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Unit 2 Assignment

Devise a Program for Crime Victims

Lindsay McKibben

16 April 2017

Colorado Technical University

Victimology CJUS280

Professor Nichols
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Devise a Program for Crime Victims

The source that I selected for this assignment was the UCR Uniform Crime Reporting

source as it was the most user-friendly in my opinion and I was able to sort through a good

amount of data. I was searching mostly for the most common violent crimes that would result in

victims that would be needing a program. I set the parameters to include only violent crimes over

the past 17 years and found that between 1.2 and 1.4 million people are affected by violent crime

each year. Just looking at 2015, as the newest reports have not been released, it’s shown that

nearly 1.2 million violent crimes occurred across the US. Aggravated assaults were the highest

occurring violent crime, accounting for almost 64% of the violent crimes (FBI, 2016). Robbery

came second at about 27%, followed by rape at 7.5% and murder coming in last at 1%. The UCR

collects a large amount of data on reported crimes including the use of weapons (FBI, 2016).

This is important because this can affect a victim greatly. It was reported that weapons were used

in about 24% of the aggravated assaults, almost 41% of the robberies, and almost 72% of the

murders. They did note that they do not collect data regarding weapons for instances of rape

(FBI, 2016).

Two studies were done on victims of violent crime and the types of services they most

frequently required following crime. The Urban Institute study found that the most common

needs were emotional support, advocacy, therapy, and support groups (Newmark, 2006). These

were very similar to the findings from the Safe Horizon study that cited having someone to listen

when they’re upset, assistance in understanding their case, getting case and safety information,

improving safety, and getting protection orders as their top needs (Newmark, 2006). Both studies

found that emotional and psychological healing came as a more important need prior to anything

else. The Safe Haven study asked questions about 23 categories of needs and found that victims
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required assistance on more than one need level. Of the 23 needs, victims averaged 6 needs.

Urban Institute listed 18 needs and found that the average victim had 4 needs of that list

(Newmark, 2006).

The program that I would devise would be focused on victims of violent crime ranging

from rape to aggravated assault. The goals of the program would be to empower the victim to

assist them in overcoming the trauma that they’ve experienced. This would help to minimize the

impact of the crime and and help the victim to regain control of their emotions. The overarching

goal would be to promote the recovery of the victim physically and psychologically to allow

them to live their life without fear.

The main things that I observed a victim requiring would be emotional supports,

advocacy supports, and actual tangible assistance (Newmark, 2006). Because of this, my

program would contain professional therapy sessions and group counseling sessions as options

so that victims could access help in addressing the emotional and psychological needs following

violent crime. Following the emotional and psychological aspects came information or advocacy.

All of these would be good for any victim who had experienced trauma, from rape to assault.

Many victims don’t know the workings of the court system, which makes it difficult for them to

access and understand what is going on through the criminal process (Newmark, 2006). That

could, in turn, create fear and anxiety thus inhibiting the healing process. My program would

also have criminal justice advocates available to assist in anything from applying for a protection

order to requesting to make a victim statement at the offender’s hearing. The other specific

service that I would offer within my program would be assistance to parents who had been

victim’s of a trauma, as children of these individuals become more likely to be victimized

themselves (The Children's Assessment Center. (n.d.). This could range from childcare
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assistance to therapy. Group counseling would also be very important to any parents who

experience assault, either physical or sexual so as to prevent future victimization on themselves

or their children (NCCAFV, 2017).

The program that I would create would be available to both primary and secondary

victims, as both can be significantly impacted by violent crimes. Secondary victims frequently

don’t consider themselves to be victims as they didn’t have a firsthand experience of the crime.

The biggest problem that I came across in my research was that only 4% of victims actually

utilize available services (Newmark, 2006). This is due to a variety of reasons from being afraid

to access it for fear of retaliation to not thinking that their needs were significant enough to be

there. I would ensure that plenty of advertisement was done to make anyone feel comfortable

attending. Even someone who feels that they have minor needs compared to others can and

should benefit from the assistance programs available.

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Works Cited:

The Children's Assessment Center. (n.d.). Child Sexual Abuse Facts. Retrieved April 16, 2017,

from http://www.cachouston.org/child-sexual-abuse-facts/

Newmark , L. C. (2006, May). Crime Victims’ Needs and VOCA-Funded Services: Findings and

Recommendations from Two National Studies (Rep. No. 214263 ). Retrieved April 14, 2017,

from NCJRS website: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/214263.pdf

FBI. (2016, August 15). Violent Crime. Retrieved April 16, 2017, from https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-

in-the-u.s/2015/crime-in-the-u.s.-2015/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/violent-crime

NCCAFV. (2017). Child Abuse Information. Retrieved April 16, 2017, from

http://www.nccafv.org/child.htm