Social Work and Victim Assistance Programs (From Social Work in Juvenile and Criminal Justice Settings, P 121-136, 1983, A R Roberts, ed. - See NCJ-91641)

• NCJ Number: 91646
• Author(s): J T Gandy
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 16 pages
• Sale Source: Charles C. Thomas
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper discusses a number of innovative victim service programs, including victim-witness assistance, safe neighborhoods and crime prevention, restitution, pretrial settlement, and victim-offender reconciliation, with attention to the role of the social worker in service delivery.

Abstract

Direct services to victims involve providing help to meet the needs created by victimization. The direct services provided by the social worker are not limited to emergency situations but include the delivery of ongoing social services to the victim and his family. Services include but are not limited to individual and family counseling. The role of the social worker in victim assistance programs that involve the victim in the criminal justice process is a dramatic departure from traditional service delivery. The social work role being developed in such programs includes advocacy, mediation, and arbitration, as well as dispute settlement and conflict resolution. Safe neighborhood and crime prevention programs are elements in victim assistance programs. Community organization skills are vital for a social worker in programs of this nature. A number of roles are assumed by the social worker in restitution programs, including advocacy, mediation, arbitration, dispute settlement, and conflict resolution. The role of the social worker in pretrial settlement and victim-offender reconciliation programs also involves arbitration and mediation. Eight references are provided.