care of themselves than those who are more lonely or depressed. An optimistic attitude helps people live longer and healthier lives, have better relationships, and do better in physical tasks.

Agnes Dill, the first American Indian woman to attend New Mexico Highlands University at a time when most American Indians were doing menial jobs, is now 91 and has never stopped trying to expand educational opportunities for other American Indians, especially women. She was eventually appointed by President Gerald Ford to his Council on Women’s Educational Issues. Says Agnes today, “I’m very optimistic about life. I accept things as they happen and make them better if I can. Most days, I don’t feel my age. I just feel pretty happy” (Mahoney, 2005)

Strengthen Sense of Humor and Ability To Have Fun

Among the consistent characteristics in studies of resilience is a sense of humor (Flach, 1990; Wolin and Wolin, 1993; Lanning, 1987). If you are a hopeful, optimistic person, you will be able to keep stressful situations in perspective and laugh at your own mistakes (as long as the mistakes are not detrimental to others). As long ago as the early 1900s, Sigmund Freud suggested, “Humor can be regarded as the highest of the defensive processes” (Freud, 1905/1960). More contemporary researchers (Provine as cited in Kluger, 2005; Ong, Bergeman, and Bisconti, 2004) point out that people seldom laugh alone; in fact, laughter is 30 times more frequent in social settings than in solitary situations. Thus, humor is a positive social communication tool. Humor allows for

* P.A. Linley and S. Joseph, 2004, “Positive Change Following Trauma and Adversity: A Review,” Journal of Traumatic Stress 17(1): 11–21.

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expression of emotion without individual discomfort or unpleasant effects on others, as long as it is not mean-spirited or demeaning. The best humor is when we tell funny stories about ourselves.

Veteran advocate Robin Finegan has served victims and survivors following the Oklahoma City bombing, Columbine High School shootings, and 9/11 attacks in New York City and Pennsylvania. She writes humorously about escorting a survivor to speak with television reporters during the Oklahoma City trials:

It was one of those days in court when, by the end, I had exhausted all attempts at humor and all efforts at politeness. Still, I thought I looked particularly fetching that day. I had on my favorite canary yellow linen dress and my hair was exactly the way I liked it, between perms when it was not too fuzzy or too flat. As I crawled into bed that night, I tried to keep my eyes open to watch the news. There I was in the background, waiting on the bleacher, leaning over, my chin resting on my hand, arm on knee CHOMPING, not chewing, but CHOMPING on a piece of bubble gum like I had just been out to pasture.

“Oh my God! I will never chew gum again!” I swore. It’s like having a hidden camera in your car and seeing yourself in the background of a Julie Roberts movie picking your nose and passing gas! (Finegan and Flannigan, 2004)

Eight Strategies To Develop a Sense of Hope

1. Develop opportunities to succeed. If your primary responsibility is to provide direct services to victims of crime, you may benefit from opportunities to engage in activities that can reap more tangible benefits (community forums, discussions, meetings with policymakers). Creating opportunities with more predictable beginnings, middles, and achievable goals may help you restore a more positive outlook.

2. Practice gratitude. Gratitude has been found to be highly effective in balancing negativity (Seligman, 2002; Lykken, 1999; Lyubomirsky, Sousa, and Dickerhoof, 2006). Taking the time to appreciate all that is good or going well can increase your personal and professional optimism. You may decide to begin or end each day by making three entries in a “gratitude journal.” These entries can be anything from the mundane to the profound, but the idea is to keep the practice fresh by varying the entries as much as possible. Some believe that this exercise helps you develop the habit of taking a mental photo of pleasurable life moments so you will remember to write them in your journal. You may take the practice one step further by writing thank you notes to supervisors, mentors, or others (including victims) for whom you find yourself grateful.

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3. Change or expand your job description. You might also ask your supervisor for the opportunity to change or enhance your job description at performance evaluation time so you can address new challenges and have more diversity in your work (Pearlman and Saakvitne, 1995b; Sexton, 1999; Catherall, 1995; Coster and Schwebel, 1997; Neumann and Gamble, 1995). You may want to engage in reading, research, teaching, or writing projects to substitute for direct victim contact for certain periods of time. Creating a public awareness campaign, making artwork for brochures, or even organizing a fundraiser can allow you to experience yourself and your colleagues in a new way. You may want to train others or speak in the community. You may envision new and creative ways to share knowledge and wisdom gained from your victim services work. Learning to think outside the box and to recognize many points of view on a particular subject helps you to adapt to almost any situation. As you become more skilled at using analytical and creative thinking, you will increase options for addressing stressful situations. When supervisors and mangers can honor and support creative thinking and projects, they go a long way toward building resilience in their staff and volunteers (Lanning, 1987).

