Building Knowledge About Victim Services

• NCJ Number: 307783
• Author(s): Alexandra Thompson
• Date Published: March 2024
• Publication Series: NIJ Journal
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)

Annotation

This National Institute of Justice publication describes the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ effort to address gaps in understanding around victims’ services and their providers.

Abstract

The National Institute of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics Victim Services Statistical Research Program (VSSRP) is building knowledge about victim services by collecting and analyzing national data from the diverse entities that serve victims in all states in addition to victims. These efforts include a broad redesign of the National Crime Victimization Survey and the development of two new data collections to help address gaps in understanding and create a more complete picture of how victim services are provided. Victims received assistance from a victim service provider in 9% of violent victimizations in 2021, according to data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS) National Crime Victimization Survey. Victim service providers (VSPs) are a diverse set of public and private organizations, including nonprofit and faith-based, governmental, health care, tribal, for-profit, educational, and other organizations that serve victims of crime or abuse. They offer counseling, referrals, compensation assistance, and emergency safety planning to victims, among other supports. Historically, most research on victim services draws from the victim’s perspective. This includes the National Crime Victimization Survey, which gathers information from victims of crime on whether they received any services and whether those services were from a government or private agency. Examining data from the survey can show use of services over time by victim demographics (such as victim sex) and by type of crime experienced (such as rape or sexual assault).