prioritising victims’ needs: victims’ and practitioners’ perspective

Prioritising victims’ needs: victims’ and practitioners’

perspective

Daniela Bolivar, PhD

Conference: Supporting Victims of Crime in Latvia:

Incorporating the EU DimensionFebruary 21-22, 2013

#cietušiem // #victimslatvia // @providus

Conference is organized within project “Support for Victims of Crime: Substantial or Nominal. Latvia and Beyond”. Project is financed by European Union

Aim of this presentation:

What does “prioritising victims’ needs” mean?

• Two studies:

– My PhD, “Victim-offender mediation and victims’ restoration”, KU Leuven

– Research “Project and RJ”, European Forum for RJ

Dissertation

• Qualitative and quantitative research• Spain and Belgium• Before and after mediation• RQ: the role of mediation in victims’

processes of restoration (can RJ offer more than “satisfaction”?)

Project “Victims and RJ” – European Forum for Restorative Justice

• An empirical study of the needs, experiences and position of victims within RJ-practices

• Funding: European Commission – Directorate-General Justice, Freedom and Security

– Leuven Institute for Criminology (LINC, Leuven, Belgium) – National Institute of Criminal Sciences and Criminology

(NICC, Brussels, Belgium)– National Research Institute of Legal Policy (NRILP, Helsinki,

Finland), – National Institute for Health and Welfare (NIHW, Helsinki,

Finland), University of Helsinki (Finland)– Institute for the Sociology of Law and Criminology (IRKS,

Vienna, Austria), – Neustart (Vienna, Austria)– International Victimology Institute Tilburg (Intervict, the

Netherlands), – Victim in Focus (Slachtoffer in Beeld, Utrecht, the

Netherlands)– The project runs in cooperation with Victim Support Europe

(VSE)

Partners

What are the needs, experiences and position of victims when participating in

restorative justice programmes?

How are restorative justice programmes organised and run with regard to the

inclusion of victims?

What did we want to know?

Macro level Implementation

Micro level Victims’ experiences

How? – Research design

RJ & VS practitioners

Victims of crime

• Three countries / approaches: Finland, Austria, The Netherlands

Neutral Offender-oriented

Victim-oriented

Finland Austria The Netherlands

How? – Research design: “The arrow”

What does “prioritising victims’ needs” mean for VS and RJ practitioners?

  MeanRJ

MeanVS

Vulnerable victims cannot participate in mediation processes

2.23 3.17

Vulnerable victims cannot participate in mediation processes unless they are accompanied by support people (e.g. family member)

3.03 3.49

Vulnerable victims cannot participate in mediation processes unless they are assessed by a professional (e.g. psychologist)

2.15 3.29

Traumatized victims cannot participate in mediation processes

2.49 3.29

 (scale 1-5) MeanRJ

MeanVS

Traumatized victims cannot participate in mediation processes unless they are accompanied by support people (e.g. family member)

3 3.31

Traumatized victims cannot participate in mediation processes unless they are assessed by a professional (e.g. psychologist)

2.58 3.11

Restorative justice is not meant to be for victims that are experiencing negative feelings as a consequence of the offence (such as anger or revenge)

1.78 2.46

  (scale 1-5) MeanRJ

MeanVS

RJ practices (conferencing, mediation) should be offered to all victims, regardless victims’ circumstances

3.55 2.91

RJ practices (conferencing, mediation) should be offered to all victims, regardless type of crime

3.43 3.03

RJ practices (conferencing, mediation) should be offered to all victims, regardless moment of the criminal justice process

3.67 2.83

  (scale 1-5) MeanRJ

MeanVS

RJ works better when applied to minor crimes 2.16 2.91

RJ works better when applied to serious crimes

2.47 2.06

RJ can work fine in all type of crimes 4.08 2.69

What does “prioritising victims’ needs” mean for VS practitioners?

• RJ: a victim-centred practice

• Vulnerability and RJ

• Types of crime and RJ

• Support people and the victim in RJ

What does “prioritising victims’ needs” mean for RJ practitioners?

• RJ: a “RJ-centred” practice

• Vulnerability and RJ

• Types of crime and RJ

• Support people and the victim in RJ

What does “prioritising victims’ needs in RJ” mean for victims?

• RJ: an “impartial” practice

• Vulnerability and RJ

• Types of crime and RJ

• Support people and the victim in RJ

Final thoughts

• RJ: A practice responsive to people’s needs

• Risks to keep in mind

• RJ implementation: a common understanding of what “prioritising victims’ needs” means based on the victim perspective

Thanks for your attention

daniela.bolivar@law.kuleuven.be