4. Give praise. Just as you identify positive gains and strengths in the victims you serve, likewise affirm the successes of other staff and volunteers. This positive attention will come back to you a hundredfold. Most staff and volunteers appreciate peers who help them maintain perspective, a framework for living, and values that help them set priorities, make judgments, and determine appropriate actions. Every staff member and volunteer wants to feel that his or her work matters. Supervisors are primarily responsible for fulfilling that role, but they don’t always do it. Even when they do, having that praise supplemented by the positive attitudes of peers goes a long way toward building a positive workplace attitude for everyone.

5. Diversify client types. If your agency specializes in a certain crime area, that particular traumatic material may be difficult to keep in perspective. For some crimes and some victims, getting better is a long and torturous experience. The opportunity to work with a variety of cases, victims, and situations may help you experience more successes in less-demanding cases. You may find yourself feeling more hopeful and balanced if your caseload includes a variety of clients (Dutton and Rubenstein, 1995).

6. Seek advanced professional development. Another strategy to enhance optimism is to increase your exposure to others in the field. Join local and regional coalitions. Obtain advanced education. Attend national conferences as well as local workshops and seminars. Meeting with other victim service providers expands your possibilities for personal growth and exposes you to new treatment approaches. Developing relationships with successful and productive victim service providers reduces isolation and increases

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personal optimism. You may need to set aside personal funds to engage in these opportunities, and you will be fortunate if you have a supervisor who is committed to professional staff development and seeks financial support and scholarships for continuing education, formal academic education, subscriptions to journals and newsletters, and memberships in professional organizations.

7. Decorate your office. A homey and cheerful office suited to your tastes can also brighten your mood and support creativity (Neumann and Gamble, 1995). This can include adding comfortable chairs, art, soft music, and lamps or other preferred lighting methods. Electrical outlet room fresheners or scented candles can make a room much more inviting. Desks may be positioned where they are most comfortable and, hopefully, you will be allowed to keep your door open or closed as long as confidentiality with victims is preserved.

8. Find appropriate ways to have fun. Even if your supervisor or office manager does not schedule them, you can organize picnics and away-from-the-office social gatherings that incorporate sensitive use of humor and fun, giving you and your colleagues an opportunity to relax and get to know each other outside the work environment. Noncompetitive games or crafts usually create laughter and release stress. If allowed in your office, send appropriate jokes or cartoons to staff and volunteers by e-mail or place cartoons on bulletin boards in the kitchen or break room.

Healthy Coping

Healthy coping, another key in fostering resilience, means moving beyond attitudes and feelings to deliberately putting skills and abilities in action to balance the negative aspects of your work with positive activities. It means paying attention to your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual needs and doing something about them. Healthy coping strategies include building on skills and abilities, planning, and addressing negative feelings proactively.

Build on Your Skills and Abilities

Earlier, this chapter addressed assessing your personal strengths and weaknesses. This strategy moves beyond that to building on your strengths and continually developing new skills. This is not as easy as it sounds. Learning a new skill is often harder than just changing an attitude.

Says Roberta Roper:

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Early on, I learned so much from Marlene Young and John Stein at National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA), which offered week-long trainings in direct services, advocacy, and administration. They provided convincing evidence to teach us to avoid negative advocacy. But the lessons I learned from real life experiences were even more convincing. Another victims group in my state erected a billboard that read, “Criminals kill victims—and the House Judiciary Committee kills victims’ rights!” This billboard earned them enduring punishment at the Capitol. All that learning came together for me in a way that helped me develop successful positive legislative strategies (personal communication, September 2006).

Plan

Keeping one’s body fit and finding ways to get through the day with energy left over for the family is a huge challenge in trauma work. You may sometimes feel overwhelmed with the enormity of your work and the multilevel tasks you face. Effective planning means analyzing tasks to break them down into small, manageable steps that will ultimately reach a goal. As you identify small steps and follow though on them, you will see daily progress and feel more successful.

Janice Harris Lord says that for years she has kept two “to do” lists:

I use one list to write down broad tasks and goals as I identify them. It may take me a long time to achieve some of them (like writing a book), but I like to jot the idea down when I have it. My other “to do” list is revised every day and includes a manageable list of tasks for the day. I find it very satisfying to mark off these small steps one by one. When I find that I am not caring for myself well, I [make sure] that my list includes things like “Take a long, hot bath tonight” or “Offer to keep the grandkids this evening.” When adding these things means that a job-related task or two doesn’t get completed that day, I simply move them to the next day’s list (personal communication, 2006).

