NCJ Number
98258
Date Published
Unknown
Length
0 pages
Annotation
In this video cassette, three crime victims recount their victimizations and the psychological and financial aftermaths, as well as their treatment by the criminal justice system. The panel moderator, an associate professor of psychology, then describes the immediate and long-term psychological effects of criminal victimization.
Abstract
The three victims include one who was shot in the robbery of his store, one who was kidnapped and raped, and one who is the mother of a murder victim. The robbery and shooting victim tells of the medical treatment, extended care, and disability that resulted from his wounding. He now lives on only Social Security disability income. A second victim describes her kidnapping and rape, her rescue, her treatment by the police and judicial system, and the long-term psychological effects of her experience. Her grievances against the criminal justice system in the processing of her case are a general insensitivity to the psychological impact of the crime, the failure to structure privacy into pretrial conferences, needless trial delays and continuances, and resistance to victim input at sentencing. The account of the mother of a murder victim focuses on her family's treatment by the criminal justice system compared to the treatment of the accused. Complaints against the system include treating victims insensitively while focusing its resources on protecting the rights of the accused, resisting victim input in case processing, and failing to respond to long-term victim needs precipitated by the crime, while providing extensive care and treatment for offender. The panel moderator explains the psychological jolt experienced by victims of violent crime and the ongoing psychological reliving of the incident through random environmental 'cues' that trigger the psychological and physical reactions elicited by the crime.