Evaluation of Victim Witness Assistance Projects - Where Do We Go From Here? (From Special National Workshop - Criminal Justice Program Evaluation - Selected Workshop Papers - Criminal Justice Research Utilization Program, P 7-23, 1981, Elizabeth Scullin, ed. - See NCJ-75712)

• NCJ Number: 75714
• Author(s): R C Cronin
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 17 pages
• Contract Number(s): J-LEAA-020-78
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Findings and implications are presented from a study that described current victim/witness assistance efforts across the country, examined how well they are meeting objectives, identified gaps in knowledge about projects, and suggested approaches for filling gaps.

Abstract

Findings show that most of the working assumptions about the intermediate and longer range effects of victim/witness assistance projects are plausible assumptions, buttressed by anecdotes, but with weak or nonexistent support from systematic research and evaluation. For all project types (victim, witness, and victim-witness), good cross-site comparisons of process and impact, using uniform measures, are needed, and good single-site evaluations are still needed in the victim assistance area. At least two variations of victim project intervention deserve a comparative test: victim services with an onscene crisis intervention component and victim services without onscene intervention. Similarly, there are some major variations in witness services that should be examined: those projects or components providing notification services only; those projects supplementing notification with appearance support, restitution, counseling, and the like, and those jurisdictions in which no special witness services exist. A longitudinal study of the institutionalization experience of local victim/witness assistance efforts could provide many insights as well. Tabular data, 5 footnotes, and a selected bibliography of approximately 50 references are provided.