Address Negative Feelings Proactively*

Reframing difficult or negative experiences into growth-promoting experiences helps create a sense of balance in your work (Tebes, Irish, Puglisi Vasquez, and Perkins, 2004). It means learning to nurture yourself proactively and to avoid destructive shortcut ways to relieve stress such as drug or alcohol use or hostile behavior toward others.

* M.M. Tugade, B.L. Frederickson, and L.F. Barrett, 2004, “Psychological Resilience and Positive Emotional Granularity: Examining the Benefits of Positive Emotions on Coping and Health,” Journal of Personality, 72(6): 1161–1190; M.M. Tugade and B.J. Frederickson, 2004, “Resilient Individuals Use Positive Emotions to Bounce Back from Negative Emotional Experiences,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86(2): 320–333.

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In her book Tragedy to Triumph: Lessons of Recovery and Hope, Krista Flannigan shares how her trauma work following the 9/11 terror attacks helped her reframe a negative experience in her personal life into positive action. Krista writes about the dream that she and her husband Joe shared of having children and then learning, after four miscarriages, that because of an illness she inherited from her mother, she would not be able to become pregnant. Says Krista:

We grieved over our loss as we said goodbye to our dream of a child with my red curly hair and Joe’s green eyes. For awhile I convinced myself that without fulfilling this chapter in my life, the rest of my life couldn’t fall in place. …Then, in December 2001, my heart ached for a mother and daughter as I watched them walk hand-in-hand through the Family Assistance Center in New Jersey and timidly apply for a death certificate for their cherished husband and father. The surviving duo, comforting and strengthening each other, affirmed for me the value of family, no matter what form it takes. Exiting the Red Cross tent, they left me a nugget of clarity. Red curly hair could be black Asian hair, and green Irish eyes could be slanted brown eyes. In February 2002, Joe and I greeted Lily, our infant Chinese daughter. As a survivor once told me, “The bond that links true family is not blood but joy and respect in each other’s lives.”

Eight Strategies to Develop Healthy Coping

1. Learn to identify your physical stress reactions. You may have been appropriately hired but later realize that you are having difficulty with your work. You must learn to identify your own stress-related physiological and emotional symptoms (e.g., headaches, nausea, eating too much or too little, sleeplessness, intrusive imagery, emotional numbing and flooding, sexual difficulties). You must also acknowledge the interaction between pressures in your personal life and those in your work as a victim service provider. Learn to name these pressures and articulate them accurately. You may need to remind yourself that you need appropriate support to reduce the negative reactions to your work.

2. Balance your life. You must carefully balance your work with leisure activities, play, and other things you enjoy that do not involve trauma. Activities that distance you from trauma and reaffirm the goodness of life—whether other work or play—can restore energy. You probably entered human services work because you genuinely wanted to make the world a better place. Operating from this philosophy, it is easy to ignore your need for solitude and play and take on more victims or invite more graphic trauma material than you are prepared to manage (Pearlman and Saakvitne, 1995a). Evidence suggests that disorientation and disruption in self-care patterns are common in those who work with trauma (Parkes, 1972). This, in turn, results in marked increases in the use of sedatives, hypnotics, alcohol, and tobacco as soothing strategies, further depleting physical and emotional resources to cope (Clayton, 1990). Likewise, healthy protective

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behaviors (e.g., rest, nutrition, exercise) contribute to physical well-being (Powers and Wampold, 1994). Behavioral change in this arena is difficult and may require rather rigid scheduling to assure balance until it becomes more routine.

3. Get adequate sleep. In the absence of ample sleep, you will find your personal resources rapidly deteriorating. In his book The Chemistry of Conscious States, Harvard psychiatrist and neurophysiologist Allan Hobson (1994) contends that of all the practices known to be associated with good health, sleep is the most fundamental. Sleep not only restores the balance of neurotransmitters essential for daytime alertness but also enhances immune functions. Although 7.5 hours is a useful average, according to Hobson, you may function well with fewer hours, or you may need 9 or 10 hours. A good sleeping environment is a cool room (about 68 °F), an excellent quality mattress and pillow, no lights (including illuminated clocks), and no television. Your bedroom should be attractive and used only for sex and sleep. For some people, soft, meditative music enhances sleep, particularly if it begins with guided relaxation and imagery instruction.

