Essay, Research Paper: Vicitms Rights And Victims Organizations

Abstract


Victim services and rights organizations encompass many different programs to help victims of crimes. These programs include victim contact and crisis services to assist in the counseling aspect of victim services. Mediation and restitution aid in a financial way for the victim. Other small victim services help the victim fill out claims and other paper work. Finally, victim services allow victims to know of the rights that they are entitled to according to the law.
Over 35 million Americans will be victimized this year due to crime. The aftermath of crime can have an emotional, financial and/or physical impact on the victim and their family members which is difficult to resolve. Due to this dilemma, victim's services and rights organizations have been developed to help these millions of victims. These services maybe made available to individuals whether or not they have had contact with law enforcement or criminal justice personnel, while others are designed specifically for victims involved in the trial process. Other victim services are crisis oriented, designed to deal with immediate effects of victimization; and others are long term, because victimization frequently continues well after the commission of the crime (Rosenblum 15). These services and organizations also allow the victim to know the rights that they are entitled to because of their status of being a victim of crime.
One of the victim services first and most important jobs is victim contact. Victim contact services include those services that are aimed at victims prior to their involvement in the judicial process or which are intended to prevent victimization from occurring. These services represent the first contact between the victim and the service and often may be the first contact between the victim and the criminal justice system. Victim contact services include such things as information, awareness efforts, and crisis intervention. Information services are prevention-oriented, providing safety hints on home security and community crime trends. Awareness efforts are intended to make the public aware that services are available if a crime should occur (Victim Witness Services 2). Crisis intervention services are intended to provide immediate access and care to victims and are usually available twenty-four hours a day. This is done through telephone hotlines, counseling, emergency transportation, shelter, and food.
Other aspects of victim services that are a logical extension of crisis intervention are counseling and social services. When victims receive counseling and attention, they are more likely to corporate with the criminal justice system. Many organizations counsel crisis victims in their homes if going to a victim crisis office is not feasible. For victims that are needed as witnesses, counseling may be scheduled around upcoming court appearances. For those individuals requiring long-term assistance, referrals are made to other social service agencies (i.e., rape crisis centers or battered wife services). Non-crisis victims are also provided counseling or referral to social service agencies (Rosenblum 22).
A specific program that many victim organizations offer deal with victims of sexual assaults, child abuse, and child neglect cases. These programs are often referred to as sensitive crimes prosecution. The primary objective of this program is to protect the victim from having to retell the story of the incident in which they were involved. This is accomplished by having one assistant district attorney assigned to the case, opposed to having a different attorneys assigned to each individual stage of the case (Rosenblum 23). This specific program is designed to benefit both the system and the victim.
A service that is offered specifically for juveniles is the victim/offender mediation program. The purpose of this program is to lead face-to-face meetings between juvenile offenders, those who have committed the property crimes; and their victims, those who have been affected by those crimes. Trained mediators lead the victim and offender through the mediation process which involves discussing responsibility, restitution, and restoration (Erie County Juvenile Probation's Victim Advocate 1). During these mediations, the victim is able to tell the story of the crime, take an active role in the justice process, and to receive compensation for their losses. The offender is able to face the real human and financial costs of their actions, accept responsibility for their actions, and become a productive member of the community rather than a burden. Through the mediator, the victim and offender talk together about trust, completion of the restitution, and what determines if they will meet again.
Another program that is designed to help those victims of property crimes, but without the face-to-face contact that is used in mediation is called restitution. Restitution not only compensates the victim but also potentially benefits the offender by allowing him to pay his debt to the victim and society. The victims services organizations that have financial restitution programs are a court-ordered sanction aimed at returning the victim to his pre-crime financial status by requiring the offender to replace the stolen and/or damaged property (Andrews 89). The victim programs with a restitution component assist their clients in assessing damages, maintaining records, completing forms, and informing the appropriate officials about the victim's desire for restitution.
A problem that many victims face when their property is stolen and recovered, is now their property is evidence. Therefore, the property may sit in a police locker for as long as the case takes to go to trial, requiring the victim to replace it just as if it had not been recovered. The victim services, when called upon, push so that the property, if feasible, is photographed and returned to the victim. If the court so orders though, the property must be returned to court so that the jury or a witness may inspect it. Without the services that the victim's organization provides, the victim may not see the property for many years.
Other smaller services that victim programs offer are assistance in filing claims for victim compensation and other forms that go along with being a victim of crime. They may accompany the victim to criminal justice proceedings and offer mock trials so that the victim may anticipate what the trial will consist of. A social worker may question the victim and prepare the victim for the type of grueling questioning that will take place during the trial. Throughout the trial, the victim services can give the victim information on the case status and the direction in which the case is headed (Victim Witness Services of Erie County 1).
Victim's rights are another aspect that falls under the victim services organizations. Victims have many rights depending upon the state in which the crime was committed. The main purpose of the organization is mainly to make aware to the victim the rights that are legally guaranteed to them. A few of these major rights include that the victim is notified of the case status and a statement by the victim is made present for the purposes of sentencing. The victim is notified of postsentencing releases, such as; parole, work release, furlough, or transfer to a mental health facility. The victim also has the right to submit comments regarding pardons and parole hearings (Wilson 55).
Due to the ever escalating amount of crime that takes place ever year in the United States, the victim must have some avenue to turn to find guidance in their search for justice. Through victim services and rights organizations, this direction is offered. Through such programs as crisis intervention and counseling a victim may begin to deal with their victimization. Restitution and returning of stolen property is another way that victims may financially deal with their victimization. Also simply making victims aware of the rights is an excellent start to the victim's search for justice.
Works Cited

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

Erie County Juvenile Probation's Victim Advocate. Victim Offender Mediation. Erie.

Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. Victims Compensation. Pennsylvania.

Porfilio, Angela B. Personal Interview. 11 Feb 1998.

Victim Witness Services of Erie County. Victims Witness Service of Erie County. Erie.

Victim Witness Services of Erie County. Victim Witness Services of Erie County: Steps Through the Court System. Erie,.

Rosenblum, Robert H. Victim/Witness Assistance. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1979.

Segerdal, Alastair. Assault on Violence: You Need Not Be A Victim. Riverside: Arcadia-Ford Publishing, 1988.

Wilson, Debra J. The Complete Book of Victim's Rights. Colorado: Prose Associates, Inc., 1995.