4. Develop calming and modulation techniques. You may find it extremely beneficial to learn deep breathing and relaxation techniques that calm tension in the body and rejuvenate the spirit. Sometimes, talking out negative experiences can increase frustration rather than mediate it. You will have to learn for yourself when talking about something helps and when it hurts. Often, separating yourself from your work for a while by walking outside, breathing in fresh air, focusing on nature, or observing children at play helps put things back in perspective. Identify the best techniques to help you redirect your thoughts to nonvictim related material, and then engage in them.

5. Change the pace. You may be able to change the pace of your daily routine by walking to work rather than riding or by deciding to phone rather than answer an e-mail (and vice versa). On a broader scale, you may choose to consult a life coach or engage in therapy for a while. Consider engaging in expressive therapies such as art therapy or movement therapy (Pearlman and Saakvitne, 1995b; Danieli, 1994; Schauben and Frazier, 1995). You may seek a retreat format. Just be sure that whatever you engage in is strength-based and encouraging. Regardless of the method, you will benefit from changing your pace to help you regain perspective and rekindle creativity.

6. Assess safety in your work environment. Sometimes, going to and from work becomes so routine that you fail to realize the stress associated with driving in rush hour traffic or your fears as you walk to and from your vehicle. Safety is a primary concern for many victims and victim service providers, particularly those who work in family violence situations. Safety concerns can limit your ability to effectively cope or solve problems. You may decide that you are better able to relax if you take public

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transportation to and from work. You may ask your supervisor to investigate the possibility of hiring security in the parking lot or even in the workplace to reduce your risk of physical harm. Additional considerations may include the use of post office boxes, automated door entry codes, safety glass in windows, and danger signals for each desk.

7. Use regular supervision. Regular, supportive supervision is essential to help you keep your victim work in perspective and to confirm your ethical commitment to the victims you serve. A negative experience with supervision can deter you from seeking the supervision you need. Therefore, the supervision must afford a safe exchange in which both cases and your reactions to your work with victims can be addressed without shame or fear that your problems will be noted in performance evaluations. Time within individual supervision sessions may be set aside specifically for sharing feelings related to the work. If you are a victim yourself, and are now a victim service provider, it is especially important for you to have at least one person with whom you can acknowledge your own victimization and explore its interaction with your trauma work. In addition to individual supervision, case conferences and peer process groups may be particularly useful to you (Pearlman and Saakvitne, 1995b; Schatzow and Yassen, 1991; Neumann and Gamble, 1995). If you do not have a supervisor who can provide this level of quality supervision, you may need to engage a mentor elsewhere for supervision and consultation. It will be worth it, even if you have to pay for it.

8. Use technology and resources wisely. Technology that is current and working properly goes a long way in helping you use your skills and abilities and, thereby, strengthen resilience. You should have adequate computers and software to simplify research and communication within and outside the agency. On the other hand, unnecessary use of e-mail, cell phones, pagers, and other portable information devices (PIDs) dramatically restricts the time you could be doing more important things or restoring yourself with some solitude. Although you may sometimes have to be on call, your supervisor should continually assess the necessity of requiring it. A screening process for crisis calls at the workplace often reveals that many victims can wait until the next workday for services rather than speaking with you at your home or in your car.

Strong Relationships

Resilience rests on relationships. The desire to belong is a basic human need, and positive connections with others lie at the very core of psychological development. Building personal networks of support reduces isolation. People in supportive and loving relationships are more likely to feel healthy, happy, and satisfied with their lives and less likely to have physical or emotional difficulties (Pavot et al., 1990). As a victim service

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provider, it is crucial for you to feel that you are part of an extended social network at home, at work, and in the community.

Tom Rath, who heads the Gallup Organization’s Workplace Research and Leadership Consulting Division, points out that only 20 percent of workers are at companies or agencies that recognize the value of on-the-job-friendship. Rath maintains that “without a best friend at work, the chances of being engaged in your work are one in twelve.” He also found that those “with at least three close friends at work” were 96 percent more likely to be extremely satisfied with their lives as a whole (personal communication, September 2006).

You can enhance relationships by learning to identify obstacles to effective communication and communicate more effectively. Your relationships will also be strengthened as you become more responsible, flexible, and dependable. Strong relationships are fostered by developing close attachments to others and learning to seek support when needed.

Develop Attachment to Others

The value of friendship in strengthening resilience cannot be underestimated. Still, a national survey of nearly 1,500 Americans, more than 20 years ago, found that they had an average of only three close friends. When the survey was recently repeated, respondents said they had only an average of two close friends (Smith-Lovin, 2006). One explanation for the decline of friendships may be that adults are working more hours with less time for socializing outside of work. Victim service providers’ workloads are so demanding that building and maintaining friendships within the workplace can be difficult. It takes time, effort, and skill to develop close friendships, but it may be one of the most important tasks you can undertake in developing resilience.

While loneliness has been linked to stress, depression, and loss of cognitive ability, friendship seems particularly protective for women. Shelley Taylor (2002), a researcher at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), has found that, under stress, women most likely “tend and befriend,” while men tend to go into “flight or flight.” According to Taylor, although both males and females produce the hormone oxytocin under stress, estrogen tends to enhance its effect and testosterone tends to diminish its effect. High oxytocin levels make people calmer, more social, and less anxious. It is important for you to identify those people who help you feel relaxed and who are affirming without being demanding. Watch how they operate. They will generally have the ability to focus on others more than themselves. Practice these skills, even though they may be uncomfortable at first. Just as you learn to be genuinely interested in the

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lives of the victims you serve and focus on them more than yourself, you can learn to use these same skills to attach to persons socially. Friendships not only fight stress but also may explain why women tend to outlive men. For example:

Marie and Lilly Clifford, in North Dakota, are 100 years old and are among the world’s oldest twins. Both earned teaching certificates. Neither ever married (not yet, anyway) and have always considered each other as their best friend. Marie doesn’t see very well, so Lily helps her out. Lilly doesn’t hear very well, so Marie is their spokesperson. They have long chats together and enjoy each other’s company whether watching old Bonanza reruns together in their Assisted Living facility or going to Mass (Mahoney, 2005).

Seek Support When You Need It

No matter how well you have learned to be independent and self-sufficient, there are times when you need help. You cannot do it all. You must learn to take advantage of the knowledge and skills of other colleagues, organizations, and experts. You must also have the courage to ask for help when needed. Learning to seek support can be as simple as asking directions or asking for a ride, or as complex as focusing on a particularly volatile situation, or even solving a complex and difficult victim issue.

Says Angie McCown, victim services director for the Texas Department of Public Safety:

When I took this job, everyone seemed to assume that I would know what to do, so I didn’t get much instruction. Therefore, I tried to attend as many meetings, task forces, and trainings as I could, but it was 4 years before I attended my first National Victim Assistance Academy, which was my first structured training. Before that, I relied on mentors to guide me. Anne Hutchison taught me how to work within the system on the victim’s behalf and to never stop fighting for more. Janice Lord helped me appreciate the value of having both clinicians and grassroots providers in our field. Kathi West helped me transition from a local provider to a state provider and introduced me to national leaders. Anne Seymour, particularly in her dedicated work with Mark Lunsford, reminded me of the importance of the victim’s voice, without which we would likely be nowhere (personal communication, September 2006).

Eight Strategies to Develop Strong Relationships

1. Enhance communication skills. Relationships are fostered through effective communication. Whether at home or at work, relationships thrive on honest and open communication. Self-help literature, magazines, the Internet, and even television provide useful tips for effective communication with others. Learning how to express your emotions, how to state your needs clearly, and how to describe your reactions to individuals and situations is essential in maintaining healthy relationships.

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2. Learn boundaries of confidentiality. Agency confidentiality policies must be clear (e.g., distinguishing confidentiality as an ethical issue from privileged communication as a legal issue); at the same time, they should allow for ample case consultation and supervision. Knowing the appropriate boundaries of your interactions with victims (see module on ethics) can help you relate appropriately to them, as well as to your colleagues and your family. Identifying what you can and cannot say about your work allows you to express your concerns in healthy ways without infringing on victim-provider confidentiality. Without clarity about this issue, you may not know how to discuss your reactions or worries about your work.

3. Collaborate. Effective victim service providers do not operate alone. When organizations work together, victims have more and easier access to services. Communication and collaboration make much more effective use of community resources, result in more efficient services, and can solve complex problems. You can develop collaborative relationships informally or through formal contracts, interagency agreements, or memoranda of understanding (MOUs). These relationships take effort, but developing linkages with adjunct services (e.g., self-help groups, medical services, compensation programs) not only provides more services to victims but also reduces your own workload and sense of isolation as well.

4. Discuss cases. Agencies should value warm, collegial relationships among staff and volunteers. Weekly staff meetings where cases are discussed can be very beneficial (Wasco, Campbell, and Clark, 2002). If compassionate problem solving toward victims becomes common throughout the workplace, with similar attitudes among staff and volunteers, your agency as a whole will reap significant long-term benefits in terms of productivity and commitment (Dutton as cited in Connolly, 2003).

5. Seek inclusivity and diversity. Another aspect of positive relationship development is ensuring that you are inclusive and diverse. Diversity increases our capacity for living with others in the real world. Inclusiveness means that the staff and volunteer forces represent the gender, racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic constituents of the community and that all of these different groups are welcome and appreciated. This image of the agency encourages more potential providers to apply for positions or to volunteer. Furthermore, when victims view your agency as inclusive and representative of themselves, they will be more likely to seek the agency’s services. When victims have providers of similar race, ethnicity, gender, language, or sexual orientation, they are likely to be more comfortable; this comfort, in turn, will reduce your stress and enhance your resilience (Barak, 2000).

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6. Foster a team approach. Another strategy to support strong relationships is to foster a team approach. Perhaps your supervisor has not considered allowing cases to be worked by teams rather than individuals. Teams enhance the social networking aspect of building resilience. Teams are internal efforts of collaboration that provide additional resources for victims as well as a training ground for better external collaboration. Teams may also be better able to identify creative and innovative means of delivering services for particular victims; however, innovative strategies must always be discussed with supervisors before implementation (Schauben and Frazier, 1995; Coman-Diaz and Padilla, 1990; Munroe et al., 1995; Neumann and Gamble, 1995). Working as a member of a team allows you significant creative independence and may decrease your need for supervision because you have more resources from which to gain different perspectives on your cases. Working in teams can help you develop a sense of mutual responsibility and, thereby, develop stronger cohesion among yourselves. Teams increase personal accountability, as other team members may challenge you if they see boundary problems or other issues that may harm you or the victims you serve. Team meetings also provide the opportunity to identify, work through, and resolve destructive divisions within the team itself.

7. Address conflict resolution proactively. Sometimes, organizational dynamics contribute to stress within an agency. At other times, misunderstandings and conflicts arise that are difficult to address. When this happens, you might suggest to your supervisor that a consultant be brought in from outside the agency to assess the problem objectively and offer solutions (Pearlman and Saakvitne, 1995a; Neumann and Gamble, 1995). This visible manifestation of concern for the providers as well as for the agency’s mission as a whole is key in restoring social relationships within the agency. Resilient providers and administrators acknowledge the negative when they see it but value moving beyond it to successful strategies.

8. Strive to be genuine, empathetic, and warm. Genuineness, empathy, and warmth have long been recognized as the core conditions of the counseling and psychotherapy relationship. Research has shown that if you have the ability to develop genuine rapport with your clients, you will consistently get better outcomes (Traux and Carkuff, 1967). You are a genuine provider if you are aware of and open about your own strengths and limitations and, therefore, are not defensive. You are empathetic if you can identify with another’s perspective and understand and communicate that understanding. You are warm if you are able to be friendly, considerate, and deeply respectful of your client’s experience. Expressing genuineness, empathy, and warmth is a foundation for building a trustful, therapeutic relationship, which is strongly related to client change (Grencavage and Norcross, 1990). Regardless of the techniques being used, if a good relationship does not exist, parents will not be able to persuade their children to do their homework,

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salespersons will be less likely to convince their customers to buy an expensive product, and you may not be able to help victims evaluate their problems or change their behavior (Lampropoulos, 2002). These qualities strengthen all of our relationships and interactions.

Personal Perspective

Recognizing or acknowledging the personal meaning you attach to your work helps you remain more consistently resilient. Personal perspective means identifying your personal points of view and weighing the costs and losses associated with victim services work. These personal perspectives evolve over time as life experiences shape us. Using your personal perspective to enhance resilience includes cultivating your individual morality and integrity into your work (Flach, 1990), exploring spirituality in yourself and the victims you serve (Flach, 1990; Lanning, 1987; Linley and Joseph, 2003), and developing a coherent meaning for life (Linley and Joseph, 2004; Tugade et al., 2004).

Cultivate Morality and Integrity*

Morality and integrity begin with recognizing right from wrong, having low tolerance for outrageous behaviors, and developing the courage to take risks in the face of adversity. While related to insight as a key component of resilience, morality and integrity move beyond that insight to action. Healthy human beings are apparently wired with an innate sense of knowing when something “just isn’t right,” but the nonresilient person may spend too much time worrying about it and not enough time doing something about it. Personal morality and integrity have inspired people to change religious beliefs, choose or change careers, make decisions about family, address health problems, or simply decide to spend more energy on certain areas of work and personal life. For example:

Ninety-four-year-old Jess Lord attributes some of his longevity to clean living (“Í don’t smoke. I eat right. I exercise. I’m faithful to my wife.”). More than that, however, he has always taken a stand for what he thinks is right and engaged in work for which he had a passion. As a young man, he started out as a bricklayer and eventually became a contractor whose word was trusted with a handshake. Later, he became an American Airlines pilot and flew the first blood plasma to Paris after it was liberated in World War II. In his late fifties, he decided to go to college and stuck with it through his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees, reaching his goal to teach sociology at the University of Texas at Arlington. Since a young boy, he has stood for the rights of the oppressed. In recent years, he

* F. Flach, 1990, “The Resilience Hypothesis and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder,” in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Etiology, Phenomenology, and Treatment, eds. M.E. Wolf and A.D. Mosnaim, Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, 36–45; S.J. Wolin and S. Wolin, 1993, The Resilient Self: How Survivors of Troubled Families Rise Above Adversity, New York: Villard Books.

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became a recognized Southwest potter and, when his arms got too weak to throw pottery, he started painting and writing. In his eighties, he published two books and still writes a letter to the editor every few weeks on how he thinks America could become a safer and more sane place.

Explore Spirituality*

Intrinsic spirituality and religious practices have been shown to correlate with many aspects of mental health, including resilience. More than 1,000 scholarly articles on the relationship between religion or spirituality and mental health were published between 2000 and 2002 (Koenig, 2002; Koenig as cited in Paul, 2005). Benefits of intrinsic spirituality and religious manifestation of spirituality through worship, prayer, and other practices have been correlated with social support, the avoidance of risky and stressful behaviors, and a sense of purpose and meaning in life (Benson, 1996). In 100 studies that examined the relationship between the positive emotions of joy, hope, and optimism, 79 found that religious persons had significantly greater well-being in all three areas (Koenig, 2002). Even the religion antagonist Sigmund Freud acknowledged that, “Only religion can answer the question of the purpose of life. One can hardly be wrong in concluding that the idea of life having a purpose stands and falls with the religious system” (Freud, 1930).

Krista Flannigan says that until the Oklahoma City bombing trials were moved to Denver and she became involved with the victims, she had no formal relationship with religion, although she considered herself spiritual. Skeptical at first, she began to recognize the genuine spirituality of Father Gary, her officemate in the Church of the Holy Ghost, where the victims’ Safe Haven was housed, as well as that of Jack Poe, the chaplain of the Oklahoma City Police Department, who came to Denver for the trials since he had befriended so many of the victims. Krista now honors Jack’s quiet wisdom and spirituality as he said:

People ask me, “Where was God at 9:02?” I tell them that He was in the same place as He was at 9:01 and 9:03. I do believe that in my whole ministry, I never saw God any clearer than I saw Him as He walked with us through those days. He really became flesh and dwelt among us as He was personified by the help and love and care that came our way through the hundreds of people who came to

* F. Flach, 1990, “The Resilience Hypothesis and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder,” in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Etiology, Phenomenology, and Treatment, eds. M.E. Wolf and A.D. Mosnaim, Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, 36–45; S.J. Wolin and S. Wolin, 1993, The Resilient Self: How Survivors of Troubled Families Rise Above Adversity, New York: Villard Books; J. Lanning, 1987, “Posttrauma Recovery of Public Safety Workers for the Delta 191 Crash: Debriefing, Personal Characteristics, and Social Systems,” unpublished manuscript; P.A. Linley and S. Joseph, 2004, “Positive Change Following Trauma and Adversity: A Review,” Journal of Traumatic Sterss 17(1): 11–21.

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help us. That’s where God was. He was in the lives of the people living out their faith in practice, reaching out with a cup of cold water, with a hug, or with a shoulder to cry on (Finegan and Flannigan, 2004).

Develop Coherent Life Meaning*

Life meaning may or may not be spiritual. Coherent life meaning implies that you begin with identifying personal values and then engage in behaviors that manifest those values. For example, numerous studies have shown correlations between resilience and work that persons find meaningful (Trine, 2004; Waite and Richardson, 2004). You may find meaning in the work itself, or you may take pride in your agency’s mission (Thottam, 2005). In the best of circumstances, the work becomes an extension of what you naturally want to do. That way, you are the same person at home, at work, and in the community. All is integrated and coherent.

Veteran victim service provider Sharon English says, “What a person needs to lead in this field is consistent behavior that earns recognition from others. We must be looked to not only for correct information but for our passion and reputation for following through.”

Eight Strategies to Develop Personal Perspective

1. Assess your personal values. It is important for you to explore and clarify not only your personal, foundational beliefs but also your attitudes about others and the world. You probably developed most of your values in your own family. Some may have changed positively through family and social contexts, education, or spiritual growth, while some may have changed negatively through exposure to trauma or other painful life experiences. Identifying values such as personal freedom and commitment to ending social injustice will influence your daily behavior and keep you grounded and focused on your goals.

2. Integrate new understandings of your work. It is possible to create or discover meaning in your work that may not have been readily apparent at first. For example, you may have taken your position simply because you needed a job, and your supervisor may not have screened or interviewed you in depth. You may not have realized that creative and helpful victim services work is so difficult. You may feel discouraged at the end of a

* P.A. Linley, 2003, “Positive Adaptation to Trauma; Wisdom as Both Process an Outcome,” Journal of Traumatic Stress 16(6): 601–610; (Linley, 2003; M.M. Tugade and B.L. Frederickson, 2004, “Resilient Individuals Use Positive Emotions to Bounce Back from Negative Emotional Experiences,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86(2): 320–333.

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day because none of the interventions you suggested to the victims you served seemed to have much meaning for them. However, if you begin to realize that change comes in small steps and that with each phone call or visit you are providing your client some tools for change, that is sufficient for deciding that you are an effective provider. As in a game of checkers, the next move is the victim’s, and over time, you may indeed see positive change. The meaning of your victim services work must derive from what you give, not what you receive. Some victims of crime return to express gratitude for the help they received, but most do not.

3. Assess your perspective of suffering. Victims’ stories of human cruelty can challenge your personal faith, yet spirituality can enhance your ability to bear witness to significant human suffering. If you reexamine your beliefs about evil, suffering, and justice, you may stimulate growth into more mature beliefs that can help you keep your work in perspective. Developing a deeper spiritual life means something unique to each victim service provider, but doing so can establish a connection to something larger than yourself, whether by connecting with the best of human experience or with a spiritual entity. Spirituality can enhance realistic optimism and hopefulness in the face of trauma (Pearlman and Saakvitne, 1995b; Munroe et al., 1995; Brady et al., 1999).

4. Question old beliefs. McCann and Pearlman’s (1990) work on vicarious traumatization may serve well in helping you rethink old, naive beliefs. If you have become spiritually or philosophically disillusioned, you may be able to rework former beliefs to accommodate your trauma work experiences rather than to totally discard them.

5. Foster altruism. Altruism (Monroe, 1996; Luks, 1993) in resilient victim service providers tends to come naturally because they feel energized rather than depleted by helping. If you came into the work more to get your own needs fulfilled than to help others, you will have more difficulty in this area. However, you can learn to engage in altruistic practices. Whether you feel like it or not, you can practice kindness both randomly (as you recognize a need) and systematically (as you decide to bring a coworker a cup of coffee every day). You can make it a habit to reach out to others with personal inquiry, to listen intently with eye contact (if it is culturally appropriate), and to practice giving just for the sake of giving.

6. Engage in social activism. Some victim services agencies provide topical “brown bag” lunches with outside speakers to create and foster dialogue on issues of social concern. Some show movies or develop book clubs that allow people to discuss the meaning, value, and perspectives of the broader aspects of victim services work. Others provide bulletin boards that offer opportunities for staff to engage in programs that

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support their values of morality and integrity such as faith-based activities, homeless shelters, or community youth organizations.

7. Include spirituality in assessment of victims’ strengths. Without using religious language, you may ask assessment questions like the following:

What is most important to you in your life now?

What has been meaningful and helpful to you as you have tried to live with your victimization?

What has strengthened you as you have dealt with this?

What kinds of support systems are helping you?

Victims who use their spirituality as a source of their own personal resilience will likely bring it up in response to questions like these. When they do bring it up, it is appropriate to ask, “Would you like for us to incorporate your spirituality into the work we do together?” The issue is not your spirituality, but the spirituality of the victim you are serving. With that perspective, you may develop a greater comfort level with victims’ spiritual issues, especially if you also develop a referral list of skilled faith leaders who have a good knowledge of victim issues and will not impose their own spirituality on victims or revictimize them with religion. Instead, they will guide victims to develop their own spirituality within the framework of their own victimization.

8. Discard activities that are not coherent with values. Sometimes, you may find yourself being asked to act in ways that are counter to your values or beliefs. With thoughtful self-assessment you may realize that the way you are doing things or expressing yourself no longer fits in with your current values. This lack of coherence may require you to work with your supervisor to change aspects of the work that is currently required of you, or it may even require that you look for employment somewhere else. Sometimes the values of an agency change when a new administrator is hired or the board of directors turns over and changes the mission or priorities. If you no longer feel that the personal meaning of your life is in sync with the work you are expected to do, you will find yourself experiencing more and more stress until either you or the agency changes